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Had power installed to our external garage last week (above-ground cable lain in existing trench between fence & border). Vaguely considered internet (normal WiFi doesn't extend to inside garage) but thought I might get a mesh system or something, mainly because the router is situated in the wrong room/wrong side of the house to run a cable neatly.
However I'm now thinking, it wouldn't actually be that much of a bother to move the master phone socket (right?) to the spare room at the front of the house (mrs is using this as home office now anyway), this is where the CU is so could just drill through the wall and let the network cable follow the power cable.
Questions: do I need a special kind of external network cable? Had a quick google and saw there's a shielded one or an armoured one. Don't want to put it in a conduit, just want to lay it along the ground with the power cable. Does it matter if they're touching or does there need to be some kind of separation? Also do I need to do anything to earth the network cable? Assume I'm better off getting unterminated cable & terminating it myself into faceplates in the house & garage, rather than getting a cable with plugs on the end?
Sparky is coming back next week so I can get him to do anything that's beyond me!
You can just use normal CAT-5 outside, but over time the outer will harden and crack if exposed to UV. You can buy external grade CAT-5 which is just the indoor stuff with an extra sheath over the top which is UV-stable. I've run two lengths to our workshop as that's 50m from the house. I just tacked it to the cant rail on the fence. With hindsight I probably should have stuck it in a 20mm plastic duct as at some point either myself or a neighbour will cut it pruning shrubs.....
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/8645/15968927105_72a7f63789.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/8645/15968927105_72a7f63789.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/qk7VFp ]Dual CAT-5 running along fence[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/ ]Ben Freeman[/url], on Flickr
It was pretty visible when I installed it, now completely hidden by plants over growing the fence..
Egress from the house
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/7546/15781642680_6bc879dcdd.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/7546/15781642680_6bc879dcdd.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/q3z3xA ]CAT-5 ingress to house[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/ ]Ben Freeman[/url], on Flickr
@footflaps seems simple enough... have you done anything to earth it? Also why are there 2 cables?
I suppose it depends on how long you want the cable last.
You could - Chuck a normal cat5 cable in laid on the ground
- Use external cable laid on the ground
- Put normal cat5 in a bit of copex or tube
- SWA cat6 cable buried - would last longest
No need to earth it.
Could use Powerline adapters if of the same fuseboard.
Doesn't need earthing, but shouldn't technically run parallel to power cables.
You are better off with some external grade for weatherproofing and rodent proofing! They seem to love chewing it, or do as @footflaps suggests and run it in some trunking.
Doesn’t need earthing, but shouldn’t technically run parallel to power cables.
Doesn't matter if it runs next to power cables either, CAT-5 is twisted pair and the signal taken differentially from each pair, so immune to induced currents.
Also why are there 2 cables?
The drum was 100m and the run 50m, so I thought I'd add room for expansion eg I'll probably link the workshop burglar alarm to the house one at some point.
it wouldn’t actually be that much of a bother to move the master phone socket (right?)
Other than it being wholly illegal. Moving a master socket is an Openreach job.
You could do it yourself of course, but they'll take a dim view of it should you ever need to report a fault.
ideally as long as possible! I might get some external cable to start and if that gets eaten maybe look at doing something a bit more proper.I suppose it depends on how long you want the cable last.
it's not running from the house CU, it tees off the supply before that (don't know the technical jargon!)Could use Powerline adapters if of the same fuseboard.
Had heard Powerline adapters suffer occasional dropout though? I will be Zwifting in there so the connection must be rock solid!!
not too worried about technicalities, as long as it works ok 🙂Doesn’t need earthing, but shouldn’t technically run parallel to power cables.
I had vaguely heard that before so googled it - found a lengthy, rambling article written somewhat in the style of a nutter, but he made some valid points, such as... which law [i]exactly[/i] is it supposed to be breaking (do you know?) and what would they do about it anyway?! Highly doubt they keep accurate records of where everyones' master sockets are located!Other than it being wholly illegal. Moving a master socket is an Openreach job.
@footflaps (and anyone else who knows!) Hadn't really considered the bandwidth aspect... I was planning on running it to a network switch in the garage, which will have the Apple TV connected permanently, some kind of wifi access point, a handful of POE cameras and possibly other undecided stuff yet. If it's advantageous to run 2 or even more cables then I'll do that (in which case I probably would sort out some kind of trunking)The drum was 100m and the run 50m, so I thought I’d add room for expansion eg I’ll probably link the workshop burglar alarm to the house one at some point.
which law exactly is it supposed to be breaking (do you know?) and what would they do about it anyway?!
Specifically, no I do not. And it's a fair point, I probably should if I'm making bold claims on the Internet. I'd look it up but I'm time-poor this week.
What they would do is pull your pants down to fix it if it were ever faulty.
Im just doing this at the moment. I’ve bought 50m of external shielded cat 6 which I’m running around the outside of the house. Partly in a pebble covered trench, partly fastened to the outside (harling). I bought a 10mm SDS Plus drill bit to go through the walls. The most challenging bit is finding aesthetically pleasing external fixings to attach it to the harling. I’ve settled on 7mm cable clips with nail plugs drilled into the harling. Monday is wiring the sockets day 😬
@oldtennisshoes that is a great shout, there is already a trench between fence & border for some reason (just moved into this house!), I will just sling a load of gravel on top which will effectively bury it!
Why have you gone with cat6? I'd heard it is much more difficult to terminate properly if doing it yourself?
“Illegal” is often thrown around when folk mean ‘not allowed’ or ‘against the rules’.
Openreach certainly seem keen that you not do it, possibly for good reasons because it’ll cause problems if an idiot does it and they want QC over it.
Or possibly because they can charge handsomely for it when they are the only way to get it done officially.
I haven’t heard it being harder to terminate. I guess I’ll find out on Monday 🤦♂️ I just thought it was providing a bit of future proofing and wasn’t much more expensive than cat 5e stuff. I got it from kenable. Decent prices and quick delivery.
@oldtennisshoes thanks that was my next question anyway 🙂 will check them out. Which tool did you get btw
I got the cheapest nastiest punch down tool (Krone Type IDC Punch Down Insertion Network Ethernet Module Tool) for £2, but seems fine. But I bought tool less socket faceplates from kenable which I can’t workout how to wire up, so I’ve ordered some normal ones from amazon and watched a few YouTube videos on how to wire them. 🤞
When I did my IT MSc, folk went down the networking or programming route. I’m defo playing catch-up with this stuff 😂
Other than it being wholly illegal.
For something to be illegal it would have to covered by Statute ie an act of Parliament explicitly defining it as being a criminal act.
I would bet a large sum no one in Parliament has ever debated moving a BT Master socket....