Sheilded connectors
- Thread starter mando209
- Start date
I've been using shielded + ground connection cables for many of my cams and honestly I've seen no difference between them and regular cables. In theory they reduce the chance of Electrostatic discharge (ESD) causing damage to cameras, but I think that requires the camera and the PoE injection device (typically a PoE switch) to both support grounding through the network cable.
Some devices, and I think this includes Hikvision cams, just use a plastic housing for the RJ45 jack so I'm pretty sure that negates the ESD-preventing effect of using the shielded/metal-sided rj45 connectors. But I'm not an electricity expert so I could be wrong. I just prefer to use shielded cable when I can since in my experience it genuinely does improve reliability of Ubiquiti devices. Ubiquiti Toughcable is good stuff. Just not the most flexible so I use it rarely indoors.
Some devices, and I think this includes Hikvision cams, just use a plastic housing for the RJ45 jack so I'm pretty sure that negates the ESD-preventing effect of using the shielded/metal-sided rj45 connectors. But I'm not an electricity expert so I could be wrong. I just prefer to use shielded cable when I can since in my experience it genuinely does improve reliability of Ubiquiti devices. Ubiquiti Toughcable is good stuff. Just not the most flexible so I use it rarely indoors.
wcrowder
Getting the hang of it
Shielded Twisted Pair is used in situations where you need to protect the signals being corrupted from outside interference. It won't help much for ESD, "Electrical Static Discharge". Making it simple: If you need to pull Network Cable through noisy environments like a factory floor or next/close to high voltage power lines or large electric motors... you use STP, (Shielded Twisted Pair). For normal use you use UTP. (Unshielded twisted Pair). STP is much harder to terminate "correctly" then UTP. And you must be very careful not to damage the jacket. Also STP is usually much much more expensive.
Adding another thought: I've never researched this, just thinking out-loud. But unless you are rack mounting your servers and you racks are grounded to earth... I wouldn't use STP to place cameras outside. Every STP cable has a thin, usually braided conductor that is grounded from your camera to your case chassis. That could suck lightning right into your house.
Here is a simple description from google.
http://customcable.ca/stp-vs-utp-cables-application-comparison/
Adding another thought: I've never researched this, just thinking out-loud. But unless you are rack mounting your servers and you racks are grounded to earth... I wouldn't use STP to place cameras outside. Every STP cable has a thin, usually braided conductor that is grounded from your camera to your case chassis. That could suck lightning right into your house.
Here is a simple description from google.
http://customcable.ca/stp-vs-utp-cables-application-comparison/
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Yes, some devices aren't designed to support grounding through the RJ45 jack in the first place, and some shielded cables don't properly bond the RJ45 connectors to each other. Ubiquiti Toughcable is actually the only bulk cable I've used that has an ESD drain wire in it for bonding the RJ45 connectors, and Ubiquiti is the only brand I've dealt with where the product documentation specifically requests this feature. That said, I was once bench testing a 5MP Stardot Netcam SC and every time I touched the camera's metal casing, it would reboot. A shielded + grounded cable solved that problem. I've never had that problem with another camera before or since, regardless of cable used.
wcrowder
Getting the hang of it
From you what you said, "I'm just guessing", about the "5MP Netcam SC", it had a manufacturing defect where the pcb wasn't grounded to the chassis correctly or had a broken SM cap to ground. When you added a properly terminated STP cable it grounded to the other termination and worked... 
I don't know about Ubiquiti Toughcable, but I have never seen STP without a "drain" wire, I believe it's in the standard. I'm looking right now at a piece of scrap of Mono-Price Cat6 STP I'd thrown in the back of my truck. We do use Ubiquity point-2-point for cameras on entrance points. Fantastic products.
The only way that this would help with ESD is if the computer chassis is grounded to earth either through the rack or directly by the ground lug that nobody ever uses... We use it at work when pulling next to high voltage lines or noisy environments. All I'm saying if for general home purposes, I wouldn't use STP. I'm always ready to learn, that's what we're here on these forums.
I don't know about Ubiquiti Toughcable, but I have never seen STP without a "drain" wire, I believe it's in the standard. I'm looking right now at a piece of scrap of Mono-Price Cat6 STP I'd thrown in the back of my truck. We do use Ubiquity point-2-point for cameras on entrance points. Fantastic products.The only way that this would help with ESD is if the computer chassis is grounded to earth either through the rack or directly by the ground lug that nobody ever uses... We use it at work when pulling next to high voltage lines or noisy environments. All I'm saying if for general home purposes, I wouldn't use STP. I'm always ready to learn, that's what we're here on these forums.
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From you what you said, "I'm just guessing", about the "5MP Netcam SC", it had a manufacturing defect where the pcb wasn't grounded to the chassis correctly or had a broken SM cap to ground. When you added a properly terminated STP cable it grounded to the other termination and worked...
The only way that this would help with ESD is if the computer chassis is grounded to earth either through the rack or directly by the ground lug that nobody ever uses... We use it at work when pulling next to high voltage lines or noisy environments. All I'm saying if for general home purposes, I wouldn't use STP. I'm always ready to learn, that's what we're here on these forums.
Yeah, you are probably right about that cam. It still works great after several years though so I'm going to say it wasn't a serious defect.
Very few of the cams on toughcable are Hikvision. Mostly I used manufactured shielded cables for my Hikvision & other cameras.