cat 5 cable ?

[RAPID49]

I'm going to have internet acess in my garage and was going to run coaxial cable for internet as wellas tv . Can anybody tell me what the cat 5 is all about ? Thanks.
Evan

 

[aandpdan]

Cat 5 is used for networking computers. It goes from the router/switch to the network card on the computer. Commonly used in homes and businesses it supports 10/100mbs speeds. Cat 5e can support up to 1000mbs (gigabit). The distance limitation is 100 meters. It consists of 4 twisted pairs of wires.

The coaxial cable is for your cable modem. Out of the cable modem you'd connect a Cat 5 patch cable to your router or computer depending on how you're set up.

Yes there other forms of networking that use cable that looks like regular coax but it is not common nowadays. Cat 5e or Cat 6 are the most common means of wiring a building.

 

[Falcon67]

FWIW - At work we run 1G over regular old Cat 5 all the time with no issues. Some runs can be quite long, but all are still under the 100M spec. And some of the stuff we use is old, only the newer stuff (still 10 years old) is certified and tested.

To answer OP - If the run is long and buried, run two Cat5 cables, at least one (better two) RG6 Quad Shield for video/TV and a pull string if it is in conduit. If it's attached, get a wireless router and forget the Cat5.

 

[cowboyjosh]

I always recommend wiring in CAT5E as opposed to solely relying on wireless just because of the loss of packet, WIFI signal thru walls, etc, etc, etc. Some might say "go CAT6", I say BS, Cat 6 is a pain in the *** to punch down correctly, CAT5E will do just fine.

I agree with Falcon67, run RG6 and a pull string thru conduit. I also say run pipe and pull string for all your low voltage, that way you can rewire likity split in the future.

 

[Falcon67]

We have a Cisco E3000 router and the signal levels in the house are better than 50dB everywhere. The house is 1660 sq/ft, standard stick construction with brick veneer. I can see the router at my daughters house 405' away. Buy a good router and the signal levels will be fine and very reliable. I get nearly 6m to my desktop in the home office via wireless. We have three laptops and two iPhones and don't have packet, signal or connection issues. I'm a wireless guy, I don't plug in unless you make me

 

[boydgti]

Just go wireless for the Internet and run the RG6 to the garage and a pull string in the pipe. In Canada all Internet providers supply free wireless routers. My garage is 50' from my house and no problems.

 

[aandpdan]

Wireless is great for some things but really, if you want reliability and consistent speed then go wired. It's also more secure.

You can also do some neat "tricks" with Cat 5. You can get converters to pass hdmi or other signals over the run. If you plan on running a land line phone, run Cat 5 for it as well.

 

[Intel]

Running two coax to your garage will not work well for internet as you probably already have cable internet in your house. If you already have it in your house you can't just hook up another cable modem in your garage and expect it to work.

wireless is great and all but if you can easily run a Cat5e cable I would just do that and be done with it. Hook the other end to your router in your house and you never have to worry about it again.

 

[irishtom]

I had extra cat5 and rg6 left over from a couple of house renovations, so I ran pairs in conduit out to my detached garage in a trench for future use. I have plenty of cable left to fully wire the garage when I finally get started on the renovation.

 

[GN4WHLN]

I have cat 5e ran to all the rooms in our house and 2 lines in the garage. We have the modem, router and switch in a central closet. This allows us to run a number of desktop PC's 2 networked printers, and our wireless devices. It was easy to do and works well. I like the wired connections for desktops and printers since it seems more reliable.

 

[bayouboy]

Is cat5/5e/6 and coax cable direct burial? or should it be in conduit (pvc?). i'm thinking about doing this, my shop is about 80 ft from my house.

 

[DustynF]

Some forms of coax can be buried but really I would put it in a pvc pipe. I am running 1-1/4 carlon pvc to the garage for network and CCTV.

 

[justin85]

Underground rated communications cable like RG6 is flooded with a dielectric fluid. A conduit would work just fine though. The only purpose for the fluid is to protect the inner wire in the event of a break in the outer jacket, to keep water out. The added benefit of running conduit is the possibility of pulling replacement wire. You never know what you might need later on.

 

[dipper]

I have my cable modem in the house, the output of that feeds a router/switch, and 1 cat 5e cable goes about 115' or so total length back out to the detached garage to the computer. Works great.