Regular Network Connection Lost

Stephanie Cline

Stephanie Cline

n3wb
Dec 14, 2016
16
2
Hello,

I have been battling a problem with my network cameras for the past two weeks. Three to five times a day they are losing network connectivity. They are Foscam F19821P cameras, latest firmware, on a new Cisco SG110-24HP switch. Nothing on the network has changed. They are positioned 50 feet above the ground in a warehouse setting. Which means I am not able to reboot each camera. I have to flip the breaker which resets the switch.
I am at my wits end with this. I contacted Foscam but have no received any assistance.
Does anyone have any ideas for what I can do to resolve this? I just can't think of anything save replacing the cameras. However, I find it highly unlikely they all went bad at the same time.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you
Stephanie
 
Stephanie Cline said:
I have been battling a problem with my network cameras for the past two weeks. Three to five times a day they are losing network connectivity.
Click to expand...
Is this a new problem, and they used to be fully stable?
Or is this a new installation that does not work well?

Stephanie Cline said:
on a new Cisco SG110-24HP switch. Nothing on the network has changed.
Click to expand...
A new switch? Does this mean the cameras used to operate on another switch?
If so, were they stable on that switch?

Stephanie Cline said:
Foscam F19821P cameras
Click to expand...
I'm unfamiliar with the model number, and puzzled. Google seems to think it's a low-end domestic PT camera.
 
These aren't by chance the same Foscams that gave you fits 10 months ago in Oct. of 2017, are they? :rolleyes:

Replacing them may be the solution but I do have a few questions:
  1. How many ports are being used on that 'new' switch?
  2. Has anyone strung some new wiring or hung new conduit feeding fluorescent or HID (metal halide, high pressure sodium, etc.) lighting or installed new lighting fixtures?
  3. I realize you said "Nothing on the network has changed" but have there been other physical changes in the vicinity of the acting up cams?
 
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Thank you so much for the responses! I will answer in order.
It is a new problem, started 2 weeks ago.
I purchased a new switch when it started as the switch is located in the warehouse and when installed was not encased. So, it was running slowly as it was.
There have been no modifications anywhere in the building. Yes, they are the same cameras. The owners do not want the expense of all new cameras.

When I reboot the switch the cameras stay up for about an hour and then one by one drop off.
 
Does this occur early in the morning when it's cool or afternoon as it gets hotter outside?

I ask because It's been in the mid 90's here and I can imagine that up high in an indoor warehouse the heat could be higher than that and could be causing some thermal intermittence with the equipment.
 
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There is no common timing. it happens throughout the day. Yes, the warehouse gets hot in the summer and cold in the winter but the cameras have never reacted to it. They were here when I got here so they have been there at least 2 1/2 years.
The switch was old. The fans had stopped working, it was full of dust and dirt. I felt the best route would be to replace it. There are also computers on that switch which have been running much faster since the new switch was put in.
When I flip the breaker everything turns off, the switch powers off as do the link lights.
They are wired cameras
 
Along with @alastairstevenson 's question, is the switch located such that its link LED's can be easily viewed during one of these tantrums?
 
yes the switch can be seen, although not easily. The previous admin installed it very high and the only way to actually touch it is via a ladder. The link lights do stay on until I reboot it.

There is no other place for the computers to be attached to the network.
 
Stephanie Cline said:
There is no other place for the computers to be attached to the network.
Click to expand...
How many computers are on the switch?
How many cameras are there?
What other devices (eg printers) are also on the switch?

As I suggested - you could work 5 or 6 cameras on a 10/100Mbps switch if it was dedicated to that use.
Their traffic is reasonably fixed and predictable.
But add computers and all sorts of congestion will occur, and the camera traffic will be affected.
I'd bet that is the cause of the problem.

A 10/100Mbps as the core switch is these days not a good solution.
You need a gigabit core at least.
 
Thank you for you advice alastairstevenson I will implement a change this morning. I understand the need for a more powerful switch but my budget is very limited. I will update if my problem is solved.

Thank you again, all of you, for your advice and assistance.
 
Stephanie Cline said:
I understand the need for a more powerful switch but my budget is very limited.
Click to expand...
By the way - I'm assuming the switch is uplinked to another part of the network, and as it doesn't have a dedicated high-speed uplink port that's where the congestion would occur.
How many cameras are connected?
One approach that would keep costs down, given not very many devices other than cameras are currently connected, would be a small unmanaged Gigabit switch for other than cameras, and leave the (unknown number of) cameras on the existing POE switch.
That's assuming again that there is an uplink to another part of the network that would support a Gigabit connection.
 
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