Static IP setup , Camera, router, or both?

oldspyguy

n3wb
Jan 8, 2026
2
2
Cold North
I want to reduce/eliminate issues with my cameras and other devices on my dedicated network especially after a power interuption.
Which would be the better option, on the camera, in the router, or both?

Basic layout of my network as of now.
There is one router going to a managed switch with 6 cameras on the switch and a 5.8g wireless bridge to building two.
Building two has unmanaged switch with 6 cameras and another 5.8g wireless bridge to building three.
Building three has unmanaged switch and 4 cameras.

I am guessing I should also set static IP's for the wireless bridges as well?

Thank you
 
I would apply static IP's to the following:
  • Managed switch
  • Wireless bridges
  • Cameras
I would put the bridges and switch together on their own IP range/scheme
You have not mentioned how you are recording the cam feeds (BI?, NVR?) Ideally put the cams on their own scheme/range as well.

</$0.02>
 
Static on the camera/device is better for ultimate reliability after power interruptions. Reservations on the router are convenient and low-risk, so do both if your router supports it. This combo eliminates almost all the common post-outage headaches with dedicated camera networks.
 
+1 to both the above, I'm a fan of static IP's......

I make the router's (LAN is 192.168.1.1) DHCP pool range from 192.168.1. 2 to 192.168.1.199 and that leaves me with 192.168.1.200 to 254 for me to assign to my cameras, wireless bridges, printers, etc.

I keep all those assignments in a simple spreadsheet and in Blue Iris the camera name has the IP in it such as "Side Doorbell 211" or Backyard N. 216". :cool:
 
I make the router's (LAN is 192.168.1.1) DHCP pool range from 192.168.1. 2 to 192.168.1.199 and that leaves me with....

OP, are you planning to remote in (using VPN) to check on your cameras? If so, be mindful of the following... On several occasions I have encounter a conflict when trying to accessing a clients BI system via VPN from another home network. Both the LAN I was currently on... and the clients LAN were a 192.168.1.x network, and I was not able to access the remote BI system via VPN.

I discovered it is due to the remote routers' VPN server configurability... or should I say, lack of. The VPN server service on many routers will provide (by default) the VPN client with a different IP range. If this is the case, you should have no troubles connecting. For the other routers that assign the VPN guest an IP similar to the routers LAN config (192.168.1.x), you'll have difficulties when you are also on a network with the same IP scheme (192.168.1.x).

My standard practice now is: I change the LAN IP scheme of my customer's router away from the default of 192.168.1.1. Regardless of their router's VPN server configurability, they should not encounter any issues when connecting from the home network of friends/family, etc
 
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OP, are you planning to remote in (using VPN) to check on your cameras? If so, be mindful of the following... On several occasions I have encounter a conflict when trying to accessing a clients BI system via VPN from another home network. Both the LAN I was currently on... and the clients LAN were a 192.168.1.x network, and I was not able to access the remote BI system via VPN.

I discovered it is due to the remote routers' VPN server configurability... or should I say, lack of. The VPN server service on many routers will provide (by default) the VPN client with a different IP range. If this is the case, you should have no troubles connecting. For the other routers that assign the VPN guest an IP similar to the routers LAN config (192.168.1.x), you'll have difficulties when you are also on a network with the same IP scheme (192.168.1.x).

My standard practice now is: I change the LAN IP scheme of my customer's router away from the default of 192.168.1.1. Regardless of their router's VPN server configurability, they should not encounter any issues when connecting from the home network of friends/family, etc
^ Good point.

I used 192.168.1.XXX as an example merely to point out that the DHCP pool range can be moved as needed to accommodate particular needs and certainly the router's LAN/ gateway can be changed as well.....and often that's the easiest solution that we see on IPCT when a member gets sent a router from the ISP with a completely different subnet as the orignal router and they struggle with changing every camera's IP instead. :cool:

My personal router is 192.168.200.XXX.
 
Just do the Camera's, My Ubiquiti point to point bridges always came back with same IP. it was 2-3 of the 18 Dahua style cams that would bollox the system after a power outage. I always thought I was saving them with Static, but apparently I missed a couple. Switch should be fine as is.
 
You have not mentioned how you are recording the cam feeds (BI?, NVR?) Ideally put the cams on their own scheme/range as wel
I am just starting to investigate BI and starting to understand how hardware intensive it is when AI is utilized. For this use case there will be no remote access needed, for now lol.

I keep all those assignments in a simple spreadsheet and in Blue Iris the camera name has the IP in it such as "Side Doorbell 211" or Backyard N. 216".
I have a master spreadsheet as well with all devices, pw's, mac, model, spec, etc. Has saved me a few times when my old memory fails me...

My standard practice now is: I change the LAN IP scheme of my customer's router away from the default of 192.168.1.1.
Yes, it is unique, found out the hard way lol

Thank you all for your advice, once I get my network set up properly the next step will be sorting out what to use for video storage. I have a generic dvr/nvr most cameras are IP with onboard storage as well.
 
Yes, I recommend assigning a static IP to everything involved. Don't forget to assign a static IP to the Blue Iris computer too!

Managed switches and wireless bridges don't strictly need their management interfaces to be assigned a static address, because they should be transparently passing along all network traffic regardless of their management interface configuration. But I do recommend assigning static addresses to those anyway, because it can be helpful for troubleshooting in the event that the DHCP server (router) is offline.

I keep all those assignments in a simple spreadsheet and in Blue Iris the camera name has the IP in it such as "Side Doorbell 211" or Backyard N. 216". :cool:

I manage so many networks now, I use multiple spreadsheets! One for each subnet, and another to list them all in one place with links to the individual sheets.

Also, years ago I stopped using common default IP ranges whenever possible (e.g. 192.168.0.x, 192.168.1.x) in favor of choosing IP ranges that other people are unlikely to have chosen. It helps when working with VPN connections especially.
 
I want to reduce/eliminate issues with my cameras and other devices on my dedicated network especially after a power interuption.
Which would be the better option, on the camera, in the router, or both?

Basic layout of my network as of now.
There is one router going to a managed switch with 6 cameras on the switch and a 5.8g wireless bridge to building two.
Building two has unmanaged switch with 6 cameras and another 5.8g wireless bridge to building three.
Building three has unmanaged switch and 4 cameras.

I am guessing I should also set static IP's for the wireless bridges as well?

Thank you
Set static IPs on all cameras and wireless bridges in the device's configuration page.