When it comes to installing Outdoor IP cameras the details matter. Please make sure your camera is IP66 ready or higher and always utilize an IP68 Ethernet cable for PoE. Here's a short guide that covers the basics of Outdoor ratings and using the proper PoE hardware whenever deploying an outdoor surveillance system.
What is an IP Rating?
An IP rating, also known as Ingress Protection or International Protection ratings, is defined to the EN 60529 (British BS EN 60529:1992) international standard. This standard is used to define the levels of sealing effectiveness of electrical enclosures against intrusion from foreign bodies such as tools, dirt, and moisture.
What do the two digits in an IP Rating mean?
The rating consists of the letters IP followed by two digits, where the higher the number indicates a better level of protection. Sometimes a number is replaced by X, which indicates that the enclosure is not rated for that specification. The two digits have specific meaning as follows:
First digit represents the level of protection against solids
The first digit indicates the level of protection that the enclosure provides against the ingress of solid foreign objects, from tools or fingers that could be hazardous, if they came into contact with electrical conductors or moving parts, to airborne dirt and dust that could damage circuitry.
Second digit represents the level of protection against liquids
The second digit defines the protection of the equipment inside the enclosure against various forms of liquids either as moisture, drips, sprays, submersion, etc.
Reference Chart
| First Digit | Intrusion Protection | Second Digit | Moisture Protection |
| 0 | No protection. | 0 | No protection. |
| 1 | Protected against solid objects over 50mm, e.g. accidental touch by hands. | 1 | Protected against vertically falling drops of water, e.g. condensation. |
| 2 | Protected against solid objects over 12mm, e.g. fingers. | 2 | Protected against direct sprays of water up to 150 from the vertical. |
| 3 | Protected against solid objects over 2.5mm, e.g. tools & wires. | 3 | Protected against direct sprays of water up to 600 from the vertical. |
| 4 | Protected against solid objects over 1mm, e.g. wires & nails. | 4 | Protected against water splashed from all directions, limited ingress permitted. |
| 5 | Protected against dust-limited ingress, no harmful deposits. | 5 | Protected against low-pressure jets of water from all directions, limited ingress permitted. |
| 6 | Totally protected against dust. | 6 | Protected against strong jets of water, e.g. on the ship's deck, limited ingress permitted. |
IP Rating Reference Chart
| IP Rating | First Digit - SOLIDS | Second Digit - LIQUIDS |
| IP00 | Not protected from solids. | Not protected from liquids. |
| IP01 | Not protected from solids. | Protected from condensation. |
| IP02 | Not protected from solids. | Protected from water spray less than 15 degrees from vertical. |
| IP03 | Not protected from solids. | Protected from water spray less than 60 degrees from vertical. |
| IP04 | Not protected from solids. | Protected from water spray from any direction. |
| IP05 | Not protected from solids. | Protected from low-pressure water jets from any direction. |
| IP06 | Not protected from solids. | Protected from high-pressure water jets from any direction. |
| IP07 | Not protected from solids. | Protected from immersion between 15 centimeters and 1 meter in depth. |
| IP08 | Not protected from solids. | Protected from long-term immersion up to a specified pressure. |
| IP10 | Protected from touch by hands greater than 50 millimeters. | Not protected from liquids. |
| IP11 | Protected from touch by hands greater than 50 millimeters. | Protected from condensation. |
| IP12 | Protected from touch by hands greater than 50 millimeters. | Protected from water spray less than 15 degrees from vertical. |
| IP13 | Protected from touch by hands greater than 50 millimeters. | Protected from water spray less than 60 degrees from vertical. |
| IP14 | Protected from touch by hands greater than 50 millimeters. | Protected from water spray from any direction. |
| IP15 | Protected from touch by hands greater than 50 millimeters. | Protected from low-pressure water jets from any direction. |
| IP16 | Protected from touch by hands greater than 50 millimeters. | Protected from high-pressure water jets from any direction. |
| IP17 | Protected from touch by hands greater than 50 millimeters. | Protected from immersion between 15 centimeters and 1 meter in depth. |
| IP18 | Protected from touch by hands greater than 50 millimeters. | Protected from long-term immersion up to a specified pressure. |
| IP20 | Protected from touch by fingers and objects greater than 12 millimeters. | Not protected from liquids. |
| IP21 | Protected from touch by fingers and objects greater than 12 millimeters. | Protected from condensation. |
| IP22 | Protected from touch by fingers and objects greater than 12 millimeters. | Protected from water spray less than 15 degrees from vertical. |
| IP23 | Protected from touch by fingers and objects greater than 12 millimeters. | Protected from water spray less than 60 degrees from vertical. |
| IP24 | Protected from touch by fingers and objects greater than 12 millimeters. | Protected from water spray from any direction. |
| IP25 | Protected from touch by fingers and objects greater than 12 millimeters. | Protected from low-pressure water jets from any direction. |
| IP26 | Protected from touch by fingers and objects greater than 12 millimeters. | Protected from high-pressure water jets from any direction. |
| IP27 | Protected from touch by fingers and objects greater than 12 millimeters. | Protected from immersion between 15 centimeters and 1 meter in depth. |
| IP28 | Protected from touch by fingers and objects greater than 12 millimeters. | Protected from long-term immersion up to a specified pressure. |
| IP30 | Protected from tools and wires greater than 2.5 millimeters. | Not protected from liquids. |
| IP31 | Protected from tools and wires greater than 2.5 millimeters. | Protected from condensation. |
| IP32 | Protected from tools and wires greater than 2.5 millimeters. | Protected from water spray less than 15 degrees from vertical. |
