Running multiple CAT6 cables - many spools at once? How to manage spool lengths efficiently
- Thread starter taschenmesser
- Start date
Always pull a little extra, in case you need to adjust the location of the camera or simply if you do a poor job of crimping the connectors (happened to me a few times in the beginning 
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I decided to go with 2 1000' boxes of CAT6 23AWG. One reason was Monoprice didn't have any 250' boxes in white, and I want the lines to match the color of the garage walls (white).Always pull a little extra, in case you need to adjust the location of the camera or simply if you do a poor job of crimping the connectors (happened to me a few times in the beginning
So for the long run (150') from the garage to the basement/NVR room, I will plan on running 2 lines at a time, with electrical tape binding them somewhat together along with a pull-string. Then I will use the string to pull the additional 2 lines, with another pull-string in case I ever want more lines in the future. I was thinking I would install big cable-tie loops from the ceiling/pipes as an easy conduit to pull through the basement rooms. Then cinch them down after everything is installed.
Since I will be running at least 2 lines to every remaining camera install in the house, 2 1000' boxes seems to make the most sense, so I can run pairs. I will just need to keep track of the remaining footage for the rest of the installs. I think 1000' should be plenty for all the cameras.
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I ended up setting up big zip-tie loops throughout the long run from the basement to the garage. Then I ran a pull string with distance markers (USA Made 1250 Lb 1/2" Pull Tape/Mule Webbing - 500 FT (Many Strengths and Lengths Available) - - Amazon.com) through the loops, using the old, existing coaxial cable to pull it between the rooms/floors. This cleared out all the old cables and left me with a measurement of 140 ft from the NVR to the cameras:
I had picked up 2 boxes of 1000' CAT6+ from monoprice (Monoprice Cat6 Ethernet Bulk Cable - Solid, 550MHz, UTP, CMR, Riser Rated, Pure Bare Copper Wire, 23AWG, 1000ft, Blue (Alternative PID 18548) - Monoprice.com), so I unspooled two lengths of 155 ft and snipped them, then taped those to the two box feeds so I was pulling four cables total. I also attached another pull string. My helper (wife) and I then spent a grueling day pulling the four lines through the basement, which was cramped, very dusty, and had a lot of rat droppings and traps in certain corners. Particularly difficult snaking it through a furnace room with two 90 degree turns and under the garage, where the basement floor slopes up and leaves about 5 feet of overhead (I am 6'5"). Much respect to people that do this for a living, it was tough work!
I wired the cables to a patch bay in the basement, and installed a couple racks to house the equipment. The cameras are wired into the top patch bay and the LAN locations are on the second patch bay.
(The cabling isn't finished, hope to get it pretty neat in the end.)
I built a little cinderblock house for the UPS, which I hope makes it a little safer in case it catches fire.
Today I installed two PFA130-E Water-proof Junction Boxes at the camera locations. Luckily the older coaxial cameras I was replacing had already pre-drilled cable holes (and were good camera locations), so all I had to do was use the PFA130E template over the existing hole and drill new mounting holes in the stucco. I used a Makita hammer drill with masonry bit at pretty slow RPMs, took some time (a good 2" of stucco). Then used 3 1/4" screws to mount the boxes into the stucco/plywood behind it.
I added CAT6+ connectors (). The slip-through crimping made it much easier than the last time I installed cameras with standard crimpers. Still took an inordinate amount of time since it was above my head and I am an amateur. I tested the connection with a cable tester and it passed. Installed two Dahua IPC-T2231T-ZS that I got from Andy.
They came up fine in Blue Iris. I had set them up before the install, using the Dahua config tool, Pale Moon, etc. I am using a dual NIC Blue Iris system, with the cameras on one NIC, the LAN on another. I bench tested everything before install.
I've got more cameras to install for my uncle, but he texted me tonight that the cameras are dropping out and coming back intermittently. It occurs to me that the run (140ft) could be too long for the POE power to get to the cameras.
Is there a good way to test this? All the cable runs I have done I have checked with a cheap cable tester that just tells me they are wired correctly. I don't know if there is power loss however.
The cameras are running off of a ZyXEL GS1008HP 8 Port POE+ switch (Amazon.com: ZyXEL GS1008HP 8 Port POE+ Gigabit Ethernet Switch, 8 x PoE, 60W Budget, Fanless Metal Design, Desktop, 802.3at 802.3af, 5 Year Warranty [GS1008HP]: Electronics). If the problem is power loss, I wonder if replacing the switch with something with more Ws would help. Otherwise I would have to install a POE switch in the garage, which I was hoping to avoid.
