Network device is affecting data flow for local IP cameras
Network device is affecting data flow for local IP cameras
I have four POE IP cameras connected to a gigabit POE switch, and the switch links to the router. The router's second port feeds into my desktop PC, which captures the footage. Would linking the PC's Ethernet cable directly to the switch with just the cameras instead of the router help reduce bandwidth strain for those cameras? I've already tweaked their bitrate and resolution from 1080p30 (~8000Kbps) to 720p15 (~2000Kbps). Even after that adjustment, the cameras still experience lag, frequent frame drops, and dropped frames. My PC managed all cameras at full resolution before with the same setup, but I'm unsure what changed. See the image below for my current arrangement. Please note: all LAN ports on each device are currently occupied, as shown.
You might want to give it a shot if you're curious, but my prediction is it probably won’t help much. There’s plenty of available bandwidth unless your router is 100Mbit. It seems there could be another reason for the problem. I don’t know exactly what’s going on. Maybe removing three cameras and checking how it affects things will clarify things. It could just be one camera causing the issue.
Good ideas. I lean more toward the PC being the issue. @A.Hruskach I should monitor CPU and HDD usage on the PC while all four cameras record. Even at full bandwidth, 4x 8Mbps equals 32Mbps (about 4MB/s). With a router capped at 100Mbps, you'd still have roughly two-thirds of the capacity left for other traffic. Any HDD, even an older model, should manage 4MB/s recording. My guess is the drive is failing or there are OS-related problems. Still, follow @Windows7ge’s suggestion and test each camera separately to check if the same problem appears on one device. If it works alone, try pairing them together, then add more until you identify the exact cause.