Installing ethernet wire from 14-foot eaves soffit to 8-foot camera height

[Timokreon]

I would try running the cable down that white trim, lift it up and put the cable. Looks like it has enough gap to run a cable, then can run the last foot or so horizontally along your siding. I can't tell if your siding has enough gap to tuck a wire up along the edge or not.

 

[samplenhold]

Realize that high mounted cams can be a good thing, depending on what you are trying to accomplish. It is not so much the height above ground level as it is the angle to the face that gets you a good face shot. If you are high-mounted but the field of focus is further way, you could have a good angle for getting a face shot.



High mounted cams can be goo overview cams. Some of those positions are great for a good quality PTZ cam.

But if you are going to mount a normal turret, like a T5442, down lower, then no need to stop at 8 feet since you are mounting it on the siding. Go BELOW that carriage light. This will give you a lower face shot and potentially help with glare from that light.

 

[samplenhold]

I could probably have done that too-- but I was a bit gunshy of running a switch in the garage with the temp extremes-- especially in summer.

I am lucky in that I am in Houston, TX and the garage is finished and attached. So, the temps do not get too extreme.

 

[mikeynags]

@builder - Is it a hard and fast rule that the cameras need to be at 8 feet? I don't think it is. As an alternative, why couldn't you take those 5442 varifocals, mount them where you have boxes already installed with ethernet in the soffit and make up the difference with the varifocal zoom? That would require no modifications at all. My cameras on my garage are higher than 8 feet and the zoom dials it in just fine.

 

[Flintstone61]

leave the cam. and run a new line in the garage? with a second cam like samplenhold said 1 high cam can be good in conjunction with another. more is better. right ?

 

[Flintstone61]

I got a 1/2 inch bit from hardware store. that was like 18" long.
I have a finished garage with insulation. I went right thru everything. except i came out hidden inside the soffit . and made a hole in soffit and mounted with no box. i'll go take a photo.

 

[wittaj]

Sometimes higher with a good varifocal is of more benefit than a lower fixed lens. As mentioned above, the height and optical zoom (not digital zoom) helps to flatten the angle.

Perps expect cameras up close and will look down, which is why we recommend lower heights so that you do not get top of heads and hoodies. But even then a camera 6 feet high will miss a face if someone is looking down.

But out on the street or sidewalk or coming up your driveway they may be looking up to capture the money shot.

This is from the 5241-Z12E 2MP varifocal optically zoomed to the street of a 2am thief that hit some cars and homes.

I am the only one that got clean images of the perp. Well my neighbors also had crap cams LOL.

 

[Flintstone61]

If you run Legrand surface mount...do it just behind the downspout for curb appeal maybe.
what about from inside the garage with a new line to this location?

 

[fenderman]

I would not run bare wire down a wall simply because it will look tacky. This is a nice house not a dump somewhere in the hood. There are many good suggestions here but ultimately even if you need to pay someone to do the work its worth the investment. You dont want to cringe every time you pull up to the house and see the cable.

 

[looney2ns]

Hire an experienced electrician that is certified for low voltage, they do this sort of work daily.
You would be surprised at how quickly and hidden they can solve this.

 

[Holbs]

I'd extend the existing data cable from up in the soffit, horizontal penetration to the inside of the garage, 3/4" conduit down from garage ceiling to the height you want your camera, re-penetrate out to camera itself.
I have 3 cameras in my driveway: #1 Left and #2 Right are 5' off the ground (I wanted direct visual for facial ID). #3 is centered above garage door.
A word of note: a 5' height turret camera will not point directly 90degrees angle due to the camera unable to reach that angle. The pigtail interferes with the housing. The angle is more 80-85 degrees. 8' would be perfect though.

