Barn Camera Systems That Work for Detached Garages Too
Here are 3 reliable solutions for a barn camera system that also work well for security cameras for a detached garage or other structure. CCTV Camera Pros has helped many customers that need to install one or more security cameras on the exterior or interior of their barn. Typically, customers want to be able to keep an eye on the animals in their barn from their house. Most customers also want to be able to check in on their animals when they are away from the property using a mobile app.
Planning a camera system for a barn has many of the same challenges as with detached garages and other structures. Here are a few of the most common challenges that we encounter, along with practical solutions.
The Key Questions: Power and Cable Access
There are two main factors to consider before planning your camera installation:
- Is power available in your barn or garage?
- Can you run network cable between the house and the detached structure?
Your answer to these questions determines the best route for installing cameras in your barn and connecting them to your home security camera system.
Solution 1: Barn Has Power, Network Cable Can Be Installed
This is the best-case scenario in my experience.
If your barn or garage has power and the distance to your house is less than 328 feet (the limit for Ethernet cable and Power over Ethernet or PoE), you only need to run a single Cat5e or Cat6 cable from your home’s network router to a PoE switch located in the detached building. This PoE switch will power your IP cameras and bring all their video feeds back to the house via the switch’s network uplink port.
For example, if you install an 8-port PoE switch in your barn, you can connect up to eight IP cameras—covering all angles both inside and outside. The switch’s uplink then runs back to the router in your house. Everything is neatly hardwired, robust, and ready for recording on your home’s NVR (Network Video Recorder).
You can connect a standard TV to the HDMI video output on the Viewtron IP camera NVR so that you always have a live video view of the animals in your barn.
Solution 2: Barn Does Not Have Power, But Cable Can Be Run
If there’s no power in the barn or garage, but you’re still within 328 feet, you can run individual Cat5e or Cat6 cables for each IP camera. Each camera would be directly hard wired from the PoE ports on your NVR in the house to each camera in the barn. Since there’s no power at the barn to run a PoE switch, each camera must have its own dedicated cable supplying both data and power from the NVR. For four cameras, that’s four cables. It’s more work, but absolutely doable and often worth the effort for a reliable hardwired connection.
CCTV Camera Pros has 4 channel, 8 channel, 16 channel, and 32 channel Viewtron NVRs available that have built-in PoE ports.
Solution 3: Cable Can Not Be Run, Barn Has Power
Sometimes, it’s simply impossible to run cable between your house and the barn, or the distance exceeds the max 328 foot distance that Ethernet can handle. In these situations, CCTV Camera Pros typically recommends this point-to-point wireless bridge for IP cameras.
With this solution, you mount a wireless antenna on the barn, pointing towards the house, and another antenna on the house pointing back at the barn. This creates a high-speed wireless bridge—the two buildings are now networked together.
Install a PoE switch in the barn, connect your IP cameras to the switch, then connect the switch’s uplink to the wireless bridge. The video feeds travel wirelessly back to the house, where your NVR does all the recording. While wireless is usually a last resort (I always recommend hardwiring if possible), this point-to-point WIFI system is very reliable when installed properly and has helped many of our customers monitor barns, detached garages and other outbuildings.
Viewtron AI Security Cameras
All three of the above solutions support all of the Viewtron IP cameras that we supply. If you would like to use human detection, vehicle detection, face detection / facial recognition, I highly recommend our Viewtron AI cameras. We also have some of the best license plate recognition cameras available.
Free Phone Consultations and Security Camera System Designs
If you need help designing a camera system for your barn, home, business or any other type of property, you can request a phone consultation here.
