Mixing Cameras & NVR Compatibility

H

havjoe

Young grasshopper
Sep 6, 2016
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I just purchased the 4mm DS-2CD2542FWD-IS Hikvision to install for my front door. I really like their mini profile.
Last week, I purchased these two no-name cameras from backstreet-surveillance to try-out their dark-colored cameras.
I hope these cameras are great, as I've been searching for some non-white cameras for awhile.

http://www.backstreet-surveillance....eras-1/ultra-hd-vandal-dome-camera-black.html

http://www.backstreet-surveillance....-1/ultra-hd-vandal-dome-zoom-camera-gray.html

These last two are 4mp, one is a fixed 3.6mm and the other is manual varifocal 2.8mm-12mm.

Next-up, I need to get a PTZ for my gate. I am not sure if I am buying a Hikvision or Dahua camera.

So, now...I need to get an NVR, but am not sure if I should buy a Hikvision, a Dahua, or one from backstreet-surveillance.com.
I will likely have a combination of 2mp, 3mp, and 4mp cameras.

Help! I’m overwhelmed. Thanks everyone.
 
Your NVR and PTZ camera should be from the same Manufacturer. That way you can call somebody for support when something is not working. Do not expect all the features to work with a mish match of different cameras. You might have to pay a bit more but its worth retaining your hair line if you are not bald already.
 
Why are you shopping from a random website? Do you have an reference as to the quality of those cams? You will end up with lots of problems.
You can plasti dip any camera to the color of your choice.
 
fenderman said:
Why are you shopping from a random website? Do you have an reference as to the quality of those cams? You will end up with lots of problems.
You can plasti dip any camera to the color of your choice.
Click to expand...
Thanks fenderman. Didn't know about plasti dip.
I may just return them. Appreciate you pointing out newbie mistakes.
 
Looking into Hikvision NVRs....there are the Plug-n-Play models (for example the DS-7716NI-SP/16) and the Pro-Models (for example the 9616NI-ST).
What is the difference? From the connections stand-point, I see that the PnP already have the individual PoE ports to plug the cameras in.
However, the pro models do not have any RJ45 inputs. So, how does the connection work for the pro-models?
Do you connect the LAN port on the NVR to a dedicated switch for your IP cams?

What are the pros and cons of each? I'm pretty decent at IP networking, so I'm not afraid to need to flex those muscles if it makes sense.

One of the things that I'd like to do is ensure that traffic from 16 IP cameras does not jam up my LAN or internet speeds.
 
Built in PoE or external PoE.. I perfer the External (pro) because its more flexible.. but it requires a switch or midspan capable of powering the cameras.
 
nayr said:
Built in PoE or external PoE.. I perfer the External (pro) because its more flexible.. but it requires a switch or midspan capable of powering the cameras.
Click to expand...

I see.
So, with a pro-type NVR do you see something like the attached being the high-level network design?
I'm assuming the NVR gets plugged in to normal AC power and does not use PoE for power.
network-dsg.JPG
 
yeah pretty much, though I perfer to have PoE switch and LAN switch be one in the same.. that'll work.
 
nayr said:
yeah pretty much, though I perfer to have PoE switch and LAN switch be one in the same.. that'll work.
Click to expand...

Thanks nayr. What would drive someone to put cameras and LAN devices on same switch vs separate out like in my sketch?
Is there somehow more transparency into the traffic between any given device? Does it improve performance to be on the same Gigabit switch?

Thanks again.
 
no uplink saturation issues, lets say you wanted to put a couple PoE Wireless-AC access points up.. well then a single GigE uplink shared with all the other devices could well become a bottleneck.

when using a single floor switch for all devices, your pretty much guaranteed full port speed between any 2 devices despite the traffic flowing between other devices.

multiple floor switches are fine as long as you account for the uplink and ensure traffic never comes close to saturating it.. for most residental environments this is an easy task to accomplish but becomes harder with scale.
 
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nayr said:
no uplink saturation issues, lets say you wanted to put a couple PoE Wireless-AC access points up.. well then a single GigE uplink shared with all the other devices could well become a bottleneck.

when using a single floor switch for all devices, your pretty much guaranteed full port speed between any 2 devices despite the traffic flowing between other devices.

multiple floor switches are fine as long as you account for the uplink and ensure traffic never comes close to saturating it.. for most residental environments this is an easy task to accomplish but becomes harder with scale.
Click to expand...

Thanks nayr, I think I get it.

