Fiber optic between buildings, component selection

[v7guy]

It seems fiber optic cable between buildings is the most reliable way to get some data out to the garage with no potential lightning and grounding issues.

The price is reasonable, preterminated cables are cheap. Media converters are plentiful and cheap.

You can do this cheaper than a mesh Wi-Fi system.

Anybody have any recommendations on the actual hardware?
Any issues running regular optic cable in conduit or does it need to be outside/direct bury rated?

The searches here are rather sparse on info which is surprising given how thorough we generally are.

There also had been a few comments on some media converters not being able to scale down if necessary so they appear to need to be rated for 10/100/1000 if I'm understanding correctly.

Maybe these components would work?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077TJFV41/?tag=atomicindus08-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006KSS26A/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Them of course come cat 5 to connect to the router and computer. Am I missing anything? Any better options?

 

[b-boy]

i've never done this, but I've also never heard 'cheap' and 'fiber' in the same sentence before.

I'm very interested to see what a setup like this will cost. If it's reasonable, I'd like to do the same thing. I have some 1" conduit out to my garage sitting empty right now.

I tried a mesh system already. I'm not happy with it at all. It's more trouble than it's worth. It really didn't give me any more signal reach than I already had.

 

[v7guy]

I think a lot of the price shock was from back a few years ago when it was less common, but it appears you can do it for $100-200 depending on the distance.

With the availability of preterminated cables it's pretty simple for the DIY crowd.

 

[Stuff]

Amazing how cheap these are now.

The cables need to match the transceivers.

LX normally uses single-mode cable and you pointed to a multi-mode cable.
You spec'd a "BiDi" which uses a simplex (single strand) cable but then pointed to a duplex cable.
So you need simplex single-mode for that.

You do need to be careful with the single mode stuff as something powerful enough to shine 20 KM can cause permanent eye problems. The light is not visible which doesn't help.

 

[b-boy]

I read some of the reviews. The cables are not rated for conduit, but it sounds like a few people have run them that way. Will these work on a 1" conduit?

I'd be looking at running 100 Meters.

 

[kd3pc]

I read some of the reviews. The cables are not rated for conduit, but it sounds like a few people have run them that way. Will these work on a 1" conduit?

I'd be looking at running 100 Meters.

it all depends on the number of bends and what the bend radius of the fiber jacket is... If there is "room" for the fiber to make it, then you are good. Check the specs for specifics.

 

[v7guy]

I'm just beginning to do the research. Only spent a couple hours reading just to get the terms down and what the components do. Still figuring out the different connections, modes, speed compatibility etc.

Haven't even begun to look at how to finish it out in the wall so it's not a cable hanging outta a hole.

But there seems to be a fair amount of interest. Unfortunately I haven't found info in one place breaking it all down.

I figured there's the interest here and probably a large number of people that have experience.

 

[ard]

what lightning and grounding issues?

These things are all disposable- people talk about this stuff like they have NSA data centers and gigabit speed servers hanging off their networks....

Lightning strikes the garage, all that is gone. Running FO saves $100 worth of stuff at the house? I dont get it...

 

[v7guy]

what lightning and grounding issues?

These things are all disposable- people talk about this stuff like they have NSA data centers and gigabit speed servers hanging off their networks....

Lightning strikes the garage, all that is gone. Running FO saves $100 worth of stuff at the house? I dont get it...

Different grounds between buildings can potentially cause problems. In my case probably not an issue since the sub ground runs back to the main. Lightning strikes, even far away, can apparently run through the ground and grab cat5 copper and burn up stuff, again, probably improbable.
For the very minimal difference in price I don't see the downside with going fiber in an over abundance of caution.

 

[dutchgray]

I know a guy who owns an industrial site which uses fiber optic to distribute their private internet connection to about 1/2 dozen buildings and a couple further away with microwave links, the fiber is all in 65mm flexible conduit in the ground. Its a complete nightmare mare, there seems to always be something not working properly and as its commercial it gas to work. At the rime it was the only way to get decent internet, but now the national fiber network has caught up, the guy actually paid for about 3 miles of fiber to pulled in to get to the site.

 

[Mongo68]

Those fiber transceivers you listed are overkill. You will have to attenuate the fiber if you use a 20km laser and only run 100m.

 

[v7guy]

Any hardware recommendations?

 

[kwschumm]

what lightning and grounding issues?

These things are all disposable- people talk about this stuff like they have NSA data centers and gigabit speed servers hanging off their networks....

