running ethernet from home to detached garage office

jtcarrasco

Commendable
Jul 27, 2016
2
0
1,510
Hi there,

I'm renting a unit in a triplex and my ethernet is obviously in the center of the unti but I also am renting a garage/office at the back of the property i would estimate a good 50ft away from my unit I was thinking about running outdoor ethernet under the unit acros the foundation to the backyard then running it up the side of the rear unit wall then across the to garage roof. Id say the run across roof to roof is about 25 ft. Is this a bad idea, tips, ideas? The backyard is mainly concrete so running underground all the way would be next to impossible.
 
Solution
Nothing is going to stop a direct lighting strike from causing damage. Most surge protectors you find in things like UPS are more for phone lines even though they have rj45 connections. A direct strike will just fry the UPS which is as expensive as the router in most cases.

The ports on your equipment in effect have surge protection from the power just because of how it is designed. Because the equipment on different ends of a ethernet connection may be connected to a different ground there can be very slight variations. To avoid problems and for safety reason in severe cases ethernet ports are magnetically isolated. Some are optically isolated also depending on the manufacture. This isolation requirement prevents any...
yes, it should work ok. the Ethernet cable distance limitation is 328ft.

I would recommend using a STP cable (shielded twisted pair) since it will be outside and you want to avoid any kind of external noises (interference)
 
When you don't own the property you have to be careful about what you do...especially if other people were likely to complain. Technically outdoor ethernet cable will work fine. You could use indoor cable as long as it does not touch the soil and just plan to replace it in few years, the sun will destroy the outer casing. Even with outdoor cable you would need a steel cable run to support it for the part you want run between the buildings. Then again unless you plan to be there many years I would just run it and plan to replace if it fails. Because you do not own the property you do not want to spend large money on doing things perfect and then have to move because the landlord upped the rent.
 
doing some more research on this i see that people sometime recommend cat 5 surge protectors does anyone have any experience with these ? how do i install them ? one on each side?
 
yes but you can check if your switch/router manufacturer already provides surge protection on the ethernet ports.
they are useful indeed but not necessary depending on the hardware you have and if the region is prone to electrical storm and things like that.
 
Nothing is going to stop a direct lighting strike from causing damage. Most surge protectors you find in things like UPS are more for phone lines even though they have rj45 connections. A direct strike will just fry the UPS which is as expensive as the router in most cases.

The ports on your equipment in effect have surge protection from the power just because of how it is designed. Because the equipment on different ends of a ethernet connection may be connected to a different ground there can be very slight variations. To avoid problems and for safety reason in severe cases ethernet ports are magnetically isolated. Some are optically isolated also depending on the manufacture. This isolation requirement prevents any connection to the electrical power.

You could go with shielded cable but if you install in incorrectly you can increase you chance of interference which is much more likely than some lighting strike. To do it correctly you must have a separate ground installed on each end of the cable...by code you are not allowed to use the electrical ground. You can though run a separate ground wire to the same grounding rod. It generally is not worth the effort.
 
Solution