Outdoor ethernet cable

[zac0403]

So i have a summer house at the end of my garden which has a standard cat 5 ethernet cable going from my house to the switch in there through the air. I would like to begin the process of upgrading my router, ethernet cables as well at switches to Gigabit but after some research have found "outdoor protected" ethernet cables being mentioned and being described as essential. Is this really that necessary as my ethernet cable has been fine for multiple years now in the air without any outdoor protection fitted onto it or is it a possible issue i could run into.

 

 

 

Thanks.

[W-L]

4 minutes ago, zac0403 said:

So i have a summer house at the end of my garden which has a standard cat 5 ethernet cable going from my house to the switch in there through the air. I would like to begin the process of upgrading my router, ethernet cables as well at switches to Gigabit but after some research have found "outdoor protected" ethernet cables being mentioned and being described as essential. Is this really that necessary as my ethernet cable has been fine for multiple years now in the air without any outdoor protection fitted onto it or is it a possible issue i could run into.

Thanks.

Welcome to the Forums!

 

Ideally exterior grade cable is best to as it's UV protected and usually has extra insulation with the interior potted with gel to ensure waterproofness. The best option is still to run cable within a conduit as it protects it and is the first line of defense against the environment than the cable itself,.

[Windows7ge]

I wouldn't say so much it's a necessity as it's an extra layer of protection and a safer state of mind that it's going to be reliable. If a normal Cat5e cable  has worked for you I say keep using it but the moment you have issues back there test the cable as your first troubleshooting step to see if it's at fault. If it is then you might consider looking at an outdoor rated Ethernet cable.

[zac0403]

3 minutes ago, W-L said:

Welcome to the Forums!

 

Ideally exterior grade cable is best to as it's UV protected and usually has extra insulation with the interior potted with gel to ensure waterproofness. The best option is still to run cable within a conduit as it protects it and is the first line of defense against the environment than the cable itself,.

Thanks,

 

 

Thats what i'll probably end up doing, just wanted some other opinions as to if i was doing something cataclysmic wrong  that was gonna cause problems in the future

[W-L]

4 minutes ago, zac0403 said:

Thanks,

Thats what i'll probably end up doing, just wanted some other opinions as to if i was doing something cataclysmic wrong  that was gonna cause problems in the future

As long as your cable currently is still good it shouldn't have any issue as mentioned but just not the best practice, one thing though if you go with exterior grade cable take note of some that are CCA (copper clad aluminum) cables and not solid copper ones. 

[aeroencychris]

Inevitably someone will link it so I might as well