 

[Virga]

Made a test rig from materials already at hand, to get a 5442 to a height of 8 feet 6 inches. Test rig has the vertical 2x4 at one side so the camera can be placed right up to the wall where a permanent install might be. Ran a bright color patch cable from soffit junction box to camera, casually zip tied it to gutter elbow, and let it loosely hang behind the down spout as a cable visibility test.
Camera has a nice view. Given my view distances, could go higher. Next step is to put that 2X on the ol' wood stretcher and increase the length by 2-3 feet, and see how the view looks. Alternatively, might assemble a second test rig, connect it with a long cable and do a side-by-side comparison. Time to order another 5442 varifocal.
Phase one of camera rollout might be at soffit level using existing ethernet, with a fleet of 5442 varifocals. That’s a nice FOV range. This also dovetails with my goal of general overview, so Detect and Observe, more than Recognize and Identify.
Phase two might involve specialized cameras running off new cable runs. I can get new cable to garage ceiling and run inside on exterior wall or on ceiling, drop down where needed, and come to outside wall right where needed. Can get new cable to several other locations.
Looking forward to a 2023 updated list of best-of-breed cameras, though I note that the list has been stable for quite some time.
Thank you all for great input, which has been very helpful.

 

[Holbs]

Before making a committed answer... test at night. Walk around with a baseball cap on as a perp is highly likely to do.
Daytime images are easy. Night time with no sunlight is where we all have to have a different configuration due to street lamp glare, low lighting, shadows, etc.

 

[Virga]

Now time to start learning Blue Iris. Repurposed an under-utilized i5-6500 build from several years ago, did a clean install of Windows 10, and clean install of BI. This way I can review footage and do some live testing. No-light is the principal challenge at my site.

 

[samplenhold]

As @Holbs stated, walk that test at night. I suggest lowering the cam to below the carriage light. Please post some stills for us to see. This is a great start.

 

[Virga]

I have a T5442T-ZE up on a test rig.
Soon cameras will go up on eaves soffits where I already have ethernet.
What would be a good way to terminate the ethernet where I have it already at eaves soffits?
Specifically, what mounting box or arrangement might be suitable to provide flexibility to experiment with different cameras?
Good chance I'll end up with T5442T-ZE's at multiple locations at the soffits, though at least one could end up being a long lens camera for arrival detection at about 200 feet and might be a bullet.

Existing ethernet runs end in the line voltage box on which basic exterior lighting is installed on eaves soffits.
The first thing I am doing is getting the ethernet out of that box and in to its own box.
So the question is what should that box be.
I can't go too far from the original box because roof rafters limit where I can pull the ethernet through a new hole in the soffit, as well as available slack in the ethernet cable.
(Note to self: Give more detailed direction to wire installer, next time.)

 

[wittaj]

Many here will simply waterproof the connection and shove it back up in the soffit and not use a junction box. Others use a junction box. Depends on what you want to do.

 

[Virga]

I was hoping there might be a base plate (or something) that one can mount, to which different camera boxes can be mounted.
Would have been great if there was a universal box to mount cameras on, but so far I am understanding that the mounting box varies for each camera.
Changing boxes means abandoned holes, and new screw holes.
Much experimentation = many abandoned holes in soffit, and I was trying to think of away to avoid that.
Arguably, experiments is what a testing rig is for.

 

[wittaj]

Many of us use aluminum stock and mount the camera to that and wiggle it into the soffit area. Avoids all the holes and need for different junction boxes.

In the soffit itself, I cut a small opening on 3 sides and then bend it open instead of cutting off and that way if I move a camera I can just bend the opening back inro place and not leave a hole.

Paint the stock to match the soffit and all is good.

Let me see if I can find the picture here.

 

[Virga]

Thanks - will try to improvise a solution along these lines.
My soffit is fiber cement (Hardy plank), and is brittle.
Perhaps a solution is a husky block made of exterior grade wood, painted, and mounted to the soffit (preferably on framing behind the soffit),
It will be more forgiving of holes or could serve as a base for accepting aluminum stock on which the camera is mounted.