PoE Switch Suggestion List

[Grierts]

Hey

I want to go with a 16 port Switch (the ability to upgrade in the future)

Initially I only want 8 cameras. 2 per side of the house.

I was thinking about the following switches, which do you recommend and why ?
What specs should I be looking for besides POE+ and managed ?


1. NETGEAR 18-Port PoE Gigabit Ethernet Smart Switch (GS716TP) - Managed with Insight Cloud Management, 16 x PoE+ @ 180W, 2 x 1G SFP, Desktop/Rackmount, and ProSAFE Lifetime Protection - $280


2. TP-Link 16 Port Gigabit PoE Switch; 16 PoE+ Ports @192W, w/ 2 SFP Slots; Easy Smart; Rackmount; Limited Lifetime Protection; Support QoS, Vlan, IGMP and Link Aggregation (TL-SG1218MPE) - $195


3. TP-Link 16 Port Gigabit Switch | L2 Managed w/ Console Port | 2 SFP Slots | Rackmount | Limited Lifetime Protection | Support L2/L3/L4 QoS, IGMP, Link Aggregation | IPv6 & Static Routing (T2600G-18TS) - $150

 

[wittaj]

If you go with Blue Iris based on your other thread, the POE switches do not need to be managed. Go the dual NIC route in the Blue Iris computer and it will isolate your cameras from the internet.

You will get different thoughts on the POE switches. The big key is to make sure it has the rated capacity total and per port to handle your cameras. Many people have found out the hard way on some cheaper ones that they cannot run all their cameras off one POE switch.

The POE+ is a good idea if you decide to get a PTZ down the road.

Another idea that some toss about is not having all the power be from one switch because if that switch goes out, you lose all cameras. Going with 2 cameras per side of house as you discussed, it might make sense to have two POE+ switches and each camera on a side of the house goes to a different switch.

Some will say that is wasting money and just go with an expensive one that can handle it all. An argument can be made either way. Personally I will spend a little more for redundancy...

 

[Grierts]

If you go with Blue Iris based on your other thread, the POE switches do not need to be managed. Go the dual NIC route in the Blue Iris computer and it will isolate your cameras from the internet.

You will get different thoughts on the POE switches. The big key is to make sure it has the rated capacity total and per port to handle your cameras. Many people have found out the hard way on some cheaper ones that they cannot run all their cameras off one POE switch.

The POE+ is a good idea if you decide to get a PTZ down the road.

Another idea that some toss about is not having all the power be from one switch because if that switch goes out, you lose all cameras. Going with 2 cameras per side of house as you discussed, it might make sense to have two POE+ switches and each camera on a side of the house goes to a different switch.

Some will say that is wasting money and just go with an expensive one that can handle it all. An argument can be made either way. Personally I will spend a little more for redundancy...

Let me correct myself. 8 cameras total, 2 in the front, 2 in the back, 2 on each side L/R. 8 total.

Would you still go with 4 seperate switches ?

Can you explain the PTZ?

and what dual nic card do you use / is recommended ?

 

[Grierts]

If you go with Blue Iris based on your other thread, the POE switches do not need to be managed. Go the dual NIC route in the Blue Iris computer and it will isolate your cameras from the internet.

You will get different thoughts on the POE switches. The big key is to make sure it has the rated capacity total and per port to handle your cameras. Many people have found out the hard way on some cheaper ones that they cannot run all their cameras off one POE switch.

The POE+ is a good idea if you decide to get a PTZ down the road.

Another idea that some toss about is not having all the power be from one switch because if that switch goes out, you lose all cameras. Going with 2 cameras per side of house as you discussed, it might make sense to have two POE+ switches and each camera on a side of the house goes to a different switch.

Some will say that is wasting money and just go with an expensive one that can handle it all. An argument can be made either way. Personally I will spend a little more for redundancy...

Nevermind

I found the Dual NIC info.

Dual NIC setup on your Blue Iris Machine

In making your system more secure this is a great option to eliminate your cameras calling home / connecting to the internet This is a great place to start to setup a bit more secure network and learn more about IP/Subnets etc. before adding dual NICs: Router Security - Subnets and IP addresses...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[Flintstone61]

I think he said 2 switches. PTZ: Pan-Tilt-Zoom....some need the 802.3AT version of POE. (delivers higher wattage than 802.3AF) I hear that there are some small PTZ cam's that can use the lower wattage POE.

 

[Grierts]

I think he said 2 switches. PTZ: Pan-Tilt-Zoom....some need the 802.3AT version of POE. (delivers higher wattage than 802.3AF) I hear that there are some small PTZ cam's that can use the lower wattage POE.

You are right, i read his post wrong.

I see what he means and that makes complete sense.

so of these three, which would you get ?

I would probably get two of them / for redundancy and extra ports.

