Need a POE Switch recommendation please :)

[cainrand]

Cainrand, a couple threads up people are talking about a second switch for some reason. Can I just connect the switch to my netgear wifi router, along with the NVR? And the NVR will find the static ip's of the cameras that way?

Sorry, this stuff is just not my expertise but I'm trying. And I think I can figure it out with a little help.

Yes.

The netgear creates the local network and as your cameras are all in the same network range, they will all communicate. The switch is just handling the traffic of the cameras and diverting it to the router, where it is found by the nvr. Think of the switch as an Air traffic controller.

In my diagram I have my custom nvr (computer) connected to the switch because I don't have a multi port router - instead I have a custom PC firewall (Untangle Firewall) that is creating the local network - the switch then handles the traffic from all devices connected to it.

 

[CaliGirl]

I see what you're saying now.

So if we want to expand to 8 cameras down the road can I buy a second switch and piggy back it? Or will I need to move from an 8 port switch to 16 making this irrelevant?

 

[beingaware]

I think this looks pretty good and it is $85 for 8 ports. DAHUA 8Port PoE Switch Unmanaged Two layer industrial PoE switch Support IEEE802.3af, IEEE802.3at standard PFS3110 8P 96 -in CCTV Accessories from Security & Protection on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

Would it also work with blue iris if I convert down the road? And do I still need a switch prior to this one from the router?

Should be fine.

Will still need a router internet side.

 

[CaliGirl]

Ok thanks. Will go with Dahua switch for now bc it's smaller form factor, it's price is good, and it does what I need plug and play (supposedly ) . Thank you for everyone's suggestions!

 

[cainrand]

I see what you're saying now.

So if we want to expand to 8 cameras down the road can I buy a second switch and piggy back it? Or will I need to move from an 8 port switch to 16 making this irrelevant?

Most can piggy back, from my experience.
I have my POE 'smart switches' piggy backed (stacked). "smart" switch meaning, it knows if the device needs power or not and applies it accordingly - for example, it knows that my PC does not need power so it turns POE off for that connection. In the image you can see how the lights show where it is supplying POE.
The top row is 5 cameras, one pc, and one live internet (from a router), and one wire jumping down to the stacked below switch which also has 2 cameras currently.


Going back to your initial post:

I am unable to access the cameras directly since they are behind the NVR's IP address.

Keep in mind that I am not familiar with the NVR you have, but... if each of your camera has its own IP address and Port number, then your NVR really has nothing to do with being able to access the camera interface.
Your should be able to access the cameras on the same local network with a browser and the addressort
To then access them remotely, you need to set up the Netgear to Port Forward.... so that when you "knock on the door" to the camera network, using a browser and the networks outside Internet addressort, Netgear acts like a butler and takes you to that cameras interface to log in.

 

[CaliGirl]

Ok, this is good stuff to know. The smart power. Hopefully it shuts it off for devices such as the wifi router I will plug into it. I may not need the poe + injector if this switch can push that much power.

I have a vpn installed on the wifi router. So I can log directly into it from home and it feels like I am there. With that, I don't think I will need the port forwarding.

Dahua NVR has been driving me crazy. The smart pss iOS and OS X app crash all the time for no reason. I'd like to switch to blue iris to have more reliable remote viewing on my phone and MacBook. That is the next step.

 

[cainrand]

Ok thanks. Will go with Dahua switch for now bc it's smaller form factor, it's price is good, and it does what I need plug and play (supposedly ) . Thank you for everyone's suggestions!

If your Netgear has 4 available ports and you only have 3 cameras and one NVR, I am not sure why you have a switch, at this point.
... and since you have an 8 port NVR, I am not sure why you have a switch.

As I mentioned above, your cameras address is separate and is accessible regardless of the NVR

Ok, this is good stuff to know. The smart power. Hopefully it shuts it off for devices such as the wifi router I will plug into it. I may not need the poe + injector if this switch can push that much power.

I have a vpn installed on the wifi router. So I can log directly into it from home and it feels like I am there. With that, I don't think I will need the port forwarding.

Again, I am not super familiar with the NVR or it's capabilities but if you had a computer on that network, you could VPN to that and just open a browser on that and enter the camera address and do what you need to do.
Since you don't have a computer (at least not in the drawing), and you want to access the camera itself, you need to port forward to it. (Maybe there is another way but I don't know of it).
I don't recommend port forward to the cameras - even with secure passwords they are then open to the Internet.

 

[cainrand]

I see : p gives a pink face! I was trying to type address : port.

