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Network Neighborhood expanding!

N

networkman

Lifer
For months, my neighbor Will and I have been discussing running a line across the street and linking our computer networks - yesterday afternoon we finally had a chance to make it happen. 😀

Running alongside(but not attached to) the cableTV/modem wire, we ran a length of CAT5e up to the guide wire, across one street to the pole, then across the cross-street, and down to the side of his house. Total length is about 200 feet. We hooked it up last night and we've got a good 10/100 switched connection, thus linking his 4 PCs with all of the stuff at my place. 🙂

Most importantly, this means we can now play games on a LAN(without his wife being ticked that he's over here all the time), but also we can share printers and he can make use of my SetiQ and larger HD-storage capacity. He's installed SETI on one of his rigs and D2OL on another; the other two machines are really too slow for either project.

We spoke with another of the neighbors yesterday and he's interested in joining the network too, so hopefully, I can get him involved with some TA DC projects too. 😉

 
LOL This is great. A new form of bringing people together. bwahahha

Can't wait to see what happens when the utility company sees the cat5 and wonders what it's for. bwahahaha

Wolfie
 
some cable degrades from UV exposure and such u might think of a different grade exterior in the future.

muttley
 
I would suggest some form of outdoor wireless stuff, but I'm sure that you've probably considered it already and found it unreasonable for some reason (maybe cost, or perhaps too many people in your area have 2.4GHz phones). Anyway, sounds like a cool idea. 😎
 
The co-op power here company got upset here when the Cable company was hanging their lines and paying nothing.

They will probably say were to stupid to do stuff like this and its a safety risk to us if lines break or lightning or whatever. I've heard that BS so many times over the years. ^ yours!!!!

muttley
 
Gives a whole new meaning to Network Neighbourhood doesn't it! 😉

I'm not gonna go into the arguements about running Cat5 cable outside, without using proper cable, and without proper entry surge protection, and how you could blow up your equipment if there is a storm and lightning and different grounding differences between the two houses....😉


Confused 🙂
 
As others have pointed out, surge protection is a definite concern, which is why the connection isn't still in place - we just did it earlier for testing. I've got a pair of APC network surge protectors on order and will reconnect the wiring once those are in place. 😉

As for the height of the wire, it's at the same height as the cable/phone wiring is; the electric company's power lines are another 10' higher up on the poles, so there are no issues at that point.

As for UV and exposure to the elements, I'd thought of that too. When I ordered the cabling(1000'), I got a special exterior grade cable with a black jacket(no sense drawing unnecessary attention with grey or blue). Additionally, since another friend of mine works for the cable company, I was able to get a few of the cable-hangars that help take some of the tension off of the cable itself.

Lastly, regarding permission.. the city and electric company both said it was okay with them, but I'd need to get permission from the "other guy" to actually do it. I convinced each to put that in writing, and so now I'm covered. 😀


 
That is awesome! I wish more people around me were conputer savvy enough to warrent that. You rock!
 
Heh, that's great. I remember a while back I lived in a house and the house next door went up for sale. A friend was considering buying it and right off we thought of running a cable underground to link up our networks. We're all such geeks. 😉 😛
 
[Borg Voice] I am Networkmancutus of Borg......the whole neighborhood will be assimilated. Resistance is futile [/Borg Voice]

[Funny Accent Voice] All your idle cycles are belong to us [/Funny Accent Voice]

Good work Networkman 😀
 
A pic? Hmm, not much to see really, but I guess I could.

Thing is, I deliberately ordered the cable with a black jacket so that it'd be hard to distinguish from any of the other cables up there. 😉
 
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