200 metre link between Workshop and House

[comicsansms]

The place I work at owns the adjancent property to one of our workshops (see image), and we need to connect the house in that adjancent property with our internet.

 

Map

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Network Map

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The Communications Room (Comms Room) of the workshop is at the front of the shed, and the shed is 100metres long. We have some Cat6 ethernet cables that run across the workshop (dual ethernet cables 50metres away from the Comms Room, and a single ethernet cable 90metres away from the Comms Room).

 

What I have come up with to connect the properties together is by using a set of bridges (Ubiquiti AirMAX Nanobeam AC (Gen 2)), and put one of the bridges on the top of the back of the shed (which is about 20metres high), and attach the other to the house (which is 100metres away from the corner of the back shed).

 

Testing shows that we cannot use the 90metre long ethernet cable, because the connection isn't stable, which makes sence since the cable is likely over 100metres long from the way it is routed.

So I tested the 50metre long ethernet cable that was halfway along the workshop, and the connection was fine, so I plugged in a 30metre long ethernet cable into the wall outlet, and the connection dropped down to 100Mbit, showing that the cable is once again too long. So I plugged the ethernet cable into a small switch (D-Link DGS-1005A) that we had next to the 50metre along cable, (since we need to plug 2 computers into that one ethernet port, because that other port is used for a phone), and once again, the 30metre long ethernet cable could only sustain a 100Mbit connection when plugged into that switch.

 

 

So the question is; What do I need to do to extend the ethernet cable, (since it's not posible for the bridge to be closer to the Comms Room to keep line of sight)? OR Is there something else you'd do that would be a better way to connect that building?

[iris7]

I had the same situation happen while planning to run cable through a building.  To resolve this issue, we had to run a fiber optic cable across the building.  In your situation, having a burried cable may work.

 

I haven't used many Ubiquiti AirMAX products, but your proposed solution seems a lot more appealing(and cheaper) than running underground cable.

[scottyseng]

I'm also probably going to have to agree with buried fiber (or fiber in conduit underground) as a way to run this. Else, the airmax idea is cheaper and should work. 

[comicsansms]

Update. I swapped the old switch I had in the comms room with the TL-SG3424P (before I just had an old 8port netgear desktop switch) and I am now having a gigabit connection to the end of the shed, then plugged in a 30metre ethernet cable and still had a gigabit connection. I'm going to buy the 2 bridges and AP I need on Monday, and I'll show the finished setup later on.

[Spotty]

11 minutes ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

Update. I swapped the old switch I had in the comms room with the TL-SG3424P (before I just had an old 8port netgear desktop switch) and I am now having a gigabit connection to the end of the shed, then plugged in a 30metre ethernet cable and still had a gigabit connection. I'm going to buy the 2 bridges and AP I need on Monday, and I'll show the finished setup later on.

What type of ethernet cable are you using? If you can, use good quality Cat6a shielded cable. The additional shielding may help reduce some issues over the larger lengths.

[comicsansms]

1 hour ago, Spotty said:

What type of ethernet cable are you using? If you can, use good quality Cat6a shielded cable. The additional shielding may help reduce some issues over the larger lengths.

Good question, I don't know what's already routed in the workshop is, I assume outdoor shielded cat 6, but I honestly don't have a clue, and that probably bad. We are hoping we don't need to replace that. If we have problems, we'll reroute better cable or work out a cheap fix. The thing is, we want it to be a very cheap solution. Fibre would be best, but we are not purely because of cost benifit.

 

The house will only be used for people staying at work, and work isn't done there.

[Spotty]

3 hours ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

Good question, I don't know what's already routed in the workshop is, I assume outdoor shielded cat 6, but I honestly don't have a clue, and that probably bad. We are hoping we don't need to replace that. If we have problems, we'll reroute better cable or work out a cheap fix. The thing is, we want it to be a very cheap solution. Fibre would be best, but we are not purely because of cost benifit.

It will normally be printed on the cable what type it is. It will have something similar to "Cat5e UTP" printed on it.
Ethernet cables come in spools of 305m (1000ft). This should be enough to run from your server room to the other property even after a few twists and turns and trips through the ceiling or wherever.

With shielding is a lot more expensive than cabling without. Standard undshielded (UTP) Cat6 you can get for $100-$150 per 305m, but for shielded (STP/FTP/SSTP/SFTP/SUTP) Cat6 you're looking at double or triple that price. Depending on the type of shielding, you could be looking at AUD$300-$400 for a 305m spool.
 

Worth noting that the above mentioned cables aren't really suitable for outdoors. For the outside stretch you may need some gel filled cable which will protect against moisture getting in and damaging the cable. Gel filled Cat6 will probably be similar in price to the shielded cables so expect about AUD$350 for a spool of that.

There's some other more knowledgeable people on the forums that would have a much better idea than me at what type of cabling and shielding you should be using in which situation to give you the best results over 200m. Alternatively talk to the person/store you are buying the cable from and ask what type you need.

[MyName13]

What about laser communication?It would probably not work during rainy days or in case of high heat waves rising in front of the receiver.

[Spotty]

On 6/15/2018 at 9:17 PM, Comic_Sans_MS said:

I swapped the old switch I had in the comms room with the TL-SG3424P (before I just had an old 8port netgear desktop switch) and I am now having a gigabit connection to the end of the shed, then plugged in a 30metre ethernet cable and still had a gigabit connection. I'm going to buy the 2 bridges and AP I need on Monday, and I'll show the finished setup later on.

@Comic_Sans_MS any update on your progress?
Were you able to get it to work with the bridges and access points?

[comicsansms]

5 hours ago, Spotty said:

@Comic_Sans_MS any update on your progress?
Were you able to get it to work with the bridges and access points?

They aren't here yet, I'll let you know once they've arrived.