Networking Help Needed for POE Cameras/NVR

[amyangel]

Long story, i bought my house from an owner that had a home business and professional servers in the house which has made it difficult for me to figure out. We specifically worked out a deal where he can take his gear and cams but leave all wiring since he wanted $3k for his HIK cams. He had 5 POE cams in main house and we have a back office which is not connected to the house that he had 2 POE cams.

I bought SWANN NVR8-8580 POE cams with NVR.

I attached a photo of his original setup that i took prior to buying the house.
Main house - Patch panel with port 1 for internet from FIOS which is lead to port 21 (this gives internet to the back office) (red cable).
Patch panel in main house - port 2,3,4,6,7 these lead to the main POE cams around perimeter of the house.

The 2 POE cameras in the back office - looks like there's cat6 wired also from a 24port patch panel in the office which leads to ports 21,22,23 (21 is the lead for internet) he also had wiring on 22, 23.

I wish i could run each Ethernet cable directly to the NVR but they are all hardwired into the patch panels both in main house and office.

1. My current set-up: FIOS -> ASUS RT68U router -> patch panel (main) -> patch panel (office) -> ASUS AC1900 (RT68U) set up as AP mode.
2. Added 5 cams -> patch panel -> NVR directly
3. Tried plugging main patch panel ports 22,23 and 24 to NVR directly but nothing happens and POE cams (x2) in back office aren't powering on.
I also tried plugging a CAT6 cable to each of the 24 ports and leading to ASUS AP but doesn't do anything.
I also tried plugging a POE cam to CAT6 then leading directly to AP but does not power on either.

My conclusion is that unless i can power on the 2 POE cams, i cannot test the 24 ports to see which ports are wired to the cameras in the back office.

If i buy an unmanaged poe switch (4 port) can i do the following:
2 addl POE cams -> POE switch -> AP -> patch panel (office) -> patch panel (main house) -> router -> NVR?
Would the SWANN NVR detect it on the network and would it power on this way?

Thanks and sorry if it's confusing.

 

[tangent]

FTFY


Too bad he took the rack, that kind of sucks.

 

[tangent]

A patch panel is just a place to terminate your cable so it looks pretty and so you aren't moving the cable around regularly.
Short patch cords connect the jacks on the patch panel to a network switch.

 

[amyangel]

Thanks! ya he took the entire bracket, rack and i'm left stumped as to how to get the the 2 cams working. i'm hoping for some cheaper solutions without costing a ton of money.

 

[tangent]

You need to figure out which jacks on the patch panels have something connected and where those cables go. Then you need to connect the jacks you want to use to a PoE switch or NVR with built in PoE.

 

[amyangel]

You need to figure out which jacks on the patch panels have something connected and where those cables go. Then you need to connect the jacks you want to use to a PoE switch or NVR with built in PoE.

Ahh ok so i need to figure out (getting a wire tracker device)? then buy a POE switch and connecting to AP and then patch panel back to main house?
The NVR is in the main house connected to the main router.

Thanks

 

[tangent]

He had 5 POE cams in main house and we have a back office which is not connected to the house that he had 2 POE cams.

I bought SWANN NVR8-8580 POE cams with NVR.

I attached a photo of his original setup that i took prior to buying the house.
Main house - Patch panel with port 1 for internet from FIOS which is lead to port 21 (this gives internet to the back office) (red cable).
Patch panel in main house - port 2,3,4,6,7 these lead to the main POE cams around perimeter of the house.

The 2 POE cameras in the back office - looks like there's cat6 wired also from a 24port patch panel in the office which leads to ports 21,22,23 (21 is the lead for internet) he also had wiring on 22, 23.

I wish i could run each Ethernet cable directly to the NVR but they are all hardwired into the patch panels both in main house and office.

1. My current set-up: FIOS -> ASUS RT68U router -> patch panel (main) -> patch panel (office) -> ASUS AC1900 (RT68U) set up as AP mode.
2. Added 5 cams -> patch panel -> NVR directly
3. Tried plugging main patch panel ports 22,23 and 24 to NVR directly but nothing happens and POE cams (x2) in back office aren't powering on.
I also tried plugging a CAT6 cable to each of the 24 ports and leading to ASUS AP but doesn't do anything.
I also tried plugging a POE cam to CAT6 then leading directly to AP but does not power on either.

My conclusion is that unless i can power on the 2 POE cams, i cannot test the 24 ports to see which ports are wired to the cameras in the back office.

