Technology as we know it is constantly evolving, such as analogue CCTV installations moving over to IP based systems. The need for larger, more robust computer networks is growing by the day. With the upward trend of having a bigger network comes the strain of covering larger areas. Campus networks grow in size, IP cameras are installed on the fringes of physical boundaries and multiple buildings are being connected into the core network.
All of this brings its own little headache; Category 5/6 cable is only useful up to 100m (328 feet in old money). So how are IT managers connecting these IP cameras, which are sometimes multiple hundreds of meters away from the control room, into the network? Easy – you move from copper to fibre.
This is brilliant because multimode fibre gives you 550m+ (1,804 feet) and if you really need it singlemode fibre will give you anything up to 120km (a whopping 393,701 feet) – that’s more than I care to run in a week! But there is one small issue; to keep costs down, most IP camera manufacturers don’t ship their products with integrated fibre ports so we’re getting ahead of ourselves a little.
Ok, step back a little – you have your fibre cable installed, you have your IP camera on its pole a solid half km away; how do you connect them? Advance have the answer, it’s called a media converter and it’s quite a versatile piece of equipment. This small box connects to each end of your fibre to “extend” your copper connection – which you can now patch straight into the camera.
Media converters are wonderful devices and the Advance range come in all sorts of flavours. This page gives you all the datasheets you could shake a stick at for all the different types that we supply. My scenario above though just scratches the surface, IP CCTV systems are just one use for them. They can also be used to connect remote sites; connect server rooms together on a campus; connect traffic light systems to one centrally managed network or even for expanding systems that might need to convert multimode to singlemode fibre to boost your connection range.
Our Advance range has been developed and tested over a number of years to give you what we consider to be the “best in breed” for the most competitive rate. Because we believe that buying cutting edge technology shouldn’t have a cutting edge price tag. We also have a clever team behind the scenes who are available to answer any technical questions you might have and help find the right solution to meet your needs. Give us a call on 01942 718493 for more information.