If switch 1 is connected to the internet router, and it ran all my WiFi APs, and connected via uplink to switch 2 which is the one that has all my IP cams/NVR, and there is a lot of camera traffic (multiple viewers on multiple devices simultaneously), then it could saturate the uplink and make access to my cameras/NVR sluggish. Conversely, all else being the same, but if switch 2 was instead the one connected to the internet router, then the sluggishness would be in internet access if the camera traffic is high.

Is this right? Appreciate the help.
 
Watch out!

I think when you mix and match different brands of cameras and NVRs, and particularly if you want motion detection recording to work, you have to have the same brand of camera and NVR. The reason behind this is that each camera/NVR brand has its own unique motion detection overlay implementation. This is why Hikvision would not recommend off-brand cameras to pair with their NVRs in order for motion detection recording to work. Regular recording is guaranteed but not with MD. The same can be said with the Dahua NVR. I have Dahua-made Amcrest cameras that I want to pair with a Dahua NVR, and still, Dahua USA would not recommend these cameras to go with their NVRs for that same purpose. My guess (I stand corrected) is that the MD overlays on these cameras were "tailored" specifically to match with Amcrest NVR specs.

That said, if you want to go with the mix and match route, you are better off with a PoE switch and any brand of non-PoE NVR/cameras. But with this kind of setup, you might have to set the MD zone in each of the camera individually. This is quite a bit of a hassle since they are of different makes, you will have to use different webGUIs that are specific to each brand and just hope that the NVR will be able to communicate with them and execute motion-detect recordings through it. I have not done this yet. Maybe some of the guys here can chime in.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Tic said:
Watch out!

I think when you mix and match different brands of cameras and NVRs, and particularly if you want motion detection recording to work, you have to have the same brand of camera and NVR. The reason behind this is that each camera/NVR brand has its own unique motion detection overlay implementation. This is why Hikvision would not recommend off-brand cameras to pair with their NVRs in order for motion detection recording to work. Regular recording is guaranteed but not with MD. The same can be said with the Dahua NVR. I have Dahua-made Amcrest cameras that I want to pair with a Dahua NVR, and still, Dahua USA would not recommend these cameras to go with their NVRs for that same purpose. My guess (I stand corrected) is that the MD overlays on these cameras were "tailored" specifically to match with Amcrest NVR specs.

That said, if you want to go with the mix and match route, you are better off with a PoE switch and any brand of non-PoE NVR/cameras. But with this kind of setup, you might have to set the MD zone in each of the camera individually. This is quite a bit of a hassle since they are of different makes, you will have to use different webGUIs that are specific to each brand and just hope that the NVR will be able to communicate with them and execute motion-detect recordings through it. I have not done this yet. Maybe some of the guys here can chime in.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the insight Tic. I have my NVR coming, I will see what happens, and report back to the group any issues and/or successes.
 
Good luck.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
fenderman said:
Why are you shopping from a random website? Do you have an reference as to the quality of those cams? You will end up with lots of problems.
You can plasti dip any camera to the color of your choice.
Click to expand...

Hello Fenderman, I'm new to this site and saw your old post on this. Are the cameras Backstreet uses not any good? I was almost ready to pull the trigger. Of course now I see the Dahua 2MP 1/2.8" Starlight HDW5231R-Z. I really need a camera with good night vision as it gets black at night were I am.

Thanks for any info.
 
JR69 said:
Hello Fenderman, I'm new to this site and saw your old post on this. Are the cameras Backstreet uses not any good? I was almost ready to pull the trigger. Of course now I see the Dahua 2MP 1/2.8" Starlight HDW5231R-Z. I really need a camera with good night vision as it gets black at night were I am.

Thanks for any info.
Click to expand...
Get the dahua
 
fenderman said:
Get the dahua
Click to expand...

Okay, would you suggest 2, 3 or 4 MP? Any suggestions on a compatible NVR or will any work? I'm new to this. Do you know what Backstreet uses? They won't tell me as it's rebranded of course, but they looked like decent specs.
 
JR69 said:
Okay, would you suggest 2, 3 or 4 MP? Any suggestions on a compatible NVR or will any work? I'm new to this. Do you know what Backstreet uses? They won't tell me as it's rebranded of course, but they looked like decent specs.
Click to expand...
2mp dahua starlight turret...dahua nvr or my preference pc based vms like blue iris.
looks like they are rebranding dahua..but who cares what some no name online company is rebranding when you can buy dahua...
Also they likely dont sell the starlights which is what you want for low light.
 
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