Soundy

It really depends on the "robustness" of the network, how much traffic it already carries, and how much it can handle (not all routers/switches are created equal). But in general, yes. Not necessarily. My most common setup uses a Cisco switch with eight 10/100 PoE ports (average 4-5 IP cameras), and two gigabit ports; the cameras connect to the PoE ports, the NVR and NAS into the GbE ports. Tie-in to the office network is then just a "jumper" cable from one of the unused 10/100 ports to the office switch. The NVR, cameras and NAS all live on a 192.168.2.* network, while the office LANs all use the customer's own 10.0.* network. The NVR itself is dual-homed, meaning the adapter has addresses on both networks, with the gateway set to the company network. I posted a diagram of this layout on another thread some time ago, I can't find the picture at the moment... maybe someone else has a link to it. Edit: ahh, here it is:

Agreed, this is the best place to start, especially IP addressing. If you understand how addressing and routing working (address/netmask/gateway being the three main components), you're 80% of the way there. From there, the basics of DHCP will help a lot. Things like PoE are handy, but not really necessary, as from your perspective, they're generally just plug-and-go.

bpzle, well put. "Why do we help people who buys product on E-bay"? For the same reason most of them end up here: because they don't know any better. If we can educate them, even after the fact, then we become part of the solution - bet Kenny doesn't buy any more CCTV stuff off eBay! Sure there are exceptions: the idiots who come asking, "What about this camera from eBay, should I get it?" and then ignore all advice to the contrary, get it anyway, THEN come looking for support... to them, we can always say, "Told ya so!" Yes, eBay sellers are competitors... so how do you deal with it? As with any other competitor who employs sleazy business practices: you can turn the customer who's been screwed over and say, "Pffft, too bad, you dumb shmuck!"... or you can offer better service, and potentially win them over as YOUR customers, or at least show them that not everyone in your industry is a slimeball. It's the old more-flies-with-honey-than-with-vinegar approach

Those are true day/night cameras, meaning the have movable IR cut filter... that may not be operating properly. I've also seen sensors fail over time, which exhibits as color shifts in the image.

Where does it say he's had this problem for a year? What I can find for "On-Q", it looks like the make very mediocre consumer-grade cameras to complement a line of home-automation products... probably explains the poor performance over harsh lighting conditions.

You only need to create one thread per question. Is there an "FCC ID" number printed anywhere on the card, probably silk-screened to the board itself?

You mean besides here? Most manufacturers have their own training available, although that often means travelling to wherever the courses are being held. I'd recommend starting with just basic TCP/IP networking. You already know a fair bit about cameras; the basics of light, imaging, views, lenses, and so on don't change - the main difference becomes the transport mechanism. The network is just carrying data; that it's video isn't particularly relevant. Yes, and not necessarily. Depending on resolution, framerate, compression level, and codec used, traffic may not be that substantial. I have five 1.3MP IP cameras in a busy restaurant, recording at 5fps using MJPEG, that average 12-15Mbps total between them. It's still a good idea to segregate them to their own network when possible, especially as you get more cameras requiring more bandwidth, but certainly not 100% necessary for smaller jobs.

So, that gives you a much wider (pardon the pun) range of options. My personal recommendation would be a CNB VCM- or VBM-24VF - 2.8-10.5mm, 1/3", 600TVL, true day/night, with outstanding low-light response. Both models are vandal-resistant, IP66-rated domes: the VBM is a surface-mount only design, the VCM can be flush-mounted, or surface-mounted via an included back-box. There are numerous threads here showing pictures of both styles.

Your best bet might be a more standard dome with 2.8mm lens, that will allow you to rotate the sensor 90 degrees, so the "vertical" angle becomes the horizontal, and vice-versa. This would put the base of the wall along one side of the image, but will give you the wider angle you need along the wall. Kinda like this:

Do these cameras have auto-iris lenses? If the overall lighting of the scene varies a lot, that's the best way to deal with it - it allows the lens iris to close down automatically when the light is brighter. If you have extreme contrast within a scene (especially with really harsh backlighting), you'll need something with a WDR function (Wide Dynamic Range)... or at the upper end, something like Panasonic's SuperDynamic models.