Lightning strikes the garage, all that is gone. Running FO saves $100 worth of stuff at the house? I dont get it...

Words from someone who obviously hasn't been burned from this particular problem. We've burned up tens of thousands of $$$ due to differing ground potential between buildings, and even between floors of the same building, during lightning storms.

If someone is willing to spend a couple hundred bucks, time, hassle and downtime to replace equipment AFTER a problem it seems much smarter to spend a couple hundred bucks initially and avoid the problem entirely.

Anyone who has actually faced this problem knows.

 

[adrenalinejeeper]

Call or email Thor Broadcasting. While their equipment is not cheap and is probably overkill for your application, their sales reps are very helpful and can point you in the right direction in terms of single mode/multi-mode, etc.

https://thorbroadcast.com/

They were really helpful in designing a fiber system for me, a run of about 430 feet to extend my network and cable TV service from the main house to a guest house.

 

[86turbodsl]

I did this in my setup. 300' of fiber preterminated for $65 and $5 each for 100TX converters. All ebay. Brand new surplus.

Don't remember the brand names off hand. Make sure the fiber ends match of course.

 

[ard]

Words from someone who obviously hasn't been burned from this particular problem. We've burned up tens of thousands of $$$ due to differing ground potential between buildings, and even between floors of the same building, during lightning storms.

If someone is willing to spend a couple hundred bucks, time, hassle and downtime to replace equipment AFTER a problem it seems much smarter to spend a couple hundred bucks initially and avoid the problem entirely.

Anyone who has actually faced this problem knows.

Lol

I don't belive youve 'been burned tens of thousands of dollars'. between your house and garage 'system' due to grounding issues and lightning strikes. Not believable.

You want to rationalize your overkill for yourself, who cares?. But tossing around scary nonsense scenarios is silly. Again we are talking a home system, two building, one lighting strike. HTF can you save tens of thousands if the whole system isn't tens of thousands?

Whatever.

 

[Lonnies Performance]

I'm going through this myself now.... I have a building about 350ft away from my house. At the ragged edge of distance, but it works fine with Cat6. I priced direct burial fiber that is rated for underground conduit. Typically a good quality preterminated 400' section would run about $350-600 depending on brand. I always get 6 conductor so if something happens to a strand, you can swap to another without re-pulling. It appears a good switch with SFP fiber ports is about $100 more & the SFP fiber ports for the switch about $100-150 ea. In my calculations it would have cost me about $6-800 more to run fiber. Obviously, you can find cheaper components, but if I'm investing on something of this quality, I'm not cutting corners on chinese ebay stuff that I get to replace again in 6 months. I priced all managed Netgear switches with lifetime replacement for reference.

 

[Stuff]

Another option is to run copper network cable and use an optical isolator

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002FWDE36/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[v7guy]

Stuff- that's neat, I hadn't seen that before.


After another night and morning of endless reading I think I know enough to be dangerous and maybe enough to have figured out what I need...


I think I found a media converter that should work. It's 10/100/1000 compatible and $26 x 2
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01N...2-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=Fiber to RJ45 Converter+10%2F100%2F1000&psc=1


These sfp to lc modules $30 x 2
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000...g_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=M9GAKW4PD79YHZGA0TZN



Then this patch cable to match the sfp plug, lcd multimode $25
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005...e=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=9EAGHWG35H8CWMNEFB5E&th=1


So, unless I'm mistaken, $137 total should do the job for me. Does anybody see anything I'm missing?

 

[kwschumm]

Lol

I don't belive youve 'been burned tens of thousands of dollars'. between your house and garage 'system' due to grounding issues and lightning strikes. Not believable.

You want to rationalize your overkill for yourself, who cares?. But tossing around scary nonsense scenarios is silly. Again we are talking a home system, two building, one lighting strike. HTF can you save tens of thousands if the whole system isn't tens of thousands?

Whatever.

These were on commercial building control applications. Duh. It is quite representative of the problems that can happen. So talk about what you know and don't give advice when you don't have a clue.

 

[Stuff]

So, unless I'm mistaken, $137 total should do the job for me. Does anybody see anything I'm missing?

Those cables are not meant for outdoor/underground use but the parts should all work together.

 

[u3b3rg33k]

Stuff- that's neat, I hadn't seen that before.


After another night and morning of endless reading I think I know enough to be dangerous and maybe enough to have figured out what I need...


