Cams work directly to router -- not through switch?

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Hi, I picked up two inexpensive IP cameras to try out last week. They each have a POE injector, and I tested both of them connected to my router and both worked fine (simultaneously). I don't have enough ports on my router to dedicate a port to each camera (and I may add more cameras in the future), so I picked up an unmanaged switch which I planned to connect to one router port, then connect both cameras to the switch. For some reason, when I connect the cameras through the switch to the router, the router no longer sees the cameras at all.

To test the switch, I connected other devices (computer, cable card tuner, etc.) through the switch to the router and they all work as expected.

The cameras work as expected also if each is connected directly to a router port.

The following setup works: Camera >> POE Injector >> Router.
This setup does not work: Camera >> POE Injector >> Switch >> Router.

Thoughts on why they don't work? I was really hoping this would work because I'd like to put ANOTHER switch in another location and add two more cameras off of it as well.

thanks!
 

fenderman

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Hi, I picked up two inexpensive IP cameras to try out last week. They each have a POE injector, and I tested both of them connected to my router and both worked fine (simultaneously). I don't have enough ports on my router to dedicate a port to each camera (and I may add more cameras in the future), so I picked up an unmanaged switch which I planned to connect to one router port, then connect both cameras to the switch. For some reason, when I connect the cameras through the switch to the router, the router no longer sees the cameras at all.

To test the switch, I connected other devices (computer, cable card tuner, etc.) through the switch to the router and they all work as expected.

The cameras work as expected also if each is connected directly to a router port.

The following setup works: Camera >> POE Injector >> Router.
This setup does not work: Camera >> POE Injector >> Switch >> Router.

Thoughts on why they don't work? I was really hoping this would work because I'd like to put ANOTHER switch in another location and add two more cameras off of it as well.

thanks!
it should work...
have you ensured that you gave each camera distinct ip addresses?
 

actran

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@SlickWillie Yes, cameras on switch should be visible on your local network. Weird that you have a problem.

By the way, for manageability, you may want to replace your non-POE switch with a POE switch. Then no need for POE injectors. It's just easier, especially as you add more cameras.
 
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it should work...
have you ensured that you gave each camera distinct ip addresses?
Yes, they're identical cameras and had the same default IP out of the box, but I changed both to different unique IP addresses so I'd know which one was which...

And... they both worked again perfectly when I removed the switch and plugged them both back directly into the router.
 

fenderman

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Yes, they're identical cameras and had the same default IP out of the box, but I changed both to different unique IP addresses so I'd know which one was which...

And... they both worked again perfectly when I removed the switch and plugged them both back directly into the router.
what model switch are you using?
did you buy premade cable?
 
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It's a Netgear GS308 switch. I made the cables, they are Cat 5e and about 100ft from the POE injectors. Using pre-made cable to go from POE injectors to switch/router.

The long ones I made are definitely not cross-over. The pre-fab don't appear to be cross-over -- all the individual conductor colors match on both ends. Using all the same cables regardless of the setup -- and they work when going straight to the router.

Temporarily using the switch with other network devices just to get up and running, but I can't sacrifice bandwidth for more than 1 router port to be occupied by cameras long-term...
 

TonyR

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You said: "This setup does not work: Camera >> POE Injector >> Switch >> Router."

Have you tried moving the cable running from switch to router to a different port on switch?

Does this work OK? PC >> Switch >> Router ?
 
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Yes, PC >> Switch >> Router works as expected. So does CableTuner >> Switch >> Router.

I haven't tried moving the cable from the router to the switch to a different port on the switch. It's an unmanaged switch and I don't see any indication of an uplink port or anything like that. Plus it works for the other devices. I can try it though!
 

TonyR

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Yes, PC >> Switch >> Router works as expected. So does CableTuner >> Switch >> Router.

I haven't tried moving the cable from the router to the switch to a different port on the switch. It's an unmanaged switch and I don't see any indication of an uplink port or anything like that. Plus it works for the other devices. I can try it though!
It won't hurt. I've had lightning do strange things to LAN ports on switches before. The one port would work until it passed lots of data then it would just stop.
 

SantiagoDraco

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What do you mean when you say the router does not "see" the cameras? Can you be more specific on what doesn't work? In other words are you saying that if all devices are connected to the switch and the switch has one of it's ports connected to the router... then the cameras are not visible to the PCs?

