Ethernet splitter use with POE IP Camera? Possible?

[The Jeff]

Hi all,

I just built a new home and had run some cat 5e to different locations for ip cameras. I recently installed the actual cameras and in one location I feel like I could benefit from an additional angle/camera. Problem is I only ran a single cat5e to this location. The second camera I want to add would be in the same soffit as the first, so I'm wondering if I can use an Ethernet splitter to get 2 camera feeds.

My understanding is that IP cameras are 100 base-t devices (not gigabit). If I'm not mistaken, don't 100 base-t connections only use 4 of the 8 wires in the Cat5 cable? If that's the case, can't one use a splitter on both ends of cable run to effectively create 2 feeds?

The one thing I don't know is if a 100 base-t connection with POE uses more than 4 of the wires in the cable? If so, then a splitter can't work. I haven't been able to find the answer online so thought I would ask...

FWIW, I know I could install a cheap $25 Ethernet switch in that soffit (steal a power feed from a nearby light or something), but the problem with that is I live in Atlantic Canada where our winters are pretty brutal (-15F to -20F is seen in January) and a reasonably priced switch will not perform in an unheated soffit.

Thank you

Jeff

 

[tigerwillow1]

Offhand, I know of 3 options to share your one cable:
1. The cheap switch approach you mentioned.
2. A poe-powered switch. Nice approach but with power issues unless you have a poe+ port.
3. The splitter you mentioned.

#2 and #3 are discussed in this thread: Splitting 1 Cat5 to run 2 Poe cameras

 

[giomania]

Offhand, I know of 3 options to share your one cable:
1. The cheap switch approach you mentioned.
2. A poe-powered switch. Nice approach but with power issues unless you have a poe+ port.
3. The splitter you mentioned.

#2 and #3 are discussed in this thread: Splitting 1 Cat5 to run 2 Poe cameras

And in post #4 of linked thread:

Check out the ~$38 Odiysurveil 1x4 PoE switch in my PoE switch suggestion list. The input requires PoE+, but it works great.


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[The Jeff]

Thank you! Exactly what I was looking for. Did not realize I could find a POE powered switch for $40 - the ones I had seen were very expensive. Since I am using 4K/8MP cameras with high bitrates, seems like potential crosstalk/interference could be an issue with splitting the wires inside a single cable. For $40 you can't go wrong and my POE switch has 8 POE+ ports so I have plenty of ports and POE budget to spare for this to work.

Thanks