Prewire Guidance:

[ThomasPI]

Planning now for a system for our new house. I frequent a boating forum and it's been recommended to me that I run Cat 5, Cat 6 and Coax to every camera location. Thoughts? Also, we are in the FL Panhandle and property is waterfront. We have the usual daily summer thunderstorms here and some are very strong. What precautions should I take when prewiring with the storms in mind? Also, all copper cables correct? I'm a big believer in do it right, do it once and be done with it. All wire runs will go into a hidden closet in a spare bedroom which is where everything pertaining to the system will be. I'll hang the cameras during the build and once we are in, the rest will fall into place. Any input more than welcome!

 

[Cupofschmoe]

You're here because you're opting to go with IP cameras. IP Cameras > coax. The price difference between Cat5e and Cat 6 install is negligible so I would have Cat 6 installed. If you don't decide to use one of the lines for Cameras, you can use it as an access point for your network. Coax and Cat5e were ran in my house and the coax takes up gobs of space in my panel. Not sure who recommended running all 3 types of cabling. It just doesn't make any sense at all. I highly suggest you plan out height and location of where you want your camera want to be and it works with the exterior design of the house. When mine was built, my locations interfered with the exterior and they ended up moving my location higher which now kind of obstructs the camera view I was looking for.

 

[ThomasPI]

Thanks Cup, didn't make sense to me either. I've got a general idea of placement and total number of cameras, about 8 but that may grow by a couple.im interested in sense a review on the Dauha 12Z, it would give me more options for placement height wise. Our first floor is 17' off the ground and driveway will be about 40' long give or take. We will add a couple by front and rear doors. We are about 3 to 4 months out from starting so figured this is a good time to start.

 

[looney2ns]

For lightning, ground everything.
Use Shielded Cat 5e pure copper cable, no CCA garbage to each cam location.
Surge protector on every cable run: Amazon.com: Ubiquiti Networks ETH-SP Poe External Surge Suppressor: Computers & Accessories
Run a #8 copper ground wire from your wiring closet out to your electric system ground rod.

Use this for cam locations: Camera Calculator / Design Software keep PPF>100
No need for coax in the 21st century for cams.
You want to know who did it, not just what happened, so don't mount cams any higher than 8ft, unless you enjoy tops of heads.