Burial ethernet cable, Does anyone have experience?

[pRogz]

I would like to run ethernet cable from my in-home router to my separate garage. As long as I use burial ethernet cable am I perfectly okay? I am burying the cable, it will not be running above land at all. Could I just plug it straight into my home router than plug it into a switch in my separate garage. I am not experienced in this part of networking, and honestly, trying to do research online... there is not much good stuff out there.

 

The range between my router and garage is about 82 feet according to Google Earth.

[Needfuldoer]

How long is the run?

[pRogz]

Just now, Needfuldoer said:

How long is the run?

According to google earth about 82 feet.

[Skiiwee29]

As long as its an outdoor rated cable, then yea, bury it so it won't get damaged or cut and should be good. Would recommend maybe getting a small piece of conduit to run it in to help protect it a little more. 

[pRogz]

1 minute ago, Skiiwee29 said:

As long as its an outdoor rated cable, then yea, bury it so it won't get damaged or cut and should be good. Would recommend maybe getting a small piece of conduit to run it in to help protect it a little more. 

Is it required to be grounded and if so, is there some kind of device I need to do this?

[Skiiwee29]

Just now, pRogz said:

Is it required to be grounded and if so, is there some kind of device I need to do this?

No, its grounded through the ethernet ports on the router and switch, or should be anyways. 

[shoutingsteve]

 

9 minutes ago, Skiiwee29 said:

As long as its an outdoor rated cable, then yea, bury it so it won't get damaged or cut and should be good. Would recommend maybe getting a small piece of conduit to run it in to help protect it a little more. 

I recommend also running a second line of it even if you are going to run it in conduit.  As the ground shifts or tree roots grow, rigid conduit can crack and then shift eventually cutting the cable itself.  A  second line, especially one that isn't in the same conduit, can be a lifesaver.

[pRogz]

Just now, shoutingsteve said:

 

I recommend also running a second line of it even if you are going to run it in conduit.  As the ground shifts or tree roots grow, rigid conduit can crack and then shift eventually cutting the cable itself.  A  second line, especially one that isn't in the same conduit, can be a lifesaver.

I was just going to run the cable out and be done with it. The digging of the hole is easy for me. I just can't seem to find "recent" youtube videos or anything about people explaining this process and how it works.

[Heliian]

Run in a conduit, the plastic grey stuff doesn't crack very easily. 

 

I've had a similar run for 10 years with no problems.  

 

Lightning took out my 2 routers last year, cable was still good. 

[pRogz]

3 minutes ago, Heliian said:

Run in a conduit, the plastic grey stuff doesn't crack very easily. 

 

I've had a similar run for 10 years with no problems.  

 

Lightning took out my 2 routers last year, cable was still good. 

Could you explain a bit more. Did you run conduit when the lightening took out two of your routers?

Did you run the wire above ground or below? 

 

And this is me just not knowing... but if the wire is underground and the lightening hits the surface.. will it affect the wire? Was the wire showing just a little bit out of the ground where the lightening hit it?

[pRogz]

33 minutes ago, Skiiwee29 said:

No, its grounded through the ethernet ports on the router and switch, or should be anyways. 

Could you explain this a bit more. I just want a full understanding because you say "or should be anyways". Does that mean there is a chance the switch is not grounded?

Also, how far into the ground should I buy the wire? Does anyone know this information?

[Heliian]

20 minutes ago, pRogz said:

Could you explain a bit more. Did you run conduit when the lightening took out two of your routers?

Did you run the wire above ground or below? 

 

And this is me just not knowing... but if the wire is underground and the lightening hits the surface.. will it affect the wire? Was the wire showing just a little bit out of the ground where the lightening hit it?

I had lightning strike the utility pole near my house last year.  It took out the main router Ethernet ports and fried the second router.  It had nothing to do with the conduit run just bad luck.  The cable was still good, replaced the routers and back in business.  

 

The conduit is about 12" below the surface maybe 18". 

 

Water and freeze/thaw was my biggest concern so make sure to seal the ends. 

