Is it a bad idea to run CAT-5 wire outside of house?

[us3rnotfound]

This is looking like our only option, or getting a wireless router.

Alternatively, would it be a better option to somehow run it through a coax cable instead of CAT-5?

Thanks.

 

[Chaotic42]

Can you run it through some conduit?

 

[us3rnotfound]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Can you run it through some conduit?

hmmm.... such as?

 

[klah]

Grey PVC conduit for outdoor electrical use. Get it at Home Depot or Lowes.

 

[Bleep]

Anything to keep it out of the sunlight and the weather. Plastic water pipe is probnably OK
There always is a lot of conteversy about doing this, one of them being electrical pulses that may be picked up by the cable. I have it run outside to my shop for a couple of years now with no problems.
Bleep

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

YGIM fvcker

 

[nightowl]

Yes, it is not safe to run the cable outside. Even if it is in a conduit. The conduit does not ground it or protect it from any kind of electricity. If you get a close enough lightning strike you run the risk of frying your computer or even yourself too. Just ask anyone in the Networking form this question and you will get the same response.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: nightowl
Yes, it is not safe to run the cable outside. Even if it is in a conduit. The conduit does not ground it or protect it from any kind of electricity. If you get a close enough lightning strike you run the risk of frying your computer or even yourself too. Just ask anyone in the Networking form this question and you will get the same response.

Would lead pipe help shield the wire.

 

[sharkeeper]

As long as you properly protect the cable at each end where it enters the building (MOV MINIMUM!) you will be ok. The use of a drain wire is recommended.

NEVER run naked wires outside of a building of ANY length unless it is very temporary.

Cheers!

 

[Messermeister]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: nightowl
Yes, it is not safe to run the cable outside. Even if it is in a conduit. The conduit does not ground it or protect it from any kind of electricity. If you get a close enough lightning strike you run the risk of frying your computer or even yourself too. Just ask anyone in the Networking form this question and you will get the same response.

Would lead pipe help shield the wire.

Hahaha.

 

[Flair]

get a wireless router.....

 

[Macro2]

RE:"get a wireless router....."

Not a bad idea.

Mac CCNA

 

[KristopherKubicki]

As much as i dont condone it,ive been running cat5e outside my place for 2 years to link up with my buddies apartment. its just suspended from the air nothing fancy

i am sure if it go wet and shorted the copper lines both switches would be fried, but thats a risk i am willing to take

Kristopher

 

[pukemon]

Check the Hot Deals forum for wireless routers. The cheapest will be 802.11b (11Mb max shared bandwidth) which I think you can get for around $20 or less after a bunch of rebates. For sharing an internet connection it's fine. For doing anything else like sharing files, playing online games, or streaming video, it not really the best option.

 

[andylawcc]

Originally posted by: KristopherKubicki
As much as i dont condone it,ive been running cat5e outside my place for 2 years to link up with my buddies apartment. its just suspended from the air nothing fancy

that's some ghetto sh|T i say

 

[grant2]

Originally posted by: nightowl
Yes, it is not safe to run the cable outside. Even if it is in a conduit. The conduit does not ground it or protect it from any kind of electricity. If you get a close enough lightning strike you run the risk of frying your computer or even yourself too. Just ask anyone in the Networking form this question and you will get the same response.

If he's worried about electricity strikes he can just surround the pipe with this little-known grounding material known as "the earth".

Just what exactly is the shminu worried about? the platic covering the wire has biodegradable lifetime in the thousands or millions of years.

 

[sharq]

Would help to know what you're trying to do.
The other factor that you may want to consider is insulation of the windows you will be running the wire in and out of. I know it may not be hard to stuff a towel under a window, but a window that is not latched shut can easily allow air to escape/enter.

 

[buleyb]

Originally posted by: grant2

Originally posted by: nightowl
Yes, it is not safe to run the cable outside. Even if it is in a conduit. The conduit does not ground it or protect it from any kind of electricity. If you get a close enough lightning strike you run the risk of frying your computer or even yourself too. Just ask anyone in the Networking form this question and you will get the same response.

If he's worried about electricity strikes he can just surround the pipe with this little-known grounding material known as "the earth".

Just what exactly is the shminu worried about? the platic covering the wire has biodegradable lifetime in the thousands or millions of years.

there could be ground potential issues between the two ends, and you don't want ground to go across the wire instead of to the local ground, this is one of the biggest concerns. You're likely to fry hardware and have a working cable time and time again.


oh, one more thing THIS SHOULD BE IN THE NETWORKING FORUM

 

[Zepper]

Safest would probably be to run optical cable between buildings. The conversion boxes for each end won't be cheap, but prices are trending downwards. There was a Gross Surplus of the FO cabling itself - so at least that shouldn't be too expensive.
. But shielded cable should work fine - connect the shield drain wires to a known-good, true earth ground at the entry point to each building or at the wall outlet in the equipment rooms. Or just unplug both ends when a thunder storm is imminent.
. You could also run that thru some of the plastic conduit mentioned above and trench it in also as mentioned above for an even greater measure of safety.
.bh.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: andylawcc

Originally posted by: KristopherKubicki
As much as i dont condone it,ive been running cat5e outside my place for 2 years to link up with my buddies apartment. its just suspended from the air nothing fancy

that's some ghetto sh|T i say

Especially if they hang laundry from it.

 

[Shad0hawK]

use shielded cable and you will be fine.


as far as lightening strikes go, the biggest risk of your system getting fried is from a power surge that orginates even miles from you going through the line rather than a direct strike(which the vast majority of surge supressors will not stop anyway...) so whether the line is inside or outside really makes no difference. besides, your are connected to an outside line anyway and many cables are not underground but are strung up with powerlines just like telephone lines.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: Messermeister

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: nightowl
Yes, it is not safe to run the cable outside. Even if it is in a conduit. The conduit does not ground it or protect it from any kind of electricity. If you get a close enough lightning strike you run the risk of frying your computer or even yourself too. Just ask anyone in the Networking form this question and you will get the same response.

Would lead pipe help shield the wire.

Hahaha.

 

[Zepper]

Lead isn't a very good conductor...
.bh.

 

[hahher]

isn't it equally risky as running coax cable outside the house? and people do that all the time for satellite tv, but you don't read much about receivers getting shocked

 

[d3n]

I've seen Cat5 duct-taped into the cracks of a runway ramp for emergency requirements. However, It was not used for an Ethernet connection and it was terminated on a properly grounded type66 cable block. Since then it has been more common to use multimode or singlemode fiber.