Possible to run a cat 5 cable to outhouse?

Sesame

I'd like to get some broadband in my office which is about 50 metres away from the router in my house.
Is it as simple as just running a Cat 5 cable from the router to the office and then plug it into my laptop?
Looking online I can see some cable are suitable for outdoor use.

Could I make it better by plugging another router into the office end and have wifi in the office?
That would be ideal. Would the house be massively impacted by the connection speed? It has a very good FTTH connection at present and if I'm in the office there wouldn't be much demand in the house for it but it would be nice not to cut them off completely!

timmyntc

Sesame wrote: »

I'd like to get some broadband in my office which is about 50 metres away from the router in my house.
Is it as simple as just running a Cat 5 cable from the router to the office and then plug it into my laptop?
Looking online I can see some cable are suitable for outdoor use.

Could I make it better by plugging another router into the office end and have wifi in the office?
That would be ideal. Would the house be massively impacted by the connection speed? It has a very good FTTH connection at present and if I'm in the office there wouldn't be much demand in the house for it but it would be nice not to cut them off completely!

Yes, if you connect ethernet from house router to your office router, office router can act as a bridge & will basically be another wifi access point to the same fibre connection.

It won't cut off anyone, existing wifi in the house wont be impacted at all.

Certain cables are rated for different distances, so just check that before buying.

Sesame

Brilliant thanks!

TheDriver

I have a 50m cable (all I could borrow at the time) on my ftth connection and I get full speeds on it so you'll be fine.
You could lay a conduit suitable for outdoors

Melodeon

You might as well install Cat6 while you're at it.
The price difference from Cat5 is minimal, and it'd prevent a potential bottleneck on using the full capabilities of the FTTH.

seamus

TheDriver wrote: »

I have a 50m cable (all I could borrow at the time) on my ftth connection and I get full speeds on it so you'll be fine.
You could lay a conduit suitable for outdoors

Conduit and digging is a bit overkill for outside ethernet unless you want a really neat look. If you can pin it to a wall, that's good enough to keep it out of harm's way.

Strictly speaking you should use outdoor-specific CAT6 cabling. Regular cabling will tend to become brittle and the covering will shear off when exposed to sunlight for extended periods.

That said, I used regular CAT5e to connect a house to an office for over a decade, and had no issues with the exposed part of the cable.

babelfish1990

Sesame wrote: »

I'd like to get some broadband in my office which is about 50 metres away from the router in my house.
Is it as simple as just running a Cat 5 cable from the router to the office and then plug it into my laptop?
Looking online I can see some cable are suitable for outdoor use.

Could I make it better by plugging another router into the office end and have wifi in the office?
That would be ideal. Would the house be massively impacted by the connection speed? It has a very good FTTH connection at present and if I'm in the office there wouldn't be much demand in the house for it but it would be nice not to cut them off completely!

No problem running the cable, as others's have said.

However, don't put another router on it. You only need to put an Access Point for WiFi, and if you choose one with a spare Ethernet port, you can connect your laptop. If you use a second router on your network you will have issues - unless you configure the second router in Access Point mode. Ubiquiti Unifi series are nice APs for this kind of application, and you could even create a Mesh covering your garden (they have an outdoor version, and they are powered by POE over the Ethernet cable), and the main house.

plodder

I agree with the other advice here after doing something similar recently. You should get outdoor cable and with solid copper conductors (rather than CCA) as the quality is better. A few other things you'll need are a crimping kit (pliers, RJ45 connectors and covers), cable ties or clips that you attach to walls. Since you're going to the trouble of installing cable you should use a wired connection for your laptop if possible. As said above, a wifi AP with two LAN ports would be ideal or a separate cheap ethernet hub either.

Also, with FTTH, other users in the house won't see any reduction in speed, so long as you run the new cable direct from the main router in the house.

Jpmarn

If the outhouse is connected to the wiring system of the main house and if you don’t fancy digging a channel you could get home plug systems from Develo or TP-Link available at computer stores. The transmission unit plugs into a socket near your router and is connected by an Ethernet cable. The receiver unit can emit WiFi and would have up to to 3 network sockets. Assuming your outhouse is 50m away from your main house you should get internet speeds around 50mps from the outhouse using a low end model assuming you have fibre coming into the main router. You might get better speeds using more expensive models but if full speed is important you are better off laying a CAT6 cable.

Sesame

Melodeon wrote: »

You might as well install Cat6 while you're at it.
The price difference from Cat5 is minimal, and it'd prevent a potential bottleneck on using the full capabilities of the FTTH.

Thanks everyone for the advice. Got it working perfectly running Cat 6 as recommended!
Its loose at the moment and hanging though windows but it weathered a stormy night and all good.
I used a Google nest router on the office end just to chance it really to see if it would work and it does, really well too. Doesn't affect house either so delighted!

