Best way of getting CCTV/network cabling through the front wall?

SiD the Turtle

SiD the Turtle

SiD the Turtle

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Hi all,

I'm looking to install a CCTV camera above my front door. The camera comes with a network port on the end and isn't removable without dismantling the camera and no doubt voiding the warranty:

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It looks to be built that way as there's a kit that comes with it to make the connection waterproof. The outer diameter is 20mm.

The options as I see it are:
  1. Drill an enormous 20mm hole through the front wall just to poke the connector through, then fill up the gap with caulk or some kind of washer or gromet. This option doesn't cost me anything but a 20mm hole is huge IMO.
  2. Drill an 8mm hole and feed through some network cable, stick a connector on the end and connect everything up. This adds the cost of buying a reel of network cable, plus there will be some exposed wiring on the outer wall (though apparently this cable is waterproof).
  3. As number 2 but make the hole 10mm and stick through some plastic piping first, so the cable itself is protected through the cavity.
What's the smartest way of doing this? I do have an SDS drill so I can blow a massive hole in the side of the house, but is that the best idea?
 
Hikvision sell brackets for this reason. If you've got a dome or turret then you can get a wall bracket with a backbox to lose the slack in, makes the camera look very heavy duty. If it's a bullet camera they sell a backbox mount junction box. Trust me the part number if you want a hand or just mention/quote me in a reply.
 
@Hyburnate It's a turret camera: DS-2CD2342WD-I

I was put off by the junction boxes as they're huge and I'd prefer a discrete setup, but if it's the best method then I'll go for it.
 
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Sleeving anything that passes threw a wall is good parctice, would a 25mm closed rubber grommit look ok to finish the outside?
 
SiD the Turtle said:
@Hyburnate It's a turret camera: DS-2CD2342WD-I

I was put off by the junction boxes as they're huge and I'd prefer a discrete setup, but if it's the best method then I'll go for it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, brackets are the only way I'd recommend it's done. Allows for it to definitely be watertight and looks quite good.

The amount of people who have had systems installed who want it discrete, we'll install one on a bracket (nobody reads quotes, I'm sure of it) and they'll see the impact it has and want them all on brackets :p

Depending on where it's being installed, you could go for the inclined ceiling mount, not handled one of these before however. DS-1281ZJ-M
 
Hyburnate said:
Yeah, brackets are the only way I'd recommend it's done. Allows for it to definitely be watertight and looks quite good.

The amount of people who have had systems installed who want it discrete, we'll install one on a bracket (nobody reads quotes, I'm sure of it) and they'll see the impact it has and want them all on brackets :p

Depending on where it's being installed, you could go for the inclined ceiling mount, not handled one of these before however. DS-1281ZJ-M
Click to expand...

Cheers I'll have a shop around for one, thanks for the slanted model too.

I guess you're still going to have to drill a fairly wide hole in the wall to get the connector through- unless you are just sending the cable through and crimping on a connector afterwards?

I'm trying to be cheap and have some CAT6a patch with connectors already lying around, if I can avoid having to buy a new reel it would be good!
 
SiD the Turtle said:
Cheers I'll have a shop around for one, thanks for the slanted model too.

I guess you're still going to have to drill a fairly wide hole in the wall to get the connector through- unless you are just sending the cable through and crimping on a connector afterwards?

I'm trying to be cheap and have some CAT6a patch with connectors already lying around, if I can avoid having to buy a new reel it would be good!
Click to expand...
Yeah we just drill an 8mm hole, feed the cable and crimp.

Where abouts do you live roughly?
 
You don't even need gigabit, that camera has a 100Mb/s port (Just making the point, obviously you would put 5e in :p) There is no situation where you will be streaming a bitrate that can't be sustained by gigabit from a camera.
 
Thanks guys, just my usual stance of get the best I can so I don't have to spend more later upgrading it but fair point on the bandwidth for CCTV.

Ordered some much cheaper 5e and will report back on how it goes!
 
