[SOLVED] Ethernet or coax from main house to she-shed?

Sep 28, 2021
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0
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Hi! I'm moving to a home where my home studio (video editing) will be a converted shed located about 30 feet from the main house and connections. Being that I need hard-wired internet to do my work remotely, my initial plan was to hire an electrician to run a Cat6 outdoor ethernet cable from the house, underground via conduit, and into the shed where it would plug in to my hub (almond 3). However, when the Spectrum tech came to the home to install the service (Gigabit) he said he could run an additional coax cable from the outdoor terminal (I don't know if it's the right word- the plug thing where the coax goes in and out of the house) underground to the shed instead. He said I could just get another router in the shed. I 'm obviously new to all of this as my extent to home networking has been running a 100 foot ethernet cable to my basement from my router in my current apartment... So I'm wondering, which would be better? By better I mean 1) Would one provide faster speed than the other? 2) Would one be more future-proof over the other? Meaning, if Fios is ever available in the area, would I be better off having gone with the ethernet? 3) Is having an additional modem/router going to be very complicated to set up/maintain? As I mentioned, my current setup is basically plug-and-play, so my knowledge of home networking is extremely limited. 4) Is the coax cable heartier than the ethernet and less susceptible to damage underground? Either way it'll be traveling via conduit, but the property is very rural and I'm sure there's lots of critters underground, so just wondering. Thanks so much for your time!
 
Solution
Ethernet is more versatile, has more equipment options and is faster. If you’re going to pay for anything to be run. Pay for that.

Also get the latest generation. As running the cable is the most significant expense.

Coax is nowhere near as good. It has to be cludged with multiple modems for cable Internet. It has inherent signal degradation with each s split. Plus is limited to MoCA adapters for other internet services.

Basically your comparing cables built for networking and frequently updated. To cables built for analog TV signals. Which are virtually unchanged in the last forty plus years. Cludged to work for digital services.
Ethernet is more versatile, has more equipment options and is faster. If you’re going to pay for anything to be run. Pay for that.

Also get the latest generation. As running the cable is the most significant expense.

Coax is nowhere near as good. It has to be cludged with multiple modems for cable Internet. It has inherent signal degradation with each s split. Plus is limited to MoCA adapters for other internet services.

Basically your comparing cables built for networking and frequently updated. To cables built for analog TV signals. Which are virtually unchanged in the last forty plus years. Cludged to work for digital services.
 
Solution
Sep 28, 2021
3
0
10
Ethernet is more versatile, has more equipment options and is faster. If you’re going to pay for anything to be run. Pay for that.

Also get the latest generation. As running the cable is the most significant expense.

Coax is nowhere near as good. It has to be cludged with multiple modems for cable Internet. It has inherent signal degradation with each s split. Plus is limited to MoCA adapters for other internet services.

Basically your comparing cables built for networking and frequently updated. To cables built for analog TV signals. Which are virtually unchanged in the last forty plus years. Cludged to work for digital services.
Thanks so much for taking the time to reply! Much appreciated!
 

kanewolf

Titan
Moderator
Hi! I'm moving to a home where my home studio (video editing) will be a converted shed located about 30 feet from the main house and connections. Being that I need hard-wired internet to do my work remotely, my initial plan was to hire an electrician to run a Cat6 outdoor ethernet cable from the house, underground via conduit, and into the shed where it would plug in to my hub (almond 3). However, when the Spectrum tech came to the home to install the service (Gigabit) he said he could run an additional coax cable from the outdoor terminal (I don't know if it's the right word- the plug thing where the coax goes in and out of the house) underground to the shed instead. He said I could just get another router in the shed. I 'm obviously new to all of this as my extent to home networking has been running a 100 foot ethernet cable to my basement from my router in my current apartment... So I'm wondering, which would be better? By better I mean 1) Would one provide faster speed than the other? 2) Would one be more future-proof over the other? Meaning, if Fios is ever available in the area, would I be better off having gone with the ethernet? 3) Is having an additional modem/router going to be very complicated to set up/maintain? As I mentioned, my current setup is basically plug-and-play, so my knowledge of home networking is extremely limited. 4) Is the coax cable heartier than the ethernet and less susceptible to damage underground? Either way it'll be traveling via conduit, but the property is very rural and I'm sure there's lots of critters underground, so just wondering. Thanks so much for your time!
I would recommend getting 1 inch conduit buried. Fiber optic cable is the safest thing to have between the buildings. That way there is no possibility of electrical differences between the two buildings causing problems.
One thing I would recommend is that you have a NAS in the main house to provide backup of your editing.
 
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A lot of coax cable you find it outdoor rated where ethernet outdoor rated cable is something you have to look for. In either case you need to check to be sure you have outdoor rated/direct burial cable. Some soils eat cables jacket so it is important to get the correct type.

Moca used to be slower than ethernet but with the latest versions it can also run 1gbit and there are even models that have 2.5g ports on them. I know you can easily get 1gbit on moca but I am not sure if you can really get 2.5g.

The other option is to run flexible conduit and then use normal indoor rated cables. It also allows you to replace the wire if something happens or you wanted to upgrade. Price wise it will not be a lot more to use conduit...the cheap stuff they sometimes call smurf tube because a common brand is blue works well. The cost of direct bury ethernet is quite a bit more than normal ethernet so you need to check the costs to see if using conduit is a good option.

Be very careful because of the cost of copper metal ethernet cable has gotten expensive. You will find lots of fake cable on the market. Be very sure you get pure copper cable, No CCA, and wire size 22-24, no flat or thin cables.
 
Sep 28, 2021
3
0
10
A lot of coax cable you find it outdoor rated where ethernet outdoor rated cable is something you have to look for. In either case you need to check to be sure you have outdoor rated/direct burial cable. Some soils eat cables jacket so it is important to get the correct type.

Moca used to be slower than ethernet but with the latest versions it can also run 1gbit and there are even models that have 2.5g ports on them. I know you can easily get 1gbit on moca but I am not sure if you can really get 2.5g.

The other option is to run flexible conduit and then use normal indoor rated cables. It also allows you to replace the wire if something happens or you wanted to upgrade. Price wise it will not be a lot more to use conduit...the cheap stuff they sometimes call smurf tube because a common brand is blue works well. The cost of direct bury ethernet is quite a bit more than normal ethernet so you need to check the costs to see if using conduit is a good option.

Be very careful because of the cost of copper metal ethernet cable has gotten expensive. You will find lots of fake cable on the market. Be very sure you get pure copper cable, No CCA, and wire size 22-24, no flat or thin cables.
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! Will do!