Anyone use STP ethernet for IP Cams/NVRs?

[BigLarge]

I know just enough to be dangerous and, well, I've got myself into a pickle here. I ran approximately 1000ft of Cat6 CMR STP in my new construction home and about 250ft of Cat5e CMR UTP. All ends go to a "technical room" and the other ends go to various other rooms and areas of the house where I have TVs, router, and cameras. Dont ask why I ran STP, its to late. I did not realize I needed to ground this system, so I just contacted a local IT company to finish my install (the same one we use at work) and they didnt even want to help me.

From my very basic understanding, it sounds like I need to do the following

-Ends at TVs, cameras, router I need to use a plastic unshielded RJ45 connector or keystone jack, as I dont want to ground these ends.
-I need to run ground wire from the ground (in a 6ft grounding pole) into my technical closet
-I need to run the grounding wire to a lug in my closet, where I will run a wire to the patch panel mount, and then ground to the patch panel

Does this sound correct? If so, a couple questions:

-Do I need to use Cat6 STP patch cords between my patch panel and NVR?
-Do I need to ground anything else (if even possible) such as my NVR?

Thanks for any help/guidance.

-BL

 

[NoloC]

Well in a perfect world , yes that sounds great. But if you just ignore all that and ignore the ground, I don't think it will matter. Unless there is some rfi/emi stuff you are really worried about. Doubtful.

Sure there are technical reasons why not grounding the STP is actually more prone to problems than simply using UTP, but in practice, I wouldn't sweat it.
If you can ground one end of the cable that would be ideal. No the patch cords don't matter.

I'd say relax. It is OK without the ground.

 

[suddenstop]

NoloC is exactly right.

Patch cords don't matter.

In my experience not grounding stp is fine.

 

[TonyR]

I know just enough to be dangerous and, well, I've got myself into a pickle here. I ran approximately 1000ft of Cat6 CMR STP in my new construction home and about 250ft of Cat5e CMR UTP. All ends go to a "technical room" and the other ends go to various other rooms and areas of the house where I have TVs, router, and cameras. Dont ask why I ran STP, its to late. I did not realize I needed to ground this system, so I just contacted a local IT company to finish my install (the same one we use at work) and they didnt even want to help me.
-BL

@BigLarge, may I ask where do you live (country, state, etc.) ? I ask because where I live (NW Alabama, USA) lightning can be VERY extreme and I use shielded twisted pair and it should be grounded either through the device's POE injector or adjacent to the POE switch or NVR's POE port (essentially between the POE source and the device being powered).

ESD here in NW Alabama during the numerous thunder storms is ferocious and using STP and grounding it can help prevent or limit damage from nearby lightning strikes. I know that no installation method or surge device of any kind will guarantee total ESD protection here, especially from a direct hit, as I've seen MANY surge devices literally vaporized into oblivion and the 'protected' device blackened, melted and destroyed. The best ESD defense could be to unplug the device at the device end every time we suspect a storm is coming and we all know that's not practical and just won't happen. So I use the shielded between the POE source and the device being powered (such as a camera) to perhaps stack the deck in my favor just a tad.

FYI, as a condition of their warranty, Ubiquiti requires the use of shielded twisted pair from their POE injector to their equipment when it is mounted outdoors.

 

[BigLarge]

Well in a perfect world , yes that sounds great. But if you just ignore all that and ignore the ground, I don't think it will matter. Unless there is some rfi/emi stuff you are really worried about. Doubtful.

Sure there are technical reasons why not grounding the STP is actually more prone to problems than simply using UTP, but in practice, I wouldn't sweat it.
If you can ground one end of the cable that would be ideal. No the patch cords don't matter.

I'd say relax. It is OK without the ground.

Thanks for the advice. I'm assuming I could hook it all up and, assuming I have some interference, I could always connect the ground later and see if that resolves any issue?

NoloC is exactly right.

Patch cords don't matter.

In my experience not grounding stp is fine.

Thanks. I wasnt sure if you started with STP, you had to continue it through the entire length from device to device.

@BigLarge, may I ask where do you live (country, state, etc.) ? I ask because where I live (NW Alabama, USA) lightning can be VERY extreme and I use shielded twisted pair and it should be grounded either through the device's POE injector or adjacent to the POE switch or NVR's POE port (essentially between the POE source and the device being powered).

ESD here in NW Alabama during the numerous thunder storms is ferocious and using STP and grounding it can help prevent or limit damage from nearby lightning strikes. I know that no installation method or surge device of any kind will guarantee total ESD protection here, especially from a direct hit, as I've seen MANY surge devices literally vaporized into oblivion and the 'protected' device blackened, melted and destroyed. The best ESD defense could be to unplug the device at the device end every time we suspect a storm is coming and we all know that's not practical and just won't happen. So I use the shielded between the POE source and the device being powered (such as a camera) to perhaps stack the deck in my favor just a tad.

FYI, as a condition of their warranty, Ubiquiti requires the use of shielded twisted pair from their POE injector to their equipment when it is mounted outdoors.

I live in Indiana - lightning isnt terrible here, i've never had a direct hit to any of my houses. I assumed a surge protector would be sufficient, but I suppose STP could add another level of protection if grounded?