I fed cat5e cable through to the outside and then crimped a connector on (not hard to do if you practice a couple of times). Saved having to make a bigger hole if the connector was fed through. If you tried to feed that hikvision cable through, the hole would be massive!

Although the connector is supposedly waterproof, I used some self amalgamating tape over it. The idea was to stick it in a junction box, but never got around to doing that. They've all been fine exposed outside for the last year and a half.
 
So update, thanks for the advice everyone. I ended up getting a proper junction box, allowing me to limit the drilling to 8mm holes. I'm glad I did for two reasons:
  1. The junction box makes the CCTV look more substantial and obvious while still being discrete and in character with the front of the house (no office CCTV style massive boxes or pendants). Feel free to say I told you so @Hyburnate :D
  2. The rendering completely disintegrated around the hole (probably my inexperience with an SDS drill more than anything) so I roughly patched it up to keep everything waterproof, but then the junction box has neatly obscured the mess!
Combined with some small trunking around the interior walls it looks really professional from outside (even though it was an absolute ***** to install the rubber gasket and the plastic shroud) and from the inside you don't even notice the cable run.

iMacMart said:
Whats the best Android app for IP cameras please to view whilst out and about ....
Click to expand...

You might want to post in the main CCTV thread to get some more eyeballs on your question: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/spec-me-a-cctv-system.18568132/
 
iMacMart said:
Guys

Whats the best Android app for IP cameras please to view whilst out and about ....

Sorry to hijack thread ;)

Mart
Click to expand...

Depends on what camera system you use, I only ever install Hikvision because they're cheap and amazing quality and people know the name, whereas their competitors fail at both (absurdly expensive, great quality but unheard of etc).

For Hik-Vision I'd say utilise IVMS-4500 with Hik-Connect.

SiD the Turtle said:
So update, thanks for the advice everyone. I ended up getting a proper junction box, allowing me to limit the drilling to 8mm holes. I'm glad I did for two reasons:
  1. The junction box makes the CCTV look more substantial and obvious while still being discrete and in character with the front of the house (no office CCTV style massive boxes or pendants). Feel free to say I told you so @Hyburnate :D
  2. The rendering completely disintegrated around the hole (probably my inexperience with an SDS drill more than anything) so I roughly patched it up to keep everything waterproof, but then the junction box has neatly obscured the mess!
Combined with some small trunking around the interior walls it looks really professional from outside (even though it was an absolute ***** to install the rubber gasket and the plastic shroud) and from the inside you don't even notice the cable run.



You might want to post in the main CCTV thread to get some more eyeballs on your question: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/spec-me-a-cctv-system.18568132/
Click to expand...

Great to hear it's done! It's very very easy to blow out with an SDS drill which is precisely why I leave it to our install guys :p
 
What I do, is use wired Ethernet cameras ONLY. These generally come with a power connector and an Ethernet connector (unless they are wireless, which I do not use). Then I get a PoE adapter cable so power and ground runs through the same cable (unless the Camera is PoE in which case you can do without the adapter and just tape off the - unused -power connector). Then I run a plain ethernet cable through the wall (5mm diameter hole) and Crimp a connector onto the end once I pass it out through the wall. The crimped connector is not waterproof but can be taped up with self-amalgamating tape and all the connections can be wrapped in a weatherproof box or shield. To be on the safe side I use silicone to seal the hole against water ingress. Then when replacing the camera (when it fails, or needs upgrading) all I need to do is unwrap the PoE adapter connectors, swap the camera, and connect to the new camera, then seal the connectors again - once the through-wall cable is fitted it is never touched again. On the inside another PoE adapter splits the one cable out into power and Ethernet and is connected up. IF you have a lot of cameras on the outside and you want to route then in through the one cable fit a 12v (same voltage as cameras) PoE (life is easiest with a PoE switch) network switch and mount it outside in your weatherproof box and hook all your cameras through it - you will only need the one 5mm cable hole for all your cameras.
 
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