How far of wire distance can security cameras be ran? 1

The majority of professional security camera installs are wired. Wireless security cameras technology is recent endeavor. Most wireless security cameras are used for residential homes.

How far a wire can be ran and still get a video signal from security cameras all depends on multiple factors. The type of wire being used, camera voltage type (24vac or 12vdc) and camera ampere requirements. The main difference is the type of camera being used. IP Security cameras use a network cable such as cat5e or cat6. Analog security cameras use a coaxial cable.

Technically regular POE IP security cameras have max limitation of 300 feet of network wire to still get a signal using pure copper wire. However, it is always safer to estimate a max of 250 feet because the type of wire being used cannot always be guaranteed to be pure copper. On the contrary, most wire in the market nowadays are copper clad aluminum CCA or copper clad steel CCS wire. CCA and CCS wires have lesser performance than pure copper and will thus shorten your range.

2M Technology developed a network video recorder (NVR) that supports extended POE. Extended POE IP security camera feature extends the wire from 300ft to 750ft using pure copper wire. However, it has been tested to run up to 600 feet using CCA wire. Extended POE IP cameras work only with 2M Technology network video recorders for extended wire distance.

There are two different types of security cameras, one powered by 12vdc and the other by 24vac. However, 90% of analog security cameras nowadays work on 12vdc. Power voltage drops with distance. For more details about voltage drop refer to our security camera voltage drop blog.

Analog security cameras transmit video via coaxial cable RG59. HD Analog video signal transmission differ based on the camera signal type.

Security Camera Video Signal Distance.

( Tests were based using pure Copper Wire)

• TVI security camera using coaxial cable can go up to 1600 feet.
• TVI camera signal using cat5e twisted pair with passive balun video signal can run up to 700 feet.
• CVI SEcurity camera using coaxial cable can to up to 1300 feet for 720p resolution and 1600 feet for 1080p resolution.
• CVI camera signal using cat5e twisted pair with passive balun video signal can run up to 650 feet.
• AHD security cameras using coaxial cable can run up to 1600 feet.
• AHD camera signal using cat5e twisted pair with passive balun video signal can run up to 500 feet.
• SDI can only run 300 feet.

Tools and Calculators

How IP CCTV Cameras Work

Is it hard to install a security camera system?

TVI vs CVI vs AHD vs CVBS vs SDI Security Cameras

Security Cameras wire

Read Previously: How Long Will the ISC West Security Show Continue to Exist? and Connecting an Internet Wireless Router to a CCTV DVR