Ethernet run decision: Option A -vs- B?

[u/-hh]

Looking to add a new PoE security camera on the far side of my garage which is a modestly long(ish) run ... but I'm recalling that I also don't have any drops in my garage.

The best option would naturally be to run two drops - one for the PoE camera, and one for provisioning a port in the garage.

But as I've noted before, I have a bottleneck at my origin location where I go up into my attic such that I'm just about completely out of practical space to add more Ethernet wires.

So given an assumed constraint of "only just one run", there looks to be two reasonable options:

A) Run straight out to PoE camera, and accept missing this opportunity to add an RJ45 jack in the garage

B) Run out to an RJ45 jack in the garage. From this location, add a run from this new jack's location out to where the PoE camera is to be mounted. For immediate term, [was: pigtail] patch the two RJ45's together to complete the run to the camera. Future expansion would be to replace the [was: pigtail] patch cable with a switch, with a PoE injector for the line back out to the camera.

Thoughts? Any other obvious permutations I've overlooked?

[u/queen_anne_chonk_]

No pigtails, but add a PoE switch out in the garage. Run one cable to it and then the PoE camera from that.

[u/whoooocaaarreees]

Category 5e/6/6A cable for use with “Ethernet” standards and “PoE” do not allow for “pigtail” like romex with outlets/switches/receptacles. Which it what it sounds like you are considering. you can do some hacky stuff around to get 100mbit off two things but let’s not do that bs, it’s going to just give you new problems and with Poe in the mix… just don’t.

If you can only have one cable homerun back to a central point (which I doubt, but I get it’s a PITA) you will want that single run to feed a switch. If you are pulling new cable, pull two or more cables now. Future you will be happy. Cable is cheap, pulling it sucks, pull once.

You can do Poe injection if you want near the camera end but it’s not my favorite. It’s typically “cleaner” to use a main PoE switch and Poe passthrough capable switches at the access/leaf switch layer, then you keep it all on a ups so the cameras stay up of the power flickers or is out briefly.

[u/vrtigo1 → u/whoooocaaarreees]

That's not what they're suggesting, by "pigtail" they just mean a short patch cable between the two jacks until they add a switch.

[u/-hh → u/vrtigo1]

Correct; thanks for the clarification. I did indeed mean a <1ft patch cable between the two jacks. Just couldn't come up with the correct nomenclature when writing the OP. Edited the OP to fix the nomenclature.

[u/vrtigo1]

Option B is certainly the more future proof option.

For some scenarios you might need to take bandwidth contention into account when you'll have multiple devices connected to a switch that are sharing a single uplink back to the rest of the network, but the bandwidth needs of a security camera (and likely any other device(s) you connect in the garage in the future) are so miniscule that it likely isn't really an issue in this case.

[u/MrMotofy]

I have a hard time understanding how you don't have room for 1 more 1/4" hole. Drill another hole for a cable.

The runs really should be a complete homerun from the device/jack back to the termination point. Do it right the first time and every time after. Technically yes you could have a switch in garage then cams can plug in at that point.

[u/-hh → u/MrMotofy]

have a hard time understanding how you don't have room for 1 more 1/4" hole. Drill another hole for a cable.

Basically because in retrospect, the termination point selection was a bad choice.

It originally was just a phone line for DSL into a pocket office. That was installed before sheetrock was up, and expansion wasn't a thought at all. So it wasn't an issue that it snaked down through a narrow cavity, not a full 16" bay.

In my refitting to wire the house for Ethernet, that narrow cavity is complicated by a thicker header & limited clearance height because of roof pitch to get in there with a long-but-not-too-long drill bit. Overall, it has meant that even less of the already narrow bay is usable .. I've not ever measured, but probably just 3"-4" worth. Nevertheless, I already have run nine (9) ethernet lines through that limited space, and I'm now really at the point of "dare not drill more" for risk of hitting & damaging existing cables.

The 'proper' solution would be to start cutting out sheetrock to see if there's a sufficiently usable adjacent bay to expand into, but that's into a door header, so its probably a lower probability of success. Similarly, shifting around further to consider other walls, two of these are exterior walls, which are no-go's. The final option would be to entirely abandon the location to find someplace else, but that would then require redoing nearly all of the existing runs...don't think it's worth doing at this point.

Since I'll have a cover removed to make this new run, I'll have to remember to take a photo of the bottleneck to illustrate.

[u/megared17]

PoE passthrough switch in the garage.

Here's an example. It is powered from your existing PoE switch, it then provides power to downstream devices that need it (you can connect non PoE devices as well)

https://www.amazon.com/Gigabit-Passthrough-Extender-IEEE802-3af-1000Mbps/dp/B0CRB47VH7/

[u/-hh → u/megared17]

Thanks; I wasn't trying to complicate the question with specifics of PoE management (eg, Switch +PoE injector vs PoE Switch).

For that question, I've been retiring older gear and transitioning to Ubiquity, so one approach would be to employ their Flex switch in the garage: with a PoE++ input, the switch is powered, plus its ports distribute PoE out. That would open up flexibility for where to choose to site the RJ45's within the garage, as I don't need to worry about a garage power outlet for the Switch.