DS-7604NI-E1/4P: bridging cameras over NVR and local/home networks?

[SteveW25561]

I have on order an HIKVision DS-7604NI-E1/4P (4 port POE unit). I realize I could have gotten an 8 or more port unit for future expansion but I really think I will only need 2 ports for a long while (I know, many have succumbed to more cameras...).

Here is how I plan to set my network up. I have made a diagram to make this easier, but here are the components, and sample IP addresses to illustrate. My network at home uses a 192.168.1.x address range, and I'll presume that the NVR will have an address range for its own camera network like 10.16.1.x.

I plan to connect the NVR to the router via Ethernet, and a wired camera for the front of the house via the NVR's POE. I need a wireless camera to the back of the house (there's no way to string Ethernet across the house to the NVR). It will be connected via WiFi to the router for the home network.

Can the NVR be set to use cameras that are attached to the home network (not just the NVR's own Ethernet ports)? It would be awesome if it could address any number of local network cameras in addition to the 4 hardware ports on the unit itself, but if I understand what I've read, I think you have to map other cameras to one of the internal NVR "ports" thus a 7604 will have only a total 4 possible cameras attached (including wired to the POE ports of the unit plus any local network attached IP cameras). Is this correct?

Thus, my main questions are:

1. Will the NVR bridge the 2 networks to utilize the camera(s) attached directly to the NVR's POE ports plus local network (192.168.1.x) connected IP camera(s)?
2. Am I limited to only 4 total cameras (local NVR and home network attached cameras) with this unit (again, I'm OK with that for my projected use, just wondering about future addictions...)?

Thanks, and sorry for the newbie questions.

 

[alastairstevenson]

On the assumption that your 7604 will work in the same way as the 7608 and 7816 where this topic has had some airing:

1. Will the NVR bridge the 2 networks to utilize the camera(s) attached directly to the NVR's POE ports plus local network (192.168.1.x) connected IP camera(s)?

The 4 PoE ports will appear as pre-configured channels in the web GUI, and if you don't have cameras plugged in to all the PoE ports, you can reconfigure an unused one to connect to a LAN-connected camera. For a 4 channel NVR with 4 PoE ports, there are no option to add or delete the pre-configured channels.

2. Am I limited to only 4 total cameras (local NVR and home network attached cameras) with this unit (again, I'm OK with that for my projected use, just wondering about future addictions...)?

The device is a 4 channel NVR - you will only be able to use a maximum of 4 channels no matter how they are configured or connected.

Thanks, and sorry for the newbie questions.

Apology not needed - these will benefit the large number who just read but don't write.

 

[schnellmedic]

This is good formation, thanks!

I have a question slightly off topic, can that camera on the inside of the NVR POE network be configured directly from the 192.168 side ? Or do the cameras need to activated and configured for non default settings before dropping them into the PoE side?

On the assumption that your 7604 will work in the same way as the 7608 and 7816 where this topic has had some airing:

The 4 PoE ports will appear as pre-configured channels in the web GUI, and if you don't have cameras plugged in to all the PoE ports, you can reconfigure an unused one to connect to a LAN-connected camera. For a 4 channel NVR with 4 PoE ports, there are no option to add or delete the pre-configured channels.


The device is a 4 channel NVR - you will only be able to use a maximum of 4 channels no matter how they are configured or connected.


Apology not needed - these will benefit the large number who just read but don't write.

 

[alastairstevenson]

I have a question slightly off topic, can that camera on the inside of the NVR POE network be configured directly from the 192.168 side ? Or do the cameras need to activated and configured for non default settings before dropping them into the PoE side?

If the NVR has the 'Virtual Host' option and it is enabled - the camera web GUI can be accessed via the set of links shown in the 'Connect' column of the NVR web GUI Camera Management menu.
In the absence of Virtual Host there are several other methods to access the camera web GUI directly.
For the occasional adjustment to a camera configuration, probably the simplest, but requiring some physical work, is to connect a laptop / PC to an unused PoE port and use the new, very good, Windows 'Batch Config Tool' which takes SADP to a whole new level.