I had picked up 2 boxes of 1000' CAT6+ from monoprice (Monoprice Cat6 Ethernet Bulk Cable - Solid, 550MHz, UTP, CMR, Riser Rated, Pure Bare Copper Wire, 23AWG, 1000ft, Blue (Alternative PID 18548) - Monoprice.com), so I unspooled two lengths of 155 ft and snipped them, then taped those to the two box feeds so I was pulling four cables total. I also attached another pull string. My helper (wife) and I then spent a grueling day pulling the four lines through the basement, which was cramped, very dusty, and had a lot of rat droppings and traps in certain corners. Particularly difficult snaking it through a furnace room with two 90 degree turns and under the garage, where the basement floor slopes up and leaves about 5 feet of overhead (I am 6'5"). Much respect to people that do this for a living, it was tough work!
I wired the cables to a patch bay in the basement, and installed a couple racks to house the equipment. The cameras are wired into the top patch bay and the LAN locations are on the second patch bay.
(The cabling isn't finished, hope to get it pretty neat in the end.)
I built a little cinderblock house for the UPS, which I hope makes it a little safer in case it catches fire.
Today I installed two PFA130-E Water-proof Junction Boxes at the camera locations. Luckily the older coaxial cameras I was replacing had already pre-drilled cable holes (and were good camera locations), so all I had to do was use the PFA130E template over the existing hole and drill new mounting holes in the stucco. I used a Makita hammer drill with masonry bit at pretty slow RPMs, took some time (a good 2" of stucco). Then used 3 1/4" screws to mount the boxes into the stucco/plywood behind it.
I added CAT6+ connectors (). The slip-through crimping made it much easier than the last time I installed cameras with standard crimpers. Still took an inordinate amount of time since it was above my head and I am an amateur. I tested the connection with a cable tester and it passed. Installed two Dahua IPC-T2231T-ZS that I got from Andy.
They came up fine in Blue Iris. I had set them up before the install, using the Dahua config tool, Pale Moon, etc. I am using a dual NIC Blue Iris system, with the cameras on one NIC, the LAN on another. I bench tested everything before install.
I've got more cameras to install for my uncle, but he texted me tonight that the cameras are dropping out and coming back intermittently. It occurs to me that the run (140ft) could be too long for the POE power to get to the cameras.
Is there a good way to test this? All the cable runs I have done I have checked with a cheap cable tester that just tells me they are wired correctly. I don't know if there is power loss however.
The cameras are running off of a ZyXEL GS1008HP 8 Port POE+ switch (Amazon.com: ZyXEL GS1008HP 8 Port POE+ Gigabit Ethernet Switch, 8 x PoE, 60W Budget, Fanless Metal Design, Desktop, 802.3at 802.3af, 5 Year Warranty [GS1008HP]: Electronics). If the problem is power loss, I wonder if replacing the switch with something with more Ws would help. Otherwise I would have to install a POE switch in the garage, which I was hoping to avoid.
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Nice work, sounds like the pull cord helped out a lot. I would have done it the exact same way - pulling a new one in as I pull the old one out. Saves a lot of headache in the future if you ever need more cables.
POE is good for at least 328 feet. 140-160 ft runs shouldn't be an issue unless the cables got nicked along the pull. Also, the cameras use the most amount of power during boot or when IR is on. If there is a POE issue then those are the times where you'd most likely see it.
Check the camera logs - check your ping times - make sure your PC doesn't have default gateways on both NICs - check the POE switch, could be the power supply - make sure your UPS isn't overloaded - look for duplicate IP's. You've gotten this far, I'm sure you'll figure it out.
POE is good for at least 328 feet. 140-160 ft runs shouldn't be an issue unless the cables got nicked along the pull. Also, the cameras use the most amount of power during boot or when IR is on. If there is a POE issue then those are the times where you'd most likely see it.
Check the camera logs - check your ping times - make sure your PC doesn't have default gateways on both NICs - check the POE switch, could be the power supply - make sure your UPS isn't overloaded - look for duplicate IP's. You've gotten this far, I'm sure you'll figure it out.
Great, thanks for the tips, I will try all those things. I am pretty sure the cables didn't get nicked or bent, although they were always conspiring to do so!
it seems that you would be better off making a single run and then going into an 8 port Poe switch. You could then run your 3 separate Cat 6 cables to your camera's.
if you are not using Poe camera's you can always use power injector/splitters you would still a have 4 ports for extra camera' expansion if needed. Pl Do not forget maximum length for
Cat 6 cable run is 100 MTR or 300 ft
if you are not using Poe camera's you can always use power injector/splitters you would still a have 4 ports for extra camera' expansion if needed. Pl Do not forget maximum length for
Cat 6 cable run is 100 MTR or 300 ft