[SOLVED] How does multiple IP Cameras affect internet speed

Nov 22, 2019
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Hello!

I have a question about how an IP Camera affects the bandwidth/speed of the router/internet.

The scenario would be for a hotel like this:
I would have 20 IP Cameras connected with ethernet cabel to a Switch which in turn would be connected
to the router. (So they do not use any Wifi. Only connected with ethernet cable)

So the IP Cameras will be accessible and looked at from a PC on the local network. (Never from the outside from any external IP)

Now I wonder if one would stream 5,10,15,20 cameras at the very same time. Does this affect ther internet speed if other
people uses the WIFI connection to surf on the internet as usual?

I hope I did explain this well :)
 
Solution
Correct.
A router does NOT have to be connected to the ISP or outside world to provide internal IP addresses.
It will assign them in whatever sequence you designate.
192.168.1.2 through 192.168.1.25 (or whatever.
That's what the "router" does.
Nov 22, 2019
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I see, if we assume that they are connected to the same network as the WIFI users.

Do the cameras take bandwith? What I mean/wonder is that the IP Cameras operate locally and doesnt use the Internet so to speek but that perheps doesn't matter? They will still affect the speed of the WIFI users that use the actual internet?

I think I need to understand exactly this
 
Hello!

I have a question about how an IP Camera affects the bandwidth/speed of the router/internet.

The scenario would be for a hotel like this:
I would have 20 IP Cameras connected with ethernet cabel to a Switch which in turn would be connected
to the router. (So they do not use any Wifi. Only connected with ethernet cable)

So the IP Cameras will be accessible and looked at from a PC on the local network. (Never from the outside from any external IP)

Now I wonder if one would stream 5,10,15,20 cameras at the very same time. Does this affect ther internet speed if other
people uses the WIFI connection to surf on the internet as usual?

I hope I did explain this well :)
That will depend on the network setup, the capabilities of the router and IP cameras feed.
If the WiFi network goes thru the same router that the IP cameras are using it could interfere with the WiFi speed.
Depending on the resolution, stream format, video quality, etc...you could saturate the routers bandwidth.

A single 2MP IP camera @24fps with H.264 stream and medium quality stream could use 5Mbps.
A single 3MP IP camera @30FPS could use 3x that bandwidth (15Mbps).
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
I see, if we assume that they are connected to the same network as the WIFI users.

Do the cameras take bandwith? What I mean/wonder is that the IP Cameras operate locally and doesnt use the Internet so to speek but that perheps doesn't matter? They will still affect the speed of the WIFI users that use the actual internet?

I think I need to understand exactly this

Yes, you could easily overwhelm a single 'router' with a bunch of cameras and teh guest WiFi, etc.

But if you are doing this in the context of a hotel situation, you do not connect the IP cameras to the same router/VLAN as the guest WiFi, which is also not connected to the business LAN that runs the hotel.

You keep them discreet for separate for multiple reasons.
You can have one pipe to the outside (to your ISP), but internally, there needs to be a hard wall between the different functions.

This is why you hire a network guy to set this up.
Just like you hire a plumber or electrician.
 
So where does the data go from the cameras. In most these systems the data is stored on some form of DVR that is on the same network switch as the cameras. This would mean the data never even goes to the router at all it stays within the switch. Now if you have a dvr other device hooked to the router that is watching all the cameras then all the traffic will pass through the switch to the router and to the PC.

Now even this may not make much difference if you have gigabit port. Inside the router is a small switch. So say you dvr is on port 1 and the switch with all the cameras is on port 2. Now lets say you have a pc connected to port 3 using the internet. On the switch in the router there is a extra port going to the cpu chip. Lets say this is port 5. So data can flow between port 1 and port 2 at maximum rates of 1gbit and you still have the ability to transfer data between ports 3 and 5 because the camera traffic is not using any of that bandwidth.

Now if you have wifi involved then that is a different story. Wifi is shared bandwidth and is easily overloaded.
 
Nov 22, 2019
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Thank you, yes then I understand how you mean I think. I should have this setup separately. If I can ask the below.

I wonder this:
  1. Can I have a separate router for the IP Cameras which is Not connected to the internet at all?
  2. Then have another router for the WIFI which is connected to the internet as usual?
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Thank you, yes then I understand how you mean I think. I should have this setup separately. If I can ask the below.

