Swann 16 Channel (8 PoE Ports / 8 Non-PoE Ports) NVR

[TonyB]

Looks like in order to use the Ethernet connection shields one would need to cut the provided Cat 5e cable/s, thread-on the twist connector, then terminate or crimp a new RJ45 fitting. I called Swann and they said that they don't recommend modifying any of the equipment or supplied products, but later told me that indeed, cutting the cable is the only way to make use of these connection covers. The instructions make no mention of these items... While the connection points (cable to camera) will be sheltered, in the attic, I'd ideally like to cover these as they'll be laying on insulation, probably with some dust. Figuring on some black electrical tape...

Anyone know what the short red, ribbon-like cable is for? Maybe 10 inches long... Swann tech support didn't know, but will contact me with an answer when found.

 

[scn101]

I'm going to guess the red cable is a SATA cable. Did I win?

 

[khx73]

Yes that's a second SATA cable for connecting an optional second drive in the NVR for more storage.

 

[TonyB]

You guys are great. The more i look at the ends (still in the bag), I'm quite certain that's it...

Got the hole saw attached to the drill, coat hangers stretched-out, electrical tape set...

 

[TonyB]

Question:

In Live View, can one have the channels or cameras in any desired order? If so, then I won't be so per-occupied with trying to insert the Ethernet cables in specific POE ports...

Thanks much.

 

[Blackfly1976]

The costco return policy sounds attractive, but unless I missed something, none of those cameras have mics/audio.
The Sams club ones are similar but state they support audio - similar return policies?

Also, if I have a spare PC laying around is it better to use something like Blue Iris and skip the cost of the NVR?

 

[fenderman]

The costco return policy sounds attractive, but unless I missed something, none of those cameras have mics/audio.
The Sams club ones are similar but state they support audio - similar return policies?

Also, if I have a spare PC laying around is it better to use something like Blue Iris and skip the cost of the NVR?

Most ip cameras that support audio require you to wire a mic and speaker, some require power for the mic, most require power for the speaker unless its built in (very few models)...what model are you looking at from sams?
Your spare pc is likely not powerful enough to run blue iris with a bunch of HD cameras. Folks who use blue iris do it because its much more flexibile and powerful than any NVR. It will cost more than an NVR but offers a much better experience.

 

[Simplex]

Most ip cameras that support audio require you to wire a mic and speaker, some require power for the mic, most require power for the speaker unless its built in (very few models)...what model are you looking at from sams?
Your spare pc is likely not powerful enough to run blue iris with a bunch of HD cameras. Folks who use blue iris do it because its much more flexibile and powerful than any NVR. It will cost more than an NVR but offers a much better experience.

The Swann unit I purchased from Sam's linked above includes cameras with audio capability. It is a little tricky to set up, but I am now getting sound on all four channels. This NVR does not require power for the external speaker.

 

[TonyB]

The Swann unit I purchased from Sam's linked above includes cameras with audio capability. It is a little tricky to set up, but I am now getting sound on all four channels. This NVR does not require power for the external speaker.

This is good to know, thanks for sharing. It seems that the Costco Swann package, at least the one linked to here, does not have audio capability. I'll be calling Swann in a bit to learn for sure, or what other cameras might allow for this option...

That said, I think I'd only want one or two cameras with audio.

Hey, might anyone know about wireless mouses options that are Swann NVR compatible? An old, tattered wireless mouse we have in the house works, so I ordered a new one that arrived today, but it's not working...

 

[TonyB]

When asked about compatible cameras that are audio capable, there was some uncertainty. I was simply told that these cameras are compatible with this NVR, as per the compatibility chart provided earlier:

NHD - 820
821
830
831
835
836
841

Searching these on the Swann website is not all that helpful and I see no way refine a search based upon audio...

I decided to ask about wireless mouses that would work, and received the standard, expected answer that they cannot be recommended. She did state that she is aware of some working alright...

 

[TonyB]

I hope someone here can help...

It seems that I might be mistaken that two 4-port POE switches, plugged into the back of the Swann NVR (two of its LAN ports) will not work as hoped. A Swann rep said that I would need a switch for each additional camera, so if I wanted to use all 16 channels, I'd need 8 separate switches? That doesn't seem right...

Or, just connect more LAN cables between the POE switches, to the LAN ports on the NVR? That would seem to do the trick. I'll try that next, but figured I'd ask here as it seems odd that I was informed that one switch per camera would be needed... Thanks much.

 

[scn101]

It may be that the 8 dedicated non-POE camera Ethernet interfaces on the NVR have been restricted to see only one camera. I'm not sure how or why they'd do that but that may be the case. You can easily test this by plugging in your POE switch into the one of the non-POE camera ports and see if you can detect the cameras plugged into the POE switch, if you can't then just move the POE switch to the LAN Ethernet connection and you should be able to add cameras to the POE switch.

 

[TonyB]

It may be that the 8 dedicated non-POE camera Ethernet interfaces on the NVR have been restricted to see only one camera. I'm not sure how or why they'd do that but that may be the case. You can easily test this by plugging in your POE switch into the one of the non-POE camera ports and see if you can detect the cameras plugged into the POE switch, if you can't then just move the POE switch to the LAN Ethernet connection and you should be able to add cameras to the POE switch.

scn101, thanks for chiming-in...

I currently have 11 cameras connected. Whatever 8 that go to the Swann 7090 NVR's POE ports, work like a champ. I then plug one camera into a POE switch, with the POE switch connected to the NVR (non-POE to non-POE), and it works. However, adding another camera or two to the POE switch does not produce any additional video feeds. As it currently stands, the most I can get to work on the POE switch is just one camera...

