vince32837 0 Posted December 21, 2011 Hi- I'm an newbie looking to add 4 camera setup for the house. (2-front & 2-back) Please take a look at my setup diagram. A co-worker has Foscam Wi-Fi camera setup. It looks decent, but I wanted to step up to the next level quality if I could. Q1) Is my wiring correct in the diagram? should the recording laptop be connected to the router or a non-PoE port on the switch? Q2) I heard good things about Axis cameras from what I read. I am not dead set on the model camera shown just trying to verify this is how I should set it up? If there are better ways to go? thanks Vince Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Campbell 0 Posted December 21, 2011 Looks good for wiring. I have a preference for Vivoteks. Price v Performance can't really be matched by anything else. But that's just my opinion of course. Admittedly, Vivotek doesn't really have a camera to match the M1104. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeromephone 6 Posted December 21, 2011 switch out the trendnet POE switch for a Netgear. Have had bad luck trendnet no problems with netgear. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hardwired 0 Posted December 21, 2011 Is there any way to provide a hardwired connection to the recording laptop? It would be significantly more reliable that way (all of the camera traffic going through wireless is a significant load), or can you do the recording on one of the hardwired PC's, and just view with the laptop? Out of curiosity, why are you using a laptop for the recorder? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soundy 1 Posted December 21, 2011 His diagram DOES indicate the that NVR laptop is hardwired... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ssmith10pn 0 Posted December 21, 2011 Plug the NVR laptop into the switch, not the router. That way none of the raw video traffic has to flow through the router switch ports. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hardwired 0 Posted December 21, 2011 His diagram DOES indicate the that NVR laptop is hardwired... Arg, missed that, I was looking at the laptop on Wi-Fi. Yes, plug the laptop into the switch, not the router, that eliminates one potential failure point. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vince32837 0 Posted December 22, 2011 Guys- Thanks for all the quick feedback! Trendnet out Netgear in for switch. Move recording laptop to the switch. Got it! What about monitoring software? The program that comes with Vivotek or Axis cameras good enough? or you guys run 3rd party software? Any other camera brands for best value quality balance or Vivotek is it as Campbell likes? Thanks Vince Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hardwired 0 Posted December 22, 2011 Free manufacturer provided software tends to be really limited and cumbersome. For just starting out, you might want to try out Milestone "Go" version software, it's limited to 8 cameras and five days of recording, but it's free, and gives you a much better idea of what a decent VMS software can do. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vince32837 0 Posted December 22, 2011 Free manufacturer provided software tends to be really limited and cumbersome. For just starting out, you might want to try out Milestone "Go" version software, it's limited to 8 cameras and five days of recording, but it's free, and gives you a much better idea of what a decent VMS software can do. Thx Hardwired..I will check it out.......... V Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
