Underground Grade Cat6

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randyc

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I got a shed being built in my backyard, and we have already ran the PVC.
Now we want to run two CAT6 cables out, one for phone, one for the LAN.
We need the underground rated cat6, becuase of moisture reasons.
I was told we need Jelly filled cables?


Wheres the best place to buy this cheap but still quality?
and anyone have suggestions?

House --- 80 feet --- shed
 
I'm note sure on where to get the cable, but make sure you have some sort of Lightning protection at both ends so you don't have your gear cooked.

And now that I think of it, you don't need underground burial rated type cable AFAIK. My parents had wire pulled through conduit out to there "barn" (300 feet)and the Lucent/Avaya Diamond Dealer said that regular PVC jacketed cable was what is recommended by Lucent/Avaya. This is a company I used to work for, they know there stuff.

It's been there for several years and works great.
 
While you can get away with regular cable, I'd look for outdoor rated cable. Since it's not the cheapest stuff around, why not use Cat3 for the phone connection and Cat6 for the network connection? Cat6 is complete overkill for a standard phone. Whatever you do, do not use the same cable for both phone and network connections, because when the phone rings it will cause a ton of interference ot the network(and cut any chance of Gbit Enet.)

I've used jelly filled cable before, but that was for direct burial(no conduit.) It's some messy shit to work with. As value1138 said, use lightning protection on both ends.
 
If you are running it in PVC you are more than fine unless you have some building code you are trying to adhere to. I have not personally worked with Jelly filled cable before so I cant answer what that will do for you.

I know there is ethernet cable called direct burial cable you can use if you choose not to run it in the PVC. Just be sure to use CAT 5/6 Surge protectors like the guys mentioned above. Can never stress that enough you will thank yourself to death the first time you need it
 
remember to give yourself plenty of slack on both ends of the cabling so nothing is stretched and you have enough room to terminate them where you would like to
 
I went over this with a family member.
She claims that the surge protector is a waste, as we live in Southern California.
Would you agree that its not that important?
We haven't had lightning here in a few months, and we only get it in extreme conditions.

-randyc
 
Id say it's essential no matter where you live.

Battery backup with builtin rj45/11 protection would be best. It would also provide extra power outlets even if you go without a UPS.

We have clients with the nicest whole building power fault protection and we still strongly stand by the use of UPS'.

For our customers I always say it's better to have and not need than to need and not have had. eg a $100 battery backup is better than replacing a cisco router or voice server.
 
Any type of CAT6 cable will work. I have CAT6 lines w/ jacks sitting in multiple freezers with absolutely no issues. These freezer units are larger than most homes. IIRC each unit is roughly 5,000sq ft. I've also had underground tunnels that housed CAT5 in PVC conduit that ended up getting flooded due to bad drainage. The connections ran perfectly fine.
 
Alright, I'll be ordering 'outdoor' Cat5e tomorrow at Orvac Electronics in Fullerton CA, mainly because I have no idea where to get outdoor CAT6, plus this one run will probably never need GBe, and we can rerun it if we have to later.

Can I get some more information/input on the surge protector?

-randyc
 
APC makes one called ProtectNet. Basically it looks like cable extender where you plug one cable into one and and continue the run by plugging another cable in the other end. Some will have grounding wires coming out the side and some have it built in.
 
randyc said:
I went over this with a family member.
She claims that the surge protector is a waste, as we live in Southern California.

-randyc
Click to expand...

For the sake of your gear, ignore her "advice"
 
valve1138 said:
For the sake of your gear, ignore her "advice"
Click to expand...

Even if lightning doesn't strike, there is always the possibility of a power surge from the power company. Spikes do happen - the logs from any of my UPS's will attest to that.

 
you can get outdoor and underground cat6 from graybar. check out the wireless service providers forum on dslreports, all the guys on there use the stuff.
 
randyc said:
I went over this with a family member.
She claims that the surge protector is a waste, as we live in Southern California.
Would you agree that its not that important?
We haven't had lightning here in a few months, and we only get it in extreme conditions.

-randyc
Click to expand...

I've lived in Alaska for the past 21 years and seen lightning maybe twice.... Heard thunder maybe 6 times... One of those times my neighbor lost two computers and a tv to it. Extra couple of bucks would be well worth it IMHO.
 
My boss has a cat 5 line running to his house and lives out in the county. After a lightning strike about 100 feet from his house it cooked:

4- nics including 3 onboard !!
1- 16 port switch
and a cable modem

So...yeah we have protection now !!!

:)
 
randyc said:
Can I get some more information/input on the surge protector?
Click to expand...

Computer = ~$1000 USD
Router = ~$40-80 USD
Your Data not being fried = Priceless.

A decent surge protector will run about ~$50, for such a small cost vs. the potential damage I can't imagine a situtation where I wouldn't use a surge protector.
 
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