 

[CaliGirl]

Currently 7 Dahua Cameras. Only need the switch so that I can remotely access each camera's browser user interface. Not able to when they are behind an NVR. Many of the settings are not available remotely with out this happening.

Thinking it will look like this:

 

[cainrand]

I think the correct way to say it is that you can't access the camera interface 'through' the NVR - the cameras really aren't "behind" the NVR, as they have their own address and interface - the problem in your case is that the NVR is what you have access to and via the NVR there is no browser or tool to access the camera interface.

If you had the PC with Blue Iris, you would VPN to the PC and you have your doorway to the camera interface from there.

As for the diagram, I know without doubt it will work with the PC and BI. Take the local address off of the switch though, just to eliminate confusion - the switch doesn't have a LAN address (unless it is managed, which you don't need or want).

Again, adding a pc to the network (not even using it for anything) would give you access to cameras via vpn to the pc.

Sorry, not trying to sound redundant with posts - just trying to help understand it all.

I have to chuckle though... you copied and pasted the one IP camera in the drawing with the 192 typo. :-D

 

[CaliGirl]

Ooops, hah. good catch! Ok got ya. I am confident in the responses and will make the purchase. Yes, no direct access to cameras UI behind the NVR. Dahua software allows you to adjust the cameras through the NVR remotely but it is missing the big stuff like IVS and other smart features that are essential to adjust remotely for my situation.

Will work on a blue iris machine next!

Drawbacks of the Dahua NVR leading to the need for a switch and blue iris: 8 months with a Dahua 4K NVR- What I have learned, and Smart PSS

 

[CaliGirl]

Got the Dahua POE switch a week ago. Tried it at home to see how it would work before reaching remote site. Plug and play and didn't need to adjust anything. Have not tried it with the cameras behind the NVR machine though.

 

[JetG]

I think I want to do the same thing. Basically plug all cameras to switch. Then switch to router then router to NVR ? I want also remote in and not have to be local to the NVR.

 

[JetG]

How much was your switch shipped ?

 

[CaliGirl]

$85 when I bought it DAHUA 8Port PoE Switch Unmanaged Two layer industrial PoE switch Support IEEE802.3af, IEEE802.3at standard PFS3110 8P 96 -in CCTV Accessories from Security & Protection on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

 

[LandofTomorrow]

$85 when I bought it DAHUA 8Port PoE Switch Unmanaged Two layer industrial PoE switch Support IEEE802.3af, IEEE802.3at standard PFS3110 8P 96 -in CCTV Accessories from Security & Protection on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

Hi @CaliGirl
I am looking into the same 8+1 POE switch u picked (andy sells it too) as it has a separate gigabit uplink port ( as in some POE switches have 8 total but lose 1 port for uplink and others like the (gray) BV tech, have 9 ports but all are 10/100 including the uplink). How do you like it? Has it been working fine?
Thanks

 

[CaliGirl]

It has been working well for over a week, but I only have one camera on it right now. Dome have access to remote site yet to install it for all the cameras. I like that it, but I don't know what to compare it to. The one you are showing me is cheaper then what I paid and avail now. I had to wait a week or two

 

[LandofTomorrow]

It has been working well for over a week, but I only have one camera on it right now. Dome have access to remote site yet to install it for all the cameras. I like that it, but I don't know what to compare it to. The one you are showing me is cheaper then what I paid and avail now. I had to wait a week or two

Thanks for the response. The one i quoted does not have a gigabit uplink. Again i dont know if thats a big issue (didnt get much responses to that question here )

 

[Cupofschmoe]

Thanks for the response. The one i quoted does not have a gigabit uplink. Again i dont know if thats a big issue (didnt get much responses to that question here )

Gigabit uplink gives you room when you start adding a lot more cameras since then the data rate increases to be fed yo Blue iris or whatever reason you are doing with the feeds.

I would like to stress the importance of the bandwidth calculator so you can get a grasp of video settings that correlate with data file size being sent. With that you can see how much bandwidth you need or will have.

 

[LandofTomorrow]

Gigabit uplink gives you room when you start adding a lot more cameras since then the data rate increases to be fed yo Blue iris or whatever reason you are doing with the feeds.

I would like to stress the importance of the bandwidth calculator so you can get a grasp of video settings that correlate with data file size being sent. With that you can see how much bandwidth you need or will have.

Thanks. Whats a ballpark figure for a 1080p ip cam (stay the dahua starlight varifocal) at 15fps, h.264? I googled and some calculators give me 4-5Mb/sec. So 8 cameras would be 32-40. So uplink of 10/100 should be enough, correct? Or am I missing something completely here?