Friend of mine calls me up today asked me to come take a look at his camera system things are going strange on it.. When I get there I found that 2 of his 5 cameras are always going offline. Go to his system area and look over his cables and i find that 2 of this cables are not the normal Cables that came with Amcrest system they are Blue and have soft outside jacket on it.. Asked him where he got them and why. He said that the system came with 4 60ft and 1 150ft cable he needed 100' for the other 2 cameras. Sadly I am out of cable but I still have ends and my tools.. So there is about 10' extra and I tell him that iam sure the issue is with the cable. He was like it can't be paid 35 for them over the bay and they were Cat5e and that is all that was needed with these camera over the POE switch. I told him we will look.. What I found isn't even CAT1 On top of that the Stranded wires I don't even like Stranded wire but it wasn't even Copper.. IT is hard to tell in the pictures but the cables are not even Twisted let alone Cat5e Standard... Be Careful when your installing your Cameras not to buy Cheap pre made wiring you will thank yourself in the end...
I am 100% surprised that this junk WIRE didn't even blow up his POE cameras there is no way this can even be used on a POE but I guess his Cameras like him because I have known people blow up POE cameras over better Cat cable.... So I took his second camera out of service until I can go back tomorrow when the Big Box stores are open and buy some real Cat 5e or even 6 if it isn't to much more.. I will crimp the ends on for him. I am just glad he didn't use that cable for the 1053E into that cable because while it is 10 times better camera then the others that it came with I am sure it would not have been as nice with all the power it needs.. The other 4 are only Turret 4mp cameras POE so they don't require the power the PTZ one does...
Not twisted and if you look at the top right side of picture this junk wire he bought I stripped the end you can see if you look at the picture it isn't copper
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This is cable Below is from some VERY old Cat5e from many years ago that I use to use building Computer and Phone Networks. This is just some that was wrapped around some of my cables that are in use but didn't need the Orange pair in that set. So the twist I am sure is far from what it should but just wanted to show the Size of the Copper wire. He bought that JUNK last year because 60' was not long enough
Thanks for sharing.
The cheap crap coming out of China nowadays just blows the mind. It's not only cables. It's everything (car parts, construction materials, tools, electronics, etc...) Watch out. The old adage is still true--You pay for what you get.
Yes and no.. I have found that there are some people out there that are trying to change up on the idea... I personally bought some Cat6 last Nov or Dec can't remember when for sure.. But it was 28 for 60 feet and that isn't China prices... When I got it I didn't even have to open it up to know it was JUNK I contracted the seller and told them I wanted my Money back... Paid to return it and bought some paying 26 for that one and it passed the testing. It has been in use since and haven't had an issue with it...
Starting of this month I bought 1000' spool so I know I don't have to worry about cheap junk again...
