Question How can I prove that a outdoor CAT6 for POE Camera is degraded? Test volts?

[miogpsrocks]

Is there any testing that can be done to see if the cable is bad to have evidence such as testing the volts?

I had a company setup outdoor POE camera with a maintenance contract on the equipment/setup.

One by one the Cameras started going offline. I have read that the outdoor cameras lifespan is 10+ years and they were installed 10 years ago.

The only way that they will work is if a powerful network switch is installed to boost the power to get to the Camera.

The NVR's own POE switch that is built in is not powerful enough to power the Camera.

The people who installed the Cameras are trying to come up with excuses oh why they should not replace the bad cable. How can I get proof that I can use that these cables are indeed bad?

Thanks.

 

[USAFRet]

This all depends on the wording in your maintenance contract.

And YOU messing with it may give them cause to invalidate things.

 

[kanewolf]

Is there any testing that can be done to see if the cable is bad to have evidence such as testing the volts?

I had a company setup outdoor POE camera with a maintenance contract on the equipment/setup.

One by one the Cameras started going offline. I have read that the outdoor cameras lifespan is 10+ years and they were installed 10 years ago.

The only way that they will work is if a powerful network switch is installed to boost the power to get to the Camera.

The NVR's own POE switch that is built in is not powerful enough to power the Camera.

The people who installed the Cameras are trying to come up with excuses oh why they should not replace the bad cable. How can I get proof that I can use that these cables are indeed bad?

Thanks.

There is probably corrosion on the ethernet connections if they are 10 years old. That can be visually verified. There are POE testers that can see what voltage and amperage is available at the camera end.
Get the outdoor end of the cables reterminated and visually inspect the ethernet ports on the cameras for corrosion. If there is corrosion, then replace the camera(s).

 

[Ralston18]

Agree with the above posts and questions.

= = = =

Must ask some questions of my own:

Make and model cameras? Any specific manufacturer documentation regarding lifespans and/or warranties?

How long have those cameras been in use?

What is printed along the length of the existing Ethernet cables?

What software is being used to watch, monitor, record, and manage the cameras?

Networked cameras? What actually happens or is presented when a camera goes off line?

Can cameras be swapped around to test if it is the cable or camera?

 

[bill001g]

Do the cameras use standard 803.3at/af poe or is it some proprietary form.

In some ways proprietary might be easier to test. Proprietary systems tend to always provide power so you could take a voltage meter and see if the voltage is proper. 802.3 forms of poe only supply power when it is requested so it gets tricky to try to measure it since you have trouble accessing the wires without taking stuff apart.

Was the cable rated for outdoor..or more important direct bury if it is buried. What tends to damage cables are the sun and chemicals in the soil. If the cable is not in conduit you really should use special cables.

You could try simple stuff like checking that there is no continuity between any combination of wire pairs. A simple multimeter should show no reading between pins when set to ohm mode. If you see something you can suspect water got in and damaged the wires.

Actually testing cable is not cheap. You can testers that will do basic stuff like you can do with a multimeter. Some can also tell you the cable length. These type of testers are of limited value. Actual ethernet testers that can verify cable meet standards and even check poe output from switches etc are costly. Brand name equipment like fluke are in the $1000 range. For home users it tends to be cheaper to just blindly replace cables....even though it is much more likely it is just the ends.

 

[dingo07]

Is there any testing that can be done to see if the cable is bad to have evidence such as testing the volts?

I had a company setup outdoor POE camera with a maintenance contract on the equipment/setup.

One by one the Cameras started going offline. I have read that the outdoor cameras lifespan is 10+ years and they were installed 10 years ago.

The only way that they will work is if a powerful network switch is installed to boost the power to get to the Camera.

The NVR's own POE switch that is built in is not powerful enough to power the Camera.

The people who installed the Cameras are trying to come up with excuses oh why they should not replace the bad cable. How can I get proof that I can use that these cables are indeed bad?

Thanks.

10 Year old cameras????
Replace them all!! Technology has really gotten better!

To answer your question though, you would need a Network Cable Tester to determine if each conductor passes. I use a Fluke IntelliTone PRO 200 probe and Toner almost daily - MT-8200-60-KIT. That will allow a Cable Test to see if the pairs are crossed or fail for some reason.
Another tool I use is a Fluke LinkSprinter 200 - which is now a Netally device. It will email you a report that looks like this:

Test
Test Time	2024-07-25 02:44 pm America/Los_Angeles
Dean's LinkSprinter
MAC	00C017-521A7D
Device	LinkSprinter
Type	Ethernet
Firmware	3.00.03.0303

PoE
Volts	47 V

Link
Speed	1000
Adv Speed	10/100/1000
Duplex	FDx
Adv Duplex	HDx/FDx
RX Pair	All
Polarity	Normal
Optical	False

Switch
Model	no model
IP/MAC	10.0.104.12
Port	g2
Type	LLDP

DHCP
IP	10.0.104.126
Server	10.0.104.1
Subnet	255.255.255.0

DNS
DNS 1	10.0.104.1

Gateway
IP	10.0.104.1
PING	1 ms, 1 ms, 2 ms
Public	23.240.75.232

TCP
www.google.com:80
IP	142.250.189.4
20 ms, 10 ms, 11 ms