[Falcon1986]

@pRogz

 

Try to run in conduit, even if it's PVC. If, for any reason, you have to replace the cable in the future, you'll have an easier job because the conduit is there. No digging to do.

 

Ubiquiti has ethernet surge protectors.

[Alex Atkin UK]

1 hour ago, Falcon1986 said:

@pRogz

 

Try to run in conduit, even if it's PVC. If, for any reason, you have to replace the cable in the future, you'll have an easier job because the conduit is there. No digging to do.

 

Ubiquiti has ethernet surge protectors.

Or use fibre to avoid any potential electrical issues.  Once you've had your network fried by lightening, you never want to use copper again.  Its a big reason I'm eager for FTTP, one less risk of taking everything out.

Our chimney got hit years ago, it never hit the cabling but it fried everything connected to the phone line anyway (including a modem as it was dialup days), went from that modem and turned the motherboard IO chip to charcoal (bet many here don't remember when motherboards HAD an IO chip) and the diodes on every NIC (it was coax, not sure how far it would have travelled over a switch but considering my switch cost as much as a PC I wouldn't want to risk it).

[shoutingsteve]

12 hours ago, pRogz said:

The digging of the hole is easy for me.

This line in particular is what gives me pause, I'm not sure you know what you're in for.  I know you are planning on only running a data line, but deeper is better.  And if you are not planning on using conduit you're going to want to go 24" down.  I'm basing that on electrical codes, but the principals are the same (ground shifts due to temperate changes and water tables, deeper is less susceptible to this and is less likely to be hit by tree roots or by fools with shovels.)

[pRogz]

10 hours ago, shoutingsteve said:

This line in particular is what gives me pause, I'm not sure you know what you're in for.  I know you are planning on only running a data line, but deeper is better.  And if you are not planning on using conduit you're going to want to go 24" down.  I'm basing that on electrical codes, but the principals are the same (ground shifts due to temperate changes and water tables, deeper is less susceptible to this and is less likely to be hit by tree roots or by fools with shovels.)

Lol, I guess I should have said I am okay with digging the trench. I already done this with like satellite wire. But just like with any other project I always research before doing something. Honestly, if the cable ever stops working 10 years from now (if it even stops working then) I have no problem just digging it up again.

 

The Fiber idea, I don't want to do. That just seems like I am throwing money into the ground.

[mtz_federico]

55 minutes ago, pRogz said:

The Fiber idea, I don't want to do. That just seems like I am throwing money into the ground.

For your case, fiber is overkill. Just run the cable either directly on the ground or in a conduit (better future proofing). Ethernet has a maximum distance of 100 meters (328 feet) so you should be fine. Because the cable is buried you don't have to worry about lightning.

[Blue4130]

10 hours ago, pRogz said:

Lol, I guess I should have said I am okay with digging the trench. I already done this with like satellite wire. But just like with any other project I always research before doing something. Honestly, if the cable ever stops working 10 years from now (if it even stops working then) I have no problem just digging it up again.

 

The Fiber idea, I don't want to do. That just seems like I am throwing money into the ground.

Fibre really isn't that expensive. $20 for cable, a used nic or two and you are good to go. 

[Donut417]

On 3/9/2022 at 9:41 AM, pRogz said:

Did you run the wire above ground or below? 

THe 8BitGuy over on YouTube has a conduit ran between his house and his parents who live next door. He said lightning took out the Ethernet cabling and some networking equipment twice. Since then he ran Fiber. 

 

In my opinion as Ethernet is copper and Electrical wires are well copper, meaning it will conduct electricity. I would considering grounding the connection OR better yet, just run Fiber. At least with Fiber, it potentially can support faster speeds if you ever need that and its doesnt conduct electricity. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

10 hours ago, mtz_federico said:

For your case, fiber is overkill. Just run the cable either directly on the ground or in a conduit (better future proofing). Ethernet has a maximum distance of 100 meters (328 feet) so you should be fine. Because the cable is buried you don't have to worry about lightning.

Fiber is never overkill and it inherently is the most future-proof, plus as mentioned being grounded doesn't make copper safe from lightening.  Plus it avoids the whole different ground potential issues.