Cheap vs expensive POE splitters?

[TomHo]

Morning all,

Slowly making progress on my camera install to my house / garage. I've got a garage at the end of my backyard (about 15m or so from the house). Had to dig a 600mm trench to run power as the previous supply shorted somewhere, so ran a separate conduit in the trench with 2 x Cat6 cables, one for internet and one for security. I've got a PC under the stairs now with a 2nd NIC and ordered an 8 port POE switch for the cameras.

I'd like to run 2 x cameras in the garage - one outside, one inside. No PTZ. Realised that POE doesn't travel through a standard splitter. I've seen a few posts here recommending some POE + data splitters, but there's a range in price from $15 on Aliexpress to $100.

This one is the premium $100 option
PLANET POE-E202 | Buy POE-E202 PLANET 30W 802.3at PoE to Dual 30W 802.3at Gigabit PoE Extender | WISP Australia

This one is $50 from Amazon
LINOVISION Mini Passive 2 Port POE Extender IEEE 802.3af/at POE Repeater Up to 1000ft Power Over Ethernet Over Cat5/6 Cable, POE Splitter to 2 POE Devices Like IP Cameras, IP Phone, Wireless AP : Amazon.com.au: Computers
Looks the same as this one
Dahua PoE Extender DH-AC-PFT1300 – CCTV Guru

This one is $15 from AliExpress
100Mbps Camera Adapter Splitter Input Voltage DC44V-55V 0.5A Camera POE Repeater 2 Ports POE Injector Standard Extender - AliExpress

Any issues running the cheaper versions?

Cheers,

Tom

 

[wittaj]

This one is used by many here and can be daisy chained

https://www.amazon.com/Loryta-Extender-Repeater-Ethernet-Splitter/dp/B07RQ569MF/ref=mp_s_a_1_36?m=A329YQ83EBQGJF&qid=1691452699&s=merchant-items&sr=1-36

 

[bp2008]

You can also find PoE passthrough switches with more than 2 output ports. But in the case of feeding an indoor location with access to plenty of power, I'd just use a regular PoE switch in there instead of something that is powered by PoE itself.

 

[TomHo]

Thanks - I did think about running a POE switch in the garage - my only concern with this is that the garage has a sub-board, so turning off the garage turns off the cameras. If running from the house then I would have UPS on the security PC + switch, hence would keep running for a small time if power dropped.

 

[Mike A.]

I took a chance on some cheap ones from Amazon that look just like the one that you linked to, Not sure that I'd want to recommend them but they've been fine. Absolutely no weatherproofing at all so you'd need to protect them in some way.

 

[tigerwillow1]

(Terminology police report) The devices you linked to are not what's generally called a POE splitter. Most POE splitters are one-port devices that provide a DC power output for a camera illuminator, powered microphone, or whatever. They also pass the data connection through to a network device (a camera for most of us). The devices you linked to are two-port POE powered switches, not that any of the vendors call them that. With that out of the way, I'll report than I have two of the ~$30 devices that have worked well, so I don't see any reason to go for the ~$100 device. One of mine is the Loryta, which appears to be relabeled under a bunch of different brand names.

 

[biggen]

(Terminology police report) The devices you linked to are not what's generally called a POE splitter. Most POE splitters are one-port devices that provide a DC power output for a camera illuminator, powered microphone, or whatever. They also pass the data connection through to a network device (a camera for most of us). The devices you linked to are two-port POE powered switches, not that any of the vendors call them that. With that out of the way, I'll report than I have two of the ~$30 devices that have worked well, so I don't see any reason to go for the ~$100 device. One of mine is the Loryta, which appears to be relabeled under a bunch of different brand names.

This. An Ethernet “splitter” doesn’t exist. Being an former network admin I cringe when I see that word!

 

[Fred2016]

What size conduit did you run? Can you run another Cat6 in the conduit? FYI You will fit 3 cat6 cables in a 25mm conduit.

 

[hdjdkkd]

Typical POE protocol, only requires 2 pairs. If you need to install 2 Poe cameras on one cat5/6 , you can simply supply each camera with 2 pairs. Less hardware = less failure……

 

[wpiman]

This. An Ethernet “splitter” doesn’t exist. Being an former network admin I cringe when I see that word!

Fun fact.... ethernet was designed as a shared medium and the protocol allows for collisions. You could in fact have multiple nodes on a wire and have it work, but nearly all deployments are point to point. Switches are very cheap nowadays. In the olden days, we had 10 base T over coax and all the machines in the lab shares the wire. No hubs or switches required.

I am a huge fan of the Ubiquiti Flex (not flex mini) for this.

I have 3 of them-- one in my generator which has a Camera, a WAP, a Raspberry Pi with a 10 GB hard drive, and a powers a Google Home Mini.
One in the treehouse which powers a WAP, a camera, a Google Home Mini and an Alexa.
One in a box at the beach home which powers a WAP and a camera...

