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SECURITY CAMERA NETWORKING

SECURITY CAMERA NETWORKING

Owned by Calver Brewer
Last updated: Apr 20, 2022
4 min read

 

 

 

 

 

PHYSICAL NETWORKING:

When planning for your camera system, it is important to take into account how you’re going to get a signal to every camera. There are a couple different ways that we can pass signal from the customers network to our cameras:

SWITCHES:

A network switch (also called switching hub, bridging hub, and, by the IEEE, MAC bridge) is networking hardware that connects devices on a computer network to the destination device.

SCW 8-port Switch

We use network switches to separate different areas of a facility, different floors, or completely different buildings! Security camera cables are plugged directly into the switch. Most switches use POE (power over ethernet) to push power directly to each camera. Our switches are unique in the way that they push power up to 700 ft. Most switches only push POE the standard 320 ft.

**Our Imperial line of NVR’s do not have camera ports, so all Imperial NVR’s require switches**

 

 

 

Switches can either be connected back to the NVR or connected to another switch. When we have multiple switches to be connected back to the NVR, we place a Gig switch between the switches and the recorder. This helps handle the network traffic coming back to the NVR and prevents a bottleneck.

 

Here we have a 7-story building. All the cameras are running to switches on the 6th, 4th, 2nd, and 1st floors. The cabling from all these switches is run to a gig switch on the first floor and that switch is then cabled to the NVR. The NVR is the only thing that is plugged into the customers' network. This creates a fully autonomous camera network.

 

UBIQUITI’s (Wireless Backhaul)

The term backhaul is often used in telecommunications and refers to transmitting a signal from a remote site or network to another site, usually a central one.

 

We use Ubiquiti wireless antennas to send a network signal to remote areas of a property that don’t have internet. This could be a parking lot pole, a storage building, or a gate entrance. The most important thing to consider when planning to use wireless backhaul is line of sight. Antennas will not work unless they have direct line of sight. These antennas allow us to gain a connection from cameras and network switches back to the head-end to be viewed by the NVR.

 

The main antenna that is grabbing the signal from the customers network is called the ACCESS POINT, and the antenna that passes signal to the cameras in remote locations is called the STATION.

 

Our most common application for wireless backhauls are storage facilities. We have a network connection here on the building where cameras 1-4 are to be mounted. We choose to use a wireless antenna on that building (access point) to send a network signal to another wireless antenna (station) on the building where cameras 5-7 are to be mounted. Each antenna will be cabled back to a switch to handle the network traffic.

 

  1. We can also use wireless backhaul to pass signals from an access point to multiple stations. This is called Point to Multi-point (P2MP). We use a more robust antenna in this situation that can carry signal a longer range in a wider field of view.

 

 

NEMA ENCLOSURES: Depending whether the client has available power inside their building, we utilize NEMA Enclosures to house network equipment needed for a Ubiquiti Wireless antenna. Inside a NEMA Enclosure, you could find a switch, wattbox, or even an NVR. THE CUSTOMER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING POWER TO THE NEMA ENCLOSURE. It is important to determine the need for NEMA enclosures when you are planning your security camera network.