POE issues

P

PTZoom_Zoom

n3wb
Mar 1, 2018
14
9
I purchased 12 cameras from Andy for a customer of mine. When I went to install at one location I was able to connect them and configure them as needed when sitting next to the Linksys LGS124P switch using a short CAT5E cable.

However, on all of my cable runs, which range from 50ft to 250ft, I get a link light on the switch but no activity light. I also cannot ping any of the cameras nor address them with the config tool. I even tried using a POE injector thinking that maybe I needed discrete power. It does the same thing, will power camera over short distance (I was using a 7ft CAT5E cable), but nothing on any of my cable runs.

I've tested the cable runs both with a cable tester as well as plugged my laptop into each run with success on both fronts.

The cable I have used is Southwire 24/4 CAT5E CMR riser off of a 1000ft spool I purchased at Home Depot. Here is a link to cable spec from manufacturer

I'm completely stumped here and don't know what my next step should be. I'm hoping that I don't have to cable the runs again as this is in a warehouse with 30 foot ceilings and I had to rent a scissor lift in order to run the cable in the first place.

Any ideas are welcomed.

FWIW I have 10 IPC-T5442T-ZE and 2 IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E cameras and I've also pinged Andy with this issue for his thoughts.

Thanks for any and all help on this.
 
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PTZoom_Zoom said:
I purchased 12 cameras from Andy for a customer of mine. When I went to install at one location I was able to connect them and configure them as needed when sitting next to the Linksys LGS124P switch using a short CAT5E cable.

However, on all of my cable runs, which range from 50ft to 250ft, I get a link light on the switch but no activity light. I also cannot ping any of the cameras nor address them with the config tool. I even tried using a POE injector thinking that maybe I needed discrete power. It does the same thing, will power camera over short distance (I was using a 7ft CAT5E cable), but nothing on any of my cable runs.

I've tested the cable runs both with a cable tester as well as plugged my laptop into each run with success on both fronts.

I'm completely stumped here and don't know what my next step should be. I'm hoping that I don't have to cable the runs again as this is in a warehouse with 30 foot ceilings and I had to rent a scissor lift in order to run the cable in the first place.

Any ideas are welcomed.

FWIW I have 10 IPC-T5442T-ZE and 2 IPC-HFW5241E-Z12E cameras and I've also pinged Andy with this issue for his thoughts.

Thanks for any and all help on this.
Click to expand...

Hi @PTZoom_Zoom

What cable did you use?
What termination standard?

Do you have an extra long length of cable you can test with? ( say remains from a box? )
 
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mat200 said:
Hi @PTZoom_Zoom

What cable did you use?
What termination standard?

Do you have an extra long length of cable you can test with? ( say remains from a box? )
Click to expand...

Sorry, I've updated the post to include cable brand and specs that I used along with a link to the product brochure.
I used the standard 568B for termination of the connectors. All cables passed muster with my Klein Tools cable tester and my laptop will work for data transmission on all runs as mentioned in my initial post.

I've had the same thought of testing back in my shop with an extra piece of cable off the same spool. but honestly don't see how it would be any different than the long runs I already have in place at the jobsite.

Thanks for your reply!
 
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PTZoom_Zoom said:
Sorry, I've updated the post to include cable brand and specs that I used along with a link to the product brochure.
I used the standard 568B for termination of the connectors. All cables passed muster with my Klein Tools cable tester and my laptop will work for data transmission on all runs as mentioned in my initial post.

I've had the same thought of testing back in my shop with an extra piece of cable off the same spool. but honestly don't see how it would be any different than the long runs I already have in place at the jobsite.

Thanks for your reply!
Click to expand...

I definitely recommend testing with the extra piece of cable off the same spool as imho it should be easier to test .. and there's always the question, was the cable good, was the install good, was the termination good, was the run good ( i.e. not next to ballasts, .. or perhaps kinks in the cable.. )
 
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PTZoom_Zoom said:
I get a link light on the switch but no activity light.
Click to expand...
This, and your cable test tool that also does signal integrity, and the laptop connection success, and your assertion about the use of T568B standard suggests that the cables are in good shape.

I'd speculate that the problem is a mismatch in the IP address segments between the cameras and your LAN, even though the cameras don't appear on the Config Tool.
Against that is that they connect OK with a short cable.

Suggestion :
The usual default IP address of the Dahua cameras is 192.168.1.108
What is the address range used by your LAN and by the laptop?

With all cameras powered on, there will be multiple IP address clashes.
Initially connect just one camera.

If the laptop IP address isn't on the 192.168.0 **edit 192.168.1.0 **address range, temporarily change it to, say, 192.168.1.200
Ping the IP address 192.168.1.108 and also point the browser at that address.
Fingers crossed you get a positive result.
 
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Your cable is copper.

On your wire runs are they
1) running over florescent lights.
2) are they runing parallel to power cables.

Unplug all the cameras but one, Does it work ? Are you exceeding the POE power capacity of the switch. (120 W) . Note 120W is poor for a 24 port switch, that at full load is 5W per port.

You need to test one camera with a long run cable to the camera.
 
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alastairstevenson said:
This, and your cable test tool that also does signal integrity, and the laptop connection success, and your assertion about the use of T568B standard suggests that the cables are in good shape.

