mhyne

I am looking to install a new CCTV system. I recently bought a Hikvision IP camera to play around with and I am pretty happy with it. I need to purchase an NVR now (and more cameras). I am only going to use IP cameras. Probably PoE models. One of my friends said I did not need a Hikvision NVR because they are pretty expensive and there are a bunch of cheaper NVRs on ebay (like VIP, Dahau, etc). He is using a VIP NVR with Dahau cameras. So I wanted advice as to what NVRs I should be considering. I want to use this Hikvision camera but also want the option to use other brands of IP cameras (ie dahau). I hear some NVRs cannot support different brands of cameras. I have also been told I should try and get an NVR without internal PoE ports and use an external PoE switch. Can most of the NVRs support IP cameras on there WAN port powered from another PoE switch ?