POE networking cables

[Revo2Maxx]

Hello all.. Well I thought I would take a moment to talk about something that maybe people don't know but with loads of people buying POE and POE becoming something that most people today feel is a Must I thought I would talk about some cabling issues.. One that I have found myself and one I found yesterday as well at one of my Neighbors to my Cabin...

So CCA Cabling is ok for Networking, I wouldn't use it for a Giga lan install or anything over 100mb networking to be honest... However this brings me to my next issue.. IF you have it you might be tempted to use it on a POE camera and I will say that you might not have an issue but I am going to expect you will... So say you need some cable today that is 75 feet to your IP camera it is only a normal not POE at this time and you go to Ebay or Amazon and look for some cable you find some Cat6 and don't look over the specs but think it is Cat6 what could be wrong with it TBH it could be CCA and then you might have just bought Cat3 instead...

CCA what is it Copper Clad Aluminum and others might call it Copper Clad Alloy either way it is not something you want to have in your system setup because one day you might use it for POE and that could spell disaster...

Anyway the neighbor that keeps an eye on my Cabin while i am away and does have access to my system to aid in keeping an eye.. Anyway while I was there he came over and asked why one of his cameras keep going offline.. First thing I said it might be caused by Wifi but then he said But it's Wired.. So I went to look and after looking in his camera closet first thing I see is a suspect cable.. I ask if that cable is the one feeding the camera footage and he was like yes.. After looking at it I show him that it is CCA... I go to my cabin and grab some of my Cat6 I had left over when I installed my system that I use for testing.. It was about 30 foot to long for his run but left it for him and today the report so far is that it hasn't lost connection once and that everything is running smoothly..

So be caution when your buying your cabling If all you have is 30 and the cable you need is 50 wait until you can afford the 50 don't try and save buying the cheaper cabling if it is CCA... In the end it could cost you even more... They have CCA in Cat5e and Cat6... Please note that while it might work for a short run I would stay away from it.. Forget that it is there under normal camera install or your network and when you get POE and think lets give it a try but your camera cost more then the cost of the cable it could cost you the replacement cost of your camera...

Now for the Trolls.. Or anyone that will say you use it and it works... I am happy that it works for you.. I would not want to offer this to someone that might have a Higher Output camera then you that might not work for them Why even say that it works for you when there are many factors in a Camera install, Length of cable, type of POE, Voltage of and Wattage of POE and so on... Be safe use a Good UL Cat5e or Cat6 that isn't CCA you will be happy longer..

[davptz]

Revo2Maxx, quite right. I was surprised how hard it is to find real honest-to-goodness 23AWG all copper cat6 cable (on Amazon). No matter what you put in the search box, it will show you 24AWG CCA cable.

So I currently just have it set up indoors with a short cat5 cable. And it is working... but when the cat6 I ordered arrives, that's what I will use for the actual install.

Thanks for letting us know this is an issue. Led to lots of research for 802.3at POE+ injectors and splitters. The 858W is not a POE camera, thus the need for a splitter. Also hard to find a splitter that outputs enough at 12V. Amcrest doesn't offer one!

[Revo2Maxx]

You might want to double check the Cat6 because I have looked at over 100 listings for Cat6 and all fine Print or Print says CCA and I have seen some that have listed it as UL or TIA or other listings that is only be be on Honest Cable but even though they have them markings again in the listing it shows the cable is CCA...

I have seen people listing cables as POE rated and under no reason should CCA be used for POE and even looking at them listings I find they are CCA... Find a Box of 500 or 1000ft for under 100 it is sadly a good bet that it will be CCA... This is SUCH BS that people put out this crap and then when you go and connect it to your Loads of cash paid camera it fries it...

