Coax to PoE: Pros and Cons

In this article we'll discuss the pros and cons of leveraging existing coax connections and converting them to PoE.

• Pros
• Cons
• What to Do?

Pros

• Don't have to run any new PoE lines which minimizes installation costs
• Overall savings in time and minimal impact to operations
• Coax cables can be run over longer distances versus Cat5/6 for transmitting IP data (~1500-2000ft for coax, ~330ft Cat5/6)

Cons

• Connection from an existing coax cable might not be as good as a new PoE line. Factors could include: quality of existing coax cable, distance of the run, amount of data being transmitted over coax)
• The converter can be just as or more expensive (Upwards of $70-$500/ converter) than just running Cat6
• Performance speeds are limited especially if there's heavy usage ( ~10/100 Mbps for coax, 1000 Mbps for Cat5/6) 

What to Do?

Rhombus suggests that when possible, it's best to have cameras connected with Cat5/6 to ensure the best connection for camera performance and usage.

If you have existing cameras that are wired with coaxial cables, it is possible to use those cables.  You'll need to put Ethernet to coax adapters at each end of the coaxial cables that supports PoE. A few products we have seen customers use are this one, this one or this one.

If you have any other questions regarding this setup, please reach out to support.

If you have any further questions please reach out to our Rhombus Support at help@rhombus.com. If you would like to talk to a Rhombus Sales Representative please reach out to sales@rhombus.com.