Customer needs camera that is 1/2 mile away from his house

A customer of mine wants to install a surveillance camera at his entrance way to his driveway. Problem is, he has a driveway that is at least 1/2 mile long. What are his options for this? I will be doing the install, but never had a project like this. Everything I've done has been mounted right on people's homes. Thanks!

One option for an analog camera would be to use UTP (Cat5/6) cable with an active transmitter at the camera and an active receiver at the other end. Typical distance limitations for analog UTP are:

Passive-passive (baluns at each end): 800-1,000 feet.

Active-passive/passive-active (balun at one end and active device at the other end): 1,500-2000 feet.

Active-active (active transmitter and receiver): 3,000-4000 feet.

For other camera types there are other options. For instance, EoC (Ethernet-over-coax) devices claim to be able to transmit 10/100 over RG59 for up to 8000 feet but I would take that with a grain of salt. NVT's NV-EC1701 claims to be able to send 10/100 Ethernet and supply up to 10 watts of PoE power approximately 2,500 feet on RG59. Although NVT doesn't state it in their brochure, distances for both Ethernet and Power and/or wattage could be increased by running copper/copper RG6 or RG11.

The biggest problem you would have is the power. For that distance, you would either have to supply camera power locally or use some very heavy gauge power cable for higher power applications, like heater/blowers or PTZ motors. Even 10W at 24VAC would require 10 gauge wire to supply enough power over 1/2 mile and if the camera drew the same 10W at 12VDC, you would probably need 8 gauge or larger wire.

Whatever method you choose, make sure you allow for the worst-case scenario when determining what will work. Add all power needs together and allow for a "cushion". Don't assume quoted maximum distances for a given device will work - manufacturers tend to "fudge" their specs and use best-case scenarios when giving specs.

If you have local power you can use a set of radios and an IP camera. A set of radios from Ubiquiti networks will work perfectly. If there are not many trees you can use something like the NanoStation Loco M2 AirMax. If there are a lot of trees you might want o go to a set of Ubiquiti NanoBeam M2. Since they are 2.4 Ghz they will penetrate trees better. I am guessing since there is a 1/2 mile drive it is not heavily congested. If so I would go to the 5Ghz.

Just program the radios in "bridge mode" and they will just pass the traffic right through. We have hundreds of these out there along side of $10k radios and they perform great.

I would use a solar option for power. Putting in a code compliant trench for a power run like that would be very expensive. As for the camera itself, if line of sight is not very good you will almost certainly need to run fiber for this camera.

Check the local code, you may need permits for this work.

Call Miss utility to mark the area

Rent a ditch witch, dig the trench

Insert PVC conduit (glued properly!!!!) with pull string. Make sure neither end can catch rain water.

Fill in trench, use marker tape for future work!

Attach fiber to pull string, yank thru tube.

Terminate fiber, attach to media converters (fiber to coax or fiber to Cat-5 depending on camera type)

Plug in both ends

You also need to account for any landscaping restoration involved.

Use 900MHz Wifi

Best for 1/2 mile range.

I have used 900MHz to connect buildings together at 48Mps links through dense trees, nothing else would even penetrate that, LOS (line of sight) even better.

I have never done this (the camera setup), but I would look into a solar panel, battery, low wattage camera, and a 900MHz WiFi Bridge. And you would probably want to mount it to some sort of pole or mast. Never a cheap install but it will still be cheaper then running power/fiber in trench.

I would find out what the budget is first. If the owner wants to spend $500, run away. This could easily end up costing 10x that.

We have done some solar powered set ups before. Only problem is if you have too many trees to shot a half mile you probably have too many trees to get enough sun. We use solar power for construction sites and they work great.

If you are running a single camera at a medium to low resolution/ frame rate it can be done with 900Mhz, which does NOT require line of site. Also, if you run solar, please make sure you use enough battery to power it for at least 18 hours of zero sunlight. That takes care of most snowstorms, tree gunk, etc.

Yes at present cat5/6 and RG59/6 you can extend distance upto 3KM via repeater. Crucial point as folks point out " power supply" and I would like to add one more opinion for two camera would be better at entrance for capture in and out footage.

Repeaters require power

I've used wireless access points with IP cameras many times,

If you haven't found a solution let me know and I can help you in further detail with set up and products I use.

I have been using 950MHZ wifi camera to connect the range of 40Mps to 50Mps. The camera visiblity is even better in the cloudy or sense weather also.

I also look for the wifi camera which works on the solar panel with low voltage. It not cheap as price point of view but saves electricity.

I'm installing a camera at a similar distrance right now, 2300ft. I decided to go with solar for power and send the signal back with cat5e and an amplifier. Hope it works, will be setting it up next week.