I wonder this:
  1. Can I have a separate router for the IP Cameras which is Not connected to the internet at all?
  2. Then have another router for the WIFI which is connected to the internet as usual?
What will you be using to view the camera streams?
Are you going to save/record as well?
 
Nov 22, 2019
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So where does the data go from the cameras. In most these systems the data is stored on some form of DVR that is on the same network switch as the cameras. This would mean the data never even goes to the router at all it stays within the switch. Now if you have a dvr other device hooked to the router that is watching all the cameras then all the traffic will pass through the switch to the router and to the PC.

Now even this may not make much difference if you have gigabit port. Inside the router is a small switch. So say you dvr is on port 1 and the switch with all the cameras is on port 2. Now lets say you have a pc connected to port 3 using the internet. On the switch in the router there is a extra port going to the cpu chip. Lets say this is port 5. So data can flow between port 1 and port 2 at maximum rates of 1gbit and you still have the ability to transfer data between ports 3 and 5 because the camera traffic is not using any of that bandwidth.

Now if you have wifi involved then that is a different story. Wifi is shared bandwidth and is easily overloaded.

This was interesting this explanation. I am a programmer so the IP Cameras feed goes to the swith-router-PC application where I show/record the feeds.

That was interesting with the ports but as you mention then as the guests are using the WIFI there would be a problem as it is shared bandwidth and the IP Cameras will take alot of the bandwidth in this scenario as I understand then.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
I have made an application myself in C# so the stream goes like this:
IP Camera -> Switch -> Router -> PC Application (Where I stream and record to the harddrive)
Traffic goes "up" to the next common device/connection.
Here, the router.

If the PC and application were connected to the switch, the traffic would only go from the camera to switch to PC.

But given a non-crappy router, and not uberHD video, your config would work.
Probably.

Again, this PC and camera setup is not trying to talk to the outside world, and the guest WiFi is not running off this same router.
 
Nov 22, 2019
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If the PC and application were connected to the switch, the traffic would only go from the camera to switch to PC.

This seems to be a very good setup as the cameras only will be shown on this PC? So the setup will work internally and only use the switch and not involve the router at all?

This seems to a very good configuration for this scenario?
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
If the PC and application were connected to the switch, the traffic would only go from the camera to switch to PC.

This seems to be a very good setup as the cameras only will be shown on this PC? So the setup will work internally and only use the switch and not involve the router at all?

This seems to a very good configuration for this scenario?
Well, sort of.
Another thing you have to consider is IP addresses.

Having a router on this same "LAN", the router will provide them with individual IP addresses. DHCP.
Otherwise, you have to assign them individually and manually.
Can be done, but another thing you have to consider.
 
Nov 22, 2019
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Well, sort of.
Another thing you have to consider is IP addresses.

Having a router on this same "LAN", the router will provide them with individual IP addresses. DHCP.
Otherwise, you have to assign them individually and manually.
Can be done, but another thing you have to consider.

Okey so in this case, to make the router provide the IP Cameras with individual IP addresses, I would need to connect the Switch to the router (if not doing this manually).
If I do this, will this not collide with the bandwidth for the WIFI again normally and take bandwidth from the router which affects the WIFI?

Couldn't I have another router which is not connected to the internet just for the function to provide IP addresses to the IP Cameras to solve this problem, like a completely isolated setup, - or do I miss something there?
 
Nov 22, 2019
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Cameras, switch, router, PC...all on their own little network.
As referenced in the first post.


Yes, but in this case I will not connect this router to the internet as the other router I have which the WIFI is using.

Is this possible to do? I mean, can you have a router like this that is not connected to the internet. What I mean a router doesn' have to be connected to the internet to function to provide IP addresses in this scenario?
I am sorry if I am confusing :)
 
Nov 22, 2019
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That is great. So I can then create an isolated setup that is not connected to the internet:

20 IP Cameras -> Switch -> Router -> PC application

This could be a solution then :)
I am very thankful for your help. I wondered about this for a very long time.

To get a good speed from the IP Cameras. Should I look for something special for the Switch and router for better speed?