Newbie Seeks Prewiring Advice

[Soundy 1]

Of course, if you DO pull all coax and then find yourself needing to go to IP later, you're faced with the prospect of either pulling new wire, or using Highwires or similar type devices to run ethernet-over-coax, at a cost of $100/camera or more (I think the last time we used the actual Veracity Highwires, they ran around $175 *each*, two required per camera).

Most electricians charge around $25 per run here to pull wire, so could always just pull new wire if it came down to that, at say $1000 per IP camera compared to say $100 per CCTV camera ... $25 per run plus $200 for the cable is peanuts.

Not sure what your math is leading to... the point is that pulling Cat5e rather than coax in the first place saves you that expense altogether. Besides simply "adding new runs" later isn't always as easy as "just pulling new wire". At least not in most of North America, where you have to adhere to building and electrical codes...

[rory 0]

Not sure what your math is leading to... the point is that pulling Cat5e rather than coax in the first place saves you that expense altogether. Besides simply "adding new runs" later isn't always as easy as "just pulling new wire". At least not in most of North America, where you have to adhere to building and electrical codes...

It was leading to if they "might" be spending $10,000-$20,000 on cameras in a few years time which cameras might or might not even exist at that time, then they would hardly think twice about spending a measly little $500 to run wire. If one really wants to plan for a future that we dont know anything about, we might as well just stick the home underground or in a bubble.

[cglaeser 0]

It was leading to if they "might" be spending $10,000-$20,000 on cameras in a few years time which cameras might or might not even exist at that time, then they would hardly think twice about spending a measly little $500 to run wire. If one really wants to plan for a future that we dont know anything about, we might as well just stick the home underground or in a bubble.

 

If RG59 material and labor were free I wouldn't install it in a new home for security cameras. There is simply no price point at which I would install it. And the bigger the budget, the more likely IP cameras will be installed. I agree that predictions about future technology don't always pan out, but the idea that a new type of camera will become popular in the next decade that requires RG59 and won't work with Cat 5 is something I would bet the farm against.

 

Best,

Christopher

[rory 0]

If RG59 material and labor were free I wouldn't install it in a new home for security cameras. There is simply no price point at which I would install it. And the bigger the budget, the more likely IP cameras will be installed. I agree that predictions about future technology don't always pan out, but the idea that a new type of camera will become popular in the next decade that requires RG59 and won't work with Cat 5 is something I would bet the farm against.

 

Best,

Christopher

 

Ok then.

[mark_g 0]

...that is why we use a little flexible plastic conduit to each location, making it easier to replace cable when new technology demands. To me, that makes more sense than trying to future proof an installation.

 

In this instance, I was trying to get am umderstanding if running composite analog video over Cat-5 had any practical, "in the field" limitations. Thanks to all of you who shared your experience--we will be running Cat-5 (or 6) along with 1pr #16 if I can find it waterproof.

 

Anyone have any favored cable suppliers? Pls contact me backchannel.

 

Thank again, Mark

[Soundy 1]

Not sure what your math is leading to... the point is that pulling Cat5e rather than coax in the first place saves you that expense altogether. Besides simply "adding new runs" later isn't always as easy as "just pulling new wire". At least not in most of North America, where you have to adhere to building and electrical codes...

It was leading to if they "might" be spending $10,000-$20,000 on cameras in a few years time which cameras might or might not even exist at that time, then they would hardly think twice about spending a measly little $500 to run wire. If one really wants to plan for a future that we dont know anything about, we might as well just stick the home underground or in a bubble.

You missed (or ignored) the other point: sometimes running new cable just isn't practical, or even possible. Prime example is cabling from a gas station office to the pumps, where conduit must be sealed by pouring liquid chico into the pipes, where it hardens into a foot-long concrete-like plug. Removing that plug is, in most cases, impossible without damaging either the cable or the conduit.

 

Sites with drop ceiling are great... but not everywhere uses drop ceiling. We did a restaurant site recently that was a very old building - the entire dining room area had a ceiling of 2x12 joists, with the roof built directly on top the joists and the sheetrock ceiling secured directly to their underside, and fiberglass insulation packed tight in between. Other than two return-air vents at opposite corners of the room, there was no direct access to the space in between without cutting large access hatches, which the customer ixnayed right off the top.

 

It took three days to wire the eight new dining room and patio cameras (two IP, six analog), going out the wall of the office, up the outside wall, over the roof, and dropping the runs back down through HVAC vents adjacent to the camera locations. If it had been a matter of re-using existing coax for the IP cams, that would have been FAR more cost-effective, even with the high cost of ethernet-over-coax adapters... unfortunately all the existing coax was already spoken for.

 

So... no, it's rarely as simple as a "quick rewire".