concerns regarding cable length and type

[Nuh_]

I'm planning a route from the main modem in the house to the one in my room.

Previously, only one of them could be on, the other should be off.

I'm gonna run a cable out the window around the house and into my room the to the modem, this way I'll be able to have both on without having to pay the performance cost for setting up a WiFi repeater.

 

the length is gonna be around 70m and my wifi subscription is 4mbps. 

 

My question is, does the cable have to be stp or can i get away with utp?

 

also, the length shouldn't have a real impact on games and other latency sensitive applications, should it?

[W-L]

13 minutes ago, Nuh_ said:

-SNIP-

I would be more concerned about routing the cable outside as you will want to look for outdoor rated cable and to look for copper based cable as a lot of outdoor rated sutff is CCA (copper clad aluminum). 

 

If the plan is to install/mounted permanently on the exterior then solid copper cable CAT5e outdoor rated is good it doesn't need to be shielded so regular UTP should be fine. 

 

As an alternative option you may also want to look into powerline ethernet which uses the electrical wires in the home to pass a signal. 

Edited April 8, 2022 by W-L

[Nuh_]

5 minutes ago, W-L said:

As an alternative option you may also want to look into powerline ethernet which uses the electrical wires in the home to pass a signal. 

It'd love to test this. Is it as straight forward at getting the equipment and hoping it works? because it's an old house and I don't trust how it's wired.

or is there something I can do beforehand to ensure it works?

[Alex Atkin UK]

5 hours ago, W-L said:

If the plan is to install/mounted permanently on the exterior then solid copper cable CAT5e outdoor rated is good it doesn't need to be shielded so regular UTP should be fine.

Are you sure?  Ubiquiti make quite a big song and dance about needing shielded cable for their outdoor equipment because there is so much more background RF outdoors that can get into the cable.

I'd personally not want to use UTP, especially given the length.  Also a benefit if there is a lightening strike nearby it can induce current in the cable (it happened with my phone line and blow up the modem) so having a grounded shielded cable seems a good idea.  Or go the more expensive but safer route and use fibre, although I'm not familiar with the price of outdoor rated fibre and you'd need bigger holes to get the pre-terminated ends through.

[Nuh_]

9 hours ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Are you sure?  Ubiquiti make quite a big song and dance about needing shielded cable for their outdoor equipment because there is so much more background RF outdoors that can get into the cable.

Isn't the remediation to that having a twisted pair cable? and the more twisted it is the less noise goes into it?

 

The house has a lightning rod on the roof, I think that fixes the grounding problem

[Alex Atkin UK]

10 minutes ago, Nuh_ said:

Isn't the remediation to that having a twisted pair cable? and the more twisted it is the less noise goes into it?

 

The house has a lightning rod on the roof, I think that fixes the grounding problem

Twisted pair helps with crosstalk and to minimise it acting as an antenna and minor interference - but stronger interference which (at least according to Ubiquiti is much stronger outdoors, I can see how that would be the case) needs a proper grounded shield.

A lightening rod might help avoid it hitting the cable directly, but it wont protect it from picking up current via induction/RF.

[W-L]

10 hours ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Are you sure?  Ubiquiti make quite a big song and dance about needing shielded cable for their outdoor equipment because there is so much more background RF outdoors that can get into the cable.

I'd personally not want to use UTP, especially given the length.  Also a benefit if there is a lightening strike nearby it can induce current in the cable (it happened with my phone line and blow up the modem) so having a grounded shielded cable seems a good idea.  Or go the more expensive but safer route and use fibre, although I'm not familiar with the price of outdoor rated fibre and you'd need bigger holes to get the pre-terminated ends through.

The shielding is good for noise or RF environments mainly industrial environements. For exterior if it's being mounted on an aerial for sure you will want shielded cable for lighting protection or grounding but as this is being put on a structure itself I would be less worried as if lighting struck the structure itself there would be much larger issues than with just the ethernet devices being fried. 

 

16 hours ago, Nuh_ said:

It'd love to test this. Is it as straight forward at getting the equipment and hoping it works? because it's an old house and I don't trust how it's wired.

or is there something I can do beforehand to ensure it works?

There isn't really an easy way to test but depends on how old the home is and if the wiring has been upgraded. If the electrical panel has been upgraded at some point with breakers or fault interrupts over glass fuses I would bet a good bit has been redone in the home.

 

If cost is an issue and wiring a hassle I would first try a powerline solution before spending a lot more time and work having to get cable installed and mounted on the side of the building.