Can I run CAT 5 outside?

[xander5000]

i need to put some cat along the side of a building. can it handle that? if not, what can?pvc is pricey isn't it?
x

 

[John]

Yes, but you might want to get shielded.

 

[Ausm]

Blackbox.com sells CAT5 Cable specially shielded for outside use.

Ausm

 

[xander5000]

dang, that's over their budget. what do you think will happen with UTP outside?

 

[BD231]

What I would do is make sure its close to a building and cover it in a few layers of black electric tape, the wire itself rips kinna easy so you wouldent want it to be out where people step on it.

 

[HappyPuppy]

The only problem would be the outer insulation weathering and cracking over time. Just run it through the cheapest watertight PVC you can find and you'll be fine.

 

[PlatinumGold]

ya, i'm with happy puppy. pvc is cheap and easy to work with. just make sure you seal the joints well. you don't want it to fill up w/ water.

 

[NaughtyusMaximus]

It isn't recomended, but really there's no problem with running it outside for a home LAN. I've got a wire that's been outside for 4 years (in the snow and beating sun). If it starts to crack, and get worn out, you can just replace it (but most likely by the time that that happens, you'll want wireless anyway).

Other than physical damage, there is a slight loss of speed for wires run through heat (sun/heaters/etc.) - so if speed is a worry, shielding wont help you anyway.

 

[Ark]

I am running all my network cables outside around a house. Using both PVC and Teflon type insulation - no visible cracks. Using same cables for phone lines. It is much easier to run cables outside, then put them in the walls.

 

[ScottMac]

Well, realizing that I'm swimming upstream here, I'll tell ya anyway, just so you can't say noone told ya....

Running UTP outside is NOT recommended. Running naked UTP (which includes PVC pipe) is absolutely not recommended.

There is at least one flavor of "outdoor rated" UTP (Avaya has one), but they absolutely, positively tell you NOT to use it without "entry protection" (a surge supressor similar to the one on you telephone line), and they specifically say it is NOT to be used for telephone in their literature.

Standard UTP/Cat5/5e/6 is not environmentally jacketed, plenum-rated cable is also not environmentally jacketed (it uses a jacketing material with a higher flash point, and releases less toxic fumes when burned). It rots pretty much just like the standard jacketing.

Hanging the wire out in the weather, especially in dry climates (like cold winter, arid desert, etc) is a bad thing because it builds up static, and is subject to "environmental transients" (like lightning...directly or near strikes).

If the able must be run externally, it should be "outdoor rated" and run in standard, (well) grounded conduit of the largest diameter practical. Running UTP in small diameter conduit is like adding another shield to it, changing the electrical characteristics, reducing the signal carrying capacity of the UTP.

In summary, running UTP outdoors is absolutely the last thing you should do...any other option is a better option. Fiber is the best way to go for an external run (rated for the environment). If there's no other way, then it should be "outdoor rated," enclosed in at least 2" conduit, and used with the proper entry protection at each end.

Anything less than that is a hazard to your life, or worse, you could damage some perfectly good computing equipment (and it's against most municipal code, state codes, and the National Electric Code...so concievably it could cost you some money (in fines) as well).

Remember, Darwin always wins.....


Good Luck

Scott

 

[reicherb]

Listen to ScottMac. He's Elite for a reason.

 

[amdskip]

You probably have thought about it but one way or another you should be able to run that cable through the walls or conceal along the baseboards or something like that. I didn't think it was possible in my house but I managed to snag a wire downstairs by crawling through blown in cellulose insulation and fishing a wire through the wall. I even went all out and got the nice little wall jacks and man is she lookin pretty now