Hey. First time poster, so sorry if formatting is off (i did read the rules first but I'm a slow learner.)
I've been researching this for some time, but I keep getting discouraged by conflicting information and odd pricing of supplies. So I figured it's time to ask someone more knowledgable about my specific scenario.
I rent a house that has a studio in the back yard. It's about 50 feet from the main house, maybe less. The house was built in the 1920s and has not been properly updated, the electrical is a nightmare. But as a renter I am unable to do much, if any, modifications. I have had the hardest time getting wifi out to the studio.
I upgraded my router to a netgear nighthawk x4 (r7500) and received dramatically improved signal within the house, and can even pick it up about 2 city blocks away in every direction except the back yard... Of course. I assume there is some electrical interference. I tried running a repeater, to no avail. I did manage to get signal out to the studio via 2 repeaters. One in the upstairs back window and one in the window of the studio (which unfortunately does not face the house) with some home made tinfoil signal directors. Unfortunately this resulted in my 175mbps connection relaying into a spotty 4 to 8 mbps connection in the studio- the place where I really need the speed the most. There is no functioning cable connection in the studio so I could not run the other direction, and considering I have to blast wifi from the second story of the house to reach the floors of the studio I doubt it would work anyways.
I moved the nighthawk all over the house, even though the center of the home is the least ideal place to keep it. Putting it in the second story window and adjusting the antennae a bit allows me to get an unreliable connection in the studio without the use of repeaters. But I still average about 10mbps (up to 28 occasionally) and the connection is unreliable.
It seems like my only option now, since I can't dig to lay conduit, is to run ethernet overhead from the house to the studio. There is a non functioning (cut end, not attached to anything) coax cable running overhead from the house to the studio, it crosses under the oppositionally run power line with a vertical separation of 4 to 6 feet. I assume this would be a fine guide-line to attach ethernet to, and as it was installed by comcast, it's simply drilled straight through the siding and insulation and interior wall (a disgusting practice, imo, but convenient for this purpose.)
My problem is that I can not find anywhere locally that sells more than 50ft runs of ethernet cable. Walmart, best buy, staples, office max, home depot, lowes (who are so expensive it wouldn't matter anyways), local hardware stores. We don't have a radio shack anymore. When looking online it's difficult to find anything outdoor rated between 50 and 1000ft. I don't want to cut and solder the wire. A 100 or even 75 or 150ft run would serve my purposes fine. And I keep ending up back at Amazon for this. Unfortunately, all the cables of this length that are listed as "outdoor", "waterproof", or "uv" are also shielded.
I've done extensive research on shielded cables and still can't get a clear idea of whether it's a good idea or not. Most people seem to say no, but for reasons that appear to be myths. And I don't want to deal with grounding as I've been down that road with the rental agency before and they refuse to do anything above minimum code. I would rather buy unshielded uv ethernet cable, but these are hard to come by online and strangely always seem to be considerably more expensive than the shielded variants, even from the same manufacturer. I don't think lightning is a concern as I've only heard thunder twice in the 5 years I've lived in the area and I've seen lightning maybe three times, that was always on the other side of the mountains (I live in a valley.) It does rain for about 6 months out of the year, and my yard can get quite windy. But It hasn't seemed to cause a problem with the coax cables which I imagine have been out here for at least 2 decades.
I only plan to live in this house another year, 2 at the max. And I would remove the ethernet run before leaving.
So I suppose my question is:
Is running an ungrounded shielded uv ethernet cable overhead for about 50 feet outdoors an acceptable solution of a temporary (1-2 years max) nature?
What issues should I be aware of when attempting this?
Thank you in advance for your help.
*Edited for annoying autocorrect typos
I've been researching this for some time, but I keep getting discouraged by conflicting information and odd pricing of supplies. So I figured it's time to ask someone more knowledgable about my specific scenario.
I rent a house that has a studio in the back yard. It's about 50 feet from the main house, maybe less. The house was built in the 1920s and has not been properly updated, the electrical is a nightmare. But as a renter I am unable to do much, if any, modifications. I have had the hardest time getting wifi out to the studio.
I upgraded my router to a netgear nighthawk x4 (r7500) and received dramatically improved signal within the house, and can even pick it up about 2 city blocks away in every direction except the back yard... Of course. I assume there is some electrical interference. I tried running a repeater, to no avail. I did manage to get signal out to the studio via 2 repeaters. One in the upstairs back window and one in the window of the studio (which unfortunately does not face the house) with some home made tinfoil signal directors. Unfortunately this resulted in my 175mbps connection relaying into a spotty 4 to 8 mbps connection in the studio- the place where I really need the speed the most. There is no functioning cable connection in the studio so I could not run the other direction, and considering I have to blast wifi from the second story of the house to reach the floors of the studio I doubt it would work anyways.
I moved the nighthawk all over the house, even though the center of the home is the least ideal place to keep it. Putting it in the second story window and adjusting the antennae a bit allows me to get an unreliable connection in the studio without the use of repeaters. But I still average about 10mbps (up to 28 occasionally) and the connection is unreliable.
It seems like my only option now, since I can't dig to lay conduit, is to run ethernet overhead from the house to the studio. There is a non functioning (cut end, not attached to anything) coax cable running overhead from the house to the studio, it crosses under the oppositionally run power line with a vertical separation of 4 to 6 feet. I assume this would be a fine guide-line to attach ethernet to, and as it was installed by comcast, it's simply drilled straight through the siding and insulation and interior wall (a disgusting practice, imo, but convenient for this purpose.)
My problem is that I can not find anywhere locally that sells more than 50ft runs of ethernet cable. Walmart, best buy, staples, office max, home depot, lowes (who are so expensive it wouldn't matter anyways), local hardware stores. We don't have a radio shack anymore. When looking online it's difficult to find anything outdoor rated between 50 and 1000ft. I don't want to cut and solder the wire. A 100 or even 75 or 150ft run would serve my purposes fine. And I keep ending up back at Amazon for this. Unfortunately, all the cables of this length that are listed as "outdoor", "waterproof", or "uv" are also shielded.
I've done extensive research on shielded cables and still can't get a clear idea of whether it's a good idea or not. Most people seem to say no, but for reasons that appear to be myths. And I don't want to deal with grounding as I've been down that road with the rental agency before and they refuse to do anything above minimum code. I would rather buy unshielded uv ethernet cable, but these are hard to come by online and strangely always seem to be considerably more expensive than the shielded variants, even from the same manufacturer. I don't think lightning is a concern as I've only heard thunder twice in the 5 years I've lived in the area and I've seen lightning maybe three times, that was always on the other side of the mountains (I live in a valley.) It does rain for about 6 months out of the year, and my yard can get quite windy. But It hasn't seemed to cause a problem with the coax cables which I imagine have been out here for at least 2 decades.
I only plan to live in this house another year, 2 at the max. And I would remove the ethernet run before leaving.
So I suppose my question is:
Is running an ungrounded shielded uv ethernet cable overhead for about 50 feet outdoors an acceptable solution of a temporary (1-2 years max) nature?
What issues should I be aware of when attempting this?
Thank you in advance for your help.
*Edited for annoying autocorrect typos
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