ITtoCC

Hello forumers! My background is in IT and now one of my customers has asked me to recommend a surveillance solution for them. I thought why not, I'm eager to learn and I know networking already so IP, PoE, port forwarding etc. are already familiar, and they already have a PoE switch at one site. They are a small business but they have a three different sites that would require about 4-6 cameras on two of the sites and fewer on the last site. As a small business price is of course important to them, I believe the budget would need to be within reason for their size, so not 10k per location, but perhaps overall it could be a few thousand euros. I've been reading about IP camera systems for the last few days and I think an easy to use NVR would be the best option. Here are some requirements: •Live view monitor in the reception area. •Very easy to use, appliance like NVR as receptionists change often and don't always have the time to learn to use a complex system. Basically the NVR should be able to turn off and on by just pressing a button and bootup right away to live view, so they don't have to do much. •Quiet. Shouldn't make so much noise that it disturbes the receptionists. Putting the NVR to a network closet would be one option, but then the display and mouse signals would need to be converted and brought to the reception area via CAT-cabling. The NVR might also have buttons which could be useful for the more savvy users. Bonus features: •Web interface that works with Mac OS and browsers other than IE. •Mobile app for iOS and Android. At this point we are talking about indoor monitoring of large rooms only, so probably decent bullet cams in the corner. I usually prefer quality professional gear in my IT work, I don't touch cheap and/or consumer/prosumer grade stuff. From what I've been reading, Dahua and Hikvision are popular especially in home use, but I'm not discounting them just because they're inexpensive, if they are the best choice for the job and budget. But in general I'm more comfortable recommending brands that have good support and gear that gives a high quality feeling. Some brands I have access to: Axis, Bosch, Hikvision, Sony, Ernitec, ACTi, AirLive, AVer, Digitus, MicroView, Milestone, Panasonic, Pelco, Samsung, Trendnet, Ubiquiti Some of these drop out simply because they don't have a suitable NVR with live view. Axis Companion for example doesn't have live view. What do you guys think? Hikvision or something like Bosch, Sony, Samsung or ACTi if not over budget?

Anyone ever heard of Digiever NVRs?

Samsung is now Hanwha Techwin. I'll probably drop it from consideration. Unknown brand and who knows what will happen to the products. Shame as the NVR seemed nice and simple and it supported lots of different languages.

I don't have that much cabling experience so I would probably subcontract that and sell the hardware and do the configuration myself. I'm still wrapping my head around brand placement in the marketplace. There seem to be expensive and complex systems for large big corporation installations and a lot of inexpensive brands. A lot of gray area in between.

I mean that an NVR with local monitor support is preferred. Axis Companion Recorder doesn't seem to have a display connector.

After binging on youtube videos and manufacturer manuals, Bosch and ACTi seem overly complex for the use case. Several other brands I've dropped due to not supporting local monitor. So far I'm liking Hikvision, Vivotek and Samsung Techwin NVRs for their simpler GUI. Anyone have any experience on all three?

Great that you got it working. I guess Samsung had in mind that it would work as the internet gateway at the same time, but most people already have device for that function.

Sounds like you have an IP address conflict or the NVR is working as another DHCP server in your network, or the live view stream overloads your Wi-Fi. If you plug a laptop directly to the NVR, does the laptop get an IP address? I’ve connected my laptop directly into each of the two Ethernet ports on the NVR. Both give me the IP 192.168.0.12 It connects as ETHERNET 2 It also says IPv4 DNS Servers: 168.126.63.1 Was the laptop the only network cable connected to the NVR at that time? So the NVR wasn't connected to the rest of the network at the same time? If that's the case, you have DHCP server on in the NVR. This causes it to give out IP addresses on your network, and then other devices try to access the internet through the NVR which won't work as you already have a router/gateway in your network. Try to find DHCP server section in the NVR settings and turn it off if it's on. If you connect your cameras directly to the NVR, then the DHCP server should be on, but only on the ports that connect to the cameras and not on the port that connects to the rest of your network. If your cameras are not connected directly to the NVR, then you should turn DHCP server off in the NVR.

Sounds like you have an IP address conflict or the NVR is working as another DHCP server in your network, or the live view stream overloads your Wi-Fi. If you plug a laptop directly to the NVR, does the laptop get an IP address?