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Thread: Anyone run Cat5 or Cat6 to their shop?

  1. #1

    Anyone run Cat5 or Cat6 to their shop?

    Having a tough time getting wireless to the studio, about 220' away from the house. We did get a good wireless connection with 2 routers set up as a 'bridge', but it's fiddly and fragile.

    I'm thinking seriously about running a conduit and pulling CatX wire. "They" say up to 100 meters is acceptable but I have my doubts and getting a cable made just to test is expensive.

    3G is $60.00/month or so. Ouch.

    Anyone run more than a hundred feet?
    .
    "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning".
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  2. Cat5 cable

    Mitchell

    This came up on another list I am on recently and someone uneartged this:

    'd get some cat-5. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_5:-

    "The maximum specified distance for Cat5 cable is 100m. This
    allows for 10m of stranded cable at either end. Solid core has
    less attenuation than stranded cable, so a switch-to-switch
    link of solid cable, where the only connections are
    cable-plug-switch at either end can be significantly longer
    than 100m in practice. Experiments show that the practical
    limit is around 200m for 100 Mb/s. 1000Mb/s is intermittent
    at 200 m. These distances are partially dependent on the
    individual switches."

    And 100 metres is 328 feet.

    Regards

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Albany, NY
    Posts
    68
    It's been a while, but I'm sure I've done runs that long and they are probably still in use today. If you can't do it yourself, there are places you can order custom cables. Just checking one place, www.cablesforless.com (I have no idea if they are decent or not, just randomly picked them based on a search) it was about $80 for a cable 250' long. Make sure that you get a cable made from solid, not stranded wire.

    If you're really worried about it, you can run fiber instead. You'll need a converter on each side (quick look show them to be about $100 ea) and then the cable - priced a 100 meter one for $123. You can run fiber for miles.

    I'd guess that every item I listed a price for could be found for less since I didn't really try that hard. Maybe someone else knows some good places to get deals (I don't really do this stuff anymore).

    mark

  4. #4
    100m is no problem. It's a "limit" in the sense that radiation exposure guidelines have a "limit". You don't immediately die or start getting sick at that point, but if you're at that point or below, you're guaranteed to be OK.

    All that said, there should be no problem getting wireless to work a mere 200ft. There are routers out there, like the Engenious, that are good for hundreds of METERS. The idea would be to setup a system where you have one of these in your shop and another in your house. I believe the term for this is "bridging", but my network terminology is a little rusty. You can probably set all this up for a few hours of research and maybe $200 in equipment if I had to guess. Also, no digging, no conduit etc.

    That would be my suggestion. Stay away from BestBuy and lookup some of the better equipment out there. Call a dealer and ask them to make a recommendation.
    Last edited by John Coloccia; 06-09-2010 at 8:05 PM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Long Hill Township, NJ
    Posts
    159
    Mitchell:

    If you are going to make a run you shouldn't have a custom cable made. Buy a box of CAT-X cable and pull it thru the conduit. Terminate at both ends with a CAT-X Jack. You now now have a 1 jack patch panel in the shop.

    CAT-5 - 1000 feet = $60.00 +/- (been a while since I priced this stuff)
    CAT-5 Jacks - 2 x $10 (at Home Depot).

    With a 1000 foot box you could pull 2 or 3 lengths thru the conduit - for future use or for a phone connection?

    Have 1 jack near the router in the house and the other in a convenient spot in the shop. A patch cable from the router in the house into the jack. A patch cable in the shop to the computer or a wireless router.

    The only issue you might encounter is related to the relative grounds of the 2 buildings and that causing issues. I'm no wiring guru but that would work.

    The uber geek method would be to use fiber, since the relative ground issue goes away. Fiber ups the cost dramatically. . .

    I wired my house with CAT-5 and have a number of wired devices in use around the house. Between the network printer, the Tivo, the kids pc, the music pc in the basement and the automation pc and my laptop when doing serious network intensive work. Everybody laughed at my network jacks in the dining room, but with no dedicated office the kids pc is there and I work from the dining room table occasionally.

