Test Suite - Ethernet Cables & IP Cameras

[kevinimf]

As I have referred earlier, our new home is getting constructed and would be delivered in couple of months.
I would like to thank all of you for your suggestions & guidance on designing the CC locations & which models to choose from.

I've bought about 21 Dahua cameras with Andy and they have been delivered promptly. I got CAT6 home run around the house where I want the cameras to be installed.
The builder would not allow a certified contractor work on until the settlement is done.

I'm planning to go with Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro, 48 port POE switch & AP installed in my AV Rack where the cables are home run.
Unfortunately, the CAT6 nor the speaker wire cables are labelled at the home run. I would have to crimp both ends of CAT6 and run it through Keystone Patch panel.

I would like to know what exact test tools are recommended to identify each nodes, test out that Keystone jacks are installed properly and mainly how to test the IP Cams - check the angle at each location.
From what I've read, looks like Koolertron is a good tool to use for testing.

Amazon.com : Koolertron Upgraded 7 inch IPS Touch Screen H.265 4K IPC-9800 Plus IP Camera Tester CCTV CVBS Analog Tester Built in WiFi with POE/WIFI/8G TF Card/HDMI Output/RJ45 TDR/Dual Window Test/Firmware : Camera & Photo

Amazon.com : Koolertron Upgraded 7 inch IPS Touch Screen H.265 4K IPC-9800 Plus IP Camera Tester CCTV CVBS Analog Tester Built in WiFi with POE/WIFI/8G TF Card/HDMI Output/RJ45 TDR/Dual Window Test/Firmware : Camera & Photo

www.amazon.com

Any opinons or other suggestions? Do we even need an IPCam tester like above or just a ethernet test kit will work like this -

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M367DTA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Thanks!

 

[biggen]

I, personally, don't test cables. I've made thousands of Cat5/6 cables in my lifetime and can probably count on one hand how many I crimped improperly.

As far as finding what cable goes where, I use a couple of cheap switches. Plug a cable into the switch at one end (outside back porch, etc...) and another cable into the second switch at the patch panel location. Use the link light on the switch to determine when you have found the appropriate drop.

You can also use a cheap multimeter to check for resistance if you tie two pairs together at the remote location. But that's a pain in the ass because you will have to strip lots of wires at the patch panel end.

If you have lots of locations where you cant easily power a switch like on the eave of a house two stories up, then a simple cable tracer will do:

https://www.amazon.com/ELEGIANT-Multifunction-Collation-Telephone-Continuity/dp/B07K448B3T/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=network+cable+finder&qid=1591057860&sr=8-6

 

[TonyR]

+1^^.
Since you're new at this (we all were at one time), get a cheap tester like this:
Zoostliss Network Cable Tester RJ45 RJ11 RJ12 UTP LAN Cable Tester Networking Tool



Then back at the patch panel, use @biggen's idea with a cheap switch to ID the runs; save your $150 to $265 for another camera!

Also, check out these label clips for CAT cable here.

 

[saltwater]

I'm going through the exact same process but I was fortunate enough to do the laying of cat cable and coax myself (with help). As far as I was concerned, labelling was key. At present, I have 50+ cables in the comms room of my new house, that need to be terminated, as they do at the wall plates, but each cable is identified. I hope you gave your builder hell for the sub-standard work ethic. I know when professionals lay cables in offices, they don't care about labelling, as they have the tools at the ready to identify them. For home use, one-off jobs, it really doesn't take that much extra time to label cables.

Anyway, you could simply use a cheap line continuity tester ($15 - 25), one end at the point the other at your patch panel, plug into different cables until the lights cycle through 1 to 8, label it, then move on to your next point.

You'll need a crimp tool similar to this. Make sure it has a cutting blade that trims off the excess wires that are fed through the pass-through connectors.

Speaking of pass-through connectors, the other style is the non-pass-through connectors. The disadvantage with this type is, if you get your wires out of order you've wasted a connector. With the pass-through style, you have a last chance to check your colour sequence before crimping. Pass-through type here.

You'll need a punch-down tool as well for your RJ45's.

All in all, these are relatively cheap tools.

You mention a 48 port switch, AP's with the UniFi dream machine. I'm curious why you chose the dream machine and not USG or USG Pro?