One thing you have to be sure you haven't created is a broadcast loop. Make sure that you don't have any devices double connected to the router and the switch. You should have one cable to the router from the switch, only. You should then have only one wire to each device from the switch. The problem you are describing sounds like it could be a broadcast loop flooding the network and killing the devices ability to send packets properly.
 
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What do you mean when you say the router does not "see" the cameras? Can you be more specific on what doesn't work? In other words are you saying that if all devices are connected to the switch and the switch has one of it's ports connected to the router... then the cameras are not visible to the PCs?

One thing you have to be sure you haven't created is a broadcast loop. Make sure that you don't have any devices double connected to the router and the switch. You should have one cable to the router from the switch, only. You should then have only one wire to each device from the switch. The problem you are describing sounds like it could be a broadcast loop flooding the network and killing the devices ability to send packets properly.
There's one cable from one port on the router to one port on the switch. Then one cable from another port on the switch into the POE injector, then a long cable from the POE injector to the camera. There are two cameras (currently), so there's actually two cables out of two different ports on the switch -- both into their own POE injector -- then into their respective cameras. Just to be sure the switch was actually working (it's brand-new), I plugged some other network devices into it -- and they all work -- only the cameras don't work. If I eliminate the switch and free up two ports on the router, then use all the same wires/infrastructure as I described above, but plug the wires from the POE injectors into the router instead of the switch, then the cameras both work.

When I say the router doesn't "see" the cameras, what I mean is that with the switch/router setup, the router doesn't show that the cameras have an assigned IP address -- it's as though they are not plugged in. When the switch is eliminated and the cameras are plugged directly into router ports (from POE injectors), then they both show up and immediately get assigned IP addresses.
 

fenderman

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It's a Netgear GS308 switch. I made the cables, they are Cat 5e and about 100ft from the POE injectors. Using pre-made cable to go from POE injectors to switch/router.

The long ones I made are definitely not cross-over. The pre-fab don't appear to be cross-over -- all the individual conductor colors match on both ends. Using all the same cables regardless of the setup -- and they work when going straight to the router.

Temporarily using the switch with other network devices just to get up and running, but I can't sacrifice bandwidth for more than 1 router port to be occupied by cameras long-term...
Did you use the 568b standard?
 
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Actually, no. But the colors match and the long cables work without the switch. I suppose i chop off the ends and remake them if that could legitimately be the issue?
 
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And the continuity worked when i tested the cables. Albeit the colors in an order i could easily remember!
 

Philip Gonzales

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So you didn't use TIA-568B, and it sounds like you didn't use TIA-568A either? If I were a betting person I would bet that is your issue. I would redo all the ends with the 568B standard and retry.
 

fenderman

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Actually, no. But the colors match and the long cables work without the switch. I suppose i chop off the ends and remake them if that could legitimately be the issue?
yes, it could very well be the issue...the standard is there for a reason...the pairs are twisted to avoid interference...the switch could be more sensitive to this..regardless it must be fixed you are certainly dropping packets even when it "works"...
 
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So I switched cables around and nothing seemed to change. I did notice however, that when the cameras were plugged into the router, they connected at 10/100 (orange LED) not gigabit (white LED). When I plugged them into the switch, the LED indicator on the switch only lit briefly, then went off, then came on randomly for just a moment, then off, then on, etc. Other devices plugged into the switch (which work) had LEDs that were almost constantly lit and flickering like normal network activity. Could this gigabit switch be unable to negotiate down to a speed below gigabit???
 

fenderman

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So I switched cables around and nothing seemed to change. I did notice however, that when the cameras were plugged into the router, they connected at 10/100 (orange LED) not gigabit (white LED). When I plugged them into the switch, the LED indicator on the switch only lit briefly, then went off, then came on randomly for just a moment, then off, then on, etc. Other devices plugged into the switch (which work) had LEDs that were almost constantly lit and flickering like normal network activity. Could this gigabit switch be unable to negotiate down to a speed below gigabit???
no...try premade cables...store bought...dont use any of your own cables when testing...
what injectors are you using?
 
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Thanks -- that would be an easy enough fix. I might try using a shorter pre-fab patch cable tomorrow just to test though. The cameras are pretty easy to unmount from where they are located. Then I can bring them close to all the networking gear and use short pre-fab cables.
 

fenderman

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Thanks -- that would be an easy enough fix. I might try using a shorter pre-fab patch cable tomorrow just to test though. The cameras are pretty easy to unmount from where they are located. Then I can bring them close to all the networking gear and use short pre-fab cables.
what injectors are you using?
 
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