Power budget comes first
Every camera has a peak draw, and it can climb with infrared, a heater or PTZ. Add up the total draw, add a margin, and then pick the switch — a 16-port switch doesn't mean it can actually power 16 high-draw devices at once.
The volume of video traffic
You have to work out the total bitrate and the uplink path to the NVR. Larger systems need logical segmentation, a VLAN, management and fault monitoring — not every device flat-connected onto one switch.
- PoE budget
- Uplink port speed
- VLAN
- Monitoring and management
- UPS
Room to grow
Leave spare ports and spare power headroom for expansion, and document every port and camera. That makes maintenance faster and avoids re-architecting the whole thing when you add a few devices later on.
Frequently asked questions
Does every PoE switch work with every camera?
The PoE standard, the power the camera needs, and the network speed all have to match.
Do I need a managed switch?
It's the better choice for facilities and mid-sized systems, because it makes separation, monitoring and diagnosis far easier.