1.

https://www.amazon.com/Amcrest-Ethernet-Housing-8-Ports-AMPS9E8P-AT-96/dp/B0751K65V5

2. Amazon.com: Amcrest 8-Port POE+ Power Over Ethernet POE Switch with Metal Housing, 8-Ports POE+ 802.3af/at 96w (AGPS8E8P-AT-96): Industrial & Scientific

3.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07LH8R3FH?tag=ipctk-20

 

[Flintstone61]

If i only had those three to choose from id probably go with the 9 Port Switch, with 802.3AT capability in case you ever get a PTZ cam and for the same price you get an extra port.
BUT, the 8 port Amcrest has Gigabit ethernet.
The Zyxel has a lower wattage output.
I guess I dont understand how these switches have a total wattage of 96 and yet also have 30 watts of power available to (how many? ports?) is there a limit on How many ports can be POE+? I have a PTZ that needs POE+ ( at).

 

[Grierts]

What switch do you currently run, I see a POE 802.3"at" switch is what is currently recommended.

are there any favorites ?

 

[Flintstone61]

I have a big system with 26 cameras and 3 recorders. so i went with a used 24 port Cisco from ebay. I think its a 3560x Ps 24....
You dont have to go crazy.....for your system. The Amcrest are OK. Although there are many opinions in here on switches.
I should have gotten the 48 port. LOL I think i only have about 5 ports available.

 

[Grierts]

I have a big system with 26 cameras and 3 recorders. so i went with a used 24 port Cisco from ebay. I think its a 3560x Ps 24....
You dont have to go crazy.....for your system. The Amcrest are OK. Although there are many opinions in here on switches.

Goddamn, you see everything on your property.

No privacy.

That's impressive man.

 

[Flintstone61]

No it's a work security system. 74 unit Condo. 60 or so cars, about 100 residents. 2 Wild turkeys and a few deer. with an occasional dipshit stealing mail, or catalytic converter, or dropping off a freshly stolen car in the middlf of the night.

 

[slippyb]

I hope it is appropriate to reply here. I am strongly considering a blue iris system (no cameras currently). I intend having 9ish cameras - i already have dropped cat5e cable at the house corners.
it is a new build and has a LAN network for 10 spots around the house. I will also place 2 access points onto the network. Both Camera and LAN cat5e cables returns to central office.
Q: Can i mix both LAN and cameras on the same POE switch? Or is there a reason not to? Thanks

 

[wittaj]

Almost anything is possible. The big issue is we try to isolate cameras from the internet so that they are not able to connect to the outside world. They can be hacked and used for DoS attacks otherwise.

Preferred method would be to keep all the cameras off the same network that your internet is on and connect all the cameras to the same switch and connect that to the BI computer with one internet port and the BI computer connected to the internet with another internet port (this would be called a dual NIC system).

Or you could set up a switch with VLANs to allow them all to come together and prevent access to the internet from your cameras.

Lot's of different ways, you need to decide on your level of security comfort.

 

[nbstl68]

Maybe a dumb question but can you combine 2 ports from a POE switch, (802.3af 15.4w Max) to push through 30w of power to a device which needs POE+ power?

I have two cameras now that need POE+, and maybe more down the road and also using a 1x4 POE passive splitter to share POE power from 1 port on my POE switch to a camera and AP,(it won't handle more thn those 2 off the splitter w 15.4w max going into it).
So my 1 TrendNet POE+ device seems to be malfunctioning. It powered my big camera for a while but now won't power anything so I figure it's time to buy a dedicated multi-port POE+ switch which could handle pushing POE+ power to more than one device.

But I have this 48 port 802.3af POE switch, (15.4W max capacity to all ports at once) with a lot of unused ports. So, before I go and buy a dedicated POE+ switch I wanted to find out if I could use some of those extra ports, two at a time with a Combiner to create some "POE+" ports for the devices instead. The connectors I have are really for combining the power of two ports then splitting it back out again on the other end, (see pic),
I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that bc I am guessing the combiners run the 15.4w power from the two POE ports on different pairs, not juicing them together at the other end, (but it also says, "increase single port from 30 to 60w?)
thought I'd ask if anyone knew for sure or if there may be some other work-around to be able to use the POE switch power on hand to create a POE+ connection.

If I am just stuck buying a new POE+ switch, any recommendations?
As noted above, I see a lot of small relatively inexpensive ones out there but what you end up with is like a 4 port "POE+" switch that can onlt give full POE+ (25-30w) power to maybe 1 of the four ports if the other three are being used or two POE+ on a 6 or 8 port "+" switch. Kind of misleading marketing IMO.
I cannot find any POE+ switches that can deliver up to the full POE+ 30W spec to all ports all the time.

 

[wittaj]

Nope, you are limited to total wattage of the POE switch and the per port....but unless you spend big bucks, most consumer grade switches cannot provide the rated per port wattage and be within the total wattage capacity of the switch....

