Extending the reach of IP surveillance
CCTV surveillance has become much more popular in recent years. Knowing that your home or your business premises are being watched over while you are not there (and anything that happens is being visually recorded), gives you peace of mind. It also goes a long way to deterring potential thieves.
This market continues to grow. According to figures from Research and Markets, the global market for CCTV cameras is expected to increase by 12.3% every year until 2026, when it will be worth a staggering $24 billion.
Easy to deploy
One reason for this expansion is an increasing awareness amongst business and consumers of the need to protect their property. But’s it’s also happening because IP-based solutions are now available that make it easier and cheaper to deploy CCTV.
PoE-driven surveillance cameras connect to networks to provide a very flexible, easy to install and cost-effective CCTV solution that is ideal for a small business premises or home. Motion-sensitive cameras with pan-zoom-tilt (PZT) functionality can switch on and start recording when they pick up on any movement, and follow the subject around, recording digital video to a hard disk on the network.
A good opportunity
This is a good area of opportunity for IT resellers and one that Zyxel is now helping its partners to address with the new GS1300 and GS1350 series of unmanaged and managed switches. While many earlier Zyxel switches could certainly have been used to drive clusters of IP surveillance cameras, these solutions have been specifically designed for the purpose, with high power budgets and an extended range option that makes it possible to position cameras as far as 250m away from the switch.
Three versions of The GS1300 are available, offering 8, 16, and 24 ports and with power ratings ranging from 130W to 250W, giving them more than enough capacity to support normal IP surveillance cameras.
- There are four models in the GS1350 series, with support for between 10 and 24 ports and power budgets of up to 375 W. For High power demands locally the GS1350 PoE management for surveillance
- Support IEEE 802.3bt (GS1350-6HP)
- Basic L2, support Web, CLI management
- NebulaFlex (support in 2020)
These devices also come with web-based software and pro-active monitoring that will alert the administrator by email if a camera develops some kind of fault or powers-down. In such cases, the software can be programmed to attempt a fixed number of re-boots of the camera. Also, if a switch is being reconfigured, the PoE supply is maintained continuously to ensure cameras continue to operate.
Long-distance
But what really sets the GS1300 and GS1350 ranges apart is their ability to overcome the usual 100m distance limit for PoE and extend it to 250m, with the flick of a switch. This extended range capability makes it possible to support IP cameras that are situated at some distance from the switch without deploying an additional device in between.
All the switches are designed to industry standards and will support many IP camera’s on the market. With these specially designed switches, Zyxel partners have the opportunity to generate additional sales and meet all the needs of their customers for IP-based surveillance.
