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Coax Seal: http://worldwidesatellites.com/coax-seal-tape-p-313.html I still prefer to run the pigtail into a conduit and connecting to it with an RG45 keystone, this means the only hole I need is big enough to route my CAT5 through. I don't like pushing any type of premade cables through the wall.

I would recommend against using the premade cables, they have almost no shielding and like you said come in lenghts that are almost never enough to use. I would say use RG59 or RG6 with compression or crimp BNC connectors, or CAT5e or alarm wire with baluns. The good thing about CAT5e is you are now futureproofed for IP cameras. Also if you dont want them cut run them in conduit. Running your own wiring allows you to run video and power at the same time.

Unless you want to go with IP cameras, then your idea works, I would suggest running the wires through the walls if you want to save money, can be time consuming if you don't know what you are doing, but it works. Often when covering a second floor we find a spot, next to HCAV or plumbing stacks often work nicely, and we run all our cables to the attic, then from there we come down from the top to our second floor locations, this means we only need to find 1 wall that lines up with the first floor and second floor.

What is your current DVR?

Unless you plan on installing wireless access points all over the place and cabling them back wireless is not the way to go for this project. Since it is an apartment there are likely to be many other wireless devices that will cause congestion and wireless generally doesn't do well traveling through walls. Is it your friend doesnt want people to see the wires or simply doesnt want to pay someone to run the wiring?

I would say just get yourself a waterproof junction box and plate cover, attach the camera to the plate cover and the plate cover to the junction box, then you can use an RJ45 coupler, or keystone jack to make the connection to the camera, and just run a standard CAT5e cable through a much smaller hole in your house.

I have been using flex conduit, it goes for 80$ for 100FT so not the cheapest but easy to get around bends.

http://www.portablesurveillance.com/ Have everything you should need.

Thanks for the pointers When you speak of analog camera dvr, how would you differentiate between digital and analog? I have found a better DVR, Q-See QT5680-1, and I'm trying to understand if it is digital or analog? The dvr mentioned above has a "D1" recording resolution...and HDMI compared to others that offer VGA ports. Analog will use coax wires and have a resolution of maybe 700tv lines whereas digital (ip) will use Ethernet cables and have resolutions starting at 1.3mp and go up from there. D1 resolution is somewhere about 720x480. HD resolution starts at 1080x720. Don't quote me on the resolutions. It's a general idea. Hdmi and VGA ports are a matter of how you want to hook up the output from the DVR. Hdmi will not make a lower resolution appear better. Some good points, but analog cameras can use ethernet (CAT5e) cabling to when Baluns are used, so I would not go as far as to say IP is defined by the use of ethernet cable. If you go analog remember to look for D1 real time recording, many systems use the term D1 but you have to know at what FPS, if its at 30 FPS great you have real time, if its at 7FPS you are going to have a very choppy image. Also remember FPS and IPS (Frames Per Second) and (Images Per Second) are not the same, it takes 2 IPS to make 1FPS. As for what cabling, I would say go with a digital IP system then all you need is a single CAT5e or CAT6 cable and you will get power and video over a single wire with POE (Power Over Ethernet) of course you are confined to the limitations of ethernet at that point so under 500FT to be safe. (Standard states 300FT)

Have you tried removing the cover and looking for any serial numbers or part numbers? They are often times printed inside the case.

I buy from adi-dist.com this is ADI's website, however I buy as a business, so unless you are doing the same probably not what you are looking for.

If this is outside any CAT5e or CAT6 outdoor rated ethernet cable should do.

You can not use RG59 for power! how do you plan to send positive and negative current down the single center conductor?!? What you need or needed is RG59 with 18/2, this allows you to send video and power as you have 3 wires, 1 handles video and 2 handle power. 18/2 will handle 24V but RG59 on its own will NOT!

If you are asking can you use like a T splitter and connect 2 cameras to a single channel I believe this will not work, your best bet would be to buy a second DVR and use CMS software to view the content of both. Or there is always the option of just upgrading to a 16CH DVR.

You say you can login, does this mean it is working correctly when you login over the internet, ie you are getting video or are you simply able to login then a blank screen, this may mean you are missing a codec, plugin, or ActiveX control. What results are you getting on your mobile phone? Perhaps if you could provide a screenshot of what you are seeing when you login through the web with internet explorer or your browser of choice we may be better able to help solve your problem.

For that many cameras I would suggest at least a core i7 and a pretty good video card.

I have heard RG59 is better suited to the lower frequencies, but I Doubt there would be any noticable different between RG59 and RG6, never had a problem crimping onto RG6 as long as the cable is preped right. Have you considered just using CAT5e or alarm wire with baluns? Easy to terminate and available in many lengths, or you can just buy patch cables and use baluns that accept the RJ45 plug.

I buy mine at ADI they are like 3$ a piece, if you are having a really tough time finding one, depending on where you live I could ship you one for like 5$ have a bunch laying around.

Have you tried installing the ActiveX or simply entering the password? I never suggest using any DDNS or DNS server you do not know nor trust, as anyone can setup a DNS server and server any record they want.

Dont add un-needed connections trying to go from BNC to F connector and back, just more points of failure. Also tygerwire is not from Tiger Direct, it is from a different supplier, forget who, will look them up tomorrow when I get back in the office. Haven't used them. The braid helps provide shielding, and go with copper core not CCA. http://tygerwire.com/ Tyger Wire is from Home Vision Tech, looks like they just bring in stuff from china branded as their own mostly. If you want smaller amounts go with RG6 much easier to find and available in many places from 10-100FT, you can always just cut off the pre-attached ends and add your own. Depending on where you are I have a whole box of RG6 I would be willing to sell you by the foot.

How long are these wiring runs and are these cameras 12 or 24 volt?

I would assume red and white are the power, and the other 2 are video, I have never had good luck repairing these types of breaks, usually just write the camera off, and for 50$ a pop to repair you might as well just put the money into new cameras. The power should not matter which you get as positive as 24VAC has no polarity the other 2 wires should be video + and video - can't say which would be which, you could attach a balun to it with a BNC connector to a BNC cable. Give it a shot cant hurt but don't expect stellar results.

If this cable was installed 10 years ago I highly doubt you have CAT6 more likely to be CAT5 or Coax. If you want really high quality go Avigilon, if not look at either Axis or Mobotix.

Randy I like this product, can you contact me via PM to discuss the cost of these mounts, we do a lot of CCTV installs in warehouse and this looks like a time saver if price isnt prohibitive

Sounds more like an interference issue, trying using a short 6FT cable and attach the camera to the DVR with the short cable, if this fixes the issue something is adding interference to your cable, most likely high voltage electrical in close proximity to your CCTV cables.