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Networking outside

matt_theforce
in The Technology Shed

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After numerous problems and re-scheduling we are now scheduled to move house on the 1st October.

My plan once we have moved in is to turn the extra large Garage into a Boys room/bike workshop :thumbup:

I will be re-locating my Servers out there too, we need to have the house & garage re-wired so was thinking about getting my networking run through the same channels under the garden back to the house.

Over the years I have seen various different solutions to connect 2 buildings together none of which were that good as the cat5 was usually hung accros 2 poles or run from window to window with cable tidies on the outside of the buildings (all so called professional companies)

What is the best solution to use?

Cat5 or Fibre? I do have a very small budget of around £100 to buy the equipment/cable I allready have about 20m of cat5e cable from when I cabled the current house/plenty of RJ45 connectors and crimping tool. I dont have a Fibre Capable switch nor do I have Fibre NICS in any server or PC.

The underground run will be about 15m/20m so I need something that will be reliable with age (although I might run an extra cable or 2 for the future just incase)

Edited by matt@theforce

The anwser is CAT6 :thumbup:

Get yourself a couple of gigabit switches, much reduced in price now. CAT6 cable is often cheaper than CAT5e.

CAT6 can be used more reliably over longer distances too.

If you can't afford gigabit switches yet, carry on using old 100mb switches until you can afford 1000Mb switches.

Have a look on eBay for CAT6 cable.

Have a look on Aria/ebuyer/etc for gigabit 1000Mb switches. Tenda is cheap and OK. You can pay a bit more D-Link/Netgear/3com/HP/etc

Edited by snow_muncher

Fibre optic is the best long term solution, but you'd be looking at about £100 just for the cable - never mind the modules or converters.

I did run some external CAT5 at my parents, that's been there for about 7 years and it still works fine. This is the stuff I used.

Are the garages on the same electrical ground into the house? If they're not, it's not the best idea to have copper directly connecting the two together, at best you'll get some interference due ground loops, at worst, you could end up with severely fried equipment.

Obviously fibre completly eliminates this possible situation as it's electically isolated - but if your budget can't stretch to fibre, it would be worthwhile investing in something like this.

Sam.

I would say armoured cat 6 or armoured fibres if you can afford the latter.

Rats will eat cables all day even armoured but at least they will last a while.

Fibre also doesn't degrade like copper or suffer from electrical noise like utp will. Stp could be an option too.

100m fibre 50 micron cable for £20. http://cgi.ebay.co.u...=item43a1d5ca76

edit: problem with fibre is the cost of the SFPs / GBICs unless you can get a switch with them already fitted.

I'd just stick to some Cat6 cable. As long as you put a conduit and a draw wire, you can always easily add more cables at a later stage or if a rodent fancies some extra copper in his diet...

Edited by Xavier

Over 20m CAT5e will give you GB speeds.

If you are planning on running the CAT5/6 down the same conduit as mains you would probably need shielded as Cheezemonkhai says.

Fibre is a headache and absolute overkill for a 20m run, extra costly equipment and not as easy to just chop the end off and crimp a new one on should something go wrong.

Run some telephone cable in as well, unless you don't want to be disturbed :)

Alternatively forget all that and plug some powerline adapters in.

Alternatively forget all that and plug some powerline adapters in.

I was going to suggest some powerline style jobbies. Cheap and does the job - probably! It is what I use to get network access in my garage at the moment, but when I run a length of proper armoured cable down their I will review the situation.

Unless you are transferring GB of data between the house and garage any properly secure wireless (802.11x) network will do 20 metres and browsing speeds wont be affected.

  • Author

Thank all, some interesting ideas.

I still like the idea of running Fibre but looking at the cost of the Fibre to Ethernet convertors its putting me off slightly and making me think about going down the Ethernet route.

The network cables will be run in a seperate conduit from the mains electric cable probably in some drainpipe/40mm waste sized tubing to allow extra cables to be pulled through easily for replacement/repair or upgrade.

Currently everything runs on unmanaged gigabit switches in the house so I'm thinking about saving money from the Fibre to Ethernet convertors and buying some managed switches to have a play with, I've also tried the Ethernet over Mains and while it works fine for normal everyday use I do have a HDD in my PC that I use as a secondary backup device for my servers and the Ethernet over Mains and Wireless option doesn't give me enough bandwith.

Keep the ideas coming.

Edited by matt@theforce

Do you really need managed gigabit switches in your house? Save the money, and just stick in a couple of runs of cat6 to the garage :-)

I had a Cisco/Linksys 24port gig switch at home, but the performance was pants for about 18 months and then it packed up. Rubbish!

... Keep the ideas coming ...

Microwave point-to-point bridge :o

"wireless gigabit" say 80Ghz Couple of AR80X dishes and switches

Cost: about the same as very nice car :rofl:

ps Probably not a good idea to stand inbetween the two dishes, or in the general area (e.g. garden) ...

Microwave point-to-point bridge :o

I saw one of those on ebay.... I fancied a link to my mates flat the otherside of town, and a dead batch of seagulls in a direct line between the two dishes :giggle:

If you are using conduit then i would run a pair of Cat6 lengths keeping one as a spare as it saves having to run another cable at a later date. It might be worth investing in some cable that has been designed for outdoor use as temperature differentials and humidity will probably reduce the life of the cable. It would probably be wise to put some ethernet surge supressors on each end of the cable as well just to protect everything nicely.

I wouldn't waste your money getting managed switches, there is no real need for a home setup unless your planning on setting up VLANs or something?

CAT6 UTP should be fine. For the conduit, I would use MDPE 25mm which has 3mm walls (so 19mm internal) and is very tough.

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Plumbing/MDPE/MDPE+Pipe+25mm+x+50m/d20/sd2729/p50903

If you have a burgler alarm in the house, then put in some PIRs and feed that cable through as well.

Ohhh, nice idea. I would have to add a remote keypad for the garage though, otherwise I would set the alarm off when getting home from work and opening the garage :giggle:

Ohhh, nice idea. I would have to add a remote keypad for the garage though, otherwise I would set the alarm off when getting home from work and opening the garage :giggle:

Another bonus is that you can use the spare to put a tap in the garage

  • Author

I like the idea of running a house alarm out to the garage for a little more protection, SWMBO has also commented on running mains water out to the garage, she tried to sell it to me as a perfect place to clean my bike down after a ride, then she mentioned putting the washing machine out there :no:

I like the idea of running a house alarm out to the garage for a little more protection,

Failing extending the house alarm - ( and for those with garden sheds etc) - ask at your local police station for a shed alarm .Fairly cheap .

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