1874

Melodeon wrote: »

You might as well install Cat6 while you're at it.
The price difference from Cat5 is minimal, and it'd prevent a potential bottleneck on using the full capabilities of the FTTH.

I thought cable not expressly suited for outdoor use was porous to water (ie the pvc covering would let water in),
I'd have thought a conduit would be a good way to go?
Does Cat6 cable not have a different connector size?, I looked at one and it didnt seem interchangeable with a standard RJ-45, although Ive read since that they are, but what was highlighted was that you were unlikley to get Cat6 speeds with self made connections?

65535

Outdoor cable may have better UV light breakdown characteristics.
Ideally put the cable in a pipe.

betarayjay

you dont need a router as its all gonna be on the same LAN you just need a small 5 port switch plenty on adverts also what others say about running it in PVC tubing 100% correct thats what i did

betarayjay

1874 wrote: »

I thought cable not expressly suited for outdoor use was porous to water (ie the pvc covering would let water in),
I'd have thought a conduit would be a good way to go?
Does Cat6 cable not have a different connector size?, I looked at one and it didnt seem interchangeable with a standard RJ-45, although Ive read since that they are, but what was highlighted was that you were unlikley to get Cat6 speeds with self made connections?

no they all use rj-45 cat4,5,6,7 etc is all down to the cable standards such as strand density even down to the twists in the strands

1874

betarayjay wrote: »

no they all use rj-45 cat4,5,6,7 etc is all down to the cable standards such as strand density even down to the twists in the strands

Yes, I read this separately, but I saw some connectors that were CAT6 in a wholesaler and they looked different (in their catalogue), but I did think CAT6 was thicker and maybe solid, so wasnt sure if it'd fit in the holes for CAT5, seems it does, which seems to be a potential weak point, maybe especially for DIY'ers?
Im just thinking now some kind professionally made preformed connector that has an RJ-45 style adapter/connector at the end, but where the network cable is crimped in a different way than done so traditionally, something that could give more shielding for Cat6.

I have read that you wont be able to make the cables to the standard for Cat6 at home or without professional equipment (I dont know if thats true or not), but it makes me feel a bit better about using up my roll of CAT5e cable.

MBSnr

^^^
I ran CAT5e outdoor cable up the side of my house and into the loft to get a decent connection. I did think about CAT6 outdoor cable but it's thicker and not as able to make as tight a radius curve around angles as CAT5e.

I'm not likely to move to a 1Gb fibre package, let alone a faster one if/when they become available in X amount of years time...

betarayjay

1874 wrote: »

Yes, I read this separately, but I saw some connectors that were CAT6 in a wholesaler and they looked different (in their catalogue), but I did think CAT6 was thicker and maybe solid, so wasnt sure if it'd fit in the holes for CAT5, seems it does, which seems to be a potential weak point, maybe especially for DIY'ers?
Im just thinking now some kind professionally made preformed connector that has an RJ-45 style adapter/connector at the end, but where the network cable is crimped in a different way than done so traditionally, something that could give more shielding for Cat6.

I have read that you wont be able to make the cables to the standard for Cat6 at home or without professional equipment (I dont know if thats true or not), but it makes me feel a bit better about using up my roll of CAT5e cable.

You can get shielded connectors but thats useless unless your using a shielded cable yes it looks nice but it'd work the same as standard connector

NabyLadistheman

I've a CAT 6 cable ran through some ducting to the shed, did it when I was putting in footpaths, now nearly ready to use it. Is putting the Cat 5 into a socket a big job? Will also have to crimp cable at Router side

betarayjay

NabyLadistheman wrote: »

I've a CAT 6 cable ran through some ducting to the shed, did it when I was putting in footpaths, now nearly ready to use it. Is putting the Cat 5 into a socket a big job? Will also have to crimp cable at Router side

when you say a socket? you talking about them wifi sockets? never went near 1, have a powerful 3x radio router less conflicts on the network side.

1874

NabyLadistheman wrote: »

I've a CAT 6 cable ran through some ducting to the shed, did it when I was putting in footpaths, now nearly ready to use it. Is putting the Cat 5 into a socket a big job? Will also have to crimp cable at Router side

No, I got a specific tool to push the wiring into the connections, I did it for a relative and the single gang boxes had a faceplate that had two network connection points.
It's been a while since I did that, but I just looked it up online, and did the same wiring configuration/layout (I think I used T568B) for the faceplate/wallconnection as I was using for the other network wiring.

betarayjay

1874 wrote: »

No, I got a specific tool to push the wiring into the connections, I did it for a relative and the single gang boxes had a faceplate that had two network connection points.
It's been a while since I did that, but I just looked it up online, and did the same wiring configuration/layout (I think I used T568B) for the faceplate/wallconnection as I was using for the other network wiring.

ah ok got ya, ur talking about a punchdown tool, and the faceplate thats a patchpoint, u can use T568A/B depending on ur setup if u wanna use a straight tru or crossover, i always do straight tru, since new tech auto recognise the signal,