I think I found a media converter that should work. It's 10/100/1000 compatible and $26 x 2
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01N...2-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=Fiber to RJ45 Converter+10%2F100%2F1000&psc=1


These sfp to lc modules $30 x 2
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000...g_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=M9GAKW4PD79YHZGA0TZN



Then this patch cable to match the sfp plug, lcd multimode $25
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005...e=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=9EAGHWG35H8CWMNEFB5E&th=1


So, unless I'm mistaken, $137 total should do the job for me. Does anybody see anything I'm missing?

Don't use OM1 though. use OM3 or better. OM1 is dead and can only do gig. OM3 can do 10gig+
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006KSS26A/?tag=atomicindus08-20

personally I would use singlemode, but only because it's super futureproof. multimode is less sensitive to dirt and single mode fiber is cheaper.

I agree completely with using fiber between buildings. we had a lightning strike a piece of outdoor gear at work and it destroyed $40,000 worth of equipment. No structural damage. If that outdoor gear had been isolated via fiber/media converters, we only would've lost the outdoor gear.

 

[ltusler]

You are going to want an indoor/outdoor rated fiber construction. I would go with single mode as well.

https://www.fs.com/products/29584.html

 

[terabitdan]

If you just want to protect against lightning then you can buy lighting arresters for both ends and stick with copper cat 5 or better wiring. 100 meters is the maximum distance though.

Multi mode OM3 supports 10Gbps and costs less overall, electronics, SFP, etc are all more expensive for SMF.

Fiber has better resistance to interference also.

I would just get switches with SFP ports rather than using media converters, they are readily available for less than $100.


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[u3b3rg33k]

You are going to want an indoor/outdoor rated fiber construction. I would go with single mode as well.

https://www.fs.com/products/29584.html

agreed. doesn't hurt.

If you just want to protect against lightning then you can buy lighting arresters for both ends and stick with copper cat 5 or better wiring. 100 meters is the maximum distance though.

Multi mode OM3 supports 10Gbps and costs less overall, electronics, SFP, etc are all more expensive for SMF.

Fiber has better resistance to interference also.

I would just get switches with SFP ports rather than using media converters, they are readily available for less than $100.


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Speaking as one who's dealt with significant issues with lightning, I've filed claims with APC after having $1000 ($300ea, 3x) worth of 56k modems (yes, modems) killed through properly installed arrestors and surge protectors. they do pay out, but they also investigate for that "25k lifetime attached equipment" warranty. Yes, they paid out, and no, they weren't happy. neither was I because it took 3 months.

Lightning arrestors also need a 6ga ground wire run to them on both sides. factor that in to your copper vs fiber cost.

i've also run from a field where we were placing surveyors flags when a T-storm rolled up. went back out afterwards to continue the work and found a spiky puddle on the ground with a wire in the dirt attached to it after lightning decided to strike one of the flags we placed. Nature ain't messin' around.

this is a non-factor with fiber. you're paying for glass (the useful part), kevlar (the part that protects the glass), and plastic (the wrapper that tidies it all up). none of it is conductive, and none of it will contribute to surges eating your gear.

I would do the same. I have a set of cisco 3750s from ebay that will power my PoE cameras and allow me to link my garage once I get that far.

I disagree with MM gear being cheaper. if you're good at price shopping, you should be able to come out ahead with SM because OM3 is more expensive per foot than OS2. it's trivial for gigabit. for 10gig it depends on how long the runs are, and for 100gig the only option is singlemode.

Fun fact, the same LC UPC fiber patch cord you buy today for gigabit singlemode ethernet will do 100gigabit when the time comes. there's basically no limit to the future proofness of singlemode.

 

[terabitdan]

I don’t intend to disagree with u3b3rg33k, we agree that SMF is the cats meow, the best there is and future proof. If anyone reading this wants to do it once right, that’s the right answer.

I am assuming anyone connecting their house to their shed/shop/garage on their own property has a properly installed grounding system. That means all low voltage systems are tied to the grounding system using an interstitial ground, that you have surge protection and probably a UPS to keep the cameras running during short power outages. So their is no cost for additional grounding conductors. If you don’t, get it done first.

For those looking for the cheapest way to get some WiFi out in the garage then cat5 will do just fine. Be smart and add lighting arresters tied into your grounding system. Copper Ethernet is limited to 100m or 326 ft at 1 Gbps.

