Front porch camera/conduit/junction box installation questions

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WallaWalla

Getting the hang of it
May 10, 2024
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36
US
Hey everyone,

So I will be installing an IPC-T54IR-ZE-S3 on my front porch (disregard the camera currently installed) and have a few questions regarding placement, junction box orientation, etc.
For context I also have an overview camera that can see my whole front yard and beginning of sidewalk to front door as well as a PoE doorbell on the wall to the left of the front door.

Front Porch.jpgPFA 130-E.jpg

The cat6 line will be coming from the left (arrow in above picture), either above or below that line depending on whether I come in directly from the garage or from the attic above the garage. I am planning to install the camera somewhere above the door, either centered on the door or over to the right where my current camera is (as that has a better line of sight to the sidewalk approach to the front door).

Here are a few of my questions:
  1. Camera location: Should I mount the camera all the way to the left and not worry about conduit but give up some vantage point/visibility? Mount it in the center (potentially most aesthetically pleasing?), or mount it over to the right which has a better view of the approach up to the front door? Also, I think it would be better to mount the camera below that horizontal line in the picture since lower typically provides a better vantage point for face shots, etc.?
  2. Conduit or no conduit: Would you run conduit across to the camera? I was planning on something like a 1/2-in schedule 40 PVC so that the cable wasn't directly exposed but since it is covered not sure if that is overkill or not.
  3. Junction box orientation/conduit route: If running conduit then I need to think about the route and where it will enter the junction box. I was going to mount the camera to the PFA 130-E junction box and noticed it has a bottom/top orientation. But since my line is coming from the left and there is no conduit opening on the left side of the junction box in that orientation I would either need to run the conduit from the bottom or from the right side which would look messy having to route the conduit around like that. Thinking since the porch is covered I could change the orientation of the junction box and run the conduit horizontally across directly into the left side of the junction box. Or run the conduit above where the camera will be installed and then take a 90-degree turn downward and enter the junction box from the top. As I have never run PoE cameras before I'm not sure if this is risky to change the junction box orientation even in this mostly protected environment.
Any insight or tips would be greatly appreciated!
 
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Just wanted to follow up here as I have been giving this more thought.

This is what I am currently thinking. Either running conduit as in the below picture, or maybe just bare cat6 as long as I have a proper drip loop and everything else weatherproofed appropriately.
Front Porch 2.jpg

Am I on the right track? Just want to make sure I'm not missing anything as this is my first time planning for and installing PoE cameras.

Thanks!
 
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WallaWalla said:
This is what I am currently thinking. Either running conduit as in the below picture, or maybe just bare cat6 as long as I have a proper drip loop and everything else weatherproofed appropriately
Click to expand...
Any reason the CAT-6 could not be run straight down from above to the box as in the green line below?

Front Porch 2.jpg
 
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To me you are mounting the camera too high, it shouldn't be mounted any higher than 8ft, preferably no higher than 7ft.
That is if you expect to see faces of visitors at the door instead of tops of heads.
Have you tested your proposed location with a test rig, and let it record for at least 24hrs or more to see how it works out?
Test rig: 2x4x8', 5gal bucket, rocks or sand for ballast in the bucket.
 
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TonyR said:
Any reason the CAT-6 could not be run straight down from above to the box as in the green line below?

View attachment 196675
Click to expand...
Unfortunately it is a 2 story house so there is a floor above with no direct access, just the garage (and attic above the garage) which is why the line is coming from the left. The installer is coming on Wednesday to run the cat6 so I can discuss with him, maybe there is some way it could be fished from the garage attic in-between the two floors?

looney2ns said:
To me you are mounting the camera too high, it shouldn't be mounted any higher than 8ft, preferably no higher than 7ft.
That is if you expect to see faces of visitors at the door instead of tops of heads.
Have you tested your proposed location with a test rig, and let it record for at least 24hrs or more to see how it works out?
Test rig: 2x4x8', 5gal bucket, rocks or sand for ballast in the bucket.
Click to expand...
I agree. I have tested it and it is a little too high for my liking as well. It is a bit of a compromise I guess, aesthetics vs. functionality. If I bring the camera down below the line dividing the two floors then I think I get a better shot. But then it is more exposed to the elements so maybe I do need to run conduit, and also may not look as good and is more visible from the street (not sure if that's a good thing or not?). But point well taken, I'll give it one last test before I finalize things and maybe I can bring the level down a bit.
 
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anotherone said:
I'd go straight down and mount in the corner level with the top of the door frame. it really won't be that noticeable.
Click to expand...
On the left side of the door you are saying? Yeah it would definitely be cleaner/less noticeable, but I will lose a little bit of the approach because of the wall/vantage point. It may still be a good option though, as soon as the person turns the corner and sees the front door we should get an immediate good quality shot. I'm going to test a few different locations today/tonight.
 
