Ethernet connection from a WiFi extender

[Ip2b]

Hi all,

I would like to get a POE outside camera near my garage, but getting CAT cable from the garage to the outside is very difficult, as I don't have any CAT outlets nearby. I was testing a Wifi extender in the garage, which allows me to plug CAT cable into it. Could i use this for a POE camera, at least for the video feed (and power the POE camera with a separate power supply?) Alternatively, could I use a POE network switch in conjunction with a WiFi extender so I wouldn't need a separate power supply for the camera?

Thanks

 

[Oldtechguy66]

You can do that, but I suspect results will not be ideal. For one thing, you're putting you camera IP traffic on the NVR external LAN ( WAN) side, exposing your camera to nasties on the internet; and adding congestion on you home network (router). The extender may or may not work acceptably anyway, depending on a host of variables - is it repeating over 5GHz or 2.4GHz WLAN bands? Yes, you could use a typical wall wart pwr supply to power the camera (usually 12V DC) via its aux power jack. A POE switch would work, but seems a bit complicated for adding just one camera. The usual fix for this very common situation is to use a dedicated wireless link transceiver pair, such as made by Ubiquiti, TP Link, etc. One device is configured as the AP, other as slave/receive station. They essentially become a LAN cable, minus the cable. Of course, you'll still need to power the camera (& any POE devices) somehow, and there are a myriad of ways to do so including power injectors, allowing use of POE devices on non POE switches/etc. I'm sure some of the experts here will chime in, as this topic or variants thereof comes up often. I use Ubiquiti LoCo and TP Link wireless links to connect my cameras in our farm buildings, including a pole barn which has no commercial power (all PV powered).
I have multiple WiFi extenders, but found them less than reliable and not as useful as I thought they'd be - and that's on a low bandwidth application. I haven't tried it, but suspect trying to stream HD video over them would be at best, marginal. There are many reasons why this wouldn't be ideal, and better idea to use dedicated link pairs. There are many similar posts in this forum. Sure Matt & Tony or others will chime in... they do a lot beter job explaining than I have.

 

[Ip2b]

Thank you for the explanation. I guess I could always try it and see how the performance is.

I am curious about your use of Ubiquiti LoCo and TP wireless links. It looks like the Ubiquiti LoCo is reasonably priced. Is there a YouTube video or some other ink you could possibly refer me to so I can try to understand how something like that would work in my situation. I'd like it as least complicated as possible.

 

[TonyR]

Oh, yeah...big Ubiquiti fan here plus a couple of TP-LINKS in a pinch.

• Do you have power at the garage?
• If so, does the power come from the house? (I'm think PLA (Power Line Adapter) which uses your AC wiring for the Ethernet cable in a sense.
• Is there good LOS (Line Of Sight) between the 2 points to be connected?

 

[TonyR]

Thank you for the explanation. I guess I could always try it and see how the performance is.

I am curious about your use of Ubiquiti LoCo and TP wireless links. It looks like the Ubiquiti LoCo is reasonably priced. Is there a YouTube video or some other ink you could possibly refer me to so I can try to understand how something like that would work in my situation. I'd like it as least complicated as possible.

How about this?

 

[Ip2b]

Oh, yeah...big Ubiquiti fan here plus a couple of TP-LINKS in a pinch.

• Do you have power at the garage?
• If so, does the power come from the house? (I'm think PLA (Power Line Adapter) which uses your AC wiring for the Ethernet cable in a sense.
• Is there good LOS (Line Of Sight) between the 2 points to be connected?

Yes, power inside the garage and yes, the power comes from the house, but would this have to be on the same circuit? As far as line of site, the camera would be just outside the garage, so I would be able to run CAT from inside the garage to the outside via the weather stripping. I have read a bit about PLA and I am all ears I found at least 1 PLA that has the ability of POE...

 

[Ip2b]

How about this?

View attachment 190971

I think this would would work well if I had a remote location on a property and could get line of sight from one point to the other, but with my situation, there's really no where to mount these on the outside (it's a condo.) I'm hoping the the PLA idea would work for my situation. I do have various ethernet outlets that are not too far from the garage, so maybe the power outlets near them will be on the same circuit as the garage? I don't know.

 

[TonyR]

There's a fairly new tech in PLA's called G.hn which touts that the 2 PLA devices can operate reliably across 2 different "legs" or "phases" (power to the 2 PLA's supplied by opposites sides of the 120/240VAC panel) so I'd give it a try if it were me.

However, most of the reviews I read stated that the best speeds down/up were obtained when the 2 PLA devices were on the same leg (any circuit from same side side of electrical panel).

And at the camera end you could supply power to the POE camera with a POE injector if the PLA doesn't provide POE.

 

[Ip2b]

There's a fairly new tech in PLA's called G.hn which touts that the 2 PLA devices can operate reliably across 2 different "legs" or "phases" (power to the 2 PLA's supplied by opposites sides of the 120/240VAC panel) so I'd give it a try if it were me.

However, most of the reviews I read stated that the best speeds down/up were obtained when the 2 PLA devices were on the same leg (any circuit from same side side of electrical panel).

And at the camera end you could supply power to the POE camera with a POE injector if the PLA doesn't provide POE.

Which products would you recommend I take a look at for both the PLA with G.hn (that has POE, if possible) and also a POE injector, if it doesn't? IF the PLA doesn't have POE it looks like the POE injector plug into the PLA and then the camera into the POE injector (read a post you had here back in 2018.) How safe are these PLA's, as I read a review on Amazon and the plug apparently caught on fire.

 

[TonyR]

Which products would you recommend I take a look at for both the PLA with G.hn (that has POE, if possible) and also a POE injector, if it doesn't?

What is your geographic location?

IF the PLA doesn't have POE, would the POE injector plug into the PLA and then the camera into the POE injector?

Yes:
PLA => POE Injector "LAN" and POE Injector "POE" => POE Camera

 

[Ip2b]

What is your geographic location? California

Yes:
PLA => POE Injector "LAN" and POE Injector "POE" => POE Camera

 

[TonyR]

California

Comtrend G.hn Powerline Adapter with Pass-Through Outlet I 2-Unit Kit (PG-9182PT-KIT)

BV-Tech Gigabit Power Over Ethernet PoE+ Injector | 30W | Plug & Play | up to 325 Feet

 

[Ip2b]

Comtrend G.hn Powerline Adapter with Pass-Through Outlet I 2-Unit Kit (PG-9182PT-KIT)

BV-Tech Gigabit Power Over Ethernet PoE+ Injector | 30W | Plug & Play | up to 325 Feet

Didn't get these exact models, but as an update, I'm amazed at how well the powerline adapter works. Thank you.