CCTV network installation

[Isetech]

Where do we start, if you are an elctrical company battling to find enough work to keep yourself busy or like me want to expand my options. You already have all the tools, teams and installation experience. the high end installations are worth the effort. IF you do entry level kit installations you going to be dealing with the "you are expensive" customers, leave those for the armed response companies. Focus on the customers who want the job done right and are prepared to spend the money to make sure it is right.

Lets start with the ISP (internet service provider)

You want to make sure your internet speed, pings etc are going to keep up with the traffic.

Depending on the equipment you plan to install, a 720P or 1080P kits with 8 cameras, a fibre 20 meg line wired in cat 5e will do the job, I wouldn't suggest you waste your time with these type of installations.

What these kits wont do, is be of much use if there is an intruder, the pic quality probably wont be of much use for any form of identification, unless a few consideration are taken into account, which I will go into.

A few tips:

Get the ISP fibre router installed as close to the CCTV installation as possible. The shorter the runs the better.

Make sure you have a fibre line and your NVR or at least the switch has a fibre port or ports to link to other switches. The first thing the tech support is going to tell you if you have jitter or it looks like you watching a slide show, is that your network is the problem, so get this right. IF you are not sure, just get a network person ( just about every youngster will be able to assist especially if they are into gaming ) or they will know someone.

Just be careful working with the fibre cable, the bending radius and how you pull the cable is very important.

I have been doing my homework on fibre connection and realized it is not as difficult as everyone makes it out to be, in fact I am going to teach my guy how to do it, he has a much steadier hand and the patients. With the right tools it takes about 5 minutes tops.

Cat 5e was considered OK for any installation for short 10/100 and maybe even 1000 Mbps runs, then everyone suggested cat 6 to future proof you install, well I would suggest, like car EV car chargers, technology is moving so fast and you are going to blink and fibre will be the new cat 5e.

[Isetech]

Now we move onto NVRS and switches.

Do you install an NVR with built in POE or do you use switches, it is advisable to make sure you plan a little, makes some sketches and get cable routes etc.

Once you identify the routes the distance and the camera locations, then you can see if it is better to run one cable to a switch for the cameras in that area, instead of running 4 cables.

As much as network CCTV installs might offer better options, there is a down side, power, if load shedding kicks in or someone pulls the plug that you ran down the wall to a socket that is is accessible to everyone, yes most CCTV installers wont be able to just run a cable and install a dedicated socket outlet next to the switch. There a good chance that as I noticed on one of our factory sites the CCTV installer just pulled a aircon lads style cut, extend and twist the wires on the power supply to make it reach the socket outlet. the factory staff would unplug the transformer so that they could charge phones, which resulted in lost recording time.

You back to installing long cable runs or you need a UPS at every switch.

There are multiple NVR options, you can buy an NVR with all the POE ports built in, or less POE switches and some with no POE ports. You will need to decide once you have completed the layout, have uninterrupted power power available at each switch, this could have a huge impact of the design and cost.

The HDD space, the higher the MP the more storage space and cooling required. You also have the option of how many hard drives you want to install. I would suggest at least double up on the hard drive so that you have some backup if one fails.

There are other things you need to consider like the bit rate etc, if you have a lot of high res cameras, it must be able to handle the traffic.

I almost forgot, you need to make sure you get the correct NVr to match the cameras, for example, dont get a 720 or 1080P NVR for 4 k cameras, I got burnt with that on my first CCTV install many years ago.

[Isetech]

The display, when using network recorders you dont really need a display at the NRV, however I would suggest you fit, even if it is just a small cheap monitor, to view when making minor adjustments on the NVR.

You will spend most of your time working a laptop or your office desktop, but it is becomes a mission if you just want to see or adjust something, while on site.

This is something that caused a few headaches, connecting monitors, TV etc, anything over 10 m of HDMI and you will experience a few challenges, if you watch the screen for a couple minutes the picture just disappears, then it is back again, long runs and crap cables will ensure you get a few blisters or school fees.

There are 4K and 8K HDMI cabling available for long runs, I wouldn't suggest using them, unless you are 100 % sure they will work. There are even fibre HDMI cables, which should work, but you need to trust the source.

For the life of me I cannot understand why none of these TV boxes or smart TV's will allow you to download apps like DMSS to view CCTV footage on your TV, which means you have to find a cable solution.

There is a back door route to the apps, but I wouldnt suggest using them unless you know what you are getting into.

Mouse control is something we dont think about, Once the system is setup and we have all our cameras on the screen, but now you hear something in the back of the property you want to see a full screen, you either have to go to the phone or tablet. You can extend the USB port to a location which will let you use a mouse, either wired or wireless.

