I’m troubleshooting a Cat6 POE camera and Control4 DS2 door station at a gate. Both worked fine for almost a year without an issue (discrete runs through conduit and using flood rated cable). Now there are issues.

I have couple of different testers but I’m seeing I don”t have the right tester to quickly check all the variables at play, including the ability to view the camera.

What’s your fav test kit for this scenario for a quick diagnoses?

1st I have a Fluke Microscanner to test the integrity of the cable. It also has TDR built in to verify distance on cable. A simple cable mapper would work for this as well but you get more information about the condition of the cable, the more expensive the tester.
Ideally I would like to have a Fluke IQ certifier to proper verify cable integrity & performance. But we all have budgets.

2nd I have the Ideal SecureTEST to verify the camera works and functionality.
[Link: amazon.com]

I'd imagine you tried new cam or other POE device at location?

I did not, however I've temporarily run cat six for both runs over the ground to the camera and DS2 keypad (this is not a super long run, but it is probably close to 280 ft). They both work flawlessly with cable over the ground. Makes no sense.

I should think there is a tester that does both cable integrity and IP camera viewing.

Does the SecureTest she POE volt/amp pulled by a POE device when connected in line?

Have you thought about installing a POE power inserter on the line, perhaps closer to the camera? Current loss, light gauge wire, etc...

Yes it does.

But you have already troubleshooted the problem by running the Cat6 across the ground. The next question is 'how did 2 Cat6 runs go bad in conduit, that were burial rated'?

1) Did you supply the Cat6? What is the brand & part#? How long has the cable been in the ground? If someone else supplied it, anyway to find out where they got it from?
It has been noted many times in the past, how cheap cable can cause problems and even have lies attached to the listings. One reason I always argue for the use of quality cables that are properly listed, for uses that are going to be more or less permanent.

2) Did you install the cables in the conduit? Or did someone else do it? Wondering how much pull was done to the cables installing. Usually direct burial cable has stiffer more robust jackets and can take more than the regular 25-30 ft lbs of pull. But if it was pulled more than 50-60 ft lbs, I would suspect the cables might have been damaged. Not uncommon for damaged cables to start giving trouble years later, after having marginally worked before.

I have been very happy with my Net Prowler from Platinum; doesn't do the IP camera part

[Link: platinumtools.com]

I'd guess you are looking for a broken pair and/or voltage drop

• Displays length measurement for each pair in feet or meters using TDR technology

• Detects PoE per IEEE 802.3af/at with load test for voltage drop and which pairs the PoE is located on (class)

I hope you'd be able to test these wire pairs while a camera is working, and IRs if the camera has them. You can't tell what voltage will be at the other end of the wire if you're not drawing the current that the cameras will draw in normal operation.

[Link: amazon.com]

Inline POE tester to show voltage, current and power draw by a POE device.

Yes,

I bought on of repeater to test.  Oddly enough it worked with the camera so I thought I had the solution.  I purchased another but it would not work with the DS2.  Then the camera suddenly stopped working as well!

This is the one I tried

All good questions. I decided to get the Fluke unit you mentioned to try out. The cable was purchased from my local disty.
Someone else pulled the wire through the conduit so that may be the issue. Investigating today.

Shoot forgot about platinum - that piece looks pretty cool

Is this in an area with a freeze & thaw? Does the conduit come out of the ground at either end and into a box or conduit fitting such as an LB? Perhaps an expansion fitting should have been installed. You might find that the UTP in the conduit has snapped in two.

Turned out the guy who laid the burial grade cable did not put the cable in the conduit .  He laid it next to the conduit.  Wtf.  He also ran it in such a way as to exceed the 328 ft limit by just a bit. Annoying. Why it worked for a a year and the suddenly stopped is a little odd.

Anyway, determined the true length with the Fluke piece and it measured 350 ft. Because there was no good place to add a POE repeater in line within 328ft, I ended up using a piece from Enable IT which gave me the long reach I needed and also provided two POE outputs on the end point over one cat5.  Expensive as f*$k but seemed to work really well.

Would be open to hearing of an alternative product that would do the same thing at a lesser cost.