Are you particular about a dome or bullet, or will a box-cam in an environmental housing acceptable? The most COMMON lens options you'll find on a dome or bullet will be 2.8mm and up on a 1/3" sensor, which will give you about 82 degrees horizontal/65 vertical, but depending on the position and height, that should actually be enough in most instances.

"Swann" and "good" are mutually exclusive terms. Anything with a 1/2" sensor and 2.8mm lens will give you about 82-degrees vertical... or a 1/3" and 2.0-2.2mm lens. That Swann camera has 1/3" sensor and a 4-9mm lens... AT BEST that will give you 62 degrees horizontal, 49 degrees vertical FOV.

Yeah, sounds like a candidate for the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" school of thought

Was there some particular reason to switch it to Windows 7? Was the system not running properly before?

Buying from eBay or Amazon may be tricky if you get an unauthorized reseller, because they are unlikely to support the equipment if it has problems later... and most manufacturers won't support products bought from unauthorized sellers. And of course, there's always the danger with eBay in particular, that you don't get exactly what you think you're going to get (this is especially true of Geovision cards, as there are numerous counterfeit/gray-market clone cards for sale). Re: mounting cameras, you generally want to mount them NEAR the lights, but not so that the light shines directly on the dome. "Best" height depends on what you want to catch - the higher you go, the wider the view you can get... but the less detail you'll have as the cameras get farther away.

Well, I'll start with the usual recommendation for CNB's Monalisa line of cameras - VBM or VCM-24VF model is a good place to start. Good resolution, good image with little light. Order the models with built-in heaters to avoid any problems with the cold. If you're adding motion-activated visible lighting, all the better (this is my preference over built-in IR). Bulb type shouldn't matter; standard halogen is probably the best option. CFL bulbs will take too long to start up when it's cold. Building a DVR isn't difficult - even a spare older PC (P4 or better) will do, at least to start with. GeoVision is a popular DIY system; others here use AverMedia, HIKvision, and CNB cards and software, among others. Think about running Cat5e or Cat6 to the cameras, with video baluns to connect them, instead of standard coax - this gives you the ability to easily switch to IP cameras in the future.

Welcome, from Canada, eh?

Welcome aboard!

"TVL" is a bit of a bogus spec - it has SOME meaning, but it's only a small part of the story. Support electronics, signal processing, construction quality, and especially lens quality are all big parts of the equation. Your cheap eBay cameras are generally poorly put together, have little in the way of signal processing, and have lenses with plastic elements, rather than glass, all of which vastly affect the final image quality.

I'd just use a switch for the cameras... the office network guy doesn't know his stuff if he thinks this is going to be a problem.

That AV switch from your first post, plus the modulator from Adam's post, will combine to do the job: run from the DVR to the video-in port on the modulator, then from the "To TV" jack to one of the inputs on the switcher. Run the DVD player's output to the other jack on the switch, then run the switch output to the TV. I'd set both DVD and modulator to output on the same channel, so you don't have to flip channels.

Not if you actually want usable video... not at that price, and certainly not wireless.

It's funny... analog over coax is limited in distance, but you can extend it substantially using UTP... at the same time, network over UTP is limited in distance, BUT... you can extend it substantially using coax This for example, will let you run network up to 1.2km over standard coax. Or, this will extend your UTP network to 1.2km There are a number of other brands as well...

VNC is a cross-platform remote desktop application. You can install a VNC server on the GV DVR, then pull it up with a VNC client on a Mac and view the DVR remotely. There are many different implementations of VNC: WinVNC, RealVNC... we use UltraVNC. Problem with this idea is that the GV cards (at least all the ones I've seen) use direct overlay display, which won't translate through a remote desktop connection - the live camera windows will just show up purple.

Sounds like you're getting a feedback loop, usually meaning the signal coming out of the card is getting looped back into the input somewhere... what sort of device are you connecting? Is the output going to this device as well?