I live in southern nm. We dont get rain without lots of lightning. Ive got more cat5/6 than most people in my house and none of it is grounded. Never had an issue. I am a believer in over building, but in this case maybe not. Of couse now that I've said that something will fry in the next storm.

Agreed - do it once, do it right. However, i'm now worried that doing it "right" might be over complicated for my abilities!

 

[NoloC]

Sure you can do it later. You may want to use shielded rj45's now though so you don't have to go back and re-terminate. Of course if you're like me , you won't go back. The rationalization just makes you feel better . Also you might find a simpler more accessible ground location. Electrical system ground or cold water pipe. 6 foot rod would be great but not always easy to do.

I guess if you can grab the shield or drain wire on the stp, you could use it for the ground connection and not mess with shielded rj45's. I haven't had a lot of experience with shielded rj45's other than the UBNT Tough connectors and they sorta suck. Maybe someone here has a recommendation.

 

[BigLarge]

Sure you can do it later. You may want to use shielded rj45's now though so you don't have to go back and re-terminate. Of course if you're like me , you won't go back. The rationalization just makes you feel better . Also you might find a simpler more accessible ground location. Electrical system ground or cold water pipe. 6 foot rod would be great but not always easy to do.

I guess if you can grab the shield or drain wire on the stp, you could use it for the ground connection and not mess with shielded rj45's. I haven't had a lot of experience with shielded rj45's other than the UBNT Tough connectors and they sorta suck. Maybe someone here has a recommendation.

Thanks! And yes, if someone had recommendations for shielded RJ45s and keystone jacks i'm all ears. I purchased some cheap-o ones from Amazon and couldnt get the damn jacket inside the RJ45

 

[Nolesfan]

I have used these to protect the POE cameras and NVR on several installs.

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-ETH-SP-External-Suppressor/dp/B00R20OIAY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507518839&sr=8-1&keywords=ubiquiti+surge

 

[TonyR]

I haven't had a lot of experience with shielded rj45's other than the UBNT Tough connectors and they sorta suck. Maybe someone here has a recommendation.

Perhaps it's your technique. I have used shielded Ubiquiti ToughCable Pro CAT-5e and Ubiquiti shielded ToughCable connectors for about 6 years now and have had no issues once I got the hang of it.

To facilitate getting the thick, twisted conductors to lay properly and into the connector I strip about 2" of the black outer jacket and the inner gray jacket off then with my thumbnail untwist all of the pairs. I bend all but 1 conductor (half of a pair) back over the jacket out of my way and allow that 1 conductor to stick straight out, I then use the UN-SERRATED, SMOOTH portion of my needle nose pliers to GENTLY press along the length of the single conductor, about a 1/4" at time, holding the tool horizontally, flattening it out in one plane. I then rotate the needle nose pliers 90 degrees and do the same thing along the length of the conductor again, GENTLY flattening. I may do this a couple of times until I feel the conductor is reasonably straight.

I then fold the straightened one back and pick another one. I do this one at a time until all 8 are pretty straight and lay next to one another very well. Then I arrange them to T-568B, trim the length, check layout, push into the connector, check layout and crimp. When both ends are done I test.

Some of you may be able to do this straightening with your fingers, I cannot. At age 68 and 45 years of using my fingers to manipulate wires and connectors I have to use the needle nose pliers. It works for me and I'm used to it. I can actually perform the above fairly quickly now, I estimate it takes me about 6-7 minutes to do the above and I have a good success rate, perhaps I have to re-do 1 out of every 30 or so. If I can do it anyone should be able to.

 

[TonyR]

I have used these to protect the POE cameras and NVR on several installs.

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-ETH-SP-External-Suppressor/dp/B00R20OIAY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1507518839&sr=8-1&keywords=ubiquiti+surge

Me, too. Inexpensive and (hopefully) effective. I've installed several on the side of the house just above earth, ran outdoor-rated, shielded CAT-5e out to outdoor radio and then back at the house, plugged into one of two jacks in this device, plugged the STP CAT-5e from the house into the other jack, drove the ground rod right there below this device and tied it to this device's grounding buss.

 

[NoloC]

Sounds like a good method @TonyR . I will try it.

Specifically I was referring to the drain wire connection on the shielded Tough connectors. That is what makes them "shielded" and it seems a poor design. In their instructions they tell you to feed the drain wire through the "drain wire hook" and then crimp with needle nose pliers. That is a flawed technique for crimping. It is unlikely to yield consistent "crimps". More like squashing. Needle nose pliers are not crimp tools. IMHO.

 

[TonyR]

Sounds like a good method @TonyR . I will try it.

Specifically I was referring to the drain wire connection on the shielded Tough connectors. That is what makes them "shielded" and it seems a poor design. In their instructions they tell you to feed the drain wire through the "drain wire hook" and then crimp with needle nose pliers. That is a flawed technique for crimping. It is unlikely to yield consistent "crimps". More like squashing. Needle nose pliers are not crimp tools. IMHO.

I agree. I "squash" both ends of the barrel after inserting the drain wire and tug both ways to insure the drain wire is immobile in the barrel. So far, so good....but it could be designed better!