General || Dual NIC NVR Setup ||

General || Dual NIC NVR Setup ||

Dual NIC NVR Setup

Covers Titanium, Diamond, ENS, and UNV recorders with two Ethernet ports.

All four brands use the same three concepts. Only the menu wording changes.

The three modes at a glance

Mode

IP addressing

Where the ports plug in

What it gets you

Multi-address

Each NIC has its own IP, subnet and gateway. One NIC is set as the default route.

LAN1 → customer network, LAN2 → isolated camera network

Cameras stay off the customer's network without adding a router

Net-fault tolerance

Both NICs share one IP. One is the Main NIC.

Both ports → same network, ideally two different switches

Failover. If the main port or its switch dies, the standby takes over

Load balance

Both NICs share one IP.

Both ports → same network

The two ports split the traffic, roughly doubling available bandwidth

Brand

Where to find it

Modes offered

Titanium

Network work pattern

Network Fault Tolerance, Multiple Address Setting. No load balance.

Diamond

Network Mode

Multi-address, Fault Tolerance, Load Balance. Load balance expects a managed switch.

ENS

Menu > Configuration > Network > General > Working Mode

Multi-address, Load Balance, Net-fault Tolerance — varies by series. Some only offer multi-address and net-fault tolerance.

UNV

Network > Basic > Net work mode

Multi-address, Load balance, Net fault-tolerance

Setup — Multi-address (the common one)

Use when the customer wants their cameras isolated from their business network.

  1. Plug LAN1 into the customer's network.

  2. Plug LAN2 into the uplink of the camera PoE switch.

  3. On the recorder (locally, with a monitor attached): set the working mode to Multi-address.

  4. Select LAN1 in the NIC type field. Set its IP, subnet, and gateway to match the customer's network. If you don't know their gateway, enable DHCP, save, then disable DHCP to lock the address in place.

  5. Select LAN2. Give it an IP on a completely different subnet — for example 192.168.10.1 — with no gateway needed.

  6. Set the default route / main NIC to LAN1, so remote access, P2P, and NTP go out the customer's network.

  7. Address the cameras on LAN2's subnet and add them.

Setup — Net-fault tolerance

Use when the recorder must never drop off the network — remote-monitored sites, central station accounts.

  1. Plug both ports into the customer's network, into two different switches if possible.

  2. Set the working mode to Net-fault Tolerance.

  3. Set the Main NIC to the port you want active by default.

  4. Set one IP, subnet, and gateway. Both ports share it.

Setup — Load balance

Use on high-channel-count recorders where one gigabit port is the bottleneck, or where the customer reports lag with a full camera load.

  1. Plug both ports into the same network.

  2. Set the working mode to Load Balance.

  3. Set one IP, subnet, and gateway. Both ports share it and split the traffic.

Gotchas — read before you touch the settings

  • Never put both NICs on the same subnet in multi-address mode. Both ports stop working and the recorder gives no warning. This is the most common cause of "I set up dual NIC and now nothing works."

  • Only one NIC can be the default route. Whichever port is set as default route / main NIC is the one that reaches the internet. If the customer's network is on LAN1 and the default route is set to LAN2, remote access, P2P, and time sync all break.

  • Load balance isn't always there. Some models list it on the spec sheet but don't offer it in the menu. Check the dropdown before promising it to a customer. If both NICs are given the same IP in multi-address mode, the recorder throws a duplicate IP error.

  • PoE models have a third, internal NIC. The built-in PoE ports run on their own fixed subnet. The dual NIC mode settings don't apply to it, and its subnet cannot overlap either external NIC.

  • Change these settings locally, at the recorder, with a monitor and mouse. Changing them over the network drops your own connection partway through.

  • Fault tolerance does not add bandwidth, and load balance does not add redundancy across two networks. If the customer wants both, they want fault tolerance — bandwidth rarely turns out to be the real problem.

Quick troubleshooting

Symptom

Likely cause

Both ports dead after setup

Both NICs on the same subnet or gateway

Cameras work, no remote access

Default route / main NIC set to the camera-side port

No cameras after switching modes

Cameras still addressed on the old subnet

Remote access drops randomly

Both ports on the same network in multi-address mode

Load balance missing from the menu

Model doesn't support it — use net-fault tolerance