Splitting one PoE-ethernet cable from my NVR5216-16P-4KS2E for two cameras?

[manwald]

Hi guys,

I ran into a problem I don't know how to solve :-(

I've got a total of 5 PoE-cams (Dahua IPC-HDW5231RP-Z) under the roof of my house. There are 5 ethernet-cables on my attic, coming from my network-rack, but unfortunately one of them seems to be defective.
I did everything I can, installed several different, brand new connectors on both sides of this cable, measured it with (simple) tools and it was always shown as working. Even the camera connected to it powered up, but there was no data sended or received.
I also connected a computer with Windows 10 that said (after some minutes of doing nothing) that a network-connection even to the internet was established. But I couldn't open any website nor ping this computer from another one in my home-network.

After 3 days now or so I gave up and accepted, that it's not working.

Now to my problem: 5 cams with 4 cables.

I asked myself if I could use a PoE-switch on my attic with one of the working cables? If the cameras wouldn't be connected directly to my NVR this would be no big deal, but I like to have all of them managed through the NVR.

So I don't know if I can simply plug the 4 cables into the NVR, connect 3 cams directly to it and split the other working cable with a PoE-switch to connect the other 2 cams.

I hope you understand what I mean.

I would be really glad about any advice or help from you!

Thanks and best regards
Mischa

 

[wittaj]

The Linovision POE Splitter will work just fine for you. Stick it in a junction box and call it good. It is free returns, so give it a try. I am using several and my neighbor is and have had no problems with them.

 

[bigredfish]

Will that work when he’s running an NVR with built in POE switch and the cable goes back to one of the POE ports on the NVR?

 

[tigerwillow1]

My first suggestion would have been to replace the connector ends like you have already done. Another solution that is often frowned upon by others is to run 2 cameras off a single cable, using the otherwise unused blue and brown pairs. I've made my own combiner and splitter adapters for this, and they can also be found pre-made. This reminds me of a failure I had a while back. After a year of working perfectly one of my wires failed and it took me a while to figure it out. When I installed the RJ45 on the outdoor end, the stripper sliced through one of the wires and it took a year to fail. The insulation on the wire was mostly intact and looked totally ok. I think I finally figured it out by plugging the bad rj45 into a spare keystone jack, selectively shorting the pairs together, and ohming it from the other end.

 

[wittaj]

It works on my neighbors NVR with built in POE - 7 of the ports are plugged in with 8 cameras being recognized by the NVR - we didn't even need to manually search and add camera - went inside and it had already showed up on his monitor. The single NVR port was able to power the splitter and the two cameras - one of which was a PTZ.

 

[bigredfish]

Good to know, I hadn’t tried that, could be handy in a location I use to test cameras, be nice to have 2 side by side.

 

[reflection]

Those POE splitters work great. They act like an Ethernet hub + POE splitter.

If you need to support more than two ports out, you could try this one. 4 Port IEEE802.3af PoE Extender for IP camera Extend 120m transmission distance | eBay. I have this and works well. Keep in mind that the 4 port-out one requires 802.3at POE input. (it may still work with 802.3af input if you are only powering two cameras).

The power consumption for POE cameras is relatively low. For example, my Dahua IPC-HDW5442TM-AS consumes 2.3W of power. Yours is probably within the same range.

The below output is when the camera was directly connected to the switch (not POE splitter to switch).

#sh power inline g0/5 detail
Interface: Gi0/5
Inline Power Mode: auto
Operational status: on
Device Detected: no
Device Type: Ieee PD
IEEE Class: 0
Discovery mechanism used/configured: Unknown
Police: off

Power Allocated
Admin Value: 30.0
Power drawn from the source: 15.4
Power available to the device: 15.4

Actual consumption
Measured at the port: 2.3
Maximum Power drawn by the device since powered on: 2.6

 

[Safetyfirst]

That's quite a interesting device if it's reliable for remote runs. How many years has yours lasted?

 

[reflection]

That's quite a interesting device if it's reliable for remote runs. How many years has yours lasted?

I can't speak to longevity. I've only been using it for a week when I added a camera to a space without an CAT6 home run. I used an existing camera run and fed a new camera and it seems to be working fine. My switch is a Cisco Catalyst 3650 but I imagine any switch that is 802.3at compliant would work.

I'm still new and setting up my system but have been doing networking for a long time. I plan to add another camera off the same run this weekend - the Dahua 5442 that I received yesterday. I'll let you know if three cameras work.

 

[Coldair]

pull a new cable?

 

[pozzello]

there's also the totally passive option for running two separate PoE connections on the same wire. It's based on the fact that 100MB ethernet only uses only 2 pairs (4 wires, 123 &6) and PoE mode A puts power over those same 4 wires.

