You do not always have to re-cable a building to get modern image quality. Here is how we decide between reusing coax and pulling Cat6.
The cabling decides the budget
In an occupied building, labor to pull new cable through finished ceilings and masonry usually costs more than the cameras themselves. That is why the first question on an upgrade is never which camera — it is what is already in the walls.
Existing RG-59 coax in good condition can carry 4K HD-over-coax signals for several hundred feet. If the runs are intact and terminated well, an upgrade can happen in a day with no drywall work.
When IP earns the extra work
IP wins where you need analytics, high megapixel counts, multi-sensor cameras, or one cable carrying power and data to devices spread across a campus. It also scales: adding a camera means adding a switch port rather than a recorder input.
If the building is being renovated, or already has structured cabling and a managed switch, there is little reason to stay on coax.
Hybrid is a legitimate answer
Hybrid recorders accept both. We frequently keep twelve working coax runs alive and add six IP cameras where new coverage is needed, then migrate the rest as the building gets renovated section by section.
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