| IP33 | Protected from tools and wires greater than 2.5 millimeters. | Protected from water spray less than 60 degrees from vertical. |
| IP34 | Protected from tools and wires greater than 2.5 millimeters. | Protected from water spray from any direction. |
| IP35 | Protected from tools and wires greater than 2.5 millimeters. | Protected from low-pressure water jets from any direction. |
| IP36 | Protected from tools and wires greater than 2.5 millimeters. | Protected from high-pressure water jets from any direction. |
| IP37 | Protected from tools and wires greater than 2.5 millimeters. | Protected from immersion between 15 centimeters and 1 meter in depth. |
| IP38 | Protected from tools and wires greater than 2.5 millimeters. | Protected from long-term immersion up to a specified pressure. |
| IP40 | Protected from tools and small wires greater than 1 millimeter. | Not protected from liquids. |
| IP41 | Protected from tools and small wires greater than 1 millimeter. | Protected from condensation. |
| IP42 | Protected from tools and small wires greater than 1 millimeter. | Protected from water spray less than 15 degrees from vertical. |
| IP43 | Protected from tools and small wires greater than 1 millimeter. | Protected from water spray less than 60 degrees from vertical. |
| IP44 | Protected from tools and small wires greater than 1 millimeter. | Protected from water spray from any direction. |
| IP45 | Protected from tools and small wires greater than 1 millimeter. | Protected from low-pressure water jets in any direction. |
| IP46 | Protected from tools and small wires greater than 1 millimeter. | Protected from high-pressure water jets from any direction. |
| IP47 | Protected from tools and small wires greater than 1 millimeter. | Protected from immersion between 15 centimeters and 1 meter in depth. |
| IP48 | Protected from tools and small wires greater than 1 millimeter. | Protected from long-term immersion up to a specified pressure. |
| IP50 | Protected from limited dust ingress. | Not protected from liquids. |
| IP51 | Protected from limited dust ingress. | Protected from condensation. |
| IP52 | Protected from limited dust ingress. | Protected from water spray less than 15 degrees from vertical. |
| IP53 | Protected from limited dust ingress. | Protected from water spray less than 60 degrees from vertical. |
| IP54 | Protected from limited dust ingress. | Protected from water spray from any direction. |
| IP55 | Protected from limited dust ingress. | Protected from low-pressure water jets from any direction. |
| IP56 | Protected from limited dust ingress. | Protected from high-pressure water jets from any direction. |
| IP57 | Protected from limited dust ingress. | Protected from immersion between 15 centimeters and 1 meter in depth. |
| IP58 | Protected from limited dust ingress. | Protected from long-term immersion up to a specified pressure. |
| IP60 | Protected from total dust ingress. | Not protected from liquids. |
| IP61 | Protected from total dust ingress. | Protected from condensation. |
| IP62 | Protected from total dust ingress. | Protected from water spray less than 15 degrees from vertical. |
| IP63 | Protected from total dust ingress. | Protected from water spray less than 60 degrees from vertical. |
| IP64 | Protected from total dust ingress. | Protected from water spray from any direction. |
| IP65 | Protected from total dust ingress. | Protected from low-pressure water jets from any direction. |
| IP66 | Protected from total dust ingress. | Protected from high-pressure water jets from any direction. |
| IP67 | Protected from total dust ingress. | Protected from immersion between 15 centimeters and 1 meter in depth. |
| IP68 | Protected from total dust ingress. | Protected from long-term immersion up to a specified pressure. |
| IP69K | Protected from total dust ingress. | Protected from steam-jet cleaning. |
Outdoor-ready, day & night camera example
This outdoor-ready Camera has IP66 and NEMA 4X ratings for protection against dust, rain, and snow, as well as an IK10-rating to ensure resistance against impacts. It also has day/night functionality with an automatically removable infrared-cut filter.
IK ratings explained
| IK Rating | Level of Protection |
| IK00 | Not protected. |
| IK01 | Protected against an impact of 0.14 joules. This is equal to the impact of a 0.25-kg object dropped from 56 mm above the impacted surface |
| IK02 | Protected against an impact of 0.2 joules. This is equal to the impact of a 0.25-kg object dropped from 80 mm above the impacted surface |
| IK03 | Protected against an impact of 0.35 joules. This is equal to the impact of a 0.25-kg object dropped from 140 mm above the impacted surface |
| IK04 | Protected against an impact of 0.5 joules. This is equal to the impact of a 0.25-kg object dropped from 200 mm above the impacted surface |
| IK05 | Protected against an impact of 0.7 joules. This is equal to the impact of a 0.25-kg object dropped from 280 mm above the impacted surface |
| IK06 | Protected against an impact of 1 joule. This is equal to the impact of a 0.25-kg object dropped from 400 mm above the impacted surface |
| IK07 | Protected against an impact of 2 joules. This is equal to the impact of a 0.5-kg object dropped from 400 mm above the impacted surface |
| IK08 | Protected against an impact of 5 joules. This is equal to the impact of a 1.7-kg object dropped from 300 mm above the impacted surface |
| IK09 | Protected against an impact of 10 joules. This is equal to the impact of a 5-kg object dropped from 200 mm above the impacted surface |
| IK10 | Protected against an impact of 20 joules. This is equal to the impact of a 5-kg object dropped from 400 mm above the impacted surface |
What is the OUTDOOR RATED POE Cable?
An industrial Shielded ethernet cable with IP68-rating means the Cat6 cable is 100% protected against dust, and able to endure immersion in 1.5 meters of water for up to 60 minutes with no damage or decline in performance. Ideal to provide Cat6 connectivity in outdoor environments susceptible to rain, such as a stadium or outdoor arena and other areas where protection from harsh elements is essential.
Note: The maximum cable length is 100 meters (328 ft). An ethernet cable coupler must be used in order to extend the length of the cable.
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