MMF will meet the vast majority of people’s needs for the foreseeable future. 1 Gbps is fast enough to run all your cameras and WiFi with plenty of capacity for nearly all homeowners. The ability to go to 10 Gbps provides a long term growth potential. If your thinking of a server farm, running a business out of the building, do SMF. It also has the advantage of not having to worry about signal strength being too high in short distances. Yep, commercial grade electronics can reduce the transmit signal strength or you can hang 100’ in a loop also. Yes, I have had short jumpers have too high a signal strength.

I’d also always run a 3GHz coax in the same conduit. It will support satellite, cable and Ethernet connectivity between the buildings. If you can do only one, coax may be better than cat5, since it can be used for both simultaneously more easily. Coax supports up to 4 Gbps right now, with more to come.

My plan is 2 coax and 1 MMF, since I already have the Ethernet switches to support it.


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[ToolRoom]

Unless limited by length, fibre does seem overkill frankly.
You will get 1Gb on lengths over 100m on Cat5, it is just not recommended/certified.

If you're not running a data centre in your workshop, I can't imagine 1Gb wouldn't be more than sufficient for many years to come.

If you are subject to a lot of lightning strikes, the transients are still likely to do some damage regardless of if you go copper or fibre. Your power lines will still provide a route into the building.

External grade cat in ducting would be my choice, which would also give you the ability to run POE to your cameras without the need for additional cabling, or if you want to run a UPS to retain recording in the event of a power cut.

If you are absolutely set on fibre, OM3 Multimode will still be massively overkill and the transceivers should work out cheaper than single mode.

Unless you can find somebody that will sell you a pre-terminated length, don't forget to factor in termination costs, on any job I've priced these are usually more than the cost of the fibre.

 

[Lonnies Performance]

I just tested my network at 420ft & it works fine with direct burial Cat6.

Since I had the excess on the roll, I thought I would see what it did.

 

[u3b3rg33k]

I don’t intend to disagree with u3b3rg33k, we agree that SMF is the cats meow, the best there is and future proof. If anyone reading this wants to do it once right, that’s the right answer.

I am assuming anyone connecting their house to their shed/shop/garage on their own property has a properly installed grounding system. That means all low voltage systems are tied to the grounding system using an interstitial ground, that you have surge protection and probably a UPS to keep the cameras running during short power outages. So their is no cost for additional grounding conductors. If you don’t, get it done first.

For those looking for the cheapest way to get some WiFi out in the garage then cat5 will do just fine. Be smart and add lighting arresters tied into your grounding system. Copper Ethernet is limited to 100m or 326 ft at 1 Gbps.

MMF will meet the vast majority of people’s needs for the foreseeable future. 1 Gbps is fast enough to run all your cameras and WiFi with plenty of capacity for nearly all homeowners. The ability to go to 10 Gbps provides a long term growth potential. If your thinking of a server farm, running a business out of the building, do SMF. It also has the advantage of not having to worry about signal strength being too high in short distances. Yep, commercial grade electronics can reduce the transmit signal strength or you can hang 100’ in a loop also. Yes, I have had short jumpers have too high a signal strength.

I’d also always run a 3GHz coax in the same conduit. It will support satellite, cable and Ethernet connectivity between the buildings. If you can do only one, coax may be better than cat5, since it can be used for both simultaneously more easily. Coax supports up to 4 Gbps right now, with more to come.

My plan is 2 coax and 1 MMF, since I already have the Ethernet switches to support it.


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I don't disagree with anything there. keep in mind that if you run cat6 wire, the near future has 2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T coming, which will give you 2.5gig over cat 5e, and 5 gig over cat6. it's 10gig modulation slowed down for existing infrastructure. obviously you'll need new end gear, but not new cable. food for thought.

Unless limited by length, fibre does seem overkill frankly.
You will get 1Gb on lengths over 100m on Cat5, it is just not recommended/certified.

If you're not running a data centre in your workshop, I can't imagine 1Gb wouldn't be more than sufficient for many years to come.

If you are subject to a lot of lightning strikes, the transients are still likely to do some damage regardless of if you go copper or fibre. Your power lines will still provide a route into the building.

External grade cat in ducting would be my choice, which would also give you the ability to run POE to your cameras without the need for additional cabling, or if you want to run a UPS to retain recording in the event of a power cut.

If you are absolutely set on fibre, OM3 Multimode will still be massively overkill and the transceivers should work out cheaper than single mode.

Unless you can find somebody that will sell you a pre-terminated length, don't forget to factor in termination costs, on any job I've priced these are usually more than the cost of the fibre.

