45 Camera UniFi Protect Upgrade
A Downtown LA office high-rise moved from analog cameras to 45 UniFi Protect cameras over its existing coax, using Long Reach extenders instead of new cable runs.
A commercial client in a Downtown Los Angeles office high-rise needed to replace an older analog security camera system.
The building already had coaxial cable running to the analog camera locations.
Pulling new wiring through a high-rise would have been costly and disruptive, so we moved the system to UniFi Protect IP cameras while reusing the existing coax, with Long Reach extenders converting each run to Ethernet and a UniFi UNVR Pro recording locally.
What stood in the way.
- Existing analog system on coax, with the cable runs to be reused instead of replaced.
- Each coax run had to be traced, identified and tested before it could carry a camera.
- 45 cameras to bring online, each one labeled by channel at the rack so it can be found again.
How we solved it.
We used coax-to-Ethernet conversion to keep the existing coax in place.
We deployed Dahua LR1002-1ET/1EC transmitters and receivers at each camera and head-end location.
At the head end, the Long Reach units sit on shelves in the rack, each channel labeled, with short patch cables to a UniFi Pro Max 48 PoE switch. Fiber connects to the switch's SFP+ ports and a UniFi UNVR Pro records the cameras. At each camera, a Long Reach extender sits in the junction box next to the camera and joins the existing coax to a short Ethernet patch cable to the camera.
The system includes 45 UniFi Protect cameras (G4/G5 series and other UniFi Protect models) recorded on a UniFi UNVR Pro, with UniFi Protect's local recording and Smart Detections.
Key components installed:
What changed.
The building now has 45 new UniFi Protect cameras recording to a UniFi UNVR Pro at the head end.
The existing coax was reused with Long Reach extenders instead of new cable runs, which avoided new wall and ceiling work for those runs.
Every channel is labeled at the rack, and the cameras are managed through the UniFi Protect interface.
What went in
- UniFi Protect cameras45 new cameras fed over the existing coax
- Long Reach coax extendersat the rack and at each camera, joining the existing coax to Ethernet
- UniFi UNVR Prorecords the cameras at the head end
- UniFi Pro Max 48 PoE switchconnects the extenders by short patch cables, with fiber on its SFP+ ports
- Existing coaxreused, with no new cable runs
