Point to Point Bridge vs. Fiber

[Smiles79]

I'm starting to plan my shop build, and I will want to have internet out there (currently have 200 Mbps fiber service but could go up to gig). It will be about 150ft from the house. I will have a WAP in the main portion of the shop for general use, but also plan to have a small office that will have my PC, which I play iRacing on. Seems like my choices are a point-to-point bridge or fiber.

Fiber:

I estimate a cost of around $800 for this. This would include 55m of OS2 duplex fiber (not sure if this is adequate or not), a media converter in the house to go from Ethernet to fiber, an SFP switch for the shop, 1.25" conduit, a unifi AP, and trencher rental.

Bridge:

$350 or so for two Ubiquiti airMAX NanoBeam AC 5GHz bridges, a PoE switch, and an AP.

Is the type of fiber I listed correct for this application?

For the bridge option, are these the only components I need?

Are there any major disadvantages to the bridge option for my use? It's much cheaper and easier so it's definitely attractive but if it would cause issues with online gaming (iRacing) then I would go with fiber.

 

[Raymond_B]

You don't need fibre for a 1Gb connection. CAT5e or higher is fine and a hell of a lot cheaper maybe you thought 100m designation was 100 foot?. I'd definitely go physical connection vs any sort of wireless to keep your latency down on your small LAN.

 

[jfleisher]

You'd be better off going with 10gb copper over Cat6a...

 

[tmandell]

If you have direct line of sight with no trees or shrubs in the way then the bridge will likely be more then fast enough.

150 feet is close enough that you can use copper if you want to save a few bucks over Fibre. There is however a major advantage of Fibre over copper, it is immune to electrical interference such as lighting strikes. If you do run copper make sure to get a shielded cable and ground one end adequately. Only ground one end, the other needs to float, cut the shielding back and wrap in electrical tape or heat shrink. The shield might be enough to prevent damaging devices in the network.

 

[ScaldedDog]

I'm running exactly your proposed Ubiquiti setup, and it is all you need other than a grounding terminal on each end and cables. The grounding is less for lightning than for the discharge of static electricity that builds up on the plastic surfaces in the wind.

I don't game, and only have a 40mb WISP internet connection, but the bridge has been fine for streaming 4k content. It has also been rock solid. The only time it gets rebooted is for the occasional firmware upgrade and power outages.

Personally, I'd always prefer a wired/fiber connection, but this bridge has been flawless.

Mark

 

[captaindiode]

Fiber is overkill for speed, but offers lightning protection when running between buildings. If you use copper, be sure to install surge protection on each end of the copper cable. I lost some equipment before I learned this lesson.

 

[justler]

I'd go fiber or Cat6A. Fiber if you are running in the same trench as power. That Nanobeam is probably going to get you 300M half duplex.

For you cabling check out monoprice.com. If you need SFPs, check out fs.com.

Cat6A:

Monoprice Cat6A 500ft Blue CMR UL Bulk Cable, TAA, Shielded (F/UTP), Solid, 23AWG, 550MHz, 10G, Pure Bare Copper, Spool in Box, Bulk Ethernet Cable - Monoprice.com

Monoprice™ 23AWG Cat6A 550MHz F/UTP Solid, Riser‑Rated (CMR) Bulk Pure Bare Copper Ethernet Cable is premium, high‑speed cabling designed for use in 10GBase‑T (10Gbps) network

www.monoprice.com

Monoprice Entegrade Series Cat6 RJ-45 Field Connection Modular Plug, