Ethernet to Gargage

[happy2rv]

Well, for better or worse, I already ran the cable over the weekend, so if there's a problem with it I'll have to deal with it in the future. I'm hoping it won't be an issue, this is the the same cable the AT&T guy ran on the outside of my house under the rain gutter and it's been fine for 4 years.

As long as your garage and house panels share a common ground, you will probably be ok. I would use cheap switches at both ends though and not plug this directly into a high dollar switch or router at either end.

So the plan is to run everything up to the attic area to a patch panel, and in the garage go to a keystone wall plate. Sound correct? Which leads me to another question. If I wanted to install another wall plate in the garage, what the proper way to connect it? Do I run a patch cord from the input wall plate and just terminate it at another keystone connector? Seems a little odd to do that, but I don't think you can splice two Cat5e together at one connector.

Not sure I'm following your question. Typically you run solid wire to a patch panel or keystone jack and patch cables with rj-45 connectors are stranded for flexibility/not as apt to break from fatigue caused by moving the cables around. Generally you would put a patch panel in locations where you will have multiple cables terminated but if it's less than 6 you could use keystone jacks in a faceplate. If you want to put a switch in the garage and run additional drops, I would terminate the line coming from the house in a patch panel or keystone jack and then run the additional cables to the various locations terminating them in the same patch panel or keystone faceplate (you could choose a different color keystone for the line coming from the house) and terminate the other end in a keystone jack. You could also run really long patch cables to the various locations and just plug directly into the switch if you don't want keystone jacks at the remote end, but I wouldn't try to put one end in a patch panel or keystone and not the other.

Also, does anyone have any preferred vendors for the little things like plates, boxes, panels, etc? I can handle electrical, but networking is relatively new to me. I was also considering running some coax cable at the same time, but I really can't think of any use for it at this time or even in the future. Anyone have a good reason why I should?

MonoPrice is about as inexpensive as you will find and their stuff is usually functional. They can really get you on shipping though so if you don't have a lot to order, you might be better off somewhere else. CDW is a pretty good source, but not as cheap. newegg is usually pretty competitive on computer parts and network gear. I know they sell network cabling supplies but I haven't compared their prices.

If you aren't going to have a television in the shop, I can't think of a good reason to run coax. If you have extra rg-6 coax already and don't have another use for it, I would consider running it on the off chance I might put a TV out there in the future, but I wouldn't buy it or run it if I wasn't running other cables already.

See inline comments above in blue.

 

[ripperd]

I agree on all points. I assume if we're debating cat 5 in conduits nobody's gone to the expsnese/trouble to drive ground rods at the second building and bond the grounds together....

Even if we are doing something like that ( these days its for wireless bridges mostly ) we are using a MOV based suppressor grounded via solid path to earth at the entry point of the building. We HAVE to run copper for POE for the access points. If external antennas are in play we use gas-gap lighning arrestors in the signal path grounded to central ground. Key being keeping potential equal across all grounds.

Again, buying effective suppression is going to cost a lot more than two older enterprise switches and a used/leftover piece of fiber off ebay.

Of course there are lots of people burying cat5 and getting away with it. If there is any consolation for the OP this is way less of an issue than the whole PVC pipe for air delivery thing

I've done a poor mans optical isolation by using a media converter at both ends to convert the long run of cat6 to a 3' section of fiber at each end. At least this way only the cheap media converters fry if there is an issue.

 

[MTguy]

For a source of wall plates/keystone jacks/etc I recommend monoprice. I did my whole home with their products and didn't have any failures. I even used their cheap 8 port switches and 3 patch panels. Nothing fancy, but they worked for me. Shipping does get you though if you are only ordering 1 or 2 small things.

 

[harricanfloyd]

Is it just for Internet use? If so just get an Ethernet card and a 7db antenna and you will be picking up wifi from a dozen routers...including yours. Get a yagi antenna you'll see routers from the block!

 

[Denwood]

I did run cat 5 to the shop a few years back (conduit along with the natural gas run) however never actually terminated in the house or garage. Because it has been so cold, I figured I would at least try powerline networking until summer thaws things out a bit. This little review describes my setup: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=281582

This solution requires no cable run, includes wifi on the endpoint, costs about $50..and is working surprisingly well. I wrote an 8 part blog series at smallnetbuilder.com on 10Gbe networking (and built our own 10gbe video editing network/server) so as you might guess, I do like wired solutions. The powerline is not without its challenges, however it may be worth a try.

I use it to stream Spotify to the audio system, and increasingly to pull up tech procedures for the automotive work. My Audi A3 TDI pretty much needs a laptop and software to do just about every maintenance task it seems..and a manual is not available yet for it. The web has turned out to be 100% of my manual so far.