Can I purchase an Admiral line NVR and use my Vanguard system cameras?
While we traditionally recommend using the same series of cameras with NVR it is possible to have our Vanguard series cameras work with the Admiral series NVR. A separate PoE switch/Injector on the network would be the preferred way to connect the Vanguard series camera to an Admiral NVR. There are occasional updates that will allow the Vanguard series cameras to direct connect and manually set to work with the PoE ports on the NVR, some will even plug and play. Results will vary depending on NVR firmware, camera firmware and camera model.
Can I use my old Vanguard/Networker cameras with an Admiral?
A Vanguard to Admiral is an ONVIF to ONVIF. Yes, we sold both of them, but they are entirely different manufacturers with totally different software. We have 3-4 years of Vanguard/Networker cameras and 3-4 years of firmware variations. This makes it difficult for our team to know what will work for your system.
Most of the time, SCW's support team can get the cameras to work in the back of the Admiral NVR. Sometimes, for inexplicable reasons, no matter what our support team tries, it simply will not connect when plugged into the back of the NVR. In this case, you may need to get a PoE switch and plug them on their local network instead. This is NOT plug and play; however, SCW's support team will help to get this working in the back.
Motion features/recording are touchy -- VCA never works -- sometimes this works fine. Other times motion data is not transferred at all, meaning you may only be able to record constantly. Any VCA features (like the IntelliPro cameras) will not work with the Admirals.
What you need to know
You can bring your cameras up to an Admiral. However, it's not plug and play, and requires manual setup. SCW's support team can help with the manual setup though. Have a computer and network cable ready to go. It's important to note that, in general, the success rate of working via the back is high, there is a possibility you have to get a PoE switch if it doesn't work out, but our support team will do their best to make it work. Remember, motion recording may not work as well.