Amazon.com: TNP RJ45 Ethernet Cable Combiner/Splitter Kit (1 Pair), 2 Male to 1 Female & 1 Male 1 Female to 1 Female POE Data Adapter LAN Ethernet Network Extender Y Splitter Cat5e Cat6 Cable for Surveillance: Home Audio & Theater

Amazon.com: TNP RJ45 Ethernet Cable Combiner/Splitter Kit (1 Pair), 2 Male to 1 Female & 1 Male 1 Female to 1 Female POE Data Adapter LAN Ethernet Network Extender Y Splitter Cat5e Cat6 Cable for Surveillance: Home Audio & Theater

www.amazon.com

Won't work for some NVR's or midspan PoE injectors that only provide Mode B PoE, or some Cams that only accept Mode B Poe, but cheap enuf to try...
get the 2 MMF if your cams are close enuf to both plug into the far adapter directly, the MMF + MFF if you need to run en extra length of ethernet from the far adapter to the further cam.

 

[Safetyfirst]

there's also the totally passive option for running two separate PoE connections on the same wire. It's based on the fact that 100MB ethernet only uses only 2 pairs (4 wires, 123 &6) and PoE mode A puts power over those same 4 wires.

Amazon.com: TNP RJ45 Ethernet Cable Combiner/Splitter Kit (1 Pair), 2 Male to 1 Female & 1 Male 1 Female to 1 Female POE Data Adapter LAN Ethernet Network Extender Y Splitter Cat5e Cat6 Cable for Surveillance: Home Audio & Theater

Amazon.com: TNP RJ45 Ethernet Cable Combiner/Splitter Kit (1 Pair), 2 Male to 1 Female & 1 Male 1 Female to 1 Female POE Data Adapter LAN Ethernet Network Extender Y Splitter Cat5e Cat6 Cable for Surveillance: Home Audio & Theater

www.amazon.com

Won't work for some NVR's or midspan PoE injectors that only provide Mode B PoE, or some Cams that only accept Mode B Poe, but cheap enuf to try...

The two pack is only $2 more it seems at current pricing.

 

[pozzello]

they are handy to have around for testing and exactly the situation you have, so might as well have an extra set around!...

 

[manwald]

Thanks for all your precious tips!

I now know that I could solve my problem on one or the other way

Unfortunately the parts seem not to be available in Germany too easy, so do you think that using this active (means powered) PoE-switch will work - even when it's connected directly to one of the PoE-ports of my Dahua NVR?

5-Port-10/100/1000Mbit/s-Desktop-Switch mit 4 PoE-Ports

5-Port-10/100/1000Mbit/s-Desktop-Switch mit 4 PoE-Ports

www.tp-link.com

 

[manwald]

The Linovision POE Splitter will work just fine for you. Stick it in a junction box and call it good. It is free returns, so give it a try. I am using several and my neighbor is and have had no problems with them.

Interesting side-fact I just found out:
it seems like this PoE-splitter is also sold under the Dahua-brand as PFT1300 - with the warning that it wouldn't work with the proprietary PoE-standard from Dahua NVRs:

PFT1300, Midspan

Unterstützt passive PoE-Kaskade Stromversorgung und den Datenaustausch über Ethernet. Hier die Daten ansehen und bestellen.

nexonik.com

 

[pozzello]

right. most NVR's want to see one cam/device per PoE port, so combining two or more may not work, which is why the PASSIVE solution i linked to CAN work, as it uses 2 PoE ports, combines them into one and splits them again at the far end. you should be able to find such things in Europe somewhere... the other option would be to move the cams to the LAN side of the NVR, which requires some reconfig of the cams' IP.

 

[pozzello]

Fwiw, in germany:

https://www.amazon.de/Splitter-MACTISICAL-Netzwerk-Verlängerungen-Connector/dp/B077PT7L6K

 

[wittaj]

Interesting side-fact I just found out:
it seems like this PoE-splitter is also sold under the Dahua-brand as PFT1300 - with the warning that it wouldn't work with the proprietary PoE-standard from Dahua NVRs:

PFT1300, Midspan

Unterstützt passive PoE-Kaskade Stromversorgung und den Datenaustausch über Ethernet. Hier die Daten ansehen und bestellen.

nexonik.com

My neighbor's DVR is a Lorex...but those are rebranded Dahua so I wonder why they would say that - maybe they cannot guarantee it will work, but it does in many instances? Similar to how they will say other manufacturer cameras will not work, but many do?

 

[manwald]

right. most NVR's want to see one cam/device per PoE port, so combining two or more may not work, which is why the PASSIVE solution i linked to CAN work, as it uses 2 PoE ports, combines them into one and splits them again at the far end. you should be able to find such things in Europe somewhere... the other option would be to move the cams to the LAN side of the NVR, which requires some reconfig of the cams' IP.

Just ordered the ones you linked (MMF + MFF version as the two cams are not right next to each other) from Aliexpress and gonna try it. Thanks!

 

[manwald]

If you need to support more than two ports out, you could try this one. 4 Port IEEE802.3af PoE Extender for IP camera Extend 120m transmission distance | eBay. I have this and works well. Keep in mind that the 4 port-out one requires 802.3at POE input. (it may still work with 802.3af input if you are only powering two cameras).

Also ordered this 4-port-device from Aliexpress, gonna try it too.