Camera's keep dropping off... POE Switch the culprit?

[ak_camguy 0]

I have an isolated network for my camera system and this is my current configuration. Ken with Blue Iris software has been a great help! He even answers on the weekends which is rather surprising. I noticed if I dropped my camera setting from auto negotiate to 100/Full the connection seemed a little more stable, but the cameras still drop out about every 10-15 seconds for a period of about 5 seconds and then re-acquire a signal.

 

I really don't want to spend $200 on a POE switch where I only need 4 ports... Any suggestions?

 

If the camera's weren't already wired in place I would just plug them into a regular switch that I have here and run separate power to identify the problem. But since it's snowing and I really don't feel like doing that... Any other suggestions?

 

Will something like this work?

http://www.amazon.com/WS-POE-8-48v60w-passive-Ethernet-Injector-cameras/dp/B0086SQDMM/ref=cm_cr_dp_asin_lnk

[buellwinkle 0]

Could just be a bad cable or connector. Try the cameras with a different cable, maybe a short store bought cable. How long are the cables now? Do they drop out when using the browser interface? Could still be BlueIris, try a different product, many have 30 day trials.

[ak_camguy 0]

Drop's off when using the camera's browser window as well.... I managed to use a tool called "wireshark" to capture the data... It looks like when the camera drops off its due to at least one TCP segment being lost. There are a bunch of TCP Dup ACK in a big block in the capture file... So looks to be network related.

 

I am betting its the switch at this point.

 

The cables are factory cables, 60' long.

 

I purchased the SWANN 2 pack of HD camera's and the cables came with the package. I have tried unplugging one camera to see if it improves, it doesn't. And since it happening on both camera's my money is on the switch at this point.

[ak_camguy 0]

Update: There is a setting under audio/video called IFRAME. One of my camera's was set to 100 somehow. I changed it to 5 and my network/cameras are back to normal.

 

Amazing how one setting can cause lots of pain.