I'd speculate that the problem is a mismatch in the IP address segments between the cameras and your LAN, even though the cameras don't appear on the Config Tool.
Against that is that they connect OK with a short cable.

Suggestion :
The usual default IP address of the Dahua cameras is 192.168.1.108
What is the address range used by your LAN and by the laptop?

With all cameras powered on, there will be multiple IP address clashes.
Initially connect just one camera.

If the laptop IP address isn't on the 192.168.0 **edit 192.168.1.0 **address range, temporarily change it to, say, 192.168.1.200
Ping the IP address 192.168.1.108 and also point the browser at that address.
Fingers crossed you get a positive result.
Click to expand...

The cameras have already been configured and tested on the network segment I am using. Can ping and address them on short cables. Just not the long runs..
 
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SouthernYankee said:
Your cable is copper.

On your wire runs are they
1) running over florescent lights.
2) are they runing parallel to power cables.

Unplug all the cameras but one, Does it work ? Are you exceeding the POE power capacity of the switch. (120 W) . Note 120W is poor for a 24 port switch, that at full load is 5W per port.

You need to test one camera with a long run cable to the camera.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm......This seems to have some promise to it. The switch is adequate as I am not even close to loading it. There are only 12 POE+ ports on it and I am using 6 of those for cameras at this location,

But I am going to make a 100ft cable here in my shop off the same spool and see what happens.
 
Can you see the power the switchport actually put on the wire? Switch have a power budget of 150W total and the Cat5e cable is 24AWG so things should absolutely work. Could not be a vlan issue either if it works wit a shorter cable. Strange issue.
 
Silly question, but did you plug the cameras back into exactly the same ports that you used when you first plugged them in to the NVR? You may need to press the physical reset button to get the NVR to re-initialize them again. It is looking for specific cameras on each port since you already connected them, now I'm betting they're all on different ports so no camera is being recognized.
 
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This is indeed strange and I'd expect to have some simple explanation in the end. At this point I'd be so frustrated that I'd disconnect every camera, bring one in the house/shop to verify that it still works on a short cable, then try it again at the end of a long cable.
 
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I would appreciate it if you could draw out the physical network from PSE to PD. If what you say that all camera's operate fine on a short cable run with no other changes. But, when you connect a single camera to the new infrastructure wiring and nothing comes up?!?

If we assume all of the wiring and terminations are fine this sounds like a IP conflict / not on the correct subnet. If I was standing there the first thing I would do is default a single camera and set it to DHCP.

If the camera comes up this affirms a network conflict / settings.

You can further prove if the network is setup correctly if you simply connect a laptop to one of the end runs. If you see link lights and can surf the Internet you know the network is fully operational assuming it has Internet access!
 
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Teken said:
I would appreciate it if you could draw out the physical network from PSE to PD. If what you say that all camera's operate fine on a short cable run with no other changes. But, when you connect a single camera to the new infrastructure wiring and nothing comes up?!?

If we assume all of the wiring and terminations are fine this sounds like a IP conflict / not on the correct subnet. If I was standing there the first thing I would do is default a single camera and set it to DHCP.

If the camera comes up this affirms a network conflict / settings.

You can further prove if the network is setup correctly if you simply connect a laptop to one of the end runs. If you see link lights and can surf the Internet you know the network is fully operational assuming it has Internet access!
Click to expand...

All cables passed muster with my Klein Tools cable tester and my laptop will work for data transmission on all POE runs as mentioned in my initial post.

As for the network topology...It's fairly simple....From my patch panel I've got a cable (existing, not one that I made) running to a non POE port on the Linksys switch. From the Linksys switch I have 5 runs that shoot through a wall unimpeded and then are ran against the ceiling as this is an open warehouse type of layout with 26 foot ceilings. No runs are coupled nor are there any other switches involved.

I've got the Blue Iris box hanging off a non POE port as well as another workstation in that office also running off a non POE port. So essentially I have 5 POE ports occupied and 3 non POE ports occupied including the uplink.

If I pull a camera off it's exterior mount and run it back to the switch and connect to a POE port via a 7 foot cable it comes up in the config tool, shows in advanced IP scanner, and can be brought up in IE. It will also have a link light as well as an activity light on the switch. All of this using the original subnet I set it up on over the weekend.

However, the second I pull it off the short cable and connect it to one of the long runs (all under 250' whereas cable is rated to 385') all I get is link light with no activity indicators. We can even see the IR once it is dark outside when connected.

Last night I even screwed around with POE injectors (I had several types to play with) and got them to work using short cables but NOT on long cables. I haven't put the injectors at the end of the run though. That was something I was going to try later.

I'm freaking baffled to be honest....

Just got back to the shop and I'm going to crimp a few cables off the same spools and try them out with cameras I have here along with the exact same switch and see where that might lead me....
 
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tigerwillow1 said:
This is indeed strange and I'd expect to have some simple explanation in the end. At this point I'd be so frustrated that I'd disconnect every camera, bring one in the house/shop to verify that it still works on a short cable, then try it again at the end of a long cable.
Click to expand...

Yup..Actually did that last night while on site using a completely different POE+ switch and made a new short cable. Same result.
 
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