Can I run network cable for PoE IP Cameras longer than 300 feet?

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  • If you own a Viewtron VT-NVR-16 PoE NVR or one of our other Viewtron IP camera NVRs, you may be asking: “I need to run network cable for one of my PoE IP cameras about 400 feet from my NVR. Can I run network cable for PoE IP cameras longer than 300 feet?”

    The answer is YES, in most cases. Standard Ethernet and PoE are rated for 100 meters (328 feet) per cable run, but our Viewtron NVRs have a “long line mode” setting that extends the built-in PoE ports to as much as 200 meters (about 650 feet).

    How far can a PoE camera cable run?

    Standard Ethernet and PoE are rated for 100 meters (328 feet) per cable run over Cat5e or Cat6 cable. Past that, you risk the camera not powering up, dropping offline, or the video breaking up.

    What is long line mode on a Viewtron NVR?

    Long line mode is a setting on our Viewtron PoE NVRs with built-in PoE ports. It extends the PoE ports to as much as 200 meters (about 650 feet). There is a tradeoff: in long line mode, all of the NVR’s PoE ports run at 10 Mbps instead of 100 Mbps. That is enough for a typical Viewtron 4K camera streaming H.265, which tops out around 10 Mbps. Just keep the camera’s bitrate within that limit.

    Long line mode is available on the VT-NVR-4 4 channel NVR, the VT-NVR-8 8 channel NVR, the VT-NVR-16, and the VT-NVR-32 32 channel NVR.

    How do I turn on long line mode?

    In the NVR web interface (the local NVR menu looks almost the same), go to Function Panel > Network > TCP/IP, click the Internal Ethernet Port tab, set Mode to Long line mode and click Apply. The NVR manual recommends long line mode when the cables to the PoE ports are very long or not performing well. You can find these settings in section 12.1.1 of the Viewtron NVR user manual (PDF).

    Viewtron NVR web interface Network TCP/IP settings page

    Viewtron NVR Internal Ethernet Port tab with Mode set to Long line mode

    What if I need to go even farther?

    If you need to go even farther, or you don’t want to slow down every PoE port, put a PoE switch partway along the run so that no single cable is longer than 328 feet. Our 8 port PoE switch works well for this. You can see all of our PoE switches and injectors for IP cameras.

    What cable should I use for long runs?

    For long runs, use solid Cat5e or Cat6 cable. Our 1000 ft solid Cat6 cable spool is a good choice. You can also browse our Cat6 network cables.

    FAQ

    Does long line mode slow down all of the PoE ports? Yes. In long line mode, all of the NVR’s PoE ports run at 10 Mbps instead of 100 Mbps.

    Is long line mode on by default? No. Non-long line mode is the default, so you need to turn it on.

    How far can a standard PoE run go? 100 meters (328 feet) per cable run.

    Questions about your install? Call us at 1-561-433-8488 or email info@cctvcamerapros.net