Alert Security Systems

[Jahoosafat]

Both the indoor and outdoor add-on cameras come with 6'/20' ethernet cables, presumably for installation.  But I thought that these units just plug into a wall outlet and the data are transferred over your home's electrical wiring?  Why do you need these ethernet cables?  Or do you actually need to plug these into an ethernet port in the wall?  That's sort of annoying if that's the case because it means that an outdoor camera will need wiring that connects it to an ethernet socket, presumably inside the house.  That's a lot more wiring than I thought would be needed.  I thought you could just plug the camera into any electrical socket and it would work.

J

[mossad504 · Accepted solution]

You really need to just go and read on the website how the cameras work, they do exactly what you think they do. The Ethernet cable runs from the camera to the power plug that is plugged into the the wall socket. To only other ethernet cable is the one that runs from the other power plug to the router by your pc. The whole setup I think it very simple. I'm going with 4 outdoor cameras myself and instead of trying to plug each one into a outlet I running 100ft cat 6 cables to each and using a POE switch. This way I run one cable to each and get video and power to each camera. No need to have them plugged into outside sockets.

[squeezepeterw]

So... HomePlug is just a networking option? If you already have RJ45 Ethernet, you can use your existing wiring (assuming you can get a POE injector, or use a POE port on a POE 10/100 switch)?

Thanks,

Peter

[mossad504]

If your house already has RJ45 running through out it can work if you have some sort of POE running to the cameras, I'm using a simple POE switch hooked up to the router, if you can't get POE then you will just have to plug in the power adaptor that comes with the camera system to an outlet. POE is the best option I feel if you can do it, There sometimes is just not a plug near where someone wants to put a camera and its one less wire to run.

[bcdavis75]

Wow.  I was unaware of that.  I though you HAD to use the home plug adapter.  Thanks for posting.  I'll be giving this a try.

[thebanker]

This is really good thread.

Got  a question which may sound silly.  If I have 2 outside cameras and ONLY one RJ45 jack closest to the 2 cameras, can I use a mini switch to "split" the one Ethernet RJ45 jack and run 2 Ethernet patch cables to the 2 cameras.  And from that mini switch, the run goes into a POE switch?  I realize there is a 300 feet Ethernet distance limitation but will the camera power/video signal degrade by first going through a switch before ending up at the actual POE switch?

Thanks in advance.

[sethmorgan]

Each POE-capable device (a camera) needs to be plugged in to its own dedicated POE switch port. You could replace the "mini switch" in your scenario with a POE switch, and use the one long ethernet run from the POE swtich to your main switch.

[thebanker]

I like the brilliant idea of the 2 outside cameras to the PoE switch and use the single long run in my garage attic back to the main switch in the basement.  Thanks for the clarification!!!

Please bear with me with a couple more questions about video quality performance/uptime and configuration.  The 2 outside cameras can be connected to the supplied power supply adapters and plugged into 2 inside wall outlets in the garage.  Will I be getting more stable and better video quality by skipping the camera power supply adapters and going straight into the PoE switch?  One would think the video will be more stable and better quality with the PoE switch since the video signal won't be going through my 8 year old home's circuit breaker panel.  Maybe it makes no difference.  Will the TrendNet 8-port  TPE-S44 PoE switch support supplying power to 4 cameras (7.5w output per port)?

Any thoughts and recommendations here will be appreciated.

Lastly, If I use the POE switch, do I still have to use the other end's homeplug network adapter into my switch/router?  I assume that it will be needed if I have other cameras that uses my home's outlet to carry the power and signal.  Just curious about whether I need the network homeplug adapter if I am able run all the cameras into a PoE switch.

Thanks much again!  My inside and outside camera shipments from Logitech just shipped but not the master system yet and if I don't need the homeplug network adapter, I can start working on this project for the weekend. :-)

[sethmorgan]

Q: Will I be getting more stable and better video quality by skipping the camera power supply adapters and going straight into the PoE switch?

A: I have no experience with HomePlug, but here's some useful info: http://logitech-en-amr.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/7819, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeplug.

Q: Will the TrendNet 8-port  TPE-S44 PoE switch support supplying power to 4 cameras (7.5w output per port)?

A: Recommend downloading the manual

Q: If I use the POE switch, do I still have to use the other end's homeplug network adapter into my switch/router?

A: You shouldn't need either HomePlug adapter for the cameras using POE.

I think you still need the software that ships with the master system to be able to use the cameras.

[thebanker]

Seth,

Thanks for the info.  I did previously checked all the available online manuals but did not see any specs for the power requirements for the indoor/outdoor cameras.  I guess I will wing it with the TrendNet PoE switch as it is low cost and good reviews.  The 2 links you provided was very informative.  I realized that the new Alert system uses the latest HomePlug specs but my guess is skipping the electrical lines and using PoE straight Ethernet cabling approach will bring predicable stability and video clarity.

BTW, I believe the Alert Commander software v3.0.223 is available for download.

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/589/7252?selectedcrid=589&selectedcid=7252&WT.z_sp=Product&osid=&bit=

Thanks Seth!