Outdoor CAT5 cable???

[DaveR]

I am not sure I need this, but want to run CAT5 for about 10 feet from under the house to the second floor. Do I need an Outdoor CAT5 cable if there is such a thing, and where can I get it for a good price? Not sure Home Depot has any marked for outdoor use.

TIA

 

[Oaf357]

CAT5 isn't really made for outdoor use. I've seen people run it outside unprotected but I would recommend running it through some PVC pipe at the very least. Preferably, a ground metal pipe.

 

[Soybomb]

This might answer some questions:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=36&threadid=677337&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=arc

 

[Bleep]

Well if I wanted to do that I would use 10base2 and use a good coaxial cable. The nics are cheap and a hub can be had for around $15.00.

Bleep

 

[Pulsar]

You would be far safer dropping it through an heating duct internal to the house.

 

[DaveR]

Thanks all. I also want 100bt so the coax is not an option. I need 100MHZ as I am using this for a ReplayTV.

 

[Fatt]

You know, although you aren't "supposed" to run Cat5 outside, unless it's meant for outdoor use, the reality is that you'll be fine. Just make sure that at the bottom hole you make a "drip loop", which is a sort of a "J" shaped loop where the cable comes below the entry hole then loops up, so that the lowest point on the cable is NOT at the hold.
Then just use ordinary silicone caulk to seal the holes.

 

[reicherb]

Water is not the issue, the issue is the potential for the cable to be hit with a voltage spike causing damage to equipment and/or people.

 

[mboy]

Reminds me of the BIG thread on this last year when The Screen Savers on tech TV said it was ok to do this

 

[DaveR]

Yes, I use drip loops on Ham Radio stuff. This CAT5 will come from under the house so the drip loop will not be needed on top. I will have a small loop on the bottom before it enters the crawl space.
I am thinking of doing this with normal cat5 anyway and then painting it to keep UV out.

Originally posted by: Fatt
You know, although you aren't "supposed" to run Cat5 outside, unless it's meant for outdoor use, the reality is that you'll be fine. Just make sure that at the bottom hole you make a "drip loop", which is a sort of a "J" shaped loop where the cable comes below the entry hole then loops up, so that the lowest point on the cable is NOT at the hold.
Then just use ordinary silicone caulk to seal the holes.

 

[Fatt]

Water is a HUGE issue if you don't use a drip loop. Just talk to anyone in the rehab trade about water damage.

And as far as voltage spikes, where's that going to come from, lightning? He's not running this cable between two buildings, just between floors.

Actually, the real concern would be degradation of the PVC jacket from sunlight, but that takes so long that as a practical matter it's not really an issue.

 

[DaveR]

...and in Portland, Oregon there is little lightning. I also was going to paint the cat5 the house color.

Originally posted by: Fatt
Water is a HUGE issue if you don't use a drip loop. Just talk to anyone in the rehab trade about water damage.

And as far as voltage spikes, where's that going to come from, lightning? He's not running this cable between two buildings, just between floors.

Actually, the real concern would be degradation of the PVC jacket from sunlight, but that takes so long that as a practical matter it's not really an issue.

 

[ScottMac]

It's a bad idea.

Don't spit in Darwin's face, he always wins.

JM.02

Scott

 

[barryng]

Keep it out of the soil (direct buried) and keep the suns ultraviolet light off of it and there will be no problem. As long as the jacket is intact and not damaged, exposure to just moisture should do no harm. About seven years ago I needed to run two cat5 cables to a nearby room. For various reasons the most practicle solution was to go through the wall to the outside of the house, run the cable about 15 feet along the wall, and then go back inside. I simply used PVC conduit, and two LBs at each end of the conduit. If you do not know what an LB is, go to home depot and ask to see one. It will then become obvious how to use it. The 90 degree end of each LB goes into the wall and is sealed with silicon sealant. It was a cheap and easy solution that still handles two computers without any problems.

 

[amdskip]

Doh, what don't you get about "it's not a good idea" from our network guru's on Anandtech. Don't even begin to tell me that you can't run the cable inside the house. It is very possible but you just want to do it the easiest way.

 

[Fatt]

A lot of people are wary about running cable outside of a building because they are thinking about the problem of running cable BETWEEN buildings.

