Nowadays, IP security camera system has become an effective and popular protection measure to ensure property security and people safety for home and businesses, because IP camera system offers 24/7 reliable surveillance with high quality video images. While in practical applications, actually long distance deployment is a common issue, what is the long distance means? And how can solve the issue? In this article, we will find out the answer.
As the technology developed, IP cameras can be more specifically categorized, it is found that PoE security cameras intend to be a fair choice for security camera system setup. PoE security cameras provide the best image quality because it adopts Ethernet cable for connect to supply high bandwidth for a more reliable video stream. What’s more, PoE camera makes it easier to get clear facial features or license plates with zoom function. Thus, PoE security cameras using wired Ethernet connection come with more potential to encounter long distance deployment issues.
You should know that for an IP security camera system set up, apart from the cameras themselves, several main pieces of equipment are required, including NVR, network switch, or PoE NVR instead. Let me ask if you plan to install IP cameras at a location where is 150m away from the main control room( network switch/PoE NVR), how you will finish the connection? As a matter of fact, quite a few people just take a 150m long Ethernet cable(Cat5e, Cat6, or higher category) for connection between the camera and network switch(or PoE NVR). So although at first glance, it may seem to make sense to the rule longer distance longer cable. Then they found the camera system does not work as expected, and high quality video can’t be viewed on the monitor from the main control room. There are many reasons that will result in camera system failures, for example, use a not compatible or broken Ethernet cable, connect the cable to the wrong port, camera. In this case, the 150m Ethernet cable is to blame.
To figure out why IP camera is not working after using a 150 meters Ethernet cable, firstly we need to look into the basic knowledge of PoE(Power over Ethernet).
PoE is a kind of new technology eases the security camera system installation, which allows power and data to be transmitted from the main control room over a single Ethernet cable, saving extra AC power cable run to the camera, and this shows great flexibility on installation. Whereas PoE comes with its limitation on transmission distance. As we mentioned previously, PoE technology utilizes Ethernet cable for connection, while Ethernet cable actually only can supply a maximum of 100 meters(328ft.) of data transmission. Beyond this, the signal begins to degrade, reducing the speed and reliability of the connection.
Why PoE Ethernet cable can only support 100m(328ft.) Max. transmission distance? This requires further research on the physical theory of twisted-pair cables. The transmission of the network is actually the transmission of the network signal on the twisted pair cable. As an electronic signal, it must be affected by resistance and capacitance when it is transmitted in a twisted pair, resulting in attenuation and distortion of the network signal. Some attenuation or distortion of the signal will affect the effective and stable transmission of the signal. If it exceeds 100 meters, the data packet destroyed due to the conflict is sent and received by the receiver, because the conflict cannot be detected in time. The packet was forcibly rejected because it failed authentication. If the return mechanism is not activated at this stage, the packet will be lost. Besides, PoE varies from PoE standards, which means PoE network switch or PoE NVR supply different output power for IP cameras. And PoE will only power the unit so long as there is enough voltage to power the unit at the end of the cable run. Therefore, the transmission distance of the twisted pair is limited.
Now you are supposed to find out the reason why your camera can’t work normally after running 150 meters Ethernet cable. So it means install PoE camera over 100 meters with the Ethernet cable is an impossible thing? But in reality, otherwise，we still can find solutions to make a successful connection beyond 100 meters using Ethernet cable.
Now that we know that using a cable in a long length is not work, then we will consider whether some equipment exists to help extend the cable length. For a long distance IP security camera system setup, you are able to use PoE extender or PoE extension solution to solve long distance IP camera setup easily.
A PoE extender is installed in-line between PSE and PD. It is a part of the PoE extension solution, which is a specially designed tool that helps extend power and data for IP devices, reaching a maximum of 500m transmission distance. And there is another PoE extension device, like 800m PoE switch, an advanced device that can replace the existing common network switch in your IP security camera system. For more information about the PoE extension solution, you can find in here.
