One CCTV System for Several Sheds: Fibre, Radio Link or Separate NVRs (₹)
"I have three sheds 80–250 m apart. How do I connect the cameras?" As of 15 Oct 2026, copper Ethernet stops at 100 m per run, so the far sheds need fibre or a 5 GHz radio link back to one recorder. In our worked example, radio costs about ₹1.3–1.7 lakh, fibre in a new trench ₹1.8–2.7 lakh, and separate NVRs ₹0.7–0.9 lakh.
By the Mama Editorial Team. Last checked: 15 Oct 2026. All prices below are Amazon.in listing prices seen on 15 Oct 2026 or labelled planning assumptions, not quotes. Ask your installer to price each line in writing.
Key takeaways
- A single copper Ethernet run is rated to 100 m at all speeds; a switch's long-reach "extend mode" reaches 250 m only by dropping that port to 10 Mbps.
- Fibre is the most reliable link between buildings, and the trench, not the glass, is most of its cost.
- A 5 GHz radio link in 5.725–5.875 GHz needs no licence under G.S.R. 1048(E), within the power limits the rule sets.
- Separate NVRs per shed are cheapest on day one, but they give you three recorders to check and no single place to watch from.
- Whatever links the sheds, both ends need the same UPS as the main switch, or the far shed goes blind in every power cut.
- Any outdoor run, copper or radio, needs surge protection and a proper earth before the monsoon.
Why the shed next door is an engineering problem
TP-Link's LS108GP datasheet, checked 15 Oct 2026, rates Cat 5e and Cat 6 cable at "maximum 100m" for 10, 100 and 1000 Mbps (TP-Link LS108GP). That figure covers the whole run, including patch cords at both ends.
Two sheds 80 m apart rarely give an 80 m cable: it climbs walls, follows trusses and turns corners, so 80 m on the plot plan can become 100–110 m of cable.
The same datasheet offers an "extend mode" reaching 250 m on ports 1–2, but those ports drop to 10 Mbps (TP-Link LS108GP, checked 15 Oct 2026). Assume a 4 MP camera on H.265 is set to about 4 Mbps (an assumption; check your camera's bitrate setting). Then 10 Mbps carries two cameras, not a shed.
Copper between buildings also joins two electrical earths with a long metal conductor. In a lightning strike or earth fault the ends can sit at different voltages, and the switch port takes the difference. Radio, and non-armoured fibre in a plastic duct, have no metal path between the ends.
Option 1: fibre between buildings
Fibre carries light, and the glass does not conduct electricity, so electrical noise from welding sets and VFDs does not travel along it.
Two kinds of fibre matter for a factory plot:
| Fibre type | Typical module | Wavelength (nm) | Rated reach (m) | Source, checked 15 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multimode 50/125 µm | 1000BASE-SX | 850 | 550 | TP-Link SM311LM |
| Multimode 62.5/125 µm | 1000BASE-SX | 850 | 275 | TP-Link SM311LM |
| Single-mode 9/125 µm | 1000BASE-LX | 1310 | 20,000 | TP-Link SM311LS |
Both reach 250 m. Single-mode leaves room for a future, farther shed.
The hardware is simple. A media converter at each end turns the switch's copper port into light. On Amazon.in on 15 Oct 2026, a gigabit single-mode media converter pair listed at ₹2,130, and 100 m of six-fibre single-mode cable at ₹2,499. Alternatively, a PoE switch with an SFP slot takes a fibre module directly; one TP-Link 8-port PoE+ switch with one SFP slot listed at ₹6,999.
The expensive part is the path: a trench, HDPE duct and draw pits cost more than the cable and converters. If a wall, tray or pipe rack already connects the sheds, fibre can ride on it.
Lay fibre in HDPE duct or use armoured cable, because rodents chew cables in factory yards. Steel armour is metal, so ask the electrician to earth it. Seal the joint boxes against monsoon water in draw pits.
Fibre needs a technician with a splicing machine; ask for a light-loss test result at handover.
Option 2: a 5 GHz point-to-point radio link
A point-to-point radio link is a pair of directional antennas that act as a cable between two buildings that can see each other.
