IP Camera Over Single Fiber: What Are My Options?

What are the current media converters?

There are lots of options out there. I usually use ComNet as they have Media converters that take SFP modules and can even output POE for your cameras. There are several different SFP modules from ComNet that support ethernet communication over a single strand of MultiMode of Single Mode fiber. If you are looking for something cheaper I believe Planet Telecom also makes similar products.  

The Single Fiber SFP Modules can support 100Mbps or 10000Mbps depending on the part ordered. 

How is the cable run?  Is the fiber home run or daisy chained? 

Check out American Fiber Tek.  I believe they can do many options over a single fiber.

They also have IP upgrade modules for moving from analog to IP, including pushing PoE to the cameras.

http://www.americanfibertek.com/

Wow only a single fiber. Make sure you do preinstall testing to verify the condition of the fiber so you don’t get blamed for any bad cable conditions. The old IFS models were very forgiving to loss and reflection, the new high bandwidth not so much in my experience.

You could go all out and do fiber certification testing or something simpler such as an optical loss test.  I would also recommend an OTDR test to determine length, possible patches or splices, critical bends or damage.

with only one fiber to each location a bad fiber you get blamed for could mean your profit margins by having to pull, test, and terminate a new fiber cable (depending on length). 

My rule of thumb is never pull less then 6 fibers to a location.. Additional pieces of glass is cheap, the money is in the labor to pull and terminations. 

Good luck keep us informed with what you go with and how it works for you, please.

Sure, they work great. Use a BIDI SFP stick and your problems are solved. Send/Receive? What are you sending to the camera? No restrictions that I am aware of. I used these on a GOVERNMENT job and had no issues. Trash the IFS, run BIDI SFP with an inexpensive media converter and put the margin you will create under your hat for the next installation.

Forget all the hype on different manufacturers I suggest you use _____ and pony up $8 USD per SFP stick, YES that is eight dollars. Of course you would have to trust the Chinese because that is where we buy them. I realized that many of the USA companies selling these were simply importing those and putting their own label on them so we went to the source.

BTW 80-90% of the media converters that are advertised in trade publications and for sale in Distribution warehouses are made by this company in CHINA and to piss you off even more SM/MM to ethernet media converters normally run <20 USD so all said and done you can run any IP camera you choose on ONE fiber for about 60 bucks per camera media conversion cost, both ends of the fiber.

Now it is time for all the Naysayers, Hik haters, etc. to disavoy what I have said all because they cannot handle the FACT that one chinese made part has a possibility of being well made. So foolish....

What type of fiber?  Single or multi?