Of note, there are 8 non-POE ports on the NVR. When the POE switch is connected to port 9 (the first non-POE port), the image shows-up as camera 9. I now have the POE switch connected to the last non-POE ports on the NVR, and the camera image now shows-up as camera 16...

There are two reviews on the Swann website for this product, and one comments on the POE switch option:

"I was able to also connect cameras that are connected to a remote POE switch to the system and have them part of the 16 channels as well. They consider this a more "advanced" deployment but it's not really difficult. You use their camera management software to scan for cameras and then you connect direct to them using their IP. I think they're 192.168.0.x by default. I had a laptop that I statically set to the same subnet and used that to change their IP's to my lan (192.168.1.x).


Once that was done I went to the NVR, changed the non-POE ports as needed to manual and statically entered the IPs of the cameras. Within a few seconds the detached cameras showed up and are recording into the system.


In addition I have also used a combination of POE, and Powerline networking to deploy 2 cameras to my garage. They're also working just as well."

http://www.swann.com/us/conv16-b3mp8c
++++++

I'm not very sure what to make of the above...

Swann level 2 support should be calling me tomorrow night at 8 pm PT. I really hope I won't need a switch, or some form of separate power for each of the cameras...

 

[scn101]

You might just want to use a POE power injector for the 8 non-POE camera interfaces. Something like this http://www.wifiqos.com/

 

[TonyB]

You might just want to use a POE power injector for the 8 non-POE camera interfaces. Something like this http://www.wifiqos.com/

Thanks again for your input scn101. I had found that exact same one, I think on Amazon, and will go that route if need be. I'd make sure it's a UL-approved one (some are not)...

Gosh, I got these two POE switches as I was somehow led to believe (forgot why now) that they would do the trick. Swann advertises this unit as having 16 channels, but I have not yet found in their documentation how to pull that off. I'd like to avoid going to the router, and I hope I don't hear that as the solution with support tomorrow night. Those 8 non-POE ports are on the back of the NVR for a reason...

If anyone is interested, I'll share how it goes with Swann level 2 support tomorrow night.

EDIT / ADD: If do need to got the power injector route, is the 60 watt cutting it too close (8 cameras)? It would seem fine as these cameras are usually operating in the 4 watt range. I don't foresee a need for PTZ, and if so, I can do so on one of the NVR's POE ports, or just get a larger power supply for the injector later...

 

[scn101]

If you connect the extra 8 cameras via the POE switch to the LAN/WAN port (the port you use to connect to your home LAN) are you not able to see the cameras? I would think you should. 60W should be fine but you can always disconnect one or two cameras and use a cheap individual injector. I use this one for one of my cameras: http://www.ebay.com/itm/48V-0-5A-Wall-Plug-POE-Injector-Ethernet-Adapter-IP-Phone-Camera-Power-Supply-US-/400942535882?hash=item5d5a0994ca:g:eBwAAOSwBahVfxNj

 

[TonyB]

If you connect the extra 8 cameras via the POE switch to the LAN/WAN port (the port you use to connect to your home LAN) are you not able to see the cameras? I would think you should. 60W should be fine but you can always disconnect one or two cameras and use a cheap individual injector. I use this one for one of my cameras: http://www.ebay.com/itm/48V-0-5A-Wall-Plug-POE-Injector-Ethernet-Adapter-IP-Phone-Camera-Power-Supply-US-/400942535882?hash=item5d5a0994ca:g:eBwAAOSwBahVfxNj

To make sure I understand, you're saying to connect the POE switch to the NVR's single LAN port?

I did not try that. If that does indeed work, would that then mean that my system would not be accessible outside the LAN? Maybe then utilize one of the 8 non-POE ports to connect to my router? Seems promising....

 

[scn101]

Having the POE switch and cameras on the LAN port will still allow you to see all the cameras. You cannot use a non-POE port for LAN/PC access, keep the PC on the LAN side. When I had a 7608N-E with integrated POE switch I had cameras on the integrated POE switch and cameras on the LAN side, the NVR saw them all and didn't care where they were, it all just worked. It should for you too.

 

[TonyB]

Having the POE switch and cameras on the LAN port will still allow you to see all the cameras. You cannot use a non-POE port for LAN/PC access, keep the PC on the LAN side. When I had a 7608N-E with integrated POE switch I had cameras on the integrated POE switch and cameras on the LAN side, the NVR saw them all and didn't care where they were, it all just worked. It should for you too.

Thanks again.

A couple questions:

1. With respect to "keep the PC on the LAN side", does that mean I would not be able to view the cameras over the WAN, like when I'm not home, on the LAN?

2. I have two POE switches, each with 4 POE ports, as I need 8 more. What would be the best way to have those two connect with the single LAN port on the NVR?

Very much under the weather as I type, but I hope to feel good enough to try what you said soon... Thanks again.

 

[scn101]

1. You'll be able to see all your camera's through the NVR interface (i.e. at the NVR's single 192.168.1.xxx IP address). You'll also be able to log into each camera on the LAN side individually at their assigned IP addresses as well. Some NVRs let you log into the camera's web interface connected to their integrated POE switch via an internal bridging technique (called Virtual Host on Hikvision NVRs), check with Swann.
2. Do the POE switches have any non-POE ports? My POE switches are 4 POE ports + 4 non-POE ports (8 ports total per switch) and I daisy chain the POE switches...4 POE cams on each switch, non-POE port one switch to the other non-POE port on the other switch and one non-POE switch port to the NVR's LAN port and another non-POE switch port to your LAN.