The licensing question has a clear answer. TEC Standard 38020:2021 lists 5725–5875 MHz under the "Use of Wireless Access Systems (WAS) including Radio Local Area Network (RLAN) in 5GHz (Exemption from Licensing Requirement) Rules, 2018", G.S.R. 1048(E) dated 18 Oct 2018 (TEC 38020:2021, checked 15 Oct 2026).
The conditions, as TEC prints them, cap conducted output at 30 dBm (1 W) with antennas up to 6 dBi. Higher-gain antennas must cut power by the excess gain. For fixed point-to-point links in this band, the reduction applies only to antenna gain above 23 dBi (TEC 38020:2021).
The rule conditions reproduced in TEC 38020:2021 contain no distance limit and no CCTV-specific condition (checked 15 Oct 2026). The owner's job is to buy a model sold for India and keep its country setting on India.
For sheds 80–250 m apart, a short-range kit is enough. TP-Link's EAP211-Bridge KIT datasheet rates it for up to 1 km, at a 5 GHz data rate of up to 866 Mbps, with an IP65 enclosure and ±6 kV surge protection on the Ethernet port (TP-Link datasheet, checked 15 Oct 2026). On Amazon.in on 15 Oct 2026, the kit listed at ₹16,999.
The headline data rate is the signalling rate, not what eight cameras will get. The datasheet mentions a built-in speed test; ask the installer to run it after alignment and record the result at handover.
Radio wins when a road, a nala or a finished concrete yard lies between the sheds. It loses without clear line of sight, or where cranes, stacks or trucks block the path.
Option 3: a separate NVR in every shed
The third option avoids the gap: each shed gets its own PoE switch, NVR and hard disk.
On Amazon.in on 15 Oct 2026, a CP Plus 8-channel NVR listed at ₹6,540 and a 4 TB surveillance hard disk at ₹15,999.
The day-one cost is low. The hidden costs come later:
- Three recorders mean three hard disks, clocks and passwords to manage.
- Viewing all sheds from one office needs either a link between the sheds after all, or an internet connection at every shed. Behind Jio or Airtel CGNAT, remote viewing has its own problems; see remote viewing behind CGNAT.
- Analytics such as machine-idle reports need every stream in one place, which a local link delivers better than three internet uplinks.
Separate NVRs suit a leased or temporary shed. For one owner on one plot, they usually end as a stopgap.
Worked example: three sheds on one plot (₹)
Assume a main shed A with the office and the existing NVR, shed B 80 m away and shed C 250 m away. Sheds B and C have 8 cameras each. Assume 400 m of cable path in total for fibre (100 m to B, 300 m to C). All rows marked "assumption" are planning figures for illustration, not quotes.
| Line | Fibre in new trench (₹) | 5 GHz radio link (₹) | Separate NVRs (₹) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Link hardware | 4,260 (2 converter pairs × ₹2,130) | 33,998 (2 kits × ₹16,999) | 0 |
| Cable | 20,000–32,000 (400 m armoured at ₹50–80/m, assumption) | 0 | 0 |
| Trench, HDPE duct, pits | 1,00,000–1,60,000 (₹250–400/m, assumption) | 0 | 0 |
| Splicing and termination | 12,000–20,000 (4 ends × ₹3,000–5,000, assumption) | 0 | 0 |
| Masts, mounting, alignment | 0 | 25,000–50,000 (4 ends, assumption) | 0 |
| Surge protectors | 0 | 9,096 (4 × ₹2,274) | 0 |
| Earth pits at B and C | 0 | 9,608 (2 × ₹4,804) | 0 |
| PoE switches at B and C | 8,308 (2 × ₹4,154) | 8,308 | 8,308 |
| Small UPS at B and C | 8,000–12,000 (assumption) | 8,000–12,000 | 8,000–12,000 |
| Recording for 16 more cameras | 31,998 (2 × 4 TB at main NVR, assumes free bays and channels) | 31,998 | 45,078 (2 NVRs + 2 × 4 TB) |
| Internet at B and C, first year | 0 | 0 | 12,000–19,200 (₹500–800/month each, assumption) |
| Total | ~1,84,600–2,68,600 | ~1,26,000–1,65,000 | ~73,400–84,600 |
Sources for the listed prices: Amazon.in on 15 Oct 2026 for the PoE switch, the surge protector and the items linked above. The ₹4,804 earth pit is the rate for a 4.5 m, 40 mm GI pipe electrode in a 2021 PEC Chandigarh tender estimate.
