Home Ethernet Network Design w/ Security Cams

[mr.travo]

Hello all!

So this idea started as just planning to setup a standalone network drive. The more I thought about it, I put the network drive on hold and decided to wire my townhome for a home ethernet network. I could really use some advice (as I am not a network tech or pro).

Here are my drops:

1. Livingroom
A. TV
B. ROKU / streaming device
C. Blueray player
D. Game system / Aux

2. Master bedroom
A. TV
B. ROKU / streaming device
C. Computer
D. Aux

3. Office / Spare Bedroom
A. TV
B. ROKU / streaming device
C. Computer
D. Aux

None of my TV's are smart TV's yet. I may or may not get them, I am just planning ahead. The security cams are not purchased yet. I will buy them later on this year. I am going to go ahead and run the wires to where they will go and leave an extra 20' or so in case I want to move it around. I am planning on installing 4 of them.

My Questions:
I hear that the cams that use PoE require two cables per cam, is this correct?
What type of cable should I run?
Should I just buy a PoE injector to run everything or an unmanaged switch for the home network and run the cams off of a seperate PoE injector?
Should the network drive tower be in the same room as the rest of the network equipment?
What am I not thinking of?

I am trying to plan ahead all of these steps. I don't want to go back and rerun cable because the industry standard changed 1 year after I installed all of this.

Any help is appreciated guys!

Thanks!!!

[greerd]

I have, in the past, setup a PoE camera (for work) and all you need is a standard twisted pair Ethernet cable, I would suggest at least CAT5e but I myself would use CAT6 to future proof(more info) and of course you also need a powered switch. I would expect the seller would include the powered switch or at least mention it.

I'm not familiar with the voltage drop on long lines, so can't help there other than linking a wiki page indicating a 4.5 watt loss after your length passes 100 meters.

I'm assuming that you want an ip camera, not cctv.

[mr.travo]

I have, in the past, setup a PoE camera (for work) and all you need is a standard twisted pair Ethernet cable, I would suggest at least CAT5e but I myself would use CAT6 to future proof(more info) and of course you also need a powered switch. I would expect the seller would include the powered switch or at least mention it.

I'm not familiar with the voltage drop on long lines, so can't help there other than linking a wiki page indicating a 4.5 watt loss after your length passes 100 meters.

I'm assuming that you want an ip camera, not cctv.

Awesome and thank you! Yes, IP camera is what I am after. I was reading about Cat6 cable and I can get 10Gbps out of it if I keep the runs under 55m (won't be a problem). I am thinking that 250Mhz of Cat6 vs 500Mhz of Cat6a won't matter because of the short run. I am estimating the runs to be no longer than 25m per camera.

I saw a switch on eBay that was half unmanaged and the other half was a PoE. I want to say it was a 24 port (so 12 each). I don't know though. I am still researching what I want to go with before I start. I have a 5x6 closet that I am thinking about using part of for the networking equipment. I just wonder about it getting too hot during the summer. I don't want to have to install another a/c duct. I would think that it would be enough space, but as previously stated, I'm no expert.

[mr.travo]

Looking at prices of 10Gbps cards and seeing that I can't upgrade my laptop ethernet card, I am going to just focus on 10Gbps cable right now. I hope to grab some Cat6a for a decent price, if not I will just use Cat6 since I will still be able to pull 10Gbps out of my short runs. The longest run I will have is 60'. I added about 8-10' extra in the measurement so I have some excess. I will need a total of 612' for all the jacks. That leaves me with 388' for cameras if I buy a 1,000' spool. I would imagine Cat6 would be just fine for IP cameras. If I ever decide to upgrade the camera cabling to 500Mhz, it will not be near as hard because it will be 95% attic work.

I figure as time passes and the 10Gbps starts to get more and more standard the price will come down on the equipment. In the meantime, I am sure that a 1Gbps setup will work just fine for a home network. I know I can score a switch and router for real cheap. If I can afford the 10Gbps switch after the cabling, I will spring for it, but if not, it will get cheaper with time.

I know for internet purposes, the Mbps will be the bottleneck from my provider. Right now they are advertising up to 100Mbps. I will speed test it on Friday when it gets installed to see where it's at. Where the 10Gbps will really come in handy is for all local network transfers. Being able to stream all my music and watch videos in multiple locations should be nice and hassle free.

[greerd]

Are you thinking of using ZoneMinder for a camera server? I tried ZoneMinder out (just playing around) 10 or 15 years ago and it was powerful then so I expect it'll do anything you want nowadays.

[AndyMH]

I gave up with zoneminder, found it was a pig to install and had a very clunky interface when working. Xeoma is a better alternative. But you are going to use up lots of hard disk space. In the end I went out and bought a synology NAS (comes with surveillance software) and put 2 x 2TB HDDs in it. Synology has its problems, in spite of being based on linux, the client software is only available for win or mac - one of the reasons I run win7 in virtualbox. Also make sure you buy cameras that are 802.3af compliant. This means 48v, a lot of the poe cameras are 24v and come with a power adaptor. Kinda defeats the point of having a poe switch. Also check camera compatibility with whatever software you end up using.

[pcwolf]

I built a new home last year and hung the ethernet myself on the bare framing. Have a single cabinet media center bringing Cox Cable ISP to a central amplifier and switch. As OP mentioned I draped excess loops of Cat6 cable at each corner of the rancher. I run two types of IP cameras, both with pan/tilt/zoom - Foscam and Reolink. The Reolink is clear winner: cheaper, higher MP, and can be administered by Chrome web browser. All the cameras are quite happy enough with 10/100 lan. The Reolink in my garage 50' from the house can go either way but I have it on wifi for convenience and it acts like it is wired so I haven't buried a feed out there. I also have the Synology NAS with excellent "free" Surveillance Station video management system. Two camera licenses included in purchase price; additional camera licenses available for ~$49 each. Just plain works and I never saw the point in administering Zoneminder or Blue Iris myself.