IF you get a Cable that dont say it is CCA however when you get in the main and it is a soft cable like you can roll your fingers over the cable and feel the wires are not very solid or they are easy to move around it isn't good cable and most likely CCA as well.. Buyer Beware

[davptz]

Revo2Maxx (or anyone), so I got my 75' cable and installed it. 24AWG, but clearly states 8 solid copper conductors.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076VWVWHS?ps ... ct_details
The camera is working fine. But, when moving (zooming or panning) the picture pixelates horribly. It didn't do this while testing with a 25' cat5 cable, but maybe my testing was not exhaustive enough. I was really just verifying function then.

So, leads me to believe this cable cannot handle the bandwidth.

I can probably get by with a 50' cable. Think it is worth trying another brand of cable?

Or just live with it... picture clears fast once camera stops moving.

[Revo2Maxx]

Well to be honest if there is something like that it almost sounds like Power is suffering and could be caused by bad cable bad cable run... Please note that not all listings are right as people are lying or don't know I am not saying you should but only way to tell is doing a Open and test the wires as not everyone has the tools to do such a task...

So this is a guess! Camera your using is it POE rated or POE + and is your POE switch or poe supply the right one for your camera?

Here is why I ask...
I have a POE+ Samsung PTZ Dome camera that I can run on POE... Sadly it suffers some of the issues you describe when I use my POE and have to remember to move it slow... However I don't like using it with the camera because it is 1400 to replace and I have already once on 24vac blown the power supply in it and had to repair it myself because there is no support for it...

Anyway Looked over the Cable your bought I am going to guess it is Real.. They offer a Good Warranty and most times wouldn't do that if it was fake...

When i was in a Bind and ran out of Bulk cables I bought some Cat5e and cat6 that said it was rated for POE and one at 150' when I got it I touched it and knew it wasn't real CAT5e and I would never put it in my network on any POE device at 150 feet let alone 1 foot CCA is JUNK should be outlawed ...

So back to issue at hand.. Camera POE or POE+ aka af or at? Any hard bends? like you drilled the hole out straight and did a sharp bed 90 degree any direction from hole? Running in walls to close to power wires? or Laying on power wires?

[additude]

davptz -

Read the reviews on that cable. A couple of guys have verified that it is not solid copper but CCA instead.

It's also not stranded wire.

Does anyone know where to buy Cat6 solid copper cable?

[davptz]

Revo2Maxx: camera is not POE, so I have a POE+ injector and splitter. With just the 1 device it is supposed to provide 30 watts at 12V. Camera needs less than 25 when doing PTZ. Much less when stationary.

additude: seems like you can get good cat6 cable when buying non-terminated bulk cable. Harder for them to cheat when you can see the inside of the cable. But I do not have a quality source to recommend.

[jack7]

@davptz
I've seen a number of user reports that say IP2M-858 does support POE+ even though not documented. Some are in Amazon user comments at IP2M-858 page. I didn't know that when I installed mine 2+ years ago.

[davptz]

jack7, there are two IP2M-858 cameras. The 12x magnification 858EW is POE. The 25x magnification 858W is not. Supposedly.

It SHOULDN'T hurt anything for me to plug the injected ethernet cable directly in to the camera and see what happens. But I don't think I'll try it. It's a 12v camera and I'm injecting 56v with the splitter reducing it to 12v. If the camera expects 12v on the POE line things might not end well.

[Revo2Maxx]

@davptz Anything plugged into a POE or POE+ port that isn't poe will not turn on power to the port unless the device that is being plugged in is POE or POE+... So if you were to plug the camera into a poe port if there is no poe device present it will act like a normal Ethernet port... Funny thing is I have some cameras that I bought some years ago that I have not used because of Security issues.. The other day I took them out and was messing around with some of them and finding out that one of them isn't on the camera body or on the box that it is POE however I was using a POE Port on my Switch and Camera came to life.. After waiting I logged into camera and was all working as it should... So I was like humm Turned off camera, Took it apart and sure enough it was a POE camera with the type of Circuit board you would find on a POE device 2 bridge rectifiers... So after that I checked the rest of the cameras just for good measure lol.. However that was only one that was POE that I didn't already know was POE..