Three things change the answer:
- The trench. If fibre can run along an existing wall or tray, its total drops below ₹1 lakh and it becomes the obvious choice.
- The near shed. Shed B at 80 m may be reachable by outdoor Cat 6 in a duct, if the installer measures the real cable path, patch cords included, under 100 m and fits surge protection at both ends. A mixed plan, cable to B and radio to C, also works.
- The years after. Separate NVRs repeat their internet bills every year.
Power, earthing and lightning
If the far shed's switch, media converter or radio is not on a UPS, every power cut blinds that shed even when the main NVR keeps recording. Size each UPS with the NVR UPS backup calculator and check the switch's power budget with the PoE budget calculator.
A radio unit sits on a mast, the highest metal on the roof. TP-Link's CPE510 page notes that its lightning protection depends on proper setup, grounding and cable shielding (TP-Link CPE510, checked 15 Oct 2026). Bond the mast and the unit's earth terminal to a tested earth.
India's earthing code is IS 3043:2018, "Code of practice for earthing" (BIS, checked 15 Oct 2026). Lightning protection of buildings falls under IS/IEC 62305 parts 1–3, which superseded IS 2309 (BIS, checked 15 Oct 2026). The electrical contractor, not the CCTV installer, should set and test the earth resistance.
What goes wrong, by option
| Option | Common failure | Season or cause | Prevention |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fibre | Cable cut by digging or chewed by rodents | Yard works, monsoon re-laying | Armoured cable or HDPE duct, route marked on the plot plan |
| Fibre | Water in joint boxes | Monsoon | Sealed closures, pits above flood level |
| Radio | Link drops after a storm | Wind shifts the mast | Rigid mast, bolts checked before monsoon |
| Radio | Speed falls over months | New structure, tree growth, stacked material | Keep the line of sight clear, rerun the speed test quarterly |
| Radio and copper | Port or unit burnt | Lightning surge | Earthed mast, surge protectors at both ends |
| Separate NVRs | Hard disk full or dead, unnoticed | Any time | A weekly check of every recorder |
What cameras cannot tell you here
A camera feed shows that a shed is recording, not whether the link has margin: a weakened radio link still shows a picture until the day it does not. Video also cannot measure a cable path, test an earth pit or find a chewed fibre. Those need a tape, an earth tester and a light-loss meter; repeat the handover readings after each monsoon.
Where Mama fits
Mama reads the cameras a factory already has and each morning sends the owner a short note on where machine hours and output leaked the day before. It counts machines and flows, not named people. A multi-shed plot is where one central link pays off, because analysis that sees all sheds compares them on the same morning. If you are planning cameras across several buildings, leave an email or phone in the form below and Mama will get back to you with a camera plan.
Related: the PoE budget guide, the checklist for a new factory building and wired vs wireless cameras inside one floor.
FAQ
Can I run a Cat 6 cable 150 m to the next shed? Not reliably at full speed. Switch datasheets such as TP-Link's LS108GP rate Cat 5e and Cat 6 to a maximum of 100 m. Its 250 m extend mode drops the port to 10 Mbps, which carries about two cameras at 4 Mbps each.
Do I need a WPC licence for a 5 GHz radio link between my sheds? No licence is needed in 5725–5875 MHz under G.S.R. 1048(E) of 18 Oct 2018, as listed in TEC 38020:2021 (checked 15 Oct 2026). The equipment must stay within the rule's power and antenna-gain limits.
Is fibre or radio better between two factory buildings? Fibre is more reliable: the glass carries no electrical noise or surge current. Radio is quicker and cheaper when a road, a concrete yard or someone else's land lies between the sheds. In our example, radio cost about ₹1.3–1.7 lakh and fibre in a new trench ₹1.8–2.7 lakh.
Can I keep a separate NVR in each shed and still watch everything from my office? Yes, but each recorder then needs either a link to the office or its own internet connection. Analytics that compare sheds work best when all streams reach one place over a local link.
What should I protect before the monsoon? Seal fibre joint boxes, check radio mast bolts and alignment, and test the earth at every outdoor mast. Fit surge protectors at both ends of any outdoor copper run.