The construction on the gas main in front of our house was finally completed last month which meant my contractor came out the week before last to start converting all our propane appliances to natural gas. Part of the job was to run a gas line from the house to the shop, so at the same time, I had him run a second trench for me. That trench got two 1-1/2" PVC conduits from the garage to the shop. Last weekend I installed new communications cabling including a copper phone line and fiber for Ethernet communication to the shop PC, which also serves as off-site backup for the computer in the house.
At each end I built up a couple panels like this. The panels were surplus metal cabinets I bought a few years back for another project and found they didn't fit my needs. They were a little ugly so they got a quick coat of paint. Each houses a fiber-Ethernet converter and a wireless access point. I found an Ebay seller with the right combination of parts to extend the antenna for the router outside the box. I run a third-party firmware on the Linksys routers so I just shut the second antenna off. The 6-port patch panels are Leviton from their home automation system. I found them on clearance at the BORG a while back for a couple bucks each.
Due to finding the right combination of deals on Ebay, the 125' fiber cable and converters were just over $100. Direct-bury rated CAT5e cable for phone also came from Ebay in a shorter length than I could buy conventionally. The routers I already had as a wireless link from the house to the shop. The shop keeps a wireless access point mostly because I had it but also in case I want to bring the work laptop out for some reason.
For phone, since I work from home we have two lines. I brought both out to the shop. A surplus two-line office phone, again from Ebay and two LOUD ringers with flashers went in the shop. I can tell which line is ringing at a glance. Protocol if LOML is home is that I won't answer the home phone, but if caller ID says home is calling work, I'll answer that if I'm able to. Its pretty rare I get after-hours work calls anyway so chances are that it'll be her.
It was a lot of work and somewhat expensive, but its nice to now have a working phone in the shop instead of an unreliable extension off our cordless system in the house. And real through-put on the wired vs. wireless is something like 4-5 times faster according to a little tester app I have meaning backups complete much faster.
Oh, and that other conduit--it just has a pullstring for future use. No plans to use it but the $30-something in materials to put it in while the trench was open was good insurance that I'll never need it.
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powerline ethernet
Originally Posted by Matt Armstrong
