Keep existing BNC cameras/cabling and install additional IP cameras with everything running off of Blue Iris?

J

justinneed

n3wb
Oct 22, 2019
11
4
United States
I've been doing some research into security cameras and it feels like a rabbit hole. Time consuming, but learning about all of this is kind of exciting.

I realize that BNC is aging tech. I'm dealing with a large commercial building, so rewiring will be difficult for someone like me. This is not something that's DIY. A professional would need to be hired considering the size of the project and structure of the building. And it's also time consuming work, so it definitely won't be cheap. This would be different from me trying to rewire or install at my home.

I recently discovered that people have managed to run analog cameras off of Blue Iris using DVRs as a "capture card" of sorts, but without the major problems that come with those things. It seems to work pretty well from what I've read on this website and other places, but I'm hoping someone with personal experience can chime in on this.

I wanted to get some thoughts on the feasibility of keeping my existing BNC wiring and cameras, while new cameras would be IP cams. I'd like to be able to view everything using Blue Iris. This way, I wouldn't have to use BNC for new cameras and have everything on one platform still. Even better is that I've planned future camera locations at places that I can easily access myself and there are a few of the BNC camera locations that I might be able to swap out with IP cameras.

Is this a good idea or would it be better to stick with BNC cameras and DVR only?
 
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As an alternative you can do IP cameras over coax. It requires converters, which can add up price wise, but is another alternative that will get the cameras upgraded to current "standards".
 
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Short answer with some options

1- Keep your BNC and invest in a Dahua XVR that can handle both analog and IP cameras.
You can even run new IP cameras off your existing RG59 cable. You need a pair of these at both ends.
Review - Dahua Ethernet over Coax Converter/Extender LR1002-1ET/LR1002-1EC

2- That could get pricey, so you could also stay with Analog Dahua CVI cameras with the Dahua XVR. This series works very well and has a great image equal to its IP brothers at 1/2 the price.

3- Go with BI and use converters and all new IP cams. (I have no experience with this)
 
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fenderman said:
You can pull the streams to blue iris using your current dvr. For a large commercial building you should be using a commercial solution with failover etc.
Click to expand...

I have been doing this with an old Lorex DVR as it is what I had when I discovered blue Iris. I only have four cameras left to replace and I'll be throwing the DVR away.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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This is about as timely as it gets. I just bought a house that is outfitted with an LTS LTD 2408 DVR and a full assortment of fixed and PTZ coax cams. I was not looking forward to crawling through the attic to replace the coax with Ethernet, but at the same time I wasn’t sure if the LTD 2408 was so old that it is better off replacing, and I just bite the bullet and get up there to run Ethernet cable.
 
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fenderman said:
You can pull the streams to blue iris using your current dvr. For a large commercial building you should be using a commercial solution with failover etc.
Click to expand...

Hello fenderman,

Could you elaborate further by what you mean with commercial solution with failover? What's an example of this? I tried googling this and it seems that this is related to having multiple NVRs or DVRs in case one fails. Am I on the right track?
 
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