Can Someone Help Me Figure This Out?

[Jake Arndt]

Greetings everyone,
I recently purchased three home security cameras and ran new cat6 cables for each camera. Here are the specifics for all of the hardware:
(2) Amcrest ProHD Outdoor 1080P POE Dome IP Security Camera
IP2M-844E

(1)Amcrest ProHD Outdoor 1080P WiFi Wireless IP Security Bullet Camera
IP2M-842

Cable - SolidLink Bare Copper 1000ft CAT6 In-Wall CM Rated UL Listed UTP Solid Conductor Cable 23AWG LAN Network Ethernet RJ45 Wire

After countless hours of troubleshooting, I've found what appears to be the problem. For some reason, the cameras will not work with the cable. I plug them in, and nothing happens. My switch has POE built in and I can confirm through the switch that the cameras are receiving enough power. Here's the rub...I can plug a laptop into any of the cables, and I'm on the internet. The cables work fine. Here's the other fun fact...if I plug a CAT5e cable into the cameras, they work flawlessly. WTF? Obviously, I would rather not crawl back through my insulation and rafters to run all new cat5e cables after installing what I thought would be the newest and better cables. I've called the camera company and went through all of this. They told me to RMA the cameras (I think they said this because it doesn't make any sense). Not all of the cameras are the same model, so I don't think it's the cameras, and I previously had the bullet camera running on only wifi and it worked fine. I'm out of options...can anyone think of what might be going on? Thank you in advance.

 

[bp2008]

Have you tried a continuity tester on the network cables? e.g. http://a.co/ih9RUXh

These test each and every wire to make sure they have a connection to the right spot on the other end. Lights should blink on from 1-8, in increasing order (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8). If any lights are missed, or they blink out of order, or multiple lights come on at the same time, then the RJ45 connectors are wired incorrectly or the cable is broken inside.

Also, how long is each cable run, and does it go near any electric power wiring?

 

[Jake Arndt]

I've performed continuity tests and everything checks out. The longest cable run is probably 50 feet. However, the lines run from the attic down the wall and right next to/by electrical wiring. Of course all of it is sheathed, but all of them run down the wall next to wiring. Would that be enough to prevent transmission for cameras and not for a computer?

 

[bp2008]

Possibly enough to do it. Are you sure the laptop is using the wired interface and not wifi (you've turned off the laptop's wifi for this test?).

 

[Jake Arndt]

Sorry, I forgot to mention this. I made a Cat6 patch cable and ran it directly from the switch to the camera 10 feet away. It wouldn't work. However it would work with the laptop. I made sure the wifi was off. It just doesn't make sense.

 

[bp2008]

Well heck. Are you following the 568B standard when wiring the RJ45 connectors?

 

[Jake Arndt]

Well heck. Are you following the 568B standard when wiring the RJ45 connectors?

Uh....No? I was shown that the order of the wires doesn't matter as long as that same order is followed on the other end. Don't tell me that would matter...

 

[Silas]

Did you make the cat5 cables? if they are store bought then......

make a cat6 using the 568b standard and test that

 

[Jake Arndt]

I made the cat6 cables, the cat5 cables that work were store bought. Ok...I'm making a patch cable right now to test this out.

 

[Silas]

sweet, let us know, and hopefully all you will have to do is re-terminate them

 

[bp2008]

Note how blue wires get sandwiched in between green wires in the standard. This is not intuitive but it is important because if you don't do it this way, then wires from different twisted pairs are connected to pins that expect to use wires from the same pair, and the electrical characteristics are totally out of whack.

 

[bp2008]

Also note that the coloring scheme could be easily misread. When you are looking at the bottom of the RJ45 connector (pins exposed) then white/orange is on the left, and brown is on the right.

 

[fenderman]

Uh....No? I was shown that the order of the wires doesn't matter as long as that same order is followed on the other end. Don't tell me that would matter...

as mentioned it does matter, the pairs are twisted to avoid interference...there are at least 10 threads where folks assumed it doesnt matter...properly wiring it to 568B resolved the issues.

 

[Jake Arndt]

Ok. First and foremost I want to thank all of you for your patience and thoughtful replies. I tossed and turned last night because none of this made sense and I was going mental. I made the changes, and I'm still getting nothing. However, my switch is now telling me that for one camera, the readout is open/short on the cable test. Could this mean that I've fried it? I've actually tried multiple cables now on this single camera and I'm getting the same readout. Possible the screwy wiring of the RJ45 could have done something? The other camera could have the same problem. I have a third camera that isn't POE. I'm going to switch the connectors on that one and see if I have any success.

 

[looney2ns]

Ok. First and foremost I want to thank all of you for your patience and thoughtful replies. I tossed and turned last night because none of this made sense and I was going mental. I made the changes, and I'm still getting nothing. However, my switch is now telling me that for one camera, the readout is open/short on the cable test. Could this mean that I've fried it? I've actually tried multiple cables now on this single camera and I'm getting the same readout. Possible the screwy wiring of the RJ45 could have done something? The other camera could have the same problem. I have a third camera that isn't POE. I'm going to switch the connectors on that one and see if I have any success.

Double and triple check that your wires are indeed seating properly in the RJ45, if you can't see clearly all the ends of the cable looking at the male end, you don't have them seated correctly and are not making proper connection. It's easy to make this error. Double check you've correctly followed the 568B.

Take a deep breath, and take your time. Your sure you have the correct Rj45's for your cable. It all matters.

 

[looney2ns]

I've performed continuity tests and everything checks out. The longest cable run is probably 50 feet. However, the lines run from the attic down the wall and right next to/by electrical wiring. Of course all of it is sheathed, but all of them run down the wall next to wiring. Would that be enough to prevent transmission for cameras and not for a computer?

You should keep cat cable 6-12" away from power lines. If not, use shielded cable, and make certain one end of the shield is grounded.

Good learning exercise, huh?

 

[bp2008]

And also remember both ends of the RJ45 get wired the same way (don't reverse one end or anything like that).

 

[Jake Arndt]

This is a nightmare. Ok...all of the connectors are pull through, so the wires are for sure connected properly. I've also ran continuity testers on all of them and it all works. STILL NOTHING. I switched out the connectors on the non poe camera and it worked. Also, I used 2 stock cat5 cables that were purchased at a store. Those won't work now either (whereas before they did work) So...now I'm thinking they are fried. I'm going to RMA, put the wires in a different spot when they run down the wall to make sure that they are not near any electrical and try again when the new cameras arrive. Again...I cannot thank you all enough. Hopefully I will have some good news to report in a few days.

 

[c hris527]

IF you did everything correct, with your Homemade RJ45 ends and it still does not work, I would go to Lowes or Depot and grab some of their cat 6 from a roll and make a patch cable out of that and see. If that does not work for you than you are doing something wrong with the homemade wiring on your end.

 

[Jake Arndt]

I received the new IP cameras this weekend. I reset all existing hardware, made sure the connectors were setup properly and when I plugged them in, it worked! No issues, everything is showing up perfectly. AGAIN...I need to thank all of you for taking the time to help me troubleshoot all of this. Had I not asked, I don't think I would have figured out the simple wiring misstep on the RJ45's. While I still have a few questions on the software side of things, I'll post that in a different section. This forum is amazing, thanks again!