IP over Coax

[Seedigital 0]

Hey Guys,

 

I'm looking for info for Ethernet over coax (for IP cameras),

I found this:

 

http://www.sct.com.tw/IP01K.html

 

Which is a perfectly reasonable product, and will probably do the trick.

 

But I was trying to think a bit outside the box in terms of networking equipment, as back in the day Ethernet traffic was Coax based, I was wondering if there were any companies which still product Coax based networking equipment and whether this is a path worth pursuing.

 

Considering that some sites which have existing Coax which could be utilised, why not try to make the best of it?

What can we stretch from this cabling?

 

I know that the old standard was a 10mbps (10Base2 and 10Base5) but was once again wondering if anybody has implemented anything better on a smaller scale. Obviously larger enterprise end have DOCSIS which is how most cable broadband is delivered.

Anybody heard of anything like a DOCSIS media converter?, like a point to point solution?

 

At the moment this is all purely theoretical, but if a solution crops up that is economically viable then hell why not?

 

Anybody tried anything like it? What kind of speeds were you getting? distance limitations?

[Soundy 1]

Besides being limited to 10Mbps, 10base2 was also a daisy-chain-only topology, cable running from one station to the next to the next, with a terminator at the end. Not the most convenient setup for cameras. You MIGHT still be able to find some PCI combo cards with 10base2 connectors, but good luck finding anything that you could adapt to the camera.

 

Thing is, your ethernet-over-coax link isn't limited to one camera - you can run a half-dozen cameras into a switch, then uplink that switch over that single coax run to another switch... and it will be far cheaper than going DOCSIS and certainly less complicated than trying to use 10base2. Almost all of these adapters are *at least* 10/100Mbit, too.

[hardwired 0]

DOCSIS gear is still fairly high-end, but there are a fair amount of products out there using MoCA protocol, like this one from Actiontec, http://www.actiontec.com/products/product.php?pid=192.

 

That product is designed for CATV coax cable, but I don't think there would be a problem using CCTV coax, other than needing some F-to-BNC adapters.

 

The adapters you listed will only work at 10Mb link speed, not all cameras will work that way (Acti will work, Arecont will not, for example).

 

I've used those ones (they are sold under many different labels), as well as the higher end models they list, which will work with most cameras.

[Seedigital 0]

Great suggestions guys!

 

Yeah I only though about the daisy chaining after I posted, and had fond memory's of T Junctions and terminators.

In terms of trying to replace as little cabling as possible that SC&T solution looks good as it doesn't need the daisy chaining element.

 

But at the end of the day CAT6 cables are going to be better for IP cams, but if they are in a tight place which you've already tackled with Coax its nice to know that it can be done in a pinch without re-running cables.

 

I do like the Idea of those point to point solutions!, if you already have Coax between buildings it could be a really cool option.

 

I've also seen VDSL Point to Points over a single phone line between buildings, never done one myself but i've been wanting too.

[Seedigital 0]

Well it should work if the IP cameras are compatible, might test that out in the office first.

[hardwired 0]

I've also seen VDSL Point to Points over a single phone line between buildings, never done one myself but i've been wanting too.

I've used quite a bit of VDSL converters from Planet, http://planet.com.tw/en/product/product_list.php?mt=menu_product_3&id2=1257

[Soundy 1]

Well it should work if the IP cameras are compatible, might test that out in the office first.

There should be no compatibility issues with ethernet-over-coax adapters like the HighWires - plug the camera's network port (ir switch, or whatever) into one end, coax into the other. The device handles the media translation; the camera/switch/etc. doesn't know the difference.

[hardwired 0]

Well it should work if the IP cameras are compatible, might test that out in the office first.

There should be no compatibility issues with ethernet-over-coax adapters like the HighWires - plug the camera's network port (ir switch, or whatever) into one end, coax into the other. The device handles the media translation; the camera/switch/etc. doesn't know the difference.

I think he might have been referring to my comment that those inexpensive adapters only sync at 10Mb, and therefore don't work with all cameras.

[Soundy 1]

There's no reason ANY camera shouldn't "work" at 10Mbps (unless the NIC is incapable of switching). It may not work WELL, if the bandwidth is too high... but there's no logical reason they should be "incompatible".

[hardwired 0]

There's no reason ANY camera shouldn't "work" at 10Mbps (unless the NIC is incapable of switching). It may not work WELL, if the bandwidth is too high... but there's no logical reason they should be "incompatible".

I agree... Tell that to Arecont, though. Their cameras (older ones I tested, anyway) only negotiated port connections at 100Mbps.