    Good luck

    Cheers

    Jim

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Medina Ohio
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    4,516
    I have about 200 ft of cat 5 run out to my shop no problems. I did a trade show at an airport and the booth that I was at had about 599 ft uf cat 5 run to it and we had no problems with that distance in fact that is the cable that I used picked it up after the show.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Monroe, MI
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    11,896
    With better antennas you should be able to do wireless no problem. There's tons of options on Ebay. A couple parabolic dish antennas aimed at each other will go miles.

    However, I'm getting ready to do just what you are proposing. Not as much for the ethernet but for phone, and if I'm running one, I'll run the other. While they are installing the gas line to my shop, they are going to run a second trench and I'm putting a couple 3/4" PVC conduits in. One gets a pair of CAT5E cables for ethernet and phone and a pullstring and the other gets just a pull string for future use. PVC conduit is cheap--$0.10/ft. The Linksys WRT54G already in the shop will go from being a bridge to being a WAP and switch. I'm taking both home and office phone lines out too. In theory I can work out there then. I'm planning to buy a pair of the APC ethernet surge protectors.

    I'll add a question on to yours though--any thoughts on the need for direct burial cable in the conduit or can I use the 1000' box I already have?


  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    New Hill, NC
    Posts
    2,568
    I have a 600' run of gell filled, Cat5E cable from the house to the shop. In order to maximize performance, I purchased a pair of DSL converters to use with it. I convert the ethernet to DSL, and then convert back to ethernet at the shop. The converters were about a hundred bucks each and are made by Embarq. This setup is good for 2000'.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Cincinnati Ohio
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    4,731
    I have a wireless router set up in the second floor of my home. My shop is about 200 ft away and can connect with not problem. In fact I can connect 300+ feet away.
    The router I use is a West???? something. Don't think it's anything special. My phone co. gave it to me when I set up the wireless.
    "Remember back in the day, when things were made by hand, and people took pride in their work?"
    - Rick Dale

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Piedmont Triad, NC
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    793
    I'm in the process of doing something similar. I'm using "point to point bridging" this is regular routers with outside whip antennas and lighting protection. I have half of it in(DSL in my shop) and have good reception in my driveway at home(about 400' away), but not inside yet. When I install the other router and antenna at my home I expect to have excellent reception inside. I bought this as a kit for about $250.(wifi-link dot com) This seemed to be the cheapest route for me, hardwire was not an option, because of distance and a state road between the shop and house.

    Just my .02 cents worth!
    "Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly will acquire the skill to do difficult things easily.”
    Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805)

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  11. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Chain Of Lakes, Nortern Illinois
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    for 200 odd feet, pick up a box of cat5e soild core, a couple of cat5 keystone jacks.

    Box of 1000 feet is around 80 bucks at the borg's and the jacks are 4.99 each.

    They come with a small punch down tool, put them in a box in the house and the shop, then use a standard patch cable from box to switch and to router in shop

    at 200 feet you will have no problems at all. Do it all the time.

  12. #12
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    Ethernet's technical limit is 300 meters end-to-end...that means including everything between the origination port and the termination port. Fiber has a significantly longer reach. Regardless of what you use, since it's likely going in conduit in the ground, it's going to cost a little more than 250 meters of "regular" Cat5+/Cat6 wire will if you buy the correct product for this purpose. And as Matt suggests, if you're pulling one cable, you might as well pull multiples at the same time. You might even consider pulling a cabling bundle that has both the twisted pair wires for Ethernet and POTS as well as RG6+ for TV content.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  13. #13
    Have you tried a 802.11N Router ? Should have better range, although you will probably need to get a new network card for your computer......
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  14. #14

    North Carolina Ligting in the hot months

    If you do not disconnect the cable before a storm be ready to exchange either the network card or power supply just from experience.................

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Albany, NY
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    68
    Quote Originally Posted by Rick Frye View Post
    If you do not disconnect the cable before a storm be ready to exchange either the network card or power supply just from experience.................
    Good point. Maybe another reason to use fiber...

    mark

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