Using CAT 5 or CAT 6 for USB Extension

Tom's Hardware recently did an article on USB devices that hang off an Ethernet, though I dunno about Linux drivers.

Why that particular camera, BTW? There are lotsa cheap Ethernet or coax CCTV cameras available...

Yeah, some other people are telling me about this too by other avenues. I'm turned on to this stuff by the cash potential, not because I knew the technology a little. So I'm really green. I feel kind of dumb, but I learn fast. I'm eager to get this going and convince the wife with a demo that proves to her that this can work and that I can sell this cheaper than anyone else can do it because I use Linux and inexpensive hardware, and because everyone else jacks the price up really high.

So I'm going to have to look for coax CCTV or cheap Ethernet solutions. I just didn't realize that these are cheaper than web cams when you think of how much hardware you have to add to run a very long cable with a USB web cam.

As for wireless solutions, that works with some customers, but not others. Other customers who are more tech savvy realize that webcams can be jammed with jamming devices.

Hey, thanks for guiding me this way, William.

I guess I have to counter this now that I have some more info.

I don't think Linux drivers are readily available or in good shape yet for CCTV or Video over Ethernet. However, Linux has plenty of USB video drivers, so USB is still a viable option if I can get distance. And someone has now figured out a way to get USB over CAT5 for distances larger than 100 feet:

works.

Very good advice. Thanks! By the way, what has me excited about this project with video surveillance was that I'm a Linux PHP/PostgreSQL developer who's got the entrepreneur bug, and when my boss told me in my IT Operations day job that they paid $30K for the 8 camera system they have now, and heard it was $13K just to add 3 more cameras, I said, d*mn -- I have to get my rear into that business. The same goes for Asterisk PBX solutions on Linux -- we paid $80K for our current call center PBX solution, and Linux solutions can be far cheaper and yield high profits for Linux gurus who can get it going with Asterisk. And then there's the topics of keyless door entry (card, thumb, etc.) and timepunch, hooked through Linux, which can yield good profit too.

Looks good, but please reply when you get it and tell us how it works. USB can have timing (latency) issues even if the signal integrity holds up over the distance. I'd try it first with a short cable to make sure the device is functional...

Also, before you spend too much time adding cost to your USB camera, note that (for instance) the D-Link DCS-900 is only $82 from NewEgg:

I don't have USB experience, but I believe there are two separate issues: power and signal.

Power (5VDC & ground) doesn't travel well but can easily be replaced by a powered hub at the endpoint. AFAIK, powerloss is the first thing to cause USB to fail.

USB signals which should respond well to better treatment like Cat6 cable.

-- Robert

There are USB extension boxes that will run USB over a couple hundred feet of cat 5 UTP. When I priced them a year or so ago, each set was something like a hundred USD. They are largely marketed to the security camera industry, so you will have to find some specialist catalogs. As for the price of video surveillance systems, most of the expense is labor, both for the initial install and the service calls.

--Dale