POE switches

hamsoplo

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I'm looking for a poe switch to eventually power a system with around 12-16 cameras. Most switches don't have poe to all ports and those that do are very expensive. I ran across this one:
NETGEAR ProSafe M4100-26-POE 24-Port 10/100 PoE Managed Switch with Gigabit Uplink
http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-ProSafe-M4100-26-POE-24-Port-FSM7226P-100NES/dp/B00AUEYW5U
It seems like a reasonable price, anyone have any experience with it? Seems to fit the bill, am I missing something?
Any other recommendations?
 
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networkcameracritic

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Looks good to me. We used that switch for a while until the PoE portion failed, but Netgear replaced it under warranty, but took so long we had to buy a new switch to replace and now we have a spare.
 

burtonvdp

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At work we use mainly HP but picked up a few Netgear GS728TPs for some remote branches. They work well and handle a few PoE+ ports as well. I opt'd for some ubiquiti tough switches for the house because they are going to be in the master bed room's closest which can get fairly warm and I did not want to listen to fans. I figured I can always strap a few together if I ever went crazy with PoE ports.... Which is getting closer now that all of my WAPs and Cameras are running PoE.

Just keep an eye on overall power draw vs power delivery IE wattage and you should be fine.
 

icerabbit

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I didn't see that one when I looked around, or not at that price ... or maybe since it was 3rd party listing, when I looked at Amazon directly. Anyhow. I have a BV Tech POE rack switch on order. Unmanaged. Maybe a bit of a gamble, but they seem to specialize in security stuff, so hopefully that'll work out. Unmanaged because I wanted to keep things simple. Still too many details to keep track of and iron out, wires to run, cameras to order, set up, how to record with what, ... traffic per camera shouldn't be that high. I hope. If it were to become an issue I would hope I can segment it out with a vlan, ...

Crossing fingers.
 

fmflex

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I'm using a TP-Link TL-SG1008PE with all 8 ports POE capable. My only complaint with that switch is it uses a small cooling fan which is kind of audible at times. What I would check with getting a larger multi POE port switch would be what the maximum wattage the switch is capable of supplying and the wattage per port. There's also the issue with putting all your eggs in one basket and with a switch failure you're offline.
 

icerabbit

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I saw that 8POE unit. Debated about using it centrally when I got their 8-4POE. Gave a lot of consideration of staying with small units, decentralized setup with three small 8-4POE hubs, short runs to the cameras, then three quick lines back to the main router. Faster install. Would work great.

But. Would still need a bigger switch at the router. If I had an 8 port centrally, I'd have little or no room to grow besides then upgrading to a bigger unit or adding a second small unit, as I'd like to have a few cams up and add two little wifi POE access points (wifi doesn't reach the garage or back deck, eating precious & slow LTE). Decentralized goes counter to the IT ideal of end-to-end direct lines. It is easy to start small and inexpensively, but becomes a bit of a headache of several little boxes everywhere that need power, and ideally a some power conditioning and battery backup. Troubleshooting difficulty if something is wrong. More wires, jacks and connectors that may have a connection issue. If not for me, for a family member in my absence, or a future owner or their technician.

So, the decision was made to go a step bigger. I figured it'd grow from 4 to probably 8 cameras. So, a bigger POE switch with more power and routing capability. I think it can handle 250W total and 30 per port. All direct CAT6 lines. One UPS for the system.

Then shortly after that came the realization / decision to relocate the internet router and switch (+ existing ethernet lines). Installing a network / server rack. Instead of having stuff in two locations. So, it is now a long sweaty dusty road full of crawling and climbing to get there, but worth it. I'm already liking the rack and can see how it'll all come together, one cat6 line and one POE6 line at time.

For POE failure, I probably will keep the small 8+4pOE handy. Or splice in a thin 8 port POE injector strip like somebody showed here.

In the grand scheme of things, considering the cost of the cameras, switch, recording system, wire, all the little doodads that add up, time to install, ... should a single part fail, it is not the end of the world. But, it is good to have a little backup.

Anyway ... time to rerun a few existing lines a bit longer!
 

fmflex

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Hi icerabbit

I'm very interested to know where you decided to relocate all your network gear. Feel free to PM me if you're not comfortable posting it out there.
 

hamsoplo

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Thanks guys. I ended up ordering the switch from Rakuten for $245 shipped. http://www.rakuten.com/prod/netgear-prosafe-m4100-26-poe-ethernet-switch-26-ports-manageable-24-x/247726604.html
I'd prefer fan-less but it's for a business so it's not that big of a deal, the nrv has fans too.
I'll let you know how it goes. I'm switching over a from a 16ch dvr analog system that failed, now replaced with a 16ch hybrid nvr. I'll run analog now and switch over to ip a couple at a time so I'm still covered. I'll probably keep the siamese coax in place to use the power wires to run IR illuminators and PIR motion detectors.
 

icerabbit

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fmflex, you have a PM :)

Basically, things were just hooked up, split up and added to as needed at the service entry location in the basement. Now it is all moving into a nice rack in a closet.

Great price on that with Rakuten, hamsoplo. Maybe I should have gotten that one. Did I buy too soon? Anyhow. The BV-Tech came in. Very vanilla box. Only a pamphlet. Unwrap. Plug in. Flip switch. Powers up. Fan is on automatically. No biggie. Cat link to existing switch. Plug in camera. Done.
 

wifiqos

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If you have a switch already - you can add 16 ports of PoE for $125 here http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IJI0U78 there are also 8 port and 12 port versions of this midspan injector to add PoE to any existing switch or router. No Fan. Dual power supply option for failover.
 
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icerabbit

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Stressful moment. I almost sent the POE switch that came in yesterday, back already.

BV-Tech 16 Port 250W Gigabit POE switch
Manual / pamphlet label: 16 Ports Nway PoE Giga Ethernet Switch

Things seemed fine yesterday with just the uplink and 1 camera.
The bigger gigabit switch came in this morning. Plugged that instead of the little 8port.

Now on the POE switch. The uplink does not light up. Orange LAN & POE for cam1 from yesterday, but not flashing. New cam line 2 and 3: POE lights come on steady orange as they should. But the LAN lights never come on yellow/orange (100) nor flash for camera traffic traffic. Despite the cams being up and being viewed live on two systems. Plugged in some gb stuff for giggles. LAN lights never come on green (1000) nor flash for gb network traffic from known gigabit devices ... despite being functional and routing traffic. Moved all cams back to the old little tester switch, thing flashes like an animated light board.

One little thought. Power it down and back up. Bingo. Little orange flash on all ports showing they have power & lights. Then onto orange POE + orange flashing LAN for the cams. Yellow flashing LAN for everything non POE plugged in.

I'm guess thing the thing got all confused about lighting up LAN leds after it lost its uplink for a minute?

Anyhow. Just an FYI to others following the thread, should they consider this unit.

PS: Fortunately the unit has a switch in the back, if you know where it is and can reach it. So you don't have to figure out which of the dozen plugs it is. My scheme for this project is green wires for cameras, and the POE switch has a green wrap at the plug.
 
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