ETHERNET interface? Works only nearby (10ft.)

injunear

injunear

Getting the hang of it
Jun 12, 2017
111
15
I have a question regarding the ethernet interface of these cameras. I have SRICAM and ESCAM (mix) and the cameras will setup and communicate fine if plugged directly into the router (Linksys) but if I make a 25 ft. or longer cable they will not work. Of course I've tried different cables and even different routers.

Are these cams meant to communicate on ethernet over long distances? I have even tried installing a router between the cam and the primary router used as a switch. It worked on one set of cams but not another set using a longer cable (25ft.)

It just seems to me that they should have no problem regardless the length of cable if the cable's <50 ft.

What do you think.

P.S. I wanted a wired system because the wireless was 'spotty' and unreliable from most cams in my home.

Bob T.
 
injunear said:
I have a question regarding the ethernet interface of these cameras. I have SRICAM and ESCAM (mix) and the cameras will setup and communicate fine if plugged directly into the router (Linksys) but if I make a 25 ft. or longer cable they will not work. Of course I've tried different cables and even different routers.

Are these cams meant to communicate on ethernet over long distances? I have even tried installing a router between the cam and the primary router used as a switch. It worked on one set of cams but not another set using a longer cable (25ft.)

It just seems to me that they should have no problem regardless the length of cable if the cable's <50 ft.

What do you think.

P.S. I wanted a wired system because the wireless was 'spotty' and unreliable from most cams in my home.

Bob T.
Click to expand...
you are making the cable incorrectly and or using garbage cca copper clad aluminum cables.
are you following the 568 cable standard when making the ends?
A properly made cable will work for at least 328 feet even with garbage cameras like sricam..
 
fenderman said:
you are making the cable incorrectly and or using garbage cca copper clad aluminum cables.
are you following the 568 cable standard when making the ends?
A properly made cable will work for at least 328 feet even with garbage cameras like sricam..
Click to expand...


Umm, I made these cables long ago. I'll have to get back to you on the standard. The wire was purchased from either Lowes or HD and is of adequate wire gauge, but I'll double check.....
Oh, and yes, I know it's supposed to work over 300ft. What baffled me was that they work fine using a 10 ft. ethernet cable. Of course I buzzed the cables out that I made.

Thanks for the fast response.
 
injunear said:
Umm, I made these cables long ago. I'll have to get back to you on the standard. The wire was purchased from either Lowes or HD and is of adequate wire gauge, but I'll double check.....
Oh, and yes, I know it's supposed to work over 300ft. What baffled me was that they work fine using a 10 ft. ethernet cable. Of course I buzzed the cables out that I made.

Thanks for the fast response.
Click to expand...
if you dont follow the 568 standard, on longer runs the interference will cause this exact issue..
Use 568B on both ends...(568a will works as well, but most use 568b)..you cannot simply match up the ends and expect it to work.
 
fenderman said:
if you dont follow the 568 standard, on longer runs the interference will cause this exact issue..
Use 568B on both ends...(568a will works as well, but most use 568b)..you cannot simply match up the ends and expect it to work.
Click to expand...


It is 568B....That's why I was confused because they didn't work.

Here's the setup as it is now: There's two cams outside my garage door. They have two ethernet cables that are < 10 ft. attached to an ethernet switch on the other side of the wall. The switch is controlled by a cable that's 25~30 ft. long (that I made to 568B). This setup works only because I positioned the switch as close to the cams as I could. The long cable goes back to the router located in a bedroom 25~30 ft. away.

The branch that does not work is as follows: There's two cams mounted to the side of the house. The switch is located in the attic about 15 ft. from the cams. It cannot be located closer because of the slope of the roof.
The switch has a cable (20ft.) that goes back to the router. Neither cam works.
I had to set them on broadcast using the wireless (unreliable).
The switch works because I swapped it with the one in the garage. I replaced the input cable (20ft.) with another. Same thing.
I removed the cams and plugged into the switch with a short cable (<10 ft.). They work and are recognizable.....
CONFUSED!

All this is working right now (with spotty reception of the two cams on wireless) but my neighbors want help in installing cams for them and I don't want to go down this road again. I have to admit I'm stumped...
 
injunear said:
It is 568B....That's why I was confused because they didn't work.

Here's the setup as it is now: There's two cams outside my garage door. They have two ethernet cables that are < 10 ft. attached to an ethernet switch. The switch is controlled by a cable that's 25~30 ft. long (that I made to 568B). This setup works only because I positioned the switch as close to the cams as I could. The long cable goes back to the router located in a bedroom 25~30 ft. away.

The branch that does not work is as follows: There's two cams mounted to the side of the house. The switch is located in the attic about 15 ft. from the cams. It cannot be located closer because of the slope of the roof.
The switch has a cable (20ft.) that goes back to the router. Neither cam works.
I had to set them on broadcast using the wireless (unreliable).
The switch works because I swapped it with the one in the garage. I replaced the input cable (20ft.) with another. Same thing.
I removed the cams and plugged into the switch with a short cable. They work and are recognizable.....
CONFUSED!

All this is working right now (with spotty reception of the two cams on wireless) but my neighbors want help in installing cams for them and I don't want to go down this road again. I have to admit I'm stumped...
Click to expand...
How are you powering the cameras?
If you install for your neighbors do them a favor and dont buy them sricam garbage.
 