Switch Flex - Ubiquiti Store

Flexible 5-port, Layer 2 PoE switch that can be powered with PoE++.

store.ui.com

I recommend getting the 60W power injector so the unit can power up to 48 Watts of devices, and also I recommend getting the Ubiquiti surge protector. I lost two in a near direct lightning hit- but all electronics behind them were good. The 60 watt power injectors have surge protectors in them. I actually need to install a grounding rod in the treehouse this week for the surge protector...

 

[TonyR]

You might consider this device, called an "outdoor POE extender", that I installed early June of '23 and so far so good. We've had 4 really big electrical storms since then, lots of close-by thunder and lightning, no known nearby strikes but have lost power for a couple of hours twice...and it's still running.

It's essentially a POE-powered, 2 port POE switch. One CAT cable in with POE plus data and 2 CAT cables out with POE plus data. You must adhere to the max current (wattage) requirements. My review with pictures is ==>> here.

EDIT: 080823, 1010 CT USA: Sadly, I don't see it available in AUS, at least not on amazon.

 

[biggen]

Fun fact.... ethernet was designed as a shared medium and the protocol allows for collisions. You could in fact have multiple nodes on a wire and have it work, but nearly all deployments are point to point. Switches are very cheap nowadays. In the olden days, we had 10 base T over coax and all the machines in the lab shares the wire. No hubs or switches required.

I am a huge fan of the Ubiquiti Flex (not flex mini) for this.

I have 3 of them-- one in my generator which has a Camera, a WAP, a Raspberry Pi with a 10 GB hard drive, and a powers a Google Home Mini.
One in the treehouse which powers a WAP, a camera, a Google Home Mini and an Alexa.
One in a box at the beach home which powers a WAP and a camera...

Switch Flex - Ubiquiti Store

Flexible 5-port, Layer 2 PoE switch that can be powered with PoE++.

store.ui.com

I recommend getting the 60W power injector so the unit can power up to 48 Watts of devices, and also I recommend getting the Ubiquiti surge protector. I lost two in a near direct lightning hit- but all electronics behind them were good. The 60 watt power injectors have surge protectors in them. I actually need to install a grounding rod in the treehouse this week for the surge protector...

Oh I'm aware. I still have a 10/100 hub from the late 90s sitting in a drawer on my workbench. Still, it wasn't called a "splitter".

 

[Kameraad]

I've used these in the past, work great: https://www.amazon.com/Ethernet-Combiner-Splitter

 

[looney2ns]

The overall best option is to pull another cable......

 

[Mike A.]

The overall best option was to have pulled another cable to begin with......

^ FIFY

#hindsight

 

[TomHo]

What size conduit did you run? Can you run another Cat6 in the conduit? FYI You will fit 3 cat6 cables in a 25mm conduit.

Unfortunately I specified the cables before I joined this forum (or did any research into security), otherwise would have put an additional cable in. I've got a 16m flat roof on the back of the house with no access under the house, so got the electrician to run two ethernet cables to the back when we had roof access in the extension build. One for ethernet, and one for security, both run back to my under the stairs area. The ethernet cable in the garage will be hooked up to a TPLink outdoor EAP, and fits into the Omada system giving me full coverage. I could mount this on the house instead and rely on wifi in the garage, but then I would be disappointed if I couldn't stream Netflix on my garage TV.

I'll go with the simple POE extender option (or a two-port passive switch to get the terminology correct) as if I want to retain service when the garage power is off then I will need a UPS in the garage to power the extender.

Next step is to decide on the cameras once the stuff arrives from Amazon. Been reading a lot of 5442 cameras - quite a bit more $$ than the other ones but the 1/1.8 doesn't seem to be offered in many other devices from what I can see.

Thanks to all the replies.

 

[wpiman]

I lost two in a near direct lightning hit- but all electronics behind them were good. The 60 watt power injectors have surge protectors in them. I actually need to install a grounding rod in the treehouse this week for the surge protector...

i wasn’t able to get the grounding rod in more than maybe 4 feet but it should be good enough I hope.

 

[TonyR]

i wasn’t able to get the grounding rod in more than maybe 4 feet but it should be good enough I hope.

Back in the early 70's and into the 80's we'd drive 'em in with a single jack or sledge hammer, the low man on the totem pole would hold it.

The last few I've put in the last maybe 10-12 years I got to use a fitting that was made just for the purpose of setting it with a heavy rotor hammer...went in like butter and you could do it by yourself....nice!

 

[wpiman]

Back in the early 70's and into the 80's we'd drive 'em in with a single jack or sledge hammer, the low man on the totem pole would hold it.

The last few I've put in the last maybe 10-12 years I got to use a fitting that was made just for the purpose of setting it with a heavy rotor hammer...went in like butter and you could do it by yourself....nice!

I imagine the soil in Alabama is a lot more clay than New England. Where we are is very rocky...

Hopefully 4 feet is enough to ground a surge protector...

 

[TonyR]

I imagine the soil in Alabama is a lot more clay than New England. Where we are is very rocky...

Hopefully 4 feet is enough to ground a surge protector...

There is a lot of clay but in the lower foothills of Appalachian Mtns., there's also plenty of sedimentary rock, especially sandstone. It can be a challenge!