If i buy an unmanaged poe switch (4 port) can i do the following:
2 addl POE cams -> POE switch -> AP -> patch panel (office) -> patch panel (main house) -> router -> NVR?
Would the SWANN NVR detect it on the network and would it power on this way?

Thanks and sorry if it's confusing.
View attachment 39688

Compared to other options Swann may be a little underwhelming. If returning it is an option, you may want to consider it.
I don't remember for sure, but swann may use their own non-compliant PoE implementation that only works with swann cameras.
This may be your problem.

On the main patch panel, it's easy enough to see which jacks have cables punched down.
On the leviton panel, you can remove it from the cabinet and turn it around so you can see what jacks have cables connected.
https://images.homedepot-static.com/catalog/pdfImages/bb/bb7d35c1-263c-4b10-a754-8431629b0929.pdf
Then you can try to figure out where things go.

Presumably some of the cables go to wall jacks for computers and they weren't all for camera locations.

You can effectively eliminate any cables that you're using with the swann cameras and then focus on trying to figure out where the other cables go.

The simplest thing you could do would be get an 802.3af PoE switch and plug a cable in to different ports until a link light on the switch lights up. Then you'll have found a camera or something else that's plugged into the other end of the cable.

 

[amyangel]

Thank you so so much, this is the first response i've received on any of the forums i've been on that i've gotten such great feedback and help. I really appreciate it. I'm going to start from your advice and check. As far as Swann goes, their forums seems to indicate that most switches do work and in the newer NVR's seems it's capable of detecting. Unfortunately, returning isn't an option at this point and i did get a decent price on it.

 

[himey97]

Following to watch you solve this mystery.

Did original owner leave cameras in the back office? Otherwise how have you connected your new cameras in the back office?

There are at least 12 cables going into the back office patch panel that must go somewhere.
We know one cable goes from Port 21 on Main Patch Panel (MPP) TO Port 1 on Back Office Patch Panel (BOPP)
We also know two cables go from Port 22/23 MPP to AA/BB on BOPP.

I'd start by hooking up short cable from Port 22 MPP to the NVR. I'm assuming your NVR is providing the POE.
Then connect a camera to each of the ports on the BOPP (one at a time) directly until you have power indication on the camera.
This will solve the Port 22 MPP to Port AA BOPP. Label Port AA BOPP as Port 22 MPP.
Repeat for Port 23 MPP

As others have mentioned the picture labeled Main Switch is actually the Main Patch Panel.
I'm also assuming the original owner had something else hooked up in the back office to do the actual routing/switching for the other cables connected to the BOPP.

 

[amyangel]

Yes, i'm sorry I put up the new cams in replacement in the back office.
I'm hoping to dig deeper tonight with my husband's help.
From what i gather from my neighbor, the previous owner put up the system during a time when he worked from home after building the back office, but ultimately his company stopped allowing him to work from home, maybe due to sensitivity of the data. He definitely had other stuff in the office but i couldn't tell what it was. kinda kicking myself now for not taking pictures.

 

[himey97]

So then the real mystery is where are all the cables going into the BOPP coming from?
I'll make a prediction your final set up will look like this:
Cable from MPP Port 22 to NVR

Current white cable from MPP 22 to Port AA on tht BOPP

Mini Patch Cable from Port AA to Port XX on the BOPP (you provide this)

Another current white cable from Port XX on the BOPP that runs to the IP camera location #1​

Cable from MPP Port 23 to NVR

Current white cable from MPP 23 to Port BB on tht BOPP

Mini Patch Cable from Port BB to Port YY on the BOPP (you provide this)

Current white cable from Port YY on the BOPP that runs to the IP camera location #2​

 

[amyangel]

Update: I bought a TPLink 4port POE switch from amazon, i used it to test the levitron patch panel and found that ports 16/17 were wired for the POE cams. There's also ports 3 and 4 but it only lite up yellow on the switch and not green (not sure what that went to).

I was able to power and connect to AP and then connected from main patch panel 22,23.

As far as the SWANN 8580 goes, i was able to set it into manual mode and add 1 camera using my login and pw for the NVR.
when it came to the second camera, for some reason the login pw didn't work. I followed the manufacture website and downloaded the device config tool but the default pw to get into the camera didn't work. I tried 12345, admin, default, mac address and even my pw for the NVR.
Looks like i'm almost there assuming i can get SWANN to help reset the cam's pw so i could add to the NVR.

Thanks everyone! really appreciate all the support. hopefully i can dig around and find the master PW for the cam or get a call back from their lv2 support.

 

[Whoaru99]

If like some cams (or many) there may be a reset button somewhere on the camera. Perhaps behind an access door for memory card slot or whatever.