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They are powered with the wall warts and they are using the original length of power cable. I put a strip in an eave just to plug them in. There's no long power leads.

The SRICAM'S I installed about three years ago. I don't think you can get them anymore. I only have one that active. The others are all Escam.
 
injunear said:
They are powered with the wall warts and they are using the original length of power cable. I put a strip in an eave just to plug them in. There's no long power leads.

The SRICAM'S I installed about three years ago. I don't think you can get them anymore. I only have one that active. The others are all Escam.
Click to expand...
escam is just as crappy...
you likely are making a poor cable...buy a 50 foot premade cable and test.
 
Well, I've been in electronic's for nearly 40 years as both a tech and an engineer (retired) so I definitely know how to crimp on connectors.:lol:Besides that, I did originally buy some premade cables off ebay that I used and it didn't work which is why I made my own. That's why I'm stumped. I've used ethernet for many things over the years and never encountered anything like this.

Don't forget, the two cams outside the garage won't work either unless the cable's short (<10 ft.) My original setup had no switches, just direct ethernet cable from the cam to the router. It wouldn't work that way either. Would only work with a short cable. That's why I asked in the first post about the cams and their ability to xmt/rcv over distances >10 ft.

I'm still stumped.
 
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injunear said:
Well, I've been in electronic's for nearly 40 years as both a tech and an engineer (retired) so I definitely know how to crimp on connectors.:lol:Besides that, I did originally buy some premade cables off ebay that I used and it didn't work which is why I made my own. That's why I'm stumped. I've used ethernet for many things over the years and never encountered anything like this.

Don't forget, the two cams outside the garage won't work either unless the cable's short (<10 ft.) My original setup had no switches, just direct ethernet cable from the cam to the router. It wouldn't work that way either. Would only work with a short cable. That's why I asked in the first post about the cams and their ability to xmt/rcv over distances >10 ft.

I'm still stumped.
Click to expand...
1 NEVER buy cable on ebay...my god.
your issues point to bad cable...
 
fenderman said:
1 NEVER buy cable on ebay...my god.
your issues point to bad cable...
Click to expand...


Yeah, that's what i thought originally too. The cable that inputs to the switches is >20 ft. It operates the switches fine. If I take that cable and remove it from the switch and plug directly into the IP cam it won't work! So it drives the switch but not the cam. This is two different cables going to two different sets of cams......

Like I said, I originally started out with premade cables, I think they were 25ft., which by the way worked fine when I plugged them into my laptop, but they didn't work when plugged directly into the cams!

So that's 4 cables, all around 25 ft.), two of which I made up using CAT5E cable (24awg) from the home center, and two bought on ebay. None work when directly plugged into the cam but DO WORK when plugged into my laptop or the ethernet switches.....

Confusing, ey?
 
Try cutting off both connections and install new ones. I had this happen once when i was messing with my cables... All of a sudden my raspberry pi wasn't connected to my network, even though the light was lit up. I plugged a laptop into the cable and it worked. I tried another piece of hardware and it didn't work. It really had me stumped but then i just cut both connectors off and put new ones on and boom.. Been working fine for the past 6 months. (it was working fine for the previous 18 months.)

My only guess was that there was one or two wires that were barely making a connection, and when i was messing with them i made it worse.
 
Do you have fluorescent lighting anywhere near the non-working cable routing? Cause may be signal noise or weak cam NIC drivers. I'd try cat6 cable.
 
Depending on the age of the cables they may not even be cat5e compliant, which is pretty much the minimum anyone should be using.

Or it could be EM interference nearby (usually from AC power wire running nearby). Shielded cables, and/or running the cables in properly grounded metal conduit can help with that.

Though I wouldn't be too surprised if the cameras just had faulty network adapters.
 
Maybe these crappy cameras don't even use twisted pairs from the connector to the camera.
 
Well, the cabling is stamped cat5e and was bought from either HD or Lowes, can't recall. No interference from lighting.

Anyway, I found the problem and it's with the crimp connectors I used. They mate and work fine with my ethernet switches and router but don't seem to mate right to the cameras.

There's a positive 'click' but they don't mate electrically. A bit of wiggling sometimes gets it to work but otherwise it's mostly no good. I took an adapter (one of those ethernet to ethernet cable extension adapters) and connected the end of the prime cable (from the router) to one end and a 2 ft. premade cable to the other (Camera) and wala, works like a champ!

I went to the other ethernet cable run from the router and did the same and it works too....Something's wrong with either the camera's ethernet connectors or the crimp RG 45's I used because they're not mating to one another for some reason. One or the other is probably slightly out of tolerance, just enough to cause this problem....Likely it's the crimp connectors and not the camera.

Anyway, thanks for the help. At least now I know the 'why'. I'll try a different brand of RJ45 crimp connector if I can find some to see if it makes any difference on my neighbors installation.
 
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Buy your cables from monoprice.

ZEROboot Series Cat5e 24AWG UTP Ethernet Network Patch Cable, 25ft Black - Monoprice.com

List price $3.33... (I pay less lol) How much is your time worth? (Also about once a month they will send a coupon code for another 25% off)

I bill by time and it is cheaper for my customers for me to throw away a patch cable and bill them a new one than take the time to coil it up.

Quality is good.... I am sure them make the occasional defective cable, but in the 12 years I have used them I haven't got a dud yet.
 
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