Cat5e vs Cat6 for camera install

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dudemaar

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Aug 18, 2018
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Hello all! I hope everyone is having a good day. I have a question with regard to wither $100 difference between cat5e and Cat6 wire is going to get me any extra performance or not? It will be a 350 ft run for an IP camera (DS-2CD2387G2H-LISU/SL). I don't believe it will, but please correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks!

dudemaar
 
dudemaar said:
Hello all! I hope everyone is having a good day. I have a question with regard to wither $100 difference between cat5e and Cat6 wire is going to get me any extra performance or not? It will be a 350 ft run for an IP camera (DS-2CD2387G2H-LISU/SL). I don't believe it will, but please correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks!

dudemaar
Click to expand...

Check the gauge of the cable .. I have typically seen 23 vs 24 AWG

Some Cat5e have thicker gauge wires ( 23 AWD ) , others thinner ( 24 AWG ).

There's an equation that covers how much power you lose depending on the gauge .. my guess it would be minimal between copper at 23 AWG vs 24 AWG
 
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I've not seen any 5e that's 23 AWG. Maybe it exists. Most cat 6 is 23 AWG, but you have to verify that, and make sure it's solid copper, not CCA. In reality, you'll probably not see any performance difference between 23 and 24 AWG, but for a run that long I wouldn't even consider not using 23 AWG cat6. You can calculate the POE power drop if you want to with each gauge, but with the cameras being pretty tolerant of the POE voltage I'd guess the only difference would be you heat up the wire a wee bit more with 24 AWG. With your run length at the outer limit of the specs, cat6 will give better odds of good data transmission. I'm surprised at the $100 price difference, assuming you're going to use CMR cable. At monoprice today, a 500 foot length of cat6 23 AWG CMR solid copper is $90.
 
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It will be buried 6 inches in dirt and some goes under laneway through conduit. My options are:

cat5e
www.infinitecables.com

1000ft 4 Pair CAT5E 350Mhz UTP Solid UV / Direct Burial Bulk Cable - Black

This bulk outdoor rated Cat5e cable is 1000 feet in length and consists of 4 pairs of 24AWG solid wires. It is typically used outdoors either above or below ground as premise wiring to connect network devices. Physical Characteristics Cable Length 1000 foot [305m] Color Black Cable Diameter...
www.infinitecables.com www.infinitecables.com

or
www.infinitecables.com

1000ft 4 Pair CAT5E 350Mhz UTP Solid UV / Direct Burial Gel Filled Bulk Cable - Black

This outdoor rated, gel filled Cat5e bulk cable is 1000 feet in length and consists of 4 pairs of 24AWG solid wires. The gel fills the gaps between conductors and outer jacket which prevents damage caused by water. It is typically used outdoors for in ground, direct burial application as...
www.infinitecables.com www.infinitecables.com

Or Cat6
www.infinitecables.com

1000ft 4 Pair CAT6 550Mhz UTP Solid UV / Direct Burial Bulk Cable - Black

This bulk outdoor rated Cat6 cable is 1000 feet in length and consists of 4 pairs of 23AWG solid wires. It is typically used outdoors either above or below ground as premise wiring to connect network devices. Physical Characteristics Cable Length 1000 foot [305m] Color Black Cable Diameter...
www.infinitecables.com www.infinitecables.com

or


www.infinitecables.com

1000ft 4 Pair CAT6 550Mhz UTP Solid UV / Direct Burial Gel Filled Bulk Cable - Black

This outdoor rated, gel filled Cat6 bulk cable is 1000 feet in length and consists of 4 pairs of 23AWG solid wires. The gel fills the gaps between conductors and outer jacket which prevents damage caused by water. It is typically used outdoors for in ground, direct burial application as...
www.infinitecables.com www.infinitecables.com

Prices are in Canadian dollhairs.
 
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I vote #3 above. :cool:
 
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  • pure copper
  • 23/24 AWG
  • UV protected / direct burial

are important things for CCTV cams (long distances, POE, sun etc)...

CAT6 is not - You will never do 10 Gbit/s on this.. even not full Gbit/s (cams are using fast ethernet)..
CAT6 cables are thicker & stiffer, use more space in conduits and are harder to push/pull from conduits.. especially when You put many in one conduit...
 
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dudemaar said:
It will be buried 6 inches in dirt and some goes under laneway through conduit. My options are:

cat5e
www.infinitecables.com

1000ft 4 Pair CAT5E 350Mhz UTP Solid UV / Direct Burial Bulk Cable - Black

This bulk outdoor rated Cat5e cable is 1000 feet in length and consists of 4 pairs of 24AWG solid wires. It is typically used outdoors either above or below ground as premise wiring to connect network devices. Physical Characteristics Cable Length 1000 foot [305m] Color Black Cable Diameter...
www.infinitecables.com www.infinitecables.com

or
www.infinitecables.com

1000ft 4 Pair CAT5E 350Mhz UTP Solid UV / Direct Burial Gel Filled Bulk Cable - Black

This outdoor rated, gel filled Cat5e bulk cable is 1000 feet in length and consists of 4 pairs of 24AWG solid wires. The gel fills the gaps between conductors and outer jacket which prevents damage caused by water. It is typically used outdoors for in ground, direct burial application as...
www.infinitecables.com www.infinitecables.com

Or Cat6
www.infinitecables.com

1000ft 4 Pair CAT6 550Mhz UTP Solid UV / Direct Burial Bulk Cable - Black

This bulk outdoor rated Cat6 cable is 1000 feet in length and consists of 4 pairs of 23AWG solid wires. It is typically used outdoors either above or below ground as premise wiring to connect network devices. Physical Characteristics Cable Length 1000 foot [305m] Color Black Cable Diameter...
www.infinitecables.com www.infinitecables.com

or


www.infinitecables.com

1000ft 4 Pair CAT6 550Mhz UTP Solid UV / Direct Burial Gel Filled Bulk Cable - Black

This outdoor rated, gel filled Cat6 bulk cable is 1000 feet in length and consists of 4 pairs of 23AWG solid wires. The gel fills the gaps between conductors and outer jacket which prevents damage caused by water. It is typically used outdoors for in ground, direct burial application as...
www.infinitecables.com www.infinitecables.com

Prices are in Canadian dollhairs.
Click to expand...

As you are running it through conduit, watch out on the cat6 options as some have thicker plastic splines that make it hard to run as many cables through the conduit.

Personally I would be ok with running quality cat5e .. installation care is probably more important than cat5e vs cat6 in this case.

I would also run a larger conduit .. example 3/4" instead of 1/2" ..

one bonus for cat6, it is sturdier than cat5e for pulling, so not as easy to damage on pulls
 
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Sorry I should have realized you need burial cable instead of CMR, a few posts above. My opinion is that the labor of trenching a few hundred feet far outshadows the price difference of the cable. I've got a few thousand feet of cat6 outside, all in conduit 1-1/4 inch or larger, so I didn't have any big difficulties in pulling.
 
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In 2024 unless a client spec’d the required cable such as CAT5e. Shielded direct burial cable must be used regardless of the CAT rating.

Gel filled depending upon the environment and conduit in use.

This single run will exceed the specification for network cabling. Expect the hardware and related network equipment to fail upon the next lightning storm! :facepalm:

You have one giant antenna just waiting for a collect call from God! :headbang: Better have some kind of tiered SPD in place and bonded correctly to the buildings single point Earth grounding system.
 
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