External Cat6 Wiring in Extreme Cold/Snow Weather?

[RiqSha]

I'm thinking of wiring a couple rooms directly with CAT6 connections and I wanted to see if I could run the cables externally.

 

Does anyone have experience in using Outdoor rated Cat6 (or Cat5e) cables in extremely cold weather? I live in Canada so it sometimes gets down to -30 C with freezing rain and what not. 

 

Thanks.

 

[W-L]

1 minute ago, RiqSha said:

I'm thinking of wiring a couple rooms directly with CAT6 connections and I wanted to see if I could run the cables externally.

Does anyone have experience in using Outdoor rated Cat6 (or Cat5e) cables in extremely cold weather? I live in Canada so it sometimes gets down to -30 C with freezing rain and what not. 

Thanks.

As long as it is outdoor rated you can run it exposed along the wall and in some cases if allowed direct burial. Ideally though I usually recommend to use PVC conduit if you do plan to run anything underground. Just note that a lot of exterior grade cable is CCA (copper clad aluminum) while cost effective you want to try and get solid copper if possible. 

[RiqSha]

Thanks, I'll most likely run it along the wall. Its already winter here and I'm not interested in digging 6 inches along the house haha. Is there an acronym or standard used to identify that the cable is solid copper? I'd rather get this set up fixed once and for all. @W-L

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by RiqSha

[corrado33]

You should be fine. The cold doesn't really affect cables unless you're constantly bending them. UV light will do far more damage over time, so if I were you, I'd try to put it in the shadow somewhere. (Or underground... that works too.) 

 

EDIT: For the record I've never seen ethernet cables that WEREN'T solid copper. 

[RiqSha]

@corrado33 I'm trying to avoid burying them. Can PVC block UV radiation? I could just cover sections of the wire that have shine.

 

 

[W-L]

6 minutes ago, RiqSha said:

Thanks, I'll most likely run it along the wall. Its already winter here and I'm not interested in digging 6 inches along the house haha. Is there an acronym or standard used to identify that the cable is solid copper? I'd rather get this set up fixed once and for all. 

As long as it's not labeled as CCA, most generally will be solid or stranded copper for flexibility. 

https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=102&cp_id=10234&cs_id=1023405&p_id=12733&seq=1&format=2

https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-Networks-TOUGHCable-Shielded-Ethernet/dp/B008L143VW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1547500651&sr=8-1

 

 

1 minute ago, RiqSha said:

@corrado33 I'm trying to avoid burying them. Can PVC block UV radiation? I could just cover sections of the wire that have shine.

Yes you can run regular CAT 5e ethernet cable inside of PVC conduit on the exterior of the home or underground. 

[RiqSha]

Brilliant. I'll run Outdoor rated Cat5e or Cat6 cables with PVC in regions of UV shine. Thanks guys!

[Laftpig]

Also be as careful as you can to prevent water infiltration, joints and connections. Even outdoor rated don't like being submerged in water, certainly not indoor rated cable. Check out the gel filled cable if you think water is going to be a problem. 

[RiqSha]

2 minutes ago, Laftpig said:

Also be as careful as you can to prevent water infiltration, joints and connections. Even outdoor rated don't like being submerged in water, certainly not indoor rated cable. Check out the gel filled cable if you think water is going to be a problem. 

Any way to identify these cables? I thought external/outdoor rated cables were all filled with a gel compound? 

[Laftpig]

No they are not all gel filled. Your best bet is to research a company that sells this type cable and there are many. As stated by the op make sure it’s solid copper, gauge size is also important. What ever you do Don't get the cheapest cable out there. Buy the best and do it once. 

[RiqSha]

Alright cool thanks. I'll try to hit off on all those.

[Laftpig]

Better yet research this forum ipcamtalk.com. A site like this to help with mostly IP cameras which extensively use cat cable. A wealth on knowledge on the subject. 

[mtz_federico]

20 hours ago, corrado33 said:

EDIT: For the record I've never seen ethernet cables that WEREN'T solid copper. 

Last year I was doing an arduino project and decided to use the wires in an old cat5e ethernet cable to connect things to the breadboard and the wires were made of thiny strings of copper. it was one of the worst things to handle, after a few hours my fingers hurt from the pinching and trying to make sure the wires were not touching each other. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

4 hours ago, mtz_federico said:

Last year I was doing an arduino project and decided to use the wires in an old cat5e ethernet cable to connect things to the breadboard and the wires were made of thiny strings of copper. it was one of the worst things to handle, after a few hours my fingers hurt from the pinching and trying to make sure the wires were not touching each other. 

Patch cables (pre-made ethernet cables) are usually stranded, RAW cable (bought to run your own for sockets) is usually solid.

[corrado33]

29 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Patch cables (pre-made ethernet cables) are usually stranded, RAW cable (bought to run your own for sockets) is usually solid.

Interesting. I was wondering how one would EVER put a male Ethernet connector on a bare cable if the wires were stranded. It'd be near impossible! (I used to install ethernet in rich people's houses and put ends on the cable all the time as a summer job as a kid. Even with my small hands at the time it was a pain in the ass to get all the wires to go into the right slots before you squeezed the pliers. I think it actually WOULD be impossible with stranded cables. 

[W-L]

13 minutes ago, corrado33 said:

Interesting. I was wondering how one would EVER put a male Ethernet connector on a bare cable if the wires were stranded. It'd be near impossible! (I used to install ethernet in rich people's houses and put ends on the cable all the time as a summer job as a kid. Even with my small hands at the time it was a pain in the ass to get all the wires to go into the right slots before you squeezed the pliers. I think it actually WOULD be impossible with stranded cables. 

The insulation would still be on even for stranded since the blades pierce the insulation but there are modular and EZ crimp ethenet jacks which makes things much easier to assemble, highly recommend them. In most situations though stranded is used only for patch cables that have molded ends or cables that require the flexibility like in an umbilical or power chain.

 

https://www.platinumtools.com/products/connectors/ez-rj45-cat6-connectors-100010c/

https://www.showmecables.com/549-10-pk