Anyone with any security camera installation experience?

[PistolPeets]

Hello all. I was just wondering if anyone here has any experience installing and setting up PoE camera systems. I've been in the process of assisting a security company at my workplace install a security system. They utilize ubiquity wireless ethernet antennas to transmit IP PoE camera signals over long distances. This has given me some ideas on how to further set up my home system.

I have a pole barn on my home property about 300 feet from my home. Running that distance with direct burial Cat6 cable would be at the maximum limits of the PoE switch's capabilities.

My question is - would a Reolink 16 port PoE switch support the use of a wireless antenna such as an ubiquity antenna with injectors to transmit camera signals wirelessly l to my pole barn? This would save me a lot of digging for a potentially unreliable cable run. My fear is that since ReoLink switches only supports their own IP cameras, they won't support another company's wireless antenna setup. They don't currently offer their own wireless antenna setup. Worst case scenario, I upgrade to a different PoE switch and run a dedicated PC to act as a server to support running the antenna. The hardest part was installing with cat5e cables around my house and that's done. And I'm pretty sure Reolink cameras with work with another PoE switch anyway. So that saves some additional cost as well.

Thanks!

 

[AlbergSteve]

Here's what were doing at work. I have a mild understanding of networks, so I work with a retired IT volunteer at our club.
Your switch should be device agnostic...and why a 16 port switch?
The Nanostation Loco M2 or M5 needs a switch, but they're only $50US each. The Nanostation M2 or M5's are about $80 each but come with a secondary configurable PoE port, so no need for a switch.

 

[PistolPeets]

Your explanation and schematic makes sense. I chose a 16 port PoE switch because the system came with 8 cameras and I wanted room to expand beyond 8 if I wanted. The M2's or M5's with PoE port sound good to me. I would need to buy two of the same unit right? PoE from ReoLink switch to first Ubiquiti across the airwaves 300ft to another Ubiquiti on the pole barn, with PoE out directly to IP camera? I wouldn't need an injector with the M2 or M5 right?

 

[AlbergSteve]

At the barn you will need power. The units come with injectors, but beware, I think they're 24v, not 48. Make sure your switch can power the NSM at the house from a standard PoE port, there are a couple of different protocols. If it does, you could plug a camera in the NSM at the house on the secondary port. If you don't need the secondary port of the NSM, you could go with the cheaper NSM Loco at the house.

I believe the PoE that they supply at the secondary port on the NSM is 48v. It's been a year or more since we set this up, so I'm a bit foggy on details. Do lots of research before buying, Youtube's got some good tutorials on Ubiquiti. And please, this advice is worth what you paid for it!

https://www.ui.com/airmax/nanostationm/

 

[AlbergSteve]

OK, just to be clear, it looks like the Reolink is an NVR, not a network switch, very different beasts. It looks like it only supplies 12v via PoE to the cameras, not 48v. If that is the case, pretty sure none of this will work with the Ubiquiti gear.

 

[AlbergSteve]

Running that distance with direct burial Cat6 cable would be at the maximum limits of the PoE switch's capabilities.

It's not the limit of the switch, but a standard set by the cabling company(it's 330 ft) to guarantee that your data will get the the other end of the cable without missing ''bits''. People have run cameras up to 500 ft without issue. There are many anecdotal stories like these on the interwebs.

 

[PistolPeets]

Thanks for your research. I agree - after looking at the specs of my NVR (should have mentioned it was a homeowner grade system with NVR) it supplies 12V to PoE. That's a bummer. I used google maps to take a measurement from the corner of my house (attached garage) to the pole barn and it's right at 300 ft. This doesn't take into account the additional run from the wall penetrations to the NVR/Cameras. So we could be looking at 350'+. So I guess my options are to either change my whole setup to a commercial grade system to support the Ubiquiti equipment or try to bury that much cable and hope it works. Or live without cameras in the pole barn for now. Or get a separate dedicated system for the pole barn.

Thanks again!

 

[AlbergSteve]

Thanks for your research. I agree - after looking at the specs of my NVR (should have mentioned it was a homeowner grade system with NVR) it supplies 12V to PoE. That's a bummer. I used google maps to take a measurement from the corner of my house (attached garage) to the pole barn and it's right at 300 ft. This doesn't take into account the additional run from the wall penetrations to the NVR/Cameras. So we could be looking at 350'+. So I guess my options are to either change my whole setup to a commercial grade system to support the Ubiquiti equipment or try to bury that much cable and hope it works. Or live without cameras in the pole barn for now. Or get a separate dedicated system for the pole barn.