Yes, power cabling will provide a path back, but generally speaking, the power side of things is less sensitive than the data side of things.

when I search for gigabit LC tranceivers, I come up with $6ea for multimode 550m max length, and $24ea for singlemode 80km max length. so yes, MM is cheaper, but at under $50, who cares?

for one-offs, pre-term is the way I'd go. i plan on putting in 3 conduits to my garage, one for power, one for low voltage, and one with a pull string for, well, whatever comes next. i don't want to dig a second trench.

I just tested my network at 420ft & it works fine with direct burial Cat6.

Since I had the excess on the roll, I thought I would see what it did.

Performance is actually worse with the cable on the roll than off the roll, so if it works on the roll, it'll work off the roll.

 

[Alvetro]

Stuff- that's neat, I hadn't seen that before.


After another night and morning of endless reading I think I know enough to be dangerous and maybe enough to have figured out what I need...


I think I found a media converter that should work. It's 10/100/1000 compatible and $26 x 2
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01N...2-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=Fiber to RJ45 Converter+10%2F100%2F1000&psc=1


These sfp to lc modules $30 x 2
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000...g_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=M9GAKW4PD79YHZGA0TZN



Then this patch cable to match the sfp plug, lcd multimode $25
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005...e=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=9EAGHWG35H8CWMNEFB5E&th=1


So, unless I'm mistaken, $137 total should do the job for me. Does anybody see anything I'm missing?

Hi v7guy. The parts you selected all look acceptable although if your run is less than 100M, you probably better off just running CAT5 or 5E. This will deliver up to 1G which should be more than adequate for most applications.

Cheers

 

[Stuff]

Or give up on cabling and do powerline ethernet:
https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/powerline/PLP1000.aspx

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Lol

I don't belive youve 'been burned tens of thousands of dollars'. between your house and garage 'system' due to grounding issues and lightning strikes. Not believable.

You want to rationalize your overkill for yourself, who cares?. But tossing around scary nonsense scenarios is silly. Again we are talking a home system, two building, one lighting strike. HTF can you save tens of thousands if the whole system isn't tens of thousands?

Whatever.

youve obviously never seen the effects of lightning on network and telco equipment

 

[Falcon67]

youve obviously never seen the effects of lightning on network and telco equipment

LOL, we've lost more high end network equipment in new "to code" wired buildings than the ones built in the 30s~50s with who knows what in the walls. We also run copper everywhere and have isolators and surge equipment on all lines in use. Easy to burn up stuff if you are not careful.

IDK about home type equipment but we standardize on single mode at work and the parts typically run 2~3x more $ even with shopping. However, home based stuff usually doesn't use SFP or SFP+ optics either.

>probably better off just running CAT5 or 5E
OP's 100m run is at the limit of the spec. However, real world experience says you can get away with a bit more using quality components on the ends. Performance is not guaranteed LOL. We run 1G in old buildings over what amounts to 5E and many runs that "should be" under 100m.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

LOL, we've lost more high end network equipment in new "to code" wired buildings than the ones built in the 30s~50s with who knows what in the walls. We also run copper everywhere and have isolators and surge equipment on all lines in use. Easy to burn up stuff if you are not careful.

IDK about home type equipment but we standardize on single mode at work and the parts typically run 2~3x more $ even with shopping. However, home based stuff usually doesn't use SFP or SFP+ optics either.

>probably better off just running CAT5 or 5E
OP's 100m run is at the limit of the spec. However, real world experience says you can get away with a bit more using quality components on the ends. Performance is not guaranteed LOL. We run 1G in old buildings over what amounts to 5E and many runs that "should be" under 100m.

Code only mandates 2 grounding electrodes or 1 UFER for lightning.

If there is bonding and potential issues, or high potential for lightning, that is a design issue and code doesnt address nor is it for addressing design issues.

I worked on an AMR dispatch center that has a 75' tower on its 30' building. Code wouldve been the above mentioned electrode requirements.

Following what code requires, it would NOT have protected the milions of dollars worth of computers, transmitters, servers, network equip etc in that building. Motorola wanted a grid around the entire building tied to the tower and all transmitter racks, network racks, dispatch consoles etc. We put Lots of large gauge copper wire in that building.

I worked on the bonding of the dispatch consoles. Used some fat copper....

 

[Mongo68]

Code only mandates 2 grounding electrodes or 1 UFER for lightning.