We all have older devices in a drawer somewhere, you could just link an old laptop and link it to the TV or monitor using an HDMI or chrome cast and plug in a wireless mouse.

One the cat 6 HDMI extender with power did work, however I have a pile of HDMI cables and boxes with all sorts of extenders and expanders that didn't work.

These new CCTV project have certainly left a few scars and high school fees. At least I have learnt and now we start enjoying the fruits in future.

[Isetech]

Now lets look at the cabling, dont be stupid and think CCA will cut it, if your customer is not squeezing you for ever penny and constantly reminding you about the small budget, I would highly recommend you use a good quality solid copper cat 6 cable, some will say it is fine, you going to be the one going back, so you decide.

The biggest part of the job is the cable installation, get this right and future upgrades will be quick an easy, just remember the fibre for the ISP and to link switches, IP cameras have 10/100 connections, so in theory cat 5e will work to a point.

Install a cheap wire type cable tray, it just makes it neater and easy to add cabling, J hooks are an option but look unprofessional and untidy with cable hanging.

What ever you do, dont lay the cables over the rafters, the electrician, plumber, alarm guy and everyone else who have to work in the roof will stand on the cable and damage them. When people run alarm cables randomly in the roof restricting access to parts of the roof, they always seem to break, dont let your camera cable create the same problem. I talk form experience, it is bad enough that we have to work in small spaces and temperatures that should be prohibited by the OSHACT, then you still have to deal with some $%^&holes wiring puled tight across the rafters.

I almost forgot, cabling for outdoors and underground.

You might think installing normal cat 6 UTP cable in a conduit underground is fine, its not, dont take a chance, the cable is not designed to lay in water, you might say, but I glue my joints and make sure they are sealed, trust me they get full of water. the life span of the cable is drastically reduced.

I was called out to a job where the installer had used coax with the power cable attached, every single cable that was buried in conuits had to be replaced within 2 years of the installation.



As for the twisters, I am not even going to go there, chances are they are doing a budget job, so you cant really expect more than twist and tape connections.

[Isetech]

Junction boxes, this is another challenge with installations. I see a lot of cameras attached to a box, which look like the installer couldn't decide the cable entry nor the screw holes, so you end up with a junction box full of holes. why is this important, because if you dont make some effort to seal up the boxes the corrosion on the terminals will have you back on site sooner later.

I know some will say but the camera is supplied with a weather proof connector to seal your RJ 45 connection, this is true, but in reality I am yet to see one installed.

We know, most dont know about glands, top entry and weather, you cant be expected to teach everything in 2-3 days.

Something I have started doing to try ease the moisture content in junction boxes with conduit , especially when they enter from the ground, we fill plug the adaptor with a special gel.

Just be careful of using certain silicon sealant, that stuff can cause quite a reaction on the copper terminals. The next time to pull a line of silicon, lean forward and take a deep breath through your nose and tell me how it feels, stay away for the stuff I have seen what it does to connection in flood lights, where we sealed the junction boxes.

I plan to do a little more research into using RJ45 connectors on both sides of the cable or weather I should use a keystone on one side and an RJ 45 connector on the other side. As I mentioned doing entry level installs anything goes, but when you start loading networks, with long runs and higher bits rates and traffic, it might pay to make sure you understand the effect your terminations are going to make on the network.

I heard a little chirp the other day at a supplier where I was asking questions, Dick mentioned that people should stay in their own lane, my response to that comment, improve your standard of workmanship or get out the way.

This people applies to all industries, including the elctrical industry, if you cant keep up a nd produce a decent standard of workmanship, get out the way.

You see this in the solar industry, I read comments all the time from DIYers basically telling the elctrical industry to get out the way, because they are pretty much bringing the standard down more than improving it, I would tend to agree, until some form of policing is introduced it s just going to get worse. You will notice literally every solar company has 10-20 years experience and registered with all the solar and electrical associations.

The public think this improves the quality of workmanship and guarantees a good job, in reality all it does is protect the contractor from the customer. The same with the 50 plus installers, it doesn't mean it is done right right, it just means the company has done the same thing 50 plus time and we all know how that's working out for customers

[Isetech]

I am loving these CCTV installations, battling a little with tech support as I have mentioned, however like anything it just takes time and a hundred hours of google and youtube and eventually it starts making sense.

I get bored with electrical, the same ol same ol and the crap workmanship I have to deal with everyday, not that any other industry offers better workmanship but hey you put a person with 2 days of training on a site without the tools to complete a task, you cant expect anything better, the only difference is you can get away with charging ridiculous prices for "technicians" onsite compared to an electrician. we cant blame other industries for our our incompetence's, you let a bunch of clowns run loose and dont have any form of policing it was bound to happen. It is not going to change anytime soon.

