Anyone Using Altronix Ebridge For Ethernet Over Coax?

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Ethan Ace
Jun 06, 2013

We're trying to gauge reliability, either positive or negative experiences. Has anyone had any experience using them in the field for an extended period of time?

See our Altronix eBridge review - main selling point is low cost relative to Veracity.

Also, anyone with experience with EnConn Mini-power, same question!

AH
Alon Hasson
Jun 06, 2013

I had an installation with Vigitron's Vi2416 and 13 Vi2401 using a PoE switch (not from Vigitron) and after a little fine tuning it's been up and runing for 8 months with out a single service call.

good luck,

Alon

JG
John Grocke
Jun 06, 2013

Yes, but the only experience I have with them is with the Sonly Ipela Hybrid cameras, where were are doing an analog camera retrofit. For those cameras you have to use the eBridge receiver at the head end, but the camera already the sloc transmitter capability built in. We've used the individual units and the 16-channel rack units for those applications.

Any other time I use EOC converters, it's usually the Comnet Copperline series mainly because the unit near the camera does not require external power like the Altronix unit.

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Ethan Ace
Jun 06, 2013

Well that makes you the first person I know who's used the Sony hybrid cameras, too!

Altronix has a PoE model now, which they did not make a big deal of advertising, so I think nobody noticed.

JG
John Grocke
Jun 06, 2013

Ethan - I didn't realize Altronix had a PoE version, I must have missed that. I will take a look at it.

The Sony Hybrid works very well for particular situaitons. We have a customer that has a large analog system that they wanted to upgrade to IP but wanted to replace the cameras first and add the VMS & servers later. Once they we had the VMS head-end built and installed, it was really easy to disconnect the coax from the analog system and plug it into the Altronix eBridge individual or multi-channel rack-mount units and have it up and running instantly (we pre-addressed the cameras before installing) without having to do any field rewiring and be able leverage their existing coaxial cabling infrstructure. For some of our customers that are contemplating upgrading from analog to IP soon, I reccomend they install the Sony hybrids during break/fix camera replacements and they will be ready to go IP by simply adding an eBridge unit in the future. The Ipela Hybrid is a niche product, we don't use it everywhere, but it does come in handy at times beacuse of the capailities of the eBridge.

AK
Alan Kruglak
Jun 09, 2013

John,

In reading your response to Ethan, if you could be in a perfect world, where there was room for an EoC converter at the camera location, would you still use the Sony Hybrid solution?

We did a major analog conversion using Nitek. The only problem was that the field EoC units were too large for the field camera locations (2"x4"), making it difficult to universally install. The Sony Hybrid solution looks very attractive since there is NO requirement to install any EoC units in the field at the camera location. Your feedback would be deeply appreciated.

Alan

JG
John Grocke
Jun 10, 2013

Alan - This was a retrofit for a correctional facility. Replacing cable was out of the question. There was no room in the existing junction boxes for EOC media converters, some cameras didn't have junction boxes just a cable stickign through a hard ceiling or block wall. The Sony Ipela Hybrid was a perfect fit as no converter was needed at the camera end. There were also some part of the facility still operating on analog but would be switching to IP once their IT department installed the network infrastructure. With the Ipela Hybrid, it will work as an analog camera or an IP camera off of the same connection. When not plugged into the Altronix eBridge, you get analog output. So switching from analog to IP only requires disconnecting the coax cable from the analog system and plugging it into the eBrige. If you already have your VMS configured for the new cameras, it literally takes less than a minute to move the video feed from one system to another, without having to go back an touch the camera again. The Ipela Hybrid is a niche product, it worked extremely well for this application.

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Carl Lindgren
Jun 09, 2013

The Sony Hybrid and Altronix eBridge solutions look very attractive except they really need to design a product that does the same for single-pair UTP. That architecture constitutes around 50% of our infrastructure.

DM
Duncan Miller
Jun 09, 2013

Carl,

I have been told that you can actually just put a balun on on each end of a Cat cable and use the ebridge solution with a Cat cable instead of a coax.

JH
John Honovich
Jun 20, 2013
IPVM

Feedback from Paul @ Griffon Systems: "2nd time in less than a month we have had to swap Altronix eBridge poe baluns for highwire because of bw limitation "

He said they were choking on less than 10Mb/s at 500 feet.

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