In some scenarios, it can be useful to have several cameras connected to a POE switch but to keep that switch directly connected to your NVR rather than the local network.
If you are able to connect each camera to its own POE port on your NVR, then this is generally advisable, as using a Plug & Play setup is much simpler and avoids the need for extra hardware or power supplies.
However, if your NVR is closer to your POE switch than it is an available access point to your LAN, then it can make connecting the cameras simpler whilst avoiding the need to have an ethernet cable running from each camera back to the NVR.
One other benefit of keeping the cameras connected directly to your NVR this way, rather than connecting them across your LAN, is that the connection does not rely on your router being operational. Provided the NVR and POE switch are working, the cameras will remain connected and recording regardless of any problems that might occur with your local network.
These seven steps below explain how to connect multiple cameras on a POE switch to a single port on your NVR.
If you’re still having trouble, please create a new thread with a description of your equipment and what you’ve tried mentioning this guide. Our technical team or another forum member should then be able to help.
If you are able to connect each camera to its own POE port on your NVR, then this is generally advisable, as using a Plug & Play setup is much simpler and avoids the need for extra hardware or power supplies.
However, if your NVR is closer to your POE switch than it is an available access point to your LAN, then it can make connecting the cameras simpler whilst avoiding the need to have an ethernet cable running from each camera back to the NVR.
One other benefit of keeping the cameras connected directly to your NVR this way, rather than connecting them across your LAN, is that the connection does not rely on your router being operational. Provided the NVR and POE switch are working, the cameras will remain connected and recording regardless of any problems that might occur with your local network.
These seven steps below explain how to connect multiple cameras on a POE switch to a single port on your NVR.
- Plug each camera into a numbered port on your POE switch and connect the switch to your LAN (router) via the Data/uplink port, so those cameras are visible in SADP on your PC.
- Activate any camera that shows as “inactive” with a password.
NB - keeping the same password for each will simplify the entire process.
- Turn on DHCP on each camera by selecting them in the SADP tool and ticking Enable DHCP in the right-hand window. Enter your password and click Modify to save the change. This is key for everything to work.
- Now, disconnect the POE switch from your network and reconnect it to your chosen POE port on the NVR, whilst keeping the power supply to the switch connected.
- Disable the NVR's POE on the channels that the switch is connected to and those that you have reserved for the cameras. To do this, open the NVR's web GUI and navigate to Configuration > System > Channel Management > POE Channel. From there, untick the channels you want to disable and click Save.
NB - for example, if your POE switch is connected to port 8 of the NVR, and you would like to add your cameras to ports 1, 2 and 3, then you will need to disable the POE on ports 1, 2, 3 and 8.
- Go to Configuration > System > Channel Management > IP Camera, and click Quick Add. This will bring up a list of the IP cameras connected to your local network, as well as the ones connected to the POE switch. Select the cameras with a 192.168.254.X IP address, as these addresses are on the NVR’s IP range and so must be the cameras connected directly to the NVR via the switch.
- Once you have ticked the box for each camera you would like to add, click on OK to add them to the reserved channels. After a few seconds, the Status column for those cameras should change to Online, indicating they have been successfully connected.
Important things to note:
- Unless you are using a 12V power supply for your cameras, this will only work with a POE switch, as the ethernet ports will need to provide power to the cameras and a normal network switch does not allow power to pass through it from the NVR’s POE ports.
- If the power supply from your switch is disconnected then your cameras will stop recording to the NVR.
- Please ensure your POE switch has a suitable power budget to handle the cameras you plan to connect to it. The maximum power draw of a camera can be found in its datasheet.
- This will only work with Hikvision cameras, so anything added using the ONVIF protocol must be connected to its own POE port on the NVR or across your local network via a different switch.
- If the cameras are not connecting with DHCP enabled, then you can also manually assign the correct IP address for the channel you would like to put the camera on using the SADP tool.
These should be 192.168.254.2 for channel D1; 192.168.254.3 for channel D2; 192.168.254.4 for channel D3; and so on... The final number of the IP should be one higher than the channel.
The gateway address should also be set as 192.168.254.1.
You should then be able to add the cameras either via the Quick Add button or by the Manual adding method when clicking the edit button for that channel.
If you’re still having trouble, please create a new thread with a description of your equipment and what you’ve tried mentioning this guide. Our technical team or another forum member should then be able to help.
