Multi conductor cable

[Anthony5]

I have a 12 wire shielded multi conductor cable running underground from the street to the loft of my house, so approximate 40 meters in length. Only 2 wires of it are used to transfer some signal.

The only writing I can find on the cable is PDTI AP 0.65x6P and TIS 2434-2552.

Question is if I could use this cable as Ethernet cable to install some wired IP cameras.

Since there are still 10 wires available, and LAN actually use only 4 wires, my intention would be to us 2 x 2 pairs to create 2 LAN cables.

Is this cable usable for that?

[Crossy]

TIS 2434-2552 refers to multi-core communications cable for aerial installation (so it shouldn't really be underground). https://law.resource.org/pub/th/ibr/th.cs.2434.t.2552.pdf

Whilst it is twisted pair it is intended to be phone cable and does not appear to be rated for ethernet, the only way to know if it will work would be to try it. If your kit manages to negotiate a 100Mbs link you're good to go.

If it does work then yes, you can use 4 pairs to create 2 ethernet links.

[RichCor]

Most likely it will auto-negotiate only at 10mbps.

[Crossy]

Is it in a duct/conduit where you could replace it with pukka Cat5 or Cat6?

[Anthony5]

It sits in a conduit, but impossible to replace. Is there a way to measure the bandwith?

I just looked up and a 2.0mp camera with High quality H.264 stream at 25fps would only need a bandwidth of 7.83 Mbps, some sites even consider 4 Mbps sufficient.

http://www.supercircuits.com/resources/tools/network-ip-security-camera-system-bandwidth-calculator

http://channelvision.com/ip-camera-bandwidth-basics/

So actually if it negotiates at only 10 Mbps, I'm still good to go, or not?

[thedemon]

I have a somewhat similar issue. I would like to install 5-6 cameras around the house. I had the house wired with that in mind when it was built but stupidly didn't take any notice what cables were used and the contractor put old fashioned coax to those points where cameras should go.

What about installing Wireless cameras and using those cables to provide DC current from a central power source. Could that work?

If so what can I use as the power source?

Maybe a solution for Anthony5 too?

[Anthony5]

I have a somewhat similar issue. I would like to install 5-6 cameras around the house. I had the house wired with that in mind when it was built but stupidly didn't take any notice what cables were used and the contractor put old fashioned coax to those points where cameras should go.

What about installing Wireless cameras and using those cables to provide DC current from a central power source. Could that work?

If so what can I use as the power source?

Maybe a solution for Anthony5 too?

Lan cable is used for IP cameras, though Coaxial is used to transfer the video signal from CCTV cameras with a DVR. Nothing wrong with your installation.

[thedemon]

I have a somewhat similar issue. I would like to install 5-6 cameras around the house. I had the house wired with that in mind when it was built but stupidly didn't take any notice what cables were used and the contractor put old fashioned coax to those points where cameras should go.

What about installing Wireless cameras and using those cables to provide DC current from a central power source. Could that work?

If so what can I use as the power source?

Maybe a solution for Anthony5 too?

Lan cable is used for IP cameras, though Coaxial is used to transfer the video signal from CCTV cameras with a DVR. Nothing wrong with your installation.

There is nothing installed yet. Only the coax cables.

I have very little knowledge about cctv systems but if I'm going to build a system from scratch wouldn't it make sense to go with IP cameras?

[RichCor]

thedemon,

While doing this may be more expensive than it's worth...

POWER OVER ETHERNET (PoE) OVER COAXIAL CABLE

Media Conversion between Ethernet and Coaxial Cable with PoE over coaxial cable to feed IP cameras

[RichCor]

It sits in a conduit, but impossible to replace. Is there a way to measure the bandwith?

I just looked up and a 2.0mp camera with High quality H.264 stream at 25fps would only need a bandwidth of 7.83 Mbps, some sites even consider 4 Mbps sufficient.

http://www.supercircuits.com/resources/tools/network-ip-security-camera-system-bandwidth-calculator

http://channelvision.com/ip-camera-bandwidth-basics/

So actually if it negotiates at only 10 Mbps, I'm still good to go, or not?

If only one remote camera was actively streaming data over the multicable at a time then it should be fine.

The slower 10 mbps speeds are a result of the wired TX / RX being an unbalanced pair (not enough twists to on a wire pair to support 100MHz signal integrity)

Try making your multicable into at least one Ethernet Cable by finding a common twisted pairs (if you find any) and wire them to a standard 8P8C (RJ45) connector at each end and then plug them into a switch and your laptop. See what speed the connection "reports" (identifies as), and try streaming a movie from your server to see what directly discernible speed issues may appear. You may get lucky and it provides a usable 100mbps link, or you may need to specify on the cameras that it only connects at 10mbps (to maintain a stable connections that doesn't adversely affect the rest of your network by spewing errors).

Otherwise...

While I recommended a media converter solution to thedemon, you too could do something similar, but use a media converter specially designed for normal wire (rather than coax). These will work very similar to how "Powerline Networking modules" use home electrical wire as a 'bridge' to extend Ethernet connectivity to remote locations, providing connection of 150, 300, 500, 1000 mbps over an unbalanced pair of wires.

MX2Wire Media Converters .pdf

Other Media Converters, specifically Ethernet over Telephone Wire

Again, the costs (especially if they support PoE) may be prohibitive and not worth the effort or expense (but they would give you a rock-solid stable connection).

[thedemon]

thedemon,

While doing this may be more expensive than it's worth...

POWER OVER ETHERNET (PoE) OVER COAXIAL CABLE

Media Conversion between Ethernet and Coaxial Cable with PoE over coaxial cable to feed IP cameras

Thanks RichCor. I hadn't realised that was possible. A quick ebay search shows them at about USD80/set. Might be the best solution.