First Fix Cat5/6 needed?

[Carrerahill]

1 hour ago, PeterW said:

TBH unless you are very savvy, I would use WiFi cctv for one or two cameras on a small property as wiring for a true cctv system is a professional job. 

 

In any case you need to get power to it - that is what needs planning first ..!

Nothing "professional" about CCTV wiring to be honest. A lot of trades will make you think there are secrets and special ways to try and make their trade seem more complicated and thus you pay them to do the job but not much complication about CCTV - this coming from someone who was involved in the CCTV electrical design for a major city!

 

The most specified CCTV cable for commercial applications is still RG59 coaxial "shotgun". It is a robust cable and carries power too. Some "professionals" don't have the proper snap n'seal F connectors that crimp on and offer a waterproof connection because they won't buy the tool - decent one is £80. I bought one as I used it for my CCTV (planned) and RF distro and all my connections are now watertight and can even be pulled without coming apart.

 

Some CCTV systems are CAT5/6 which does mean some local power most of the time but again nothing complex.

 

 

 

 

[PeterW]

8 hours ago, pudding said:

Why is it a professional job? I've got CAT 6 and use power over ethernet and have 8 Hikvision cameras connected to a NVR.

 

And that all came pre-wired, out of the box and plug and play ..?

 

If not, it’s a professional job to install. 

[pudding]

I put plugs on the end of a CAT 6 cable and plugged one end into the NVR and the other into the camera. So apart from crimping RJ45 plugs onto CAT 6, it was plug and play. The NVR i have does have Power over Ethernet (PoE) on 4 ports, and the cameras connected to these ports are detected automatically so nothing complicated in its setup. I did have to add the other cameras and have tinkered with other settings etc. Maybe I'm a professional? 

[PeterW]

Having the ability - and tools - to do the job in the first place gives you skills some people don’t have, and then to be able to do the install yourself is again, something many people don’t find themselves capable of doing. 

 

There are many people - me included - that sometimes make assumptions about capabilities in others and it’s something we need to be aware of. Not every self builder builds them self... 

[Jeremy Harris]

1 hour ago, PeterW said:

Having the ability - and tools - to do the job in the first place gives you skills some people don’t have, and then to be able to do the install yourself is again, something many people don’t find themselves capable of doing. 

 

There are many people - me included - that sometimes make assumptions about capabilities in others and it’s something we need to be aware of. Not every self builder builds them self... 

 

 

Wise words indeed.  I've played around with electrical systems professionally (usually aircraft trials instrumentation - often one-off custom built stuff) for around 25 years, yet still had to learn new skills when making up all the network connections in our new house.  Cabling the house out with Cat6 was a very late decision - somewhere here there is a reference to me doing it the day before the plasterers arrived to board the place out!  I was going to use Wi-Fi, but I'm incredibly glad that I opted to run cables around the place.  Wi-Fi performance in the new house is not good, the insulation seems to really attenuate the signal, even though it's timber frame with internal acoustically insulated stud walls.  There's literally no Wi-Fi signal outside at all, I needed to fit an external wireless access point in order to get the signal out into the garden..

 

I ran as many runs of Cat 6 from the study (which is where the home server, router, switch etc is located) to every other place I thought I might need a cable, but even then missed a few and wished I'd put in more runs, especially outside, to run IP CCTV cameras.

 

I only used Cat 6 because I happened to acquire a load of wrongly fitted cable from my last job.  They flood wired the building with the non-low smoke and flame Cat 6, so had to rip out several kilometres of cable and they just left it in a giant ball as scrap, so I helped myself to a few hundred metres.  If doing it again I'd still use Cat 6, even though it probably overkill, simply because it's a heck of a lot stiffer than Cat5e, and so a lot easier to pull through without kinking (Cat 5/5e is a bloody nightmare for kinking if you don;t take a lot of care with it).

[pudding]

51 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Having the ability - and tools - to do the job in the first place gives you skills some people don’t have, and then to be able to do the install yourself is again, something many people don’t find themselves capable of doing. 

 

There are many people - me included - that sometimes make assumptions about capabilities in others and it’s something we need to be aware of. Not every self builder builds them self... 

 

Very true, cant argue with that. However, YouTube is a wonderful thing, and £20 will get you the plugs and crimping tool and away you go, nothing specialist required at all in the way of qualifications/tools/skills. If it doesn't work first time, nothing lost apart from a plug, try again. Bit of fun to learn a new skill.

[Nickfromwales]

13 hours ago, Carrerahill said:

Nothing "professional" about CCTV wiring to be honest. A lot of trades will make you think there are secrets and special ways to try and make their trade seem more complicated and thus you pay them to do the job but not much complication about CCTV - this coming from someone who was involved in the CCTV electrical design for a major city!

 

The most specified CCTV cable for commercial applications is still RG59 coaxial "shotgun". It is a robust cable and carries power too. Some "professionals" don't have the proper snap n'seal F connectors that crimp on and offer a waterproof connection because they won't buy the tool - decent one is £80. I bought one as I used it for my CCTV (planned) and RF distro and all my connections are now watertight and can even be pulled without coming apart.

 

Some CCTV systems are CAT5/6 which does mean some local power most of the time but again nothing complex.

 

 

 

 

Some real assumptions being made here about the ability of someone to do something. 

Can the OP climb a ladder to soffit height and drill holes to pull cables through? If not its a job for a professional.

Can the OP pair and crimp an RJ45 plug? If not its a job for a professional.

Can the OP differentiate between what needs power plus a Cat5/6 and what would run POE ( power over ethernet )? If not its a job for a professional.

Does the OP want to be buying expensive switches / routers to get the POE capability?

?

Heres a sensible comment, given that @Hecateh is of retirement age and won't be climbing ladders to the soffit;

Your BB provider will give you a wifi router with 4 hard wired RJ45 socket outlets on the back of it. Its free.

Decide where you would best use those 4 sockets.

1) Main TV

2) Master bedroom TV

3) Printer

4) Where will you sit with your laptop?

 

Then run a couple ( 2 or 3, not 10 or 11  ) for where you think they may be of use occasionally. Label them all at the router and then you can just unplug one and redirect it elsewhere. Your printer swaps out to free up a socket for the spare bedroom, for occasional guests to plug in a laptop for eg.

 

Cheap, simple and you still have wifi. The major importance is to mount the router wisely, so you get the best signal where its most important, so if you need good wifi for the TV fire-stick then have the router in the room where the tv is. Other wifi devices will cope, its a small house.

 

Should we encourage you to not part with any more money than you need to?    Yup. 

 

  

 

[Hecateh]

I wanted to build this house 10 years ago but the council wouldn't let me because it is a garden plot.  Things change and I suspect it is their obligation to ensure there are plots for self builders and to provide more homes overall that prompted the change of heart.

 

10 years ago I would have been much more involved in the process and attempted at least some of the jobs myself.  Regardless of age being just a number I know I am not as fit or as confident as I was.  

 

The main form of future proofing I am prepared to invest in is ensuring I can stay here whilst ever I am fit enough to care for myself.  I am not interested in future proofing it for future sale as that is my kids problem and technology will almost definitely have moved on (- or totally crashed) within 20 to 30 years.  Both my parents lived into their 90's so genes at least suggest a long life.  

 

The electrician is happy to lay the cable if I supply it, so if the offer is still open @PeterW I can come and pick it up later today or any time over the weekend - the electrician needs it for Monday.