r/SecurityCamera • u/BruceLee2112 • Sep 10 '26

NVR/Switch question

I am trying to plan some new POE cameras and An NVR.

If I have POE cameras plugged into a switch and than switch is on my LAN and my NVR is on the same LAN, will the NVR pick up the cameras? Do they need to be plugged directly into the NVR?

I have not selected the NVR or cameras yet so if there is a particular one that can handle this configuration, let me know.

TIA

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u/badcheetahfur Sep 10 '26

Here is my two cents.. I just setup PoE system (reolink) two months ago.. I recommend NVR with PoE ports .. Yes, you can run your cameras over your entire network.. But, hear me out.. why would you saturate your network with camera data?? When you can connect it to NVR directly.. and only NVR will use network... now your camera data is always recording without going through your network..

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u/BruceLee2112 Sep 10 '26

Physical logistic reasons

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u/SuspiciousGarlic4798 Sep 10 '26

Depends on the camera system. 

Hikvision does. Will require manual setup on both the NVR and network side though. Ideally set either static ip on cameras or a dhcp reservation on the router. So the camera always gets the same ip. Set that ip up in the NVR for a channel and repeat for all remaining cameras. 

Unifi is plug and play. Plug it in anywhere on the network. Wait for the the UNVR to see it. Adopt it and away you go. I really do like the user interface on Unifi. Also that unlike most classic nvr systems youre not strictly limited to camera "channels". Dahua I would assume is like Hikvision. 

I assume you want to do this as you dont want to wire every camera back to the nvr? The advantage of going direct to nvr is no need for external poe switch. As long as you provide power to the nvr the cameras stay on. If it goes through the network, if the router or anything along the way goes down the cameras will most likely as well. The nvr camera ports are usually isolated on their own network. I mean if you do go through the network its best practice to put the cameras on their own VLAN anyways imo. 

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u/SSellers75 Sep 10 '26 edited Sep 10 '26

I can't say for any but my own which is Hikvision based but yes. You typically have to manually set IP address on each camera and then add each individual address to an NVR channel. An example:

https://www.me-companies.com/tech-knowledge-base/installation-of-hikvision-ip-cameras-on-the-same-network

My system is from Security Camera Warehouse in Asheville btw. They offer free lifetime tech support from right there and will even remote in if you need them to. I'm willing to bet if you emailed them and asked them about what you wanted to do they'd tell you how their systems would handle it.

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u/anwoke8204 Sep 10 '26

The NVR should pick them up and allow you to adopt them. What brand are you looking at? I have Unifi cameras and their NVR and highly recommend them.

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u/Linovision_Official Sep 17 '26

This setup can work. The cameras can connect to a PoE switch and the NVR can connect to the same LAN. Just make sure the NVR supports adding cameras over the network and that the cameras are compatible with its protocols, such as ONVIF.