I am not a great techie but with the help of others and a lot of research someday I will get it done. I currently have a Dahua HDCVI Pentabrid (BNC & IP) DVR. I want to start upgrading my cameras over time and money and will eventually end up down the road converting to IP and NRV. There are numerous reasons why I need to keep the HDCVI set up now and add to it over time until it can be switched out to NVR setup. My question is regarding a IP switch to handle the new IP cameras that I add/replace. The DVR can handle an additional 16 IP cameras. I thought I read somewhere here that the IP switch should connect to an ethernet port on the DVR. Don't recall if it was for simplistic, preferred, functional or required for some reason. I read manual and wiki and did search and couldn't find an answer. I don't have a second ethernet port on my DVR so if it's expandable for IP cameras I can't imagine it would be required but is there a reason that the added IP cameras and switch should be connected to the DVR?