When running between buildings you have to be concerned because two different buildings are always going to have two different electrical potentials. That means that you either need to use a ground block, or a non conductive media, such as fiber.
Although even then, you really should use a ground block for the messenger wire.

Merely running outside of a building and then directly back into the same building in not going to cause a problem with electrical potentials. Your only real concern is that you want to protect the wire from the environment.

 

[DaveR]

Thanks all:

As I said, I will paint it so it should be protected for the 10 feet or so that it will be outside. Also, it would be VERY hard to run it inside...but I have not given up on that just yet.

Also, I will look into what an LB is, but I was not going to put it thru PVC.

 

[Fatt]

BTW...

Why is it so difficult to run it inside?

I've quite possibly run more cable than the rest of this forum put together. If you describe your situation I can possibly suggest a way to do it that hadn't occurred to you.

 

[nater]

a pointless story for you all:
I have some really geeky(and stupid) friends who live really close to eachother. For a while now they've had cat5 going from one second story window to another...across the street. It hangs maybe 20 feet off of the road and they've never had a problem with it. The same people took cat5 and ran it through a crack that went all across the road. When a road crew came to repave the road, they paved RIGHT OVER the cable. And guess what-it still works months later. I certainly wouldn't recommend doing anything like that, but you might be surprised at the durability of cat5.

 

[DaveR]

Originally posted by: Fatt
BTW...

Why is it so difficult to run it inside?

I've quite possibly run more cable than the rest of this forum put together. If you describe your situation I can possibly suggest a way to do it that hadn't occurred to you.

Thanks, that would be hard to describe. House is 2 story but front is ground level and is actually second floor. Master is on main as they say. That is where I want my ReplatTV. Most of house has cat5 that I ran. In fact I ran cat 5 this past weekend to Theater Room downstairs. There is another Replay there and I added the cat5 to a switch that runs 3 systems. I need to go from upstairs router (over crawl space) to Bedroom, but bedroom is over bottom floor...not crawlspace. Actually, crawlspace is standup, under top floor living room. As I said, hard to imagine.

I was going to run cable from crawl space to downstairs closet and UP. But, I need to calculate VERY carefully or I will come up in the HALL!!

It is my first choice and will measure first, but just thought I would ask about an easy outside 10 foot run, as well!

Hope this made sense!

 

[Fatt]

You have a furnace somwhere in the house, and it has a vent pipe that most likely goes out through the roof, running through something called a "chase".

In fact, you might very well have more than one chase, depending on how the vent stacks for your plumbing are laid out.

What's nice about these chases is that they are open from the attic to wherever the furnace is.

The most effective way to get cable through there is to attach a few washers or a lead fishing weight to a thin cord, then "fish" it down through the chase.

Take a look and tell me what you've got and we'll take it from there.

And don't worry...
Even if your house isn't laid out in such a way that the chase solution works, there are other ways, such as methods to drill through the floor INSIDE a wall.

 

[DaveR]

OK, but that will be weekend activity! Will let you know.
TIA,

Dave

Originally posted by: Fatt
You have a furnace somwhere in the house, and it has a vent pipe that most likely goes out through the roof, running through something called a "chase".

In fact, you might very well have more than one chase, depending on how the vent stacks for your plumbing are laid out.

What's nice about these chases is that they are open from the attic to wherever the furnace is.

The most effective way to get cable through there is to attach a few washers or a lead fishing weight to a thin cord, then "fish" it down through the chase.

Take a look and tell me what you've got and we'll take it from there.

And don't worry...
Even if your house isn't laid out in such a way that the chase solution works, there are other ways, such as methods to drill through the floor INSIDE a wall.

 

[DaveR]

UPDATE...Home Depot now has CAT5e (and phone cable, too) in an indoor/outdoor version. I think it is $18/100' and is rated to go between floors as well.

 

[Oaf357]

Nice. Thanks for the update. But, what is the real difference between the outdoor stuff?

 

[Soybomb]

Originally posted by: DaveR
UPDATE...Home Depot now has CAT5e (and phone cable, too) in an indoor/outdoor version. I think it is $18/100' and is rated to go between floors as well.

Sure you didn't buy plenum cable and not outdoor cable?