 

[kevinimf]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I'm thinking about Dream Machine is because I read UniFi is discontinuing USG. And looks like if you really want to scan all the packets for intrusion detection, USG can't handle & throttle down the speeds.

I've also reading great thing about MikroTik Switches and the value they provide.
Ex - This particular switch not only provides 4 10G SFP+ ports, but also 2 40G QSFP+ which I can leverage to connect to NAS (I've built using UnRaid on SuperMicro) and BlurIris machine recording all 21 camera feeds.

MikroTik CRS354-48P-4S+2Q+RM | Getic

Buy MikroTik CRS354-48P-4S+2Q+RM. Price from 744.21 EUR. Worldwide delivery! Full description, specifications, reviews, extended warranty option. ☎ +371 60 000 888.

www.eurodk.com

 

[Holbs]

I run the Ubiquiti UDM (not pro) as I have a Ubiquiti 48 port POE managed switch (so don't need the extra port from the pro) with IPS on.
I would be curious if you record each of your 21 camera as continuously or motion and see if you have issues that I had. 15 cameras recording continuously to my Synology NAS that caused delays which I assume was network congestion.
As a day job cabler, I feel inward pain when folks do not label both ends of a cable during rough in. Just takes 2 seconds to Sharpie a number.
The above tester is called a "network tester" but that is marketing gimmick. It's simply a pin tester+wire mapper to ensure your cabling is terminated straight through which for 97% of the time, is perfect solution for DIY person. A real network tester, such as Fluke which costs $4000+, tests the frequencies, crosstalk, protocols...etc for companies that require Cat5e or Cat6 industry standard certifications.
To find a cable, it's a slow but necessary process. Terminate the camera end with a RJ45 modular plug. Attach your toner to the camera end. Grab your probe, head to network cabinet, trace/find the wire you are toning, terminate into your keystone jack, wiremap test, label it to your heart's content. I like to use Google Sheets to keep track of what patch panel port number goes to what geographical location of camera, it's IP (mine are all static), it's MAC address, and what switch port it plugs into.
Rinse and repeat.
You will want a wire mapper & toner combination unit:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/IDEAL-Test-Tone-Trace-Kit-Digital-Test-Meter/1000138337?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-elc-_-google-_-lia-_-106-_-electricaltoolsandtesters-_-1000138337-_-0&store_code=321&placeholder=null&&ds_a_cid=112741100&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoNL0k8Pj6QIV4iCtBh0MVw0GEAQYCCABEgKT-fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

To check the angle of the cameras after they are in their final resting places, I fire up my Blue Iris after configuring all cameras. On my smartphone, I fire up UI3 and select camera I want to adjust. Head out on ladder with smartphone and finalize the angle to my liking.
This toner+wiremapper could also tone your speakers in the same fashion. Will toss out a warble tone to attached speaker wire + speaker for identification.

That Koolertron could would for testing angles, maybe. But really... above mention of simply using UI3 and smartphone is the same but is free.
The Klein tool is not a toner. It will wire map a known cable. You have unknown cables.

 

[kevinimf]

Thank you for your detailed response. I didn't think about leveraging the UI3 on smartphone to check the camera angles. This really helps

Not sure which version of 48 port switch you have, but with each 1G ports, I doubt that the bottleneck would have been at the Dream Machine or the switch. Mostly it must be with NAS writing all the feeds to drive. Having said that, I'm not sure about whether you had them in same subnet or different. Also, what configuration of RAID you have.

 

[Holbs]

Thank you for your detailed response. I didn't think about leveraging the UI3 on smartphone to check the camera angles. This really helps

Not sure which version of 48 port switch you have, but with each 1G ports, I doubt that the bottleneck would have been at the Dream Machine or the switch. Mostly it must be with NAS writing all the feeds to drive. Having said that, I'm not sure about whether you had them in same subnet or different. Also, what configuration of RAID you have.

no RAID. One day, I'll look into using RAID for various purposes, but when I used my NAS, all "STORED" went to the NAS to a single 8TB Purple. They were on a different subnet from the NAS which also could of been the cause of the hiccups/delays (now that I think about it, I read somewhere that transversing across subnets for video camera's is not a great idea maybe just for this reason). I'm not sure what caused the hiccups/delays (we are talking 5-10 seconds to bring up alerts...same for bringing up specific camera's on UI3) as I only play network IT engineer on tv