16-Port NVR - Some IPCams extends to more than 100 meters

[bien gomez]

Hi

I have some inquiries and I wanted to ask what is the possible solution to extend the IPCam to more than 100 meters from the NVR. Target quantity is about 50 to 55 IPCameras all in all

This will be a combination of multiple 16-port NVR.

All NVR must be accessible from the internet and local network as well

Inquiries:
-Some IPCameras may extend more than 100 meters from the NVR

If this is the case, I was thinking if this is possible
NVRs POE port --> POE switch --> IPCamera
OR
NVRs single LAN port -> POE switch --> IPCamera

I am not sure which is the best setup, connect the switch to any of the NVRs 16 port
or to its single LAN port.

-DSL speed
Also, if all the IPCameras are set to full resolution and it will be accessed over the internet,
what is the suggested internet bandwidth in order to provide an acceptable viewing experience
over the internet

-Network performance
If all of the IPCameras are operation, since they are all on a full resolution setting,
are there any other things that should I know about? I mean will this cause too much
network traffic and affect the local system (inventory/pos/biometric/etc.)

I am not yet familiar with a setup that is more than 4 IPCameras so I am hoping to get some information from those how are able to setup a similar scenario.

Thanks so much.

 

[Kieran]

Hi,

You can place a camera farther than 100m from the NVR just fine, provided no single ethernet cable stretches farther than 100m.

So for example, if the camera was 150m from the NVR, you couldn't connect it directly without running the risk of degraded video quality. However, if you place a PoE switch as you mentioned right in the middle - so the switch is 75m from both the camera and the NVR - you'll be absolutely fine.

Ideally, you'd connect the switch to the LAN port of the NVR.


IP cameras require a fairly large amount of bandwidth. Your standard 3MP Hikvision camera will use between 4-8Mbps per camera. On a LAN, this is usually fine as most LANs now are capable of Gigabit throughput to manage the load, but when connecting to the internet most people have very limited upload speeds, especially if you're trying to upload 55 camera streams.

This may also impact any other devices on the same network as these cameras are likely going to be using a large chunk of your maximum bandwidth. You'll have to check both how much they're likely to use and how much you have access to on your network. With an installation of this size, you might want to investigate VLANs and sectioning off the cameras from the rest of the network.

We have a bandwidth calculator on our blog that you can use to estimate the total bandwidth required by the cameras and thus how much bandwidth they'd take up on both your network and also the required upload speed to the internet.

It's definitely also worth noting the Incoming Bandwidth limit on your NVRs too. The Hikvision 7716NI-E4/16P for example can only receive 100Mbps incoming bandwidth to support 16x cameras, so make sure you check what your NVRs can support and set their resolutions / fps settings accordingly.

 

[bien gomez]

Hi Kieran

Thanks. All points duly noted.

I have 1 other concern. Normally IPCams eats up large power/electricity if they are in IR mode right?
If this is the case, any special UTP cable I need to use? I think there are solid and stranded UTP cable
but most of the time I only see the stranded type.

Which type of UTP do you think is best for this kind of installation?
Also, what do you think is the safest maximum cable length for NVR to IPCam (PoE NVR).

Thanks so much.

 

[Kieran]

Hi Bien,

Either Cat5e or Cat6 cable will be absolutely fine. Ideally you'd use Cat6, but it is more expensive. There shouldn't be a noticeable difference between solid or stranded UTP cabling. I would say though that make sure you buy some reputable cable - the cheap and cheerful stuff could cause all sorts of problems down the road.

Any cable length up to 100m will be fine. Beyond that you run the risk of data loss.

 

[bien gomez]

Hi Kieran

I just confirmed the longest length is about 80 meters so I guess no need to use a switch =)
As for the UTP, I am not sure but definitely the utp cable will be a branded one.

I have a follow-up inquiry. I noticed all NVRs with IPCam normally has the local view
out of sync after about more than 1 hour.

What I mean is if I move in front of the iPCam, it takes a few seconds before you can
see your image on the local view.

What we do is to go the NVRs camera setup and click "refresh" and everything will be
in sync again.

Can this be automatically be refreshed so we do not need to go to the NVRs setting and click
refresh.

Thanks.

 

[Kieran]

I'm not sure of a way you can set the NVR to auto-refresh unfortunately.

Which NVR model are you using? I'm assuming it's the 7716NI but I just want to double-check. This model shouldn't have any inherent latency issues as a result of the hardware. Ours in the office has about one second of latency regardless of how long it has been running.

Are you able to improve the network infrastructure at all (using Gigabit switches etc.)? You could check whether the latency issue is still present with fewer cameras connected on the network. Further, try playing around with some of the settings such as reducing the resolution and adjusting the camera's FPS and seeing if that has a noticeable effect. We'll try and isolate what might be causing it.

 

[bien gomez]

Hi

We are using 8 port POE. I am not sure about the exact model.

gigabit we haven't tried since the LAN is only 10/100 for the NVR. Also the IPCam are
directly connected to the NVR so I guess we can't do anything to speed up the network.

Tnx, I think we need to try and tinker with the settings.

Kieran, I would like to ask for your opinion.

The 8 port NVR is only 10/100. I am using 8 IPCameras (2 mp each). All are set to full resolution/full frame rate.
Is there a computation or how do I check the bandwidth for each IPCamera?

Because on the specification I think these are listed
-Network Incoming bandwidth 50Mbps

-Network Outgoing bandwidth 40Mbps

Sorry to bother you with all these questions Kieran.

Thanks.

 

[Kieran]

We have a bandwidth and storage calculator on our blog you can use to estimate the required bandwidth of each camera - you can adjust settings like FPS and so on and see how that impacts the bandwidth each camera will use.

Otherwise, in the NVRs configuration menu itself you can see how much bandwidth each channel is currently using. If it's a Hikvision NVR, this will be in Maintenance > System Info > Record or alternatively Maintenance > Net Detect.

 

[bien gomez]

Hi Kieran.

It is a hik nvr. Thanks for all the help.