Question POE CAT6 Tests OK Yet No Camera Connectivity

[BlaineB]

Good afternoon,

I installed a Reolink 6 security camera system on an 8 channel 2TB NVR about 13 months ago in June of 2021. The system was installed for about 1 full year and everything worked flawlessly. I used my own FastCat CAT6 solid core ethernet cable for the installation, and up until 2 or 3 weeks ago haven't had an issue.

In June of 2022 one of my cameras I noticed had no signal. If I unplugged the camera from my NVR, I could get it to resume functionality, although this didn't last for good. Connectivity from the camera could range from anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. So, since my system had a 24 month warranty, I took advantage of that and Reolink shipped me a replacement camera.

I get the camera and promptly install it. Everything seemed ok, but once again less than 2.5 hours after installation I once again lost camera feed. I unplugged the camera and could not re-establish a connection.

So I had both cameras, I used short leads and tested them right in my basement and connected them directly to the NVR. Both the OLD camera and the NEW camera function.

I had a cheap ethernet continuity tester that has the blinking LED light, continuity checked out OK. So I purchased a more advanced ethernet tester with POE testing functionality and I tried this as well.

One again continuity checks out good with the new ethernet tester, but I'm showing some odd stuff for the POE test. Can you make any sense of what is going on? According to the manual, there are no shorts because if there were, I would be seeing a different display on the continuity test if so!

I am attaching some pictures showing the LCD display of the new tool. When in POE testing mode, the ethernet cable is plugged into the NVR and my device on the camera end. When it continuity testing mode, the device and a receiver are connected to the ethernet cable without having the NVR connected at all.

Continuity test

POE test

 

[BlaineB]

ubiquiti sells both kinds unfortunately. They are really good about specs and technical information so its just a matter of reading all the fine print.

Power is a messy thing when you have big chucks of wire in the path. I forget what the expected voltage is on a 100meter cable but there is a planned voltage drop which is why it starts at 48 volts. What makes this more complex is it is the actual current...ie the watts being used...that causes the voltage drop. A higher amount of current will cause more voltage reduction. Its been years since I was required to memorize all this stuff for certification tests I can only provide general guidance you are going to have to dig through the wiki stuff for details.

You can put a poe "booster" in the middle of a cable. microtik sells a small switch that takes poe in and then provides poe out to a end device...there is some watt limitation though. I know someone buired one of these in a water proof box in his yard to get more than 100 meters of poe cable. I don't think he ever came back and told how well it worked.

My wiring is tucked into the soffit though. Buying in the yard would be easy. Also from what I see the Ubitiqui GP-V480-032G is advertised as "active" rather than "passive."

 

[bill001g]

You should not actually need it. Poe runs 100 meters which is the max run for ethernet. In my many years of installing AP in the ceiling of huge warehouses we were very close to the 100 meter limit many times. We never had a issue but this was expensive HP AP and HP switches powering them. It is standard PoE though and from time to time they also ran security cameras but that was a different group, all I know is they connected them to the same switches.

 

[BlaineB]

You should not actually need it. Poe runs 100 meters which is the max run for ethernet. In my many years of installing AP in the ceiling of huge warehouses we were very close to the 100 meter limit many times. We never had a issue but this was expensive HP AP and HP switches powering them. It is standard PoE though and from time to time they also ran security cameras but that was a different group, all I know is they connected them to the same switches.

That is true. I'm not sure what else could be causing the intermittent issue otherwise. I figured adding a power source for a boost would act as the final test. Like I said my devices showed full continuity and no shorts so I doubt it's a wiring issue with this particular run of CAT6.

 

[bill001g]

It will not be a short it will be excessive resistance. You will need to find a table that shows what the resistance should be for say 23awg wire at xx meters. All it takes is a crack in wire because it was snagged pulling it. Even though it will test fine it will not allow enough current to pass through it and even worse it may depend on the temperature so it will work and as the problem area gets warm it will fail.

 

[BlaineB]

It will not be a short it will be excessive resistance. You will need to find a table that shows what the resistance should be for say 23awg wire at xx meters. All it takes is a crack in wire because it was snagged pulling it. Even though it will test fine it will not allow enough current to pass through it and even worse it may depend on the temperature so it will work and as the problem area gets warm it will fail.

I did first notice this issue appear when we were having 90+ degree days in early/mid June this year. Although on days when it was much cooler, upper 70s or low 80s, I also had zero connectivity.

And last summer we certainly had HOT days in July and August, after I initially installed the system in June of 2021 as well, so not sure.

 

[BlaineB]

Yesterday evening I installed the Ubiquiti GP-V480-032G POE injector on this particular camera's CAT6 cabling and the camera has been online for about 13 hours now. Unlike with the el-cheapo POE injector that I returned from last week, the Ubiquiti POE injector is providing a full 48 volts at the end of the length of CAT6 so I felt comfortable plugging the camera in. I suppose I'll update IF there are any issues? For now, it appears to be working...fingers crossed!

 

[BlaineB]

System has been running for more than 4 days now and I haven't had this camera drop out since adding the Ubiquiti POE injector. I hope this test helps some folks who might otherwise think that they have a defective run of ethernet cable. It certainly saved me from running a new line, as I don't believe that would have solved the problem regardless with intermittent issues such as this.

 

[Observant1]

As a part time camera installer i foud your post informative and gave you a "like" for your diligence and good methodology in regard to troubleshooting your problem.

 

[BlaineB]

As a part time camera installer i foud your post informative and gave you a "like" for your diligence and good methodology in regard to troubleshooting your problem.

Thank you. This system has continued to run for 10+ months now with the Ubiquiti POE injector on that furthest run and we have experienced zero hiccups throughout this period of time as well. This was an unusual issue considering that the issue only appeared after running for a solid full year with no issues beforehand.