HIKVISION NVR: Multiple cameras on sing port issue

[bcdavis75]

Hi all.

I have a 16 channel (8port) NVR. all cameras (3 so far) plugged directly into the integrated POE ports work great. However, I have one issue where I have a cable plugged into and integrated port which goes out to my garage. The other end is plugged into a 16port POE switch which also has 3 Hikvision cameras plugged into it.

The odd thing is I can only get 1 of the three cameras to come up in the NVR at a time. With all 3 plugged in, 1 camera shoes up. However, I can unplug any 2 of them and the remaining camera will show up.

I just can't get all three.

What am I missing? Can I not use the integrated POE port on the NVR in this way? I want wanted to double check before plugging the garage cable into my normal LAN switch.

 

[bp2008]

That is very strange. If it is a 16 channel NVR with 8 PoE ports then it has to support multiple cameras being fed off one port.

But perhaps that port feeding multiple cameras has to be the LAN port? In other words, try connecting the NVR's LAN port to your PoE switch, not one of the 8 PoE ports.

 

[alastairstevenson]

What am I missing? Can I not use the integrated POE port on the NVR in this way?

You are missing nothing - the NVR will only connect to a single camera when it's on an NVR PoE port, even if you connect a switch to that port.
Your garage PoE switch will not support more than one camera when the switch is plugged into an NVR PoE port - you will need to run it's uplink to the LAN, not the NVR PoE port, and add the cameras as LAN-connected cameras.

If you want to check the cameras out your could connect the PC to the PoE port and run SADP, it will see all the cameras on the PoE ports and also on the PoE switch.

 

[bcdavis75]

Ah. OK. I figured it was something like that. I will pull the garage cable out of the NVR POE port and just plug it into my normal LAN switch and Manually add them.

So follow-up question since I haven't manually added cameras before... Once I do this, I will need to assign it an IP in SADP correct? And then just reserve the IP in my router? I assume manually adding a camera in the NVR once I know the IP is is not completely counter-intuitive but if there are any do's and don't to keep in mind, let me know. Thanks!

 

[alastairstevenson]

And then just reserve the IP in my router?

That's probably the best way for the LAN-connected devices, once you've figured out their MAC address.
SADP will be helpful as a start point if the camera's default IP address is not on the same range as your LAN.
Using DHCP reservations on the router you have a central point where the addresses are defined, and no worries about clashing with any devices that the router has dynamically assigned from its DHCP pool.

I assume manually adding a camera in the NVR once I know the IP is is not completely counter-intuitive but if there are any do's and don't to keep in mind, let me know.

It's straightforward, I'm sure you'll have no problems doing that.

 

[bcdavis75]

Great. Last question. Have I gummed anything up in the NVR by initially connecting in this manner (used up a channel etc)? Should I delete any previous entry for the one camera that did show up? If so, where and how?

Thanks!

 

[alastairstevenson]

Non-existent cameras on the channels associated with PoE ports don't cause any problems.
In fact, the 8 PoE ports on your NVR get pre-populated by the NVR itself anyway.
And you can't delete them - only modify them, unlike the LAN-connected channels, which will get periodically polled if they have been previously connected, and can simply be deleted.