Are your security cameras protecting your South Jersey business while simultaneously crippling your network performance? Systems Integrations bridges the critical gap between physical security needs and IT realities across NJ, PA, and DE.
The Problem Most Businesses Don’t See
For many business owners and IT managers in Gloucester, Camden, and Philadelphia counties, physical security systems—cameras, access control, intrusion detection—are often viewed as necessary appliances. They get purchased, bolted onto the wall, plugged into the nearest network jack, and forgotten about until an incident occurs.
But modern security devices aren’t just appliances; they are sophisticated, high-bandwidth network endpoints. When treated as an afterthought, they create a “hidden network” of unmanaged traffic that can silently degrade performance across your entire organization.
At Systems Integrations, serving Southern New Jersey, Southeast Pennsylvania, and New Castle County Delaware, we frequently get called in after another company has installed security cameras and the client’s network suddenly becomes mysteriously sluggish, VoIP phones turn jittery, or critical applications start timing out. These businesses often assume they have a server problem or need expensive network upgrades. Surprisingly often, the real culprit isn’t the server room or aging infrastructure—it’s incorrectly configured security cameras and improperly managed camera streams flooding the network with unnecessary traffic.
Here’s how the “hidden network” hurts your IT infrastructure, and how intelligent design can turn that liability into an asset.
The “Ghost in the Machine”: Real-World Scenarios from Our Service Area
Over 25 years of auditing networks throughout the tri-state region, we’ve uncovered startling configurations that were silently wreaking havoc on IT operations. When physical security vendors don’t collaborate with IT departments, bad things happen.
1. The Rogue Subnet and IP Conflicts
We recently audited a manufacturing client in South Jersey experiencing random connectivity drops. We discovered a previous security vendor had installed thirty IP cameras and hard-coded them with static IP addresses that overlapped with the company’s DHCP scope. The result? Constant IP conflicts that knocked employee workstations offline randomly.
Worse, we’ve found entire “rogue subnets.” A vendor might plug a cheap, unmanaged switch into your core network, creating a mini-network that IT can’t see, manage, or secure. This is a massive, invisible backdoor into your infrastructure.
2. The Multicast Meltdown
This is the most common performance killer we see across Pennsylvania and New Jersey installations. Modern IP cameras often use multicast transmission for live video viewing.
The Problem: In a standard, unconfigured network switch, multicast traffic is treated like broadcast traffic. If you have 50 cameras streaming live video, the switch doesn’t know who needs to see it, so it blasts that high-definition video data out of every single port on the switch.
Your accounting department’s printers, your VoIP phones, and your employee workstations are suddenly being flooded with gigabits of video data they can’t use. The result is network congestion, packet loss, and a mysterious company-wide slowdown.
We’re often called in weeks or months after another security company completed an installation, when the client finally realizes their network performance has degraded significantly. The cameras work fine for security purposes, but nobody configured the network properly to handle the video streams.
The Solution: Architectural Harmony Through Segmentation
A robust security system shouldn’t fight your IT infrastructure; it should live harmoniously within it. Achieving this requires deliberate design focused on segmentation and traffic management.
The Power of VLANs (Virtual Local Area Networks)
The single most important step for security system integration is implementing dedicated VLANs.
Think of your network as a busy highway. Currently, your cameras are driving semi-trucks in the same lanes as your employees’ compact cars (email and web traffic). Accidents and traffic jams are inevitable.
A VLAN creates a dedicated, separated lane exclusively for those semi-trucks.
For the Business Owner: This means reliability. Your security system cannot crash your business operations, and a problem on the business network won’t take down your cameras.
For the IT Manager: This means security. If a camera is compromised, the attacker is trapped in that VLAN and cannot easily pivot to your sensitive server segments.
Taming the Beast: IGMP Snooping and Multicast
To fix the “Multicast Meltdown” described above, we utilize advanced switch features like IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol) Snooping.
Simply put, this makes your network switches intelligent. Instead of blasting video to every port, the switch “listens” for which users actually requested to view a camera feed. It then delivers that high-bandwidth stream only to the ports that asked for it. The rest of your network remains quiet, efficient, and uncongested.
Bandwidth and QoS Considerations
A dozen 4K cameras recording 24/7 generate immense amounts of data. If your video recorder (NVR) is across a WAN link at another branch office, you can easily cripple inter-office communication.
We design systems by calculating the exact bandwidth load and implementing Quality of Service (QoS) rules. This ensures that vital business applications get priority. Your CEO’s video conference call shouldn’t freeze just because the lobby camera detected motion.
The Payoff: Improved Visibility and Performance
When you integrate your security system correctly, you don’t just avoid disaster—you actively improve your IT environment.
By organizing security devices into their own managed VLANs and subnets, you gain unprecedented network visibility. You know exactly what devices are on your network, where they are located physically, and how much bandwidth they are consuming. There are no more “hidden networks” or rogue devices.
A properly segmented network is a faster, more resilient network.
Bridge the Gap with Systems Integrations
Don’t let your physical security compromise your digital infrastructure. At Systems Integrations, we understand both worlds. As a fully licensed security integrator serving businesses across Southern New Jersey, Southeast Pennsylvania, and Delaware, we design security solutions that meet high demands for protection while respecting the architectural integrity of your IT network.
With over 25 years of industry expertise, our team holds Security Industry Association Cybersecurity Certification and uses exclusively NDAA-compliant equipment from manufacturers like Hanwha, Rhombus, Vivotek, and PDK to prevent cybersecurity risks. We’re certified partners with industry leaders, with alarm monitoring through CMS (Criticom Monitoring Services).
Whether you’re planning a new security deployment or experiencing network performance issues after a recent camera installation, we can help. If your network feels sluggish following a security system installation, or if you’re planning a new deployment in Gloucester, Camden, Salem, Cumberland, Cape May, Atlantic, Burlington, Ocean, Mercer counties in NJ; Delaware, Chester, Lancaster, Philadelphia, Montgomery, Berks, Bucks counties in PA; or New Castle County in DE, contact Systems Integrations today for a network assessment.
Let’s ensure your hidden network isn’t holding your Delaware Valley business back.
Systems Integrations | Licensed in NJ, PA, DE & FL
Serving: Southern New Jersey • Southeast PA • New Castle County DE
Address: 123 Bridgeton Pike Suite 1134, Mullica Hill, NJ 08062
Phone: (866) 417-3787 | Email: info@systems-integrations.com
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