Thanks again!

No problem. If it were me, I'd run out 350' of Cat6 on the surface and give it a test, cable is cheap. If it works you can keep the kit you have.

 

[PistolPeets]

Yes I considered that at one time, but I'll need to get the direct burial/UV rated cable and they don't give that stuff away. Then If I cut it apart for testing and it doesn't work I'll have to eat another box of cable. But ultimately I might go this route. I wish I had a backhoe to dig the trench.

 

[zrock]

Ok im a little puzzled here i may have missed something but with the wireless tech why are you running cat 5 and not went with a complete wireless system? The price you have paid for cabling you could have paid for a good wireless setup... I have run the nano stations and they are reliable little suckers used them to feed a RV park i worked at. If i had a fairly clear view i could get signal 2-3km away. Only ever had 2 issues with them and one of those was router related the router was not releasing guests IP addresses after they left, and during a sudden power outage the antennas would freeze up. Putting in a switch and putting the antennas on a UPS cured both issues.. You would only need one nano station in your barn and then set up wireless cameras.

 

[PistolPeets]

Ok im a little puzzled here i may have missed something but with the wireless tech why are you running cat 5 and not went with a complete wireless system? The price you have paid for cabling you could have paid for a good wireless setup... I have run the nano stations and they are reliable little suckers used them to feed a RV park i worked at. If i had a fairly clear view i could get signal 2-3km away. Only ever had 2 issues with them and one of those was router related the router was not releasing guests IP addresses after they left, and during a sudden power outage the antennas would freeze up. Putting in a switch and putting the antennas on a UPS cured both issues.. You would only need one nano station in your barn and then set up wireless cameras.

This new system actually replaced an unreliable wireless system (FLIR/Lorex). It's my understanding that PoE cameras are the premier standard in surveillance. Plus, if I lost power with the wireless, all cameras would go out since they each depended on their own power supply. Now, I have one UPS which holds the entire system (NVR and currently 6 Cameras) in the even of a power outage. My hope was to utilize a ubiquiti to transmit a camera signal over 300' to my pole barn but it looks like there are limitations to my current setup. I agree, that's one way to go - but my goal with this system was to have less lag and clearer resolution. And I'm happy with the setup at this point but I wanted to run one or two more cameras out in that pole barn.

 

[AlbergSteve]

PoE cameras are the premier standard

This is true. We've talked to a number of security companies and they usually suggest wireless as a last resort, when you just can't get a cable to a camera. Even though wifi and the associated tech has come a long way, it's still glitchy.

 

[zrock]

I can see the benefits of wired... installation of wireless is all dependent on installer. My old job we set up a few wireless cams around the property. Have a few random trees with power to them now..lol.. the few with no power we used solar and battery. A buddy of mine that does long range wireless setups among other things did some tweaks to the system and you would have never known they were wireless.... but this guy eats and sleeps anything to do with computer, networking, radio, and freq... he is amazing.. I know alot of network guys over a lifetime and dont know any that had his skills...

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

 

[lml999]

Yes I considered that at one time, but I'll need to get the direct burial/UV rated cable and they don't give that stuff away. Then If I cut it apart for testing and it doesn't work I'll have to eat another box of cable. But ultimately I might go this route. I wish I had a backhoe to dig the trench.

You can rent a trench digger pretty cheaply (under $100 for a half day) at Home Depot or from one of the tool rental places... When I was installing my outdoor shower this summer I had to do about 30' of trenching...wasn't quite worth it, so I just sweated it out...

 

[AlbergSteve]

The problem with wireless is there are so many variables, some out of your control. Even with clear line of sight, if you have a a building or branch in the Fresnel zone, rain or snow, it can affect signal quality. We had a challenging setup at our yacht club trying to get coverage to about 180 boats in a fairly compact area. We're using Ubiquiti's UAP-AC-M's- try getting a 30dBm signal to the mesh nodes through thousands of masts and wire rigging has been quite a challenge.

I thought if you had a roll of cheap cat cable that you were running around the house anyway, you could just roll out 350' to the barn before you cut it up for other runs, just to see if it would work without issues.
If you're thinking wireless, these get good reviews.

 

[PistolPeets]

My remaining cat5e is in the easy feed box and I'd like to keep it there for future camera runs in the house. That's a good idea about renting the trencher. Maybe this spring, I'll get the UV/Direct burial cable and test it out. Worst case scenario that it doesn't work out, I can use it around the house for more camera runs.

 

[mellow]

Might be out of your budget but look into running those ubnt units with solar: