Wired Recording Of IP Cameras

[Halflife390]

Ok so I am planning on making a setup of IP cameras that I wish to record.

I am going to have 8 IP cameras but I am going to record them using Ethernet cables directly plugged in rather then using the internet. I am wondering how I can record these as obviously my computer does not have 8 Ethernet ports. What is the best way of recording and viewing these wired cameras?

I was thinking of plugging them all into an Ethernet switch and then having one Ethernet cable running from that to my PC; I would then use software to record them all. But will this work and enable me to use the pan/rotate functions of each of the cameras? If this idea does work will I be able to use a POE switch to power all of the cameras just using the Ethernet cables?

Thanks

 

[nayr]

Yes, use a PoE switch.. plug everything into same network and record to a local NVR service. I would urge you to dedicate a (low power) computer to the recording instead of trying to dual purpose a computer you use for other work.

Pan Tilt will depend on your cameras and if the NVR software supports it..

I would urge you to do some reading on setting up a basic home network, you dont need to be a network engineer by any means but you will need to know at a basic level how it all works to configure everything correctly... An IP Camera is just another device on the network, no different than a laptop/workstation/mobile etc..

 

[fenderman]

What cameras do you intend to buy? Where are you placing these cameras?

 

[LittleBrother]

Pan tilt hints that you may be doing this with low-end cameras...? It seems only entry level, low-end cameras OR high-end cameras support PTZ. If you were going to get a bunch of the sub $100 ones with PTZ, I'd recommend not bothering and instead just getting decent fixed cameras. With 2-3 MP and a sufficient field of view you'll almost certainly cover everything you're trying to get.

 

[Halflife390]

Thanks for the fast replies!

The cameras I am thinking of getting support 2 way audio and the NVR I am planning on getting has an audio input port. If I plug a microphone into that port will it enable me to use this 2 way audio function or will it have to be plugged into a PC with that runs the cameras software?

Thanks

 

[Don Stephens]

I'm pretty sure you'll have both of those options available to you, not just one or the other.

 

[fenderman]

What is the model of the camera and the model of the NVR?