[PoE cables] How do I know which PoE cable type I need to use for my camera?

When selecting the PoE cable to be used in your surveillance system you need to consider two important factors:

1. Electrical power to be transferred
2. Data transmission speed of the device

Checking Electrical power used in cameras:

Different VIVOTEK cameras requiere different power inputs (From Class 1~ Class 4). 

Source: https://www.vivotek.com/ip9164-ht#specifications

So, in order to power the cameras you need to use CAT5e or above in order to be powered using PoE (for more information you can click on the following link:  [PoE cables] Does all Ethernet cables support PoE?.

Checking data transmission in cameras

There are different Ethernet cables and each of them can transfer an specific amount of data:

	CAT5	CAT5e	CAT6
Cable type	UTP	UTP/STP	UTP/STP
Max. Bandwith	100MHz	100MHz	250MHz
Max. Data transmission speed	10 Mbps (10BASE-T) 100 Mbps (100BASE-TX/Fast Ethernet) 1000 Mbps (1000BASE-T/Gigabit Ethernet)	10 Mbps (10BASE-T) 100 Mbps (100BASE-TX/Fast Ethernet) 1000 Mbps (1000BASE-T/Gigabit Ethernet)	10 Mbps (10BASE-T) 100 Mbps (100BASE-TX/Fast Ethernet) 1000 Mbps (1000BASE-T/Gigabit Ethernet) 10G Mbps (10G BASE-T/10-G Gigabit Ethernet)
Maximum distance at maximum transfer rate	-	50m	50m
Typical Distance	100m	100m	100m

 

Be sure to check what is the maximum speed compatible with your device before buying a cable. 

Source: https://www.vivotek.com/ip9164-ht#specifications