While doing these CCTV and alarms projects, I had to deal with an electric fence project and realized that just plugging a CCTV system is not as simple as you think, especially when using 4-8 MP network cameras.

[Isetech]

To improve the entire system, I relocated the ISP fibre junction box and router as close to the CCTV equipment as possible, then linked Lan port 1 to the CCTV gigabit POE switch using a cat 6 cable and lan 2 port out to an unmanaged gigabit switch using a cat 6 for the rest of the devices which require internet.

We had the internet speed increased from 30 meg line to a 100 meg line with a 6 ping, but noticed the Wi-Fi was only 30 meg, so off to the shop to get an access point. I have a Unifi access point in my office, which was quick to hook up using a POE injector and easy to setup using my phone.


Signed up with a network supplier and was good to go, rushed off and got a bunch of different RJ45 connectors (cat 5 and cat 6), for UTP, FTP and even got a few through RJ45's and even crimper for them. I must say they are pretty cool to use, but not too impressed with the quality of the products. I also collected a new Unifi 6+ AP, that just went from bad to worse, I thought quick and easy 3 hours later after trying to setup Ubiquiti networks on the laptop, Unifi on the phone etc, I just couldn't get it to connect. It was time to make a call that didn't help, I got the feeling that the support guy realized I wasn't clued up with networking, I asked if I could use an iPad, was told you cant, you have to use a phone (which is a load crap by the way) I asked if the version of IOS could be a problem, I was told it doesn't ( it does) , I eventual got the hint and put down the phone.

I tried to get Ubiquiti networks to work on my laptop, for some reason it wouldn't log in etc etc, anyway I took out the iPad, opened Unifi , there it was Unifi 6+, set it up on the iPad and bingo quick and simple.

I dont know know the details but linking to the ISP wireless router, speed were not more than 30 megs, linked to the U6+ and we were getting speeds over 100 megs with super low pings.

Fact

1/ You can use an iPad to setup a Unifi access point.

2/ You cannot setup a Unifi access point if your IOS is lower than 16.

[Isetech]

I bought a USB extender, ran a cat 6 cable form the NVR to the main TV, with one those 8K HDMI cables, plugged it all in and bingo it works.

A few tips:

Use quality HDMI cables and check it works before you install it through the pipes. If it works it works, if it doesn't, the screen will go blank after a couple minutes, then switch on and off again. The quality of the picture will not get worse, it just switches off and on.

Watch out for monitors that you cant see the picture if you are below or to the side of the monitor. My office monitor is a Samsung curved and I can see it from anywhere in my office. The Dahua monitor I purchased is crap, if you are not standing directly in front of the monitor at the same height, you cant see the camera footage.

We are getting there, the school fees have knocked the profits out the park and now I am paying for everything out my pocket, is it it all going to be worth it in the long run, I hope so. It is all part of the plan I am working on for 2026.

I havent been this excited about anything in a long long time.
Beside all my electrical qualifications and experience, I have completed all the training and have been clocking up the experience in these other fields, but more important finding the right people to deal with when it comes to tech support.

As I have mentioned in the past, as a small business, the thing that will make or break you is the tech support. The time wasted when things go wrong or you get stuck on site with silly things or just need a quick reference, product tech support is critical.

[Isetech]

An example, yesterday I was running out of time and it is getting late, I knew what to do but didn't have the commissioning sheets with me for that part of the project. After wasting half the afternoon trying to link the U6+ (should have taken literally 5 minutes) I still had to finish the electric fence, fence alarm link and app activation, the remote configurations etc.

I called one of my suppliers tech support and as usual the lady who answered the phone, knows her stuff, I got a little mixed up because I was rushing, took a deep breath let her guide me through the parameter and within a couple minutes we were ready to test and left site at 4.30Pm on the dot.

For a small business like mine, not having the tech support just a call away could make or break me.

[Isetech]

I know this thread is getting long, if you run a small elctrical business and want to full the gaps I would strongly advise you take the time to educate yourself on both CCTV systems.

Maybe do a couple entry level kits to get some experience, but dont waste your time unless they pop up as jobs to do while on site doing elctrical work. The armed response companies have plenty teams to throw cheap systems on site, at prices you wont be able to compete with.

Do yourself a favour and go get some prices on IP systems and you understand why it might pay you to try it.

Same with 8 zone alarms, dont even waste your time with these budget systems, focus on the R10-100k projects and upgrades from the cheap kits to better systems. It takes one incident on a site for customers to realize what a waste of money those cheap kits are to install.

To make matters even worse the CCA cable used, twist and tape joints and crap junction box terminations requires an entire replacement.