Does anyone have a place they reccomend buying good Cat 6 outdoor cable? I have a funny feeling the Amazon cables won't quite be the best quality for a 250' run.
Does anyone have a place they reccomend buying good Cat 6 outdoor cable? I have a funny feeling the Amazon cables won't quite be the best quality for a 250' run.
Meh, it'll play.
This is what I’ve bought several times in the past.
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=41357
Monoprice is a good source, but you need to get the right cable for your application. 250 feet is a long way and even with a good cable may still be problematic. Might need a repeater or run fiber.
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=15398
CAT6 is good for 100m or 328 ft but that is for the total length from device, through the wall, and to the other device.
One thing with buried cable is if you get lightning nearby, you’re essentially burying a lightning rod in the ground. I might go fiber if that’s what you’re doing since that is usually made of plastic. But make sure to run a conduit and get fiber that can be buried.
I’d actually go fiber with prepurchased cables if it is to be buried in the ground say connecting two somewhat distant (couple hundred feet) buildings. Would hate to have lightning hit nearby and jump onto the cat cables and fry expensive networking equipment.
That shouldn't happen with properly grounded gear. But fiber can transfer more data per diameter than copper. You do have to convert at each end, so equipment purchases might be loftier. For future-proofing though - never hurts to look ahead. Standards keep evolving. I think I'd pull both if I were going to run fiber tho. Because backups. Copper should be useful for decades to come.
I haven’t had it but I have friends and my parents lose electronic equipment/TVs to lightning strikes here in TN. And they were using good quality, above average surge equipment. And this came through the electrical wires, which we know is grounded. And through surge protectors.
But think about it, some lightning strikes come through the ground so what is grounding going to do, especially to network equipment? Even network surge equipment usually doesn’t save the equipment, check the reviews of network surge suppressors This is why I’m a huge proponent of fiber, which is usually plastic, as opposed to the incredible conductor which copper is.
Fiber end points to ethernet converters are around $80 each and a prebuilt fiber cable maybe around $1 a foot. Plus the cost of conduit. Not cheap but would be incredibly cheap in the long run as compared to a single lightning strike destroying equipment.
Thank you for the replies. Fiber was what I looked at first. It is perfect for this application but is a no go due to budget.
This application is only providing data to one Roku. I'm currently making the jump with a wireless bridge. It is working well, I just want a cable to simplify the network. This will be a one-piece run. If buried in conduit, I can probably get away with non-outdoor cable if is good quality.
Meh, it'll play.
If you only need 250ft, you are going to be limited in your choices. Made in USA vendors ship this cable on 1000ft reels. If you are putting it underground, only use outdoor rated cable. You will need a black jacket and the best option will be a filled or flooded cable to keep moisture off the conductors. You can try eBay for a short run of Commscope or Belden. Good luck in the search.