If there is bonding and potential issues, or high potential for lightning, that is a design issue NOT addressed by code.

I worked on an AMR dispatch center that has a 50' tower on its 30' building. Code wouldve been the above mentioned electrode requirements. Motorola wanted a grid around the entire building tied to the tower and all transmitter racks, network racks, dispatch consoles etc. Lots of large copper wire in that building.

I worked on the bonding of the dispatch consoles. Used some fat copper....

Bell System grounding in effect!

 

[u3b3rg33k]

LOL, we've lost more high end network equipment in new "to code" wired buildings than the ones built in the 30s~50s with who knows what in the walls. We also run copper everywhere and have isolators and surge equipment on all lines in use. Easy to burn up stuff if you are not careful.

IDK about home type equipment but we standardize on single mode at work and the parts typically run 2~3x more $ even with shopping. However, home based stuff usually doesn't use SFP or SFP+ optics either.

>probably better off just running CAT5 or 5E
OP's 100m run is at the limit of the spec. However, real world experience says you can get away with a bit more using quality components on the ends. Performance is not guaranteed LOL. We run 1G in old buildings over what amounts to 5E and many runs that "should be" under 100m.

At this point, cat 6 is the industry standard, so if you ask for name brand 5e you pay more because it's no longer got economy of scale working for it. if you aren't paying more for 5e it's because your supplier knows you don't know and is overcharging for both. for the under $100/1kft rolls without a warranty, well who cares? $0.07 a foot for 5e or $0.09/ft for 6? i'll take the 6 please.

 

[firstaccesstech]

It seems fiber optic cable between buildings is the most reliable way to get some data out to the garage with no potential lightning and grounding issues.



The price is reasonable, preterminated cables are cheap. Media converters are plentiful and cheap.



You can do this cheaper than a mesh Wi-Fi system.



Anybody have any recommendations on the actual hardware?

Any issues running regular optic cable in conduit or does it need to be outside/direct bury rated?



The searches here are rather sparse on info which is surprising given how thorough we generally are.



There also had been a few comments on some media converters not being able to scale down if necessary so they appear to need to be rated for 10/100/1000 if I'm understanding correctly.



Maybe these components would work?



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077TJFV41/?tag=atomicindus08-20



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006KSS26A/?tag=atomicindus08-20



Them of course come cat 5 to connect to the router and computer. Am I missing anything? Any better options?

I have read many responses and I’m trying to understand some of the logic. I am a woodworker and my business is in this field. I have connected buildings together using fiber dozens of times. The switches I use have a built in slot for fiber. This will eliminate the media converters. Next item is the fiber. There are hundreds of suppliers that will build the length of fiber you need and pre-terminate the ends. I suggest conduit. It is always a good idea, but not required. The fiber should be 50u OM3 indoor/outdoor jacket 4 or 6 strand LC/LC connectors. The cost should be about $2.00 per foot. In addition, you will have no lightning issues and you will never need an upgrade in your lifetime. You can run cameras, WiFi, streaming TV and never have a problem. Lightning does not effect fiber.



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[86turbodsl]

All i can figure is a fear of the technology stops people. I have less than $100 in a 300' fiber run to my shop and i couldn't be happier and i never worry about any storms. All the people saying "you won't have a problem with Cat5, ok sure, you might not, or you MIGHT. Cheap insurance.

 

[v7guy]

You guys are making my head hurt lol

Can I get switches for less than $26? I tried doing some research but everything comes back as media converters when I look at fiber optic switches.
The media converters I linked will do single or multimode.
I haven't bought any parts yet. Just finished burying the conduit for the power and the fiber.

 

[86turbodsl]

You guys are making my head hurt lol

Can I get switches for less than $26? I tried doing some research but everything comes back as media converters when I look at fiber optic switches.
The media converters I linked will do single or multimode.
I haven't bought any parts yet. Just finished burying the conduit for the power and the fiber.

Mine were $5 ea on ebay. Brand new. 100bt-fiber converters. Just make sure your fiber plugs into your converters. There are several different end connectors available. I simply looked for a pre-terminated surplus/used fiber line long enough to do the job. I have a small coil on one end. I think it was $65 or something like that. 350' ish. LC connectors? I guess you'd need a switch on the shop side if you plan to plug in more than one device. I have a Cisco switch in the house that the media converter plugs into, and a tiny little 5 port switch in the shop that the wifi access point plugs into. No config necessary.