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FYI I find I like 2 cameras by the front door .. one mini-dome at face level by the door and then one watching over the front door area and the package drop zone .. the location you seem to be considering should work for that 2nd camera.

So while running cables see if you can also run one to the face level by the door ..
 
mat200 said:
FYI I find I like 2 cameras by the front door .. one mini-dome at face level by the door and then one watching over the front door area and the package drop zone .. the location you seem to be considering should work for that 2nd camera.

So while running cables see if you can also run one to the face level by the door ..
Click to expand...
Does a doorbell camera cover either of those scenarios or is a doorbell camera more of an additional/supplementary camera? Because I also have a PoE doorbell going in which is on that left wall if you are facing the door.
 
WallaWalla said:
Does a doorbell camera cover either of those scenarios or is a doorbell camera more of an additional/supplementary camera? Because I also have a PoE doorbell going in which is on that left wall if you are facing the door.
Click to expand...

Video door bell typically mounted lower than face level, so that would be a 3rd line for my setup.

I've seen too many camera captures which failed to get good ID images so I want a few chances for anyone walking to My front door to get ID images
 
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WallaWalla said:
This is what I am currently thinking. Either running conduit as in the below picture, or maybe just bare cat6 as long as I have a proper drip loop and everything else weatherproofed appropriately.
Click to expand...

My $0.02 from the peanut gallery:
- conduit appears overkill to me.
  • Camera itself just as easy to damage/rip off as cable, and weather/sunlight exposure seems at or near near zero under roof right above... so I don't get using conduit?? I am assuming a quality outdoor rated cable (not cheapest available), possibly shielded if you don't know about possible electrical wiring in/around wall/door?
  • do you get rain on the glass above the door? I'd presume that is pretty rare (to never), right? in which case, quality cable and dielectric grease on RJ45 connection and call it a day
  • I would use a simple cable cover (possibly one that only covers 90degree arc to cover in-corner mount vs 180 degree open-surface mount??, ideally painted to match existing wall color.
  • As already noted, with camera mounted lower than in image
  • I'd inclined to bring the cable across at the ridge line just below camera in your image (instead of higher up, with extra, tight bend in cable), or if even lower (mounting to wood frame around door?), across the top sill of the wood frame itself (again, simple cable cover, painted to color match)

And because things happen, I try to make it such that pulling a replacement cable to this location is DIY (ie easy to re-open hole thru wall (which should get 'sealed' in some manner, just do so in a way that doesn't over-complicate pulling a replacement cable) etc)

As for placement, testing camera position and actual viewing perspective to see if shorter cable and mounted on left side of door makes that much difference
 
Thank you everyone for the great tips/feedback! It has been very helpful in thinking through the best way to approach things.

After doing some additional testing last night I am inclined to forgo a little bit of perspective in order to place the camera at door frame height (slightly below) in order to get a better ID shot as illustrated in the photo from @dudemaar with the blue dot/arrow.

I think I want to still mount the camera on the wall that the door is on so the camera is facing the front and in a slightly better position. That would expose a small amount of cat6 though that I could easily conceal I think. Versus installing it on the garage wall and being able to conceal the wire completely, but not being able to turn the camera quite to the degree I'm looking for.
Front Porch 3.jpg

My doorbell camera gets like 95% of my porch floor/door for packages, etc. so I am still leaning towards installing the IPC-T54IR-ZE-S3 at the above location due to its superior low light performance (vs. the IPC-E541F-E2-AS). And I could use my wireless camera as a worst case scenario to view the "drop zone" or potentially in the future install a better camera at that location for a better overview.
 
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Lower cam height for getting faces is important. Redundant view are best for getting face shots also. One can't have too many cams as so much can influence getting a good shot, including the weather and seasons/sun height.

See this thread for ideas.

Why I Like Redundant Views/Multiple Cam Views

A lot of newbies ask for help with their camera setups and most think that they can get by with a single cam to cover quite a bit of area. While that is possible if all you are interested in is a wide-angle overview, it usually will not give you a great chance of getting a face shot good enough...
ipcamtalk.com ipcamtalk.com
 
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Good job!

Now post video or at least a couple of stills showing faces.
 
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Very nice! :headbang:
 
Here are a couple of screenshots. At night there is almost too much light from street lights/garage lights and it kinda washes part of the video out.
Same in the day, depending on where the light is coming from half the feed gets washed out.

These are still default image settings so I need to get in and see what can be done to try to improve it.
Front porch night.png

Front porch morning.png

Front porch day.png

Any recommendations on camera positioning/angle? Thinking about pointing it more towards the left to get less wall? Also, this is the varifocal version but is all the way zoomed out because I feel like I am still getting good ID shots due to the close range.
I'm assuming its okay for me to post some random face shots as well?
 
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