What type of Ethernet cable should I buy?

[Septimus]

I'm looking to run an exterior Cat5e Ethernet cable along the outside of my house, through the attic, and then down into my bedroom. After looking around for a little bit, I though I had found a good cable to buy until I did a little more research and found that there was quite a bit I didn't know. The entrance location for the internet in my house is on the opposite side from where my computer is, and using Wi-Fi through all those walls causes about a 40%-55% degradation in bandwidth - something nobody wants if they can avoid it. 

I'm asking what kind of cable I should buy, if somebody could point me to one specifically that would be great. I have a 100 Mbps connection and I am looking to obtain the full speed (plus or minus a few megabits) on the other side of my house. From my understanding, I will need:

- About 175 to 200 feet of cable

- Cat5e cable

- A cable capable of withstanding an outdoor environment

(Please point out anything I've missed)

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

what speeds?

 

It probably just get cat 6, doesn't cost much more, better for those distances.

 

Just get a cable like this https://www.amazon.com/CERTICABLE-OUTDOOR-DIRECT-UNDERGROUND-RJ45-RJ45/dp/B00HHZSIUU

 

Then get a few ends and a crimper https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-100-Pack-Modular-Stranded/dp/B004D5RFCE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498344546&sr=8-1&keywords=cat+6+ends

[Lisster]

Last year I did what you are talking about because i was sick of slow speeds.

Our net comes upstairs so i ran cables from my server room there down to my office.

Although you say you only "need" Cat5e (which would carry 100mbit internet easily) i HIGHLY recommend future proofing and putting in Cat6a (which can run up to 10GbE vs the 1Gb cat5e).

This way you never have to replace it.

The other thing i highly suggest if you are going through attics, walls etc is to not run 1 wire, run 4.

Even if you only use 1 at a time (i use all 4 with failover) they will decay and if you have redundancy you wont have to do this again.

I used these (https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=102&cp_id=10232&cs_id=1026002&p_id=5907&seq=1&format=2) and they are great so far.

They are not specifically "outside" cables but the electrician i got to do the work ran them through a pipe to weather proof them. It also made the HOA less annoyed

If 100 feet isnt enough you can buy those on spools up to like 1000ft but youd have to crimp them yourself which can be tricky.

 

Hope this helps!

[Septimus]

3 minutes ago, Lisster said:

Although you say you only "need" Cat5e (which would carry 100mbit internet easily) i HIGHLY recommend future proofing and putting in Cat6a (which can run up to 10GbE vs the 1Gb cat5e). This way you never have to replace it.

I could agree with the Cat6 instead of Cat5e for future proofing, as long as there isn't a significant price difference, but according to @Electronics Wizardy, there isn't. Still going to buy a cable rated for exterior use since I don't want to use pipes. 

 

5 minutes ago, Lisster said:

The other thing i highly suggest if you are going through attics, walls etc is to not run 1 wire, run 4.

Even if you only use 1 at a time (i use all 4 with failover) they will decay and if you have redundancy you wont have to do this again.

How long does it usually take a Cat6 cable to decay? Is there a large difference in the decay rate between an expensive cable and a cheap cable, or is it rather minimal? 

 

7 minutes ago, Lisster said:

If 100 feet isn't enough you can buy those on spools up to like 1000ft but you'd have to crimp them yourself which can be tricky.

I want to avoid excess cable, although it doesn't really matter that much. Is it possible to just join two Ethernet cables together? I would assume it could be done with an adapter of some sort. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

37 minutes ago, Septimus said:

How long does it usually take a Cat6 cable to decay?

many decades, cables don't really fail, the insulation becomes brittle over time, but it will work fine.

 

 

[Donut417]

2 hours ago, Septimus said:

How long does it usually take a Cat6 cable to decay? Is there a large difference in the decay rate between an expensive cable and a cheap cable, or is it rather minimal? 

 

To my understanding from what I read. Most outdoor cabling fails due to exposure to the sun. The UV rays make the insulation brittle and the water works its way in. What best is to try to tuck the cable under the siding so that you dont get full sun on it. I will say this, We had our cable line from the pole to the house replaced once. That cable must have been over a decade old, but again it gets full sun. 

[faziten]

5 hours ago, Septimus said:

I'm looking to run an exterior Cat5e Ethernet cable along the outside of my house, through the attic, and then down into my bedroom. After looking around for a little bit, I though I had found a good cable to buy until I did a little more research and found that there was quite a bit I didn't know. The entrance location for the internet in my house is on the opposite side from where my computer is, and using Wi-Fi through all those walls causes about a 40%-55% degradation in bandwidth - something nobody wants if they can avoid it. 

I'm asking what kind of cable I should buy, if somebody could point me to one specifically that would be great. I have a 100 Mbps connection and I am looking to obtain the full speed (plus or minus a few megabits) on the other side of my house. From my understanding, I will need:

- About 175 to 200 feet of cable

- Cat5e cable

- A cable capable of withstanding an outdoor environment

(Please point out anything I've missed)

 

To be safe: Get Exterior STP (F/UTP) Cat 5e cable (it's the one with one foil under the plastic cover, the pair foil is a bit expensive and overkill). If you are crossing it through the attic it may cross many live lines. 

 

Since you aim at 100Mbit it's more than enough to guarantee full duplex speeds. 

[Septimus]

6 hours ago, faziten said:

To be safe: Get Exterior STP (F/UTP) Cat 5e cable (it's the one with one foil under the plastic cover, the pair foil is a bit expensive and overkill). 

Thanks for supplying a different type of cable rating. 

[Lisster]

On 6/24/2017 at 3:59 PM, Septimus said:

I could agree with the Cat6 instead of Cat5e for future proofing, as long as there isn't a significant price difference, but according to @Electronics Wizardy, there isn't. Still going to buy a cable rated for exterior use since I don't want to use pipes. 

That's a good idea if it works for your situation for sure. There isn't any difference in speed or anything between indoor/outdoor cables. Our HOA simply required it
Oh and for price don't buy on amazon, im not sure if you are in canada or the US but monoprice.com has amazing cables (im sure @LinusTech will agree) for much cheaper.

 

Quote

How long does it usually take a Cat6 cable to decay? Is there a large difference in the decay rate between an expensive cable and a cheap cable, or is it rather minimal? 

@Electronics Wizardy is right it normally takes a long time. i should have mentioned i live in Las Vegas and the cables i ran would have been in direct sunlight without the piping.
And with most of the summer here being 110+ that means cables would melt heh.

 

Quote

I want to avoid excess cable, although it doesn't really matter that much. Is it possible to just join two Ethernet cables together? I would assume it could be done with an adapter of some sort. 

Yes and no. You can join cables together but that means you have another point of failure to deal with and there is a max lenght you can use anyhow.

The easiest is to buy a spool and just cut the wires to the exact length you need.

[The Benjamins]

These guys have good prices, and will do custom length.

http://www.fs.com/c/cat6-patch-cables-594?50m-164ft=20603&snagless-booted-cable=19518&shielded-stp=20565&_requestConfirmationToken=16ef0b1926b08a9c9c562d8265daa93c

 

You could also do ethernet to fiber converters, it will cost a little more but you can go longer distances, thinner cable and if the cable fails the cable it self is cheaper.

2x Mini Gigabit Ethernet Media Converter $23

http://www.fs.com/products/35333.html

2x 1000BASE-SX SFP Transceiver $6

http://www.fs.com/products/29838.html

200ft Standard LC-LC fiber $24

http://www.fs.com/products/12018.html

OR 

200ft Armored LC-LC fiber $48

http://www.fs.com/products/20838.html