I have never had a TrendNet switch last very long - mine lasted less than a year before only one Port could POE.

I used this injector at first as I didn't have a POE+ switch.

https://www.amazon.com/Injector-Adapter-1000Mbps-802-3af-Compliant/dp/B07V24C4M8/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=trendnet+poe%2B&qid=1616517262&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&smid=A7NW7ZE53HEQ&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzNzkyQjVYRU5VOENHJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNjM0NjcxMTNHSjNYUEpHOUtKQSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwOTc1NDk1NjhMRTEzVkNYSTBaJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

And then since cameras multiply like rabbits, that injector is now used for testing purposes LOL and went to this switch (s) LOL:

https://www.amazon.com/Gigabit-Ethernet-Unmanaged-Network-Optimization/dp/B083WH142K/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=8+port+poe%2B+switch+gigabit&qid=1616517507&sr=8-4

 

[nbstl68]

That is similar to the injector I have that seems to have failed, (TrendNet). So, how does that switch help you with your POE+ needs if it still only delivers 15w max to a port?

 

[wittaj]

My injector has been fine, it has been the TrendNet switches that have pooped out for me.

They do not call it POE+ but shows it meets at standard which is POE+, but it is, at least this one is:

Supports IEEE802.3af/at standard,8 gigabit Ethernet ports, each port up to 30W power supply, with 120W power in total.

Just make sure a port can support 30W and you will be fine. I am running 3 PTZs and regular cameras on this switch just fine.

 

[Slugger]

@slippyb -

I think wittaj had a typo and meant to say:

“Preferred method would be to keep all the cameras off the same network that your internet is on and connect all the cameras to the same switch AND connect that to the BI computer with one internet port and the BI computer connected to the internet with another internet port (this would be called a dual NIC system).”

This is the simplest way for most new people without networking knowledge to isolate the cameras from the internet.

The main drawback to this method is that you will only be able to connect directly to your cameras for administration purposes from that one single BI computer. No other laptop, PC, or mobile device will be able to find the cameras since they are not on your local LAN or internet. So, for instance if you want to sit on your sofa and setup new cameras or tweak camera settings; then that BI computer will need to be at your sofa if you are using this dual NIC method. But since you said the cables all terminate in a central office then you can just locate the BI computer in your office and you will need to do all the admin there.

And for clarification, when I talk about “admin”, I am only talking about camera setup above. Once you setup the cameras using the BI computer the camera feeds and saved videos will be on the BI computer and accessed with the BI software. And as long as that BI computer has a second internet port (dual-NIC) that is connected to your local LAN and internet, you will be able to view camera video from any device. But you just won’t be able to install new cameras and tweak settings from any device. This really isn’t a big deal unless you really want to add cameras frequently or tinker around with settings a lot.

And you can always find a way to inprove access to your BI computer for admin sessions. You could access that BI computer from around the house or in other places by installing Windows Remote Desktop on another machine or by running a long HDMI cable and a long USB cable/hub from the BI computer to your preferred admin location (like another room). This will all really depend on where your BI computer is located. Since your cables all terminate in an office this most likely isn’t much of an issue for you.

I just mention it for others reading this later. I myself have a dual NIC setup where my BI computer is in the basement. And I don’t even have a monitor down there. I just ran a long hdmi and USB cable up to my office. That way I can access the BI computer from the office when I need to do admin stuff.

I hope this helps

 

[wittaj]

@Slugger - thanks for the typo correction - yes I sometimes type faster than I think LOL.

But your statement isn't true about a drawback to the dual NIC method.

With Remote Desktop you can remote log into your BI computer from any machine in your house and use any program that is on that computer. I have got into my camera gui settings from bed, from the sofa, outside when I am tinkering with the settings of shutter and what not at night to optimize the camera settings, even remotely using OpenVPN...

My BI computer is headless (doesn't have a monitor) and I Remote Desktop into it whenever I get a new camera or tinker with settings within the camera gui or Blue Iris...

The only drawback is it is a known issue that live audio does not work with Remote Desktop and Blue Iris when running BI as a service (put playback video works fine). My get-around to that is to open up IE and log into a camera gui and turn the audio on.

Others have used TeamViewer or VNC or I believe a Chrome remote add-on as well to access the desktop of their BI computer.

 

[IAmATeaf]

Bit of a conundrum for me. Currently have a TrendNet POE 8 port gigabit switch with 2 separate uplink gigabit ports which has 6 cams connected.

I’ve order 3 cams from Andy which are due to arrive any day soon.

Do I buy another similar 8 port switch for the extra 1 cam that my current config won’t accommodate or do I go for a 16 or 24 port switch to replace what I currently have? Have been looking on eBay at some of the HP switches which can be had for the price of a new 8 port switch and am unsure what to do.

I’m maybe thinking going the HP route, getting a layer 3 switch which will then afford me some flexibility in terms of sectioning off ports for VLANs?