I've talked to multiple resellers, TechPro Security Systems and Lorex Tech Support and both gave me the same description of how their NVRs could be connected. They both stated that you home run to POE ports on the NVR (isolateing the traffic off the home LAN) or use and external POE switch that would have to be plugged into the Router first and the NVR attached to the router as well. Without a managed switch, my understanding is that this exposes the network to the traffic of the camera system which they agreed with. TechPro even broke down the cost of the, admittedly lower these days, managed switch VS the cost of additional cabling. Cost is not the issue here, its access for me and single cable drop to the limited NVR location.
http://www.networkworld.com/article/2168369/tech-primers/for-ip-surveillance-networks--smart-poe-switches-give-an-edge.html
"A Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) uses an Ethernet switch to partition a physical network, thereby creating distinct broadcast domains. VLANs are especially useful when an IP Surveillance network shares the same network infrastructure with other functions or applications, such as a corporate data network. By assigning the IP Surveillance traffic to a separate, distinct, high-priority VLAN, the traffic is assured to pass through the network swiftly and securely."
My concern would be less for the camera data priority than hosing the home network, a concern the TechPro brought to my attention.
