outside cabling suggestions

[ikonia]

I'm looking to run a few cables outside.

I want the best quality and protection for outside (I'm also toying with encasing in trunking).

I've found some shielded cat 6 on comms-express that looks reasonable but I'd be interested in knowing what you buy and from where as comms-express is my most regular home use haunt.

[aidanjt]

Outside is pretty much the same as inside, as long as there isn't any cuts on the outer sheathing there's no worries with corrosion, with a little bit of trunking there's even less of a concern, cat6 will be fine in all but the most extreme circumstances. EM noise and cross talk is usually less of a problem outside than in, unless you're going over some seriously thick power cables that draw heaps of current.

[Gerschwin]

Do you need mechanical protection? - could run them in conduit

[BlackDwarf]

For a year or so when I was living at home, our network comprised of two Cat5 cables (one for my PC, one for my Server, i was too cheap-ass for wireless) slung out of my window, across the back of the house, into another window, and into a network switch.

Worked like a charm, even in very hot/very cold weather and direct sunlight. You shouldn't have a problem

[killie99]

put it in plastic conduit and run it down behind drainpipes to keep it looking tidy and then along at ground level to where you want it to enetr the house.

[DR]

I use a single piece of CAT6 Shielded which runs down the side of my place and it's been there for about 2 years and been fine - and ironically has faded to a nice non loud colour (it was yellow!)

[peterb]

You can use standard solid cable outside, but the sheath is quite soft and subject to abrasion damage. The sheath may not be UV stabilised and go brittle after a while, making it even more susceptible to damage. You could run it in ducting or conduit but that makes it more obtrusive. You can by exterior grade cable here

http://www.minitran.co.uk/pages/prod...0Solid%20Cable

But it isn't cheap! (I bought some last year - I think it has gone up in price!) but it has a very tough and thick outer sheath, and is similar to the stuff BT use for their drop cables. You might find cheaper suppliers by doing a Google search, but I found them few and far between - this company was (then) the cheapest.

[aidanjt]

Why would he get a whole box of 'external' cable when 10 times less of standard UTP will do the same job? The time it would take for UV and rain to erode the outer sheathing away he would be long since dead, and that's assuming external ducting isn't involved.

[peterb]

Because he said "I want the best quality and protection for outside".

However it is his choice - I am merely pointing out one option. If visual impact is an issue, this is less obtrusive than putting normal cable in ducting, which also puts up the price. In my case I had to run a cable at low level, where it was susceptible to damage, and the exterior grade is considerably more resistant to mechanical damage than normal grade. In my application, conduit wasn't an option. It may be in Ikonia's case.

Id be interested to learn where you can buy 305 metres of quality cat5 for £8.00 though!

I have just looked at the Comms-express site (thank you for that pointer, Ikonia) and I see that they do exterior grade cable slightly cheaper than the supplier I linked to.

[aidanjt]

True that.

[ikonia]

yup just balancing best options really, cost + requirments + real world.

the Cat 6 from comms-express should be fine, and I'll be doing this tidy with some trunking and plastering over it assuming I go ahead, so that if I want to replace the cable I just threat it through the trunking.

thanks for the input. Most appriciated.

[peterb]

Depending on the diameteer and length of the trunking, you could put an endless loop of nylon cord through the trunking, enabling you to pull through additional cables later. The overhead is that you are using up duct space. The other option if you want to replace the cable at a later date is to use the existing cable as a pull through (to either pulll a replacement or two/three as required. As always (Statement of blindingly obvious!) double up on the cables in the duct at installation "just in case", (For for a short straight run, you might get away with pushing a cable through - but it is surprising how quickly friction builds up,)

[PEN]

I've run cable through a length of hosepipe for added protection... may sound a little bizarre but it does work!

PEN

[Jay]

CAT5 will do the job as long as it’s above child reach

just think about the coax to your TV, that runs outside and I would say modern CAT5e has much thicker shielding.

[Gr44]

If you're ever near St. Albans I have plently of CAT5 / CAT6 and I might even have something similar to that 'external' type cable.

Probably not worth posting it, but if you head over this way you're welcome to some.

[Agent]

A bit of plastic piping will protect the cable well - like they use in house electronics.

Hosepipe is also a cheapskate way of doing it (Of course I wouldn't know )