Need Recommendation for a POE Switch to support at least 10 Cameras to view with Camect and through NVR

[FredJenks]

I currently have a setup with 8 Flir/Dahua cameras connected to a Dahua NVR, plus a separate doorbell camera.  I want to add two additional cameras but my Dahua NVR only has 8 inputs.

I currently access the cameras from Camect via RTSP URL from the NVR.

What I would like to do is use a POE+ switch to view all cameras through Camect and also be able to continue to use my Dahua NVR as a backup for at least the 8 existing cameras in case something happens with Camect (I have had issues with Camect going offline periodically).

From everything I have read on the forums, I think I will need a POE switch to do this and will need a POE switch that has at least 16 POE+ ports  I saw a recommendation for an 8 port POE but I need a recommendation for a reasonably priced 16 port POE switch and perhaps some pointers to do this the right way.  Would two POE switches be better/doable (I have limited ports on my wifi router).

Thanks for any advice - Fred 

[Rob and Bill]

I use this: https://store.ui.com/collections/routing-switching/products/usw-24-poe

It's been working very well.  I use their "Cloud Key Gen 2" to manage their switch, Unifi AP's and some mini-switches.  If a device is non-POE it simply ignores the power.

[R Spivack]

On the hardware side, be aware that you probably have a separate lan segment controlled by the Dahua NVR.  If you flatten your network to a single switched network, you'll need to reconfigure the Dahua so it can see the existing cameras, but in the long term, having everything on the same segment will make some things easier.

For the actual PoE switches you can use dumb PoE switches, smart PoE switches, or even regular switches with external PoE injectors.  Just depends upon your budget and the final result you want.  A higher capacity single PoE switch will make everything neater and simpler, but going with a smart switch adds a new web interface or a complete management system (Unifi) to consider.  Great options, but you have to be ready to take it on.

If you don't need a lot of expansion, two smaller PoE switches might be cheaper than a single larger one.  Also, you have to look at power supply and fan noise issues.  Larger PoE switches need a lot of power, so they will have fans and noise.

Often I will use two of the 8-port Unifi PoE switches because they are smart/managed, but use passive cooling so very quiet.  The new Unifi PoE Gen2 switches are fanless (quiet) and rackmount size, but that's because the power supply is smaller so not all of the ports are PoE enabled - have to look carefully at the "speeds and feeds" when selecting.