Can I attach a micro USB adapter at the end of Cat 6 cable?

Question

I am installing underground Cat 6 cable everywhere in my house - for internet, CCTV and telephone.

I want to keep the option of replacing my CCTVs with a WiFi-based camera (like Mi camera) at a later point. Those cameras have a micro USB port for power.

Is there anyway I will be able to use Cat 6 to power the WiFi-based camera?

If your suggestion is to add a regular electric wire to all the camera locations, will I have to run them in a separate conduit? Because it's unadvisable to use the same conduit for low and high voltage wires.

Answer 1

Short: Power over this kind of cabling is something that's done quite commonly in different ways.

First: You might want to think twice about using Wifi für stuff if you have a perfectly usable LAN nearby. Using LAN doesn't congest the radio spectrum (which you might want to use for devices that can't use LAN). LAN is much less prone to snooping or interference than Wifi (restricting physical access to LAN Ports is easier than securing Wifi AND restricting physical access to the components). There are cameras with LAN connection that have PoE built in (more on that later)

But despite that, let's just talk about Powering your devices over ethernet cabling.

Cutting up an USB Cable and splicing in Modular (RJ45) plugs This is the simplest solution and really cheap Pro:

• Simple
• Cheap

Contra:

• Prone to error
• Possible stability issues
• Has to be done by hand
• Might not work if your cables are long and/or your device needs more than just a few mA of current

Network cabling has a relatively small diameter. Thus it has a "high" resistance which results in a voltage drop along the wire that's proportional to the current it carries and it's lengt. So if you have a 5V Power Supply at one end there will be less than 5V at the other end. Also, if the load current changes, the voltage might drop (or rise) even more at the load end (induction in the wire). Also, if you miswire something or plug in a device other than your self built "adapter", stuff might break.

Injecting more than 5V, regulator to 5V at receiving end

Pro:

• can be diy
• relatively cheap
• voltage stability good, receiving device protected
• can work over greater distances and with higher current

Con:

• might not be worth it (PoE injectors and splitters are cheaply available)
• adheres to no official standard

Example: you take a 12V power supply and put +12V on four wires and GND on the 4 other wires. Than you use a voltage regulator (preferably a switching regulator) that has protection on the primary side and buffering on the secondary side plus a few resistors to make the device believe it's getting power from a "real" USB power supply and connect the USB device that needs to be powered.

Use PoE injectors / splitters

Pro:

• can adhere to a known standard (interoperability)
• can be safe
• can be extendable

Con:

• you have to buy stuff

PoE injectors and splitters are relatively cheap. Make sure you buy devices that adhere to a standard (and don't just do what was proposed in the diy solutions above)

Use a PoE switch and IP-Cameras that Support PoE

Pro:

• fully standardized
• you get support if anything doesn't work
• stable LAN connection for your cameras
• No additional hardware required that flaps around somewhere
• Hardware of different manufacturers can be mixed to a great extent

Con:

• Probably the most expensive solution

Answer 2

What you need is called power over ethernet, but you need an injector on one end and a powered device receiver on the other end. If you want to power something you must be you would need a 5 volt output.