sundance-communications.com/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Cabling Telephones Systems Wiring How to run ~500Feet of Cat5 or Cat6?

I have just recently bought yet another computer and want to move it into my guestroom, the only problem is that its on the other side of my house. Roughly 500feet give or take 20feet, I still need to measure exactly. I keep reading that the single run length max is ~328feet, so, my question is, can I even run it this far, if I place a powered switch every 300feet or so, also, about 400feet of this cable is probably going to be run outside of my house. What should/could I use to insulate it and/or is it even a good idea to run it out side, or is there some sort of an alternative way to run a network cable there? As a last resort im considering just installing a new phone line in the room and getting another dsl modem, but, thats probably going to be more money then I would really like to spend.

So any ideas would be much appreciated!
Thomas

Dont run it outside. Run it as far as you can than go wireless. If you dont kink the cable six times and keep it neet and avoid lots of bends it will work at 500 ft. No staples... no no no...

If it is more than 500' away, then I would guess that your least worry would be cost. You can buy outdoor CAT 5E to run outside. But I would try to keep it at around the 300' mark. I would run an indoor CAT 5E to a point in house, and connect up a small switch. Then run the outdoor CAT 5E from there to your new computer. If in your location you have many lightning storms be sure to use some CAT 5 rated Lightning protectors.

I agree with D

Thomas:

CAT5 and CAT6 length limits are the same, 100 meters or 328 feet. Are your sure you have a 500 foot run in a single building? A professional football field is only 300 feet and that's a pretty long distance. I'll bet that you really don't have as much of a cable run as it appears.

The distance limits are set by cable manufacturers and the "authorities" that are funded by them.

You will be fine with your cable run.

Thanks for the quick responce everyone! I just made a rough measurment of the distance, and the 'ideal' cable route i wanted to use would be about 450feet,that is with it going outside around my house, then into my guestroom. if i was to run it inside, along the bottom of the wall/floor it is about 360feet give or take about 15 feet on both of these distances. It would also be 'kinked' (im asuming you mean bent like to go around a corner) about 4-6 times, depending if its inside/outside. The only problem is that Im not going to be able to run it inside, since i wont be able to 'hide' the cable anywhere. I did consider trying some wireless, i have experimented in the past with it, unfortunatly, the walls my house are extreamly thick, (there would be 1-4 walls it would have to pass through near the guestroom depending again where i run it) and it hardly goes through more then two. So im limited from that aspect. I would idealy like to run it inside but i just dont think its going to work out for me. Im just going to have to think about this a little more and reconsider getting a new phone line just for my dsl in that side of the house.

Could I use wireless for a section of it.. hmm See, my office is at the end of a 50' room, thats open, with no walls untill my kitchen, so if i could go wireless up till say, my kitchen, then run wire from there (where all the walls come into play) could that work?

Thanks again
Thomas

At that distance, I would recommend running fiber and using media converters on each end.

Lagarb: We do some pretty large houses around here with wireless and have run into issues with standard wireless units. However, Linksys makes a high gain antenae that work like a charm. We have covered an entire 4 story house (including basement and elevator shaft) with one AP.

I would recommend trying out one of these (almost every manufacturer has a high gain antenae) that screwe on the back where the stock antenae is.

If that falls short you can find the adapters to unscrew the stock antenae and screw on a new cable that can then be run to outdoor antanea on the roof. One at each side and you are good to go.

Hope that helps.

-Roy

If there is power along the way, I would terminate in an over sized outdoor rated jbox and stick a small repeater hub/switch. Making sure where you put the device is within the 300' limit on either side.

I want to see a pic of this place a house that is over 300 feet long. How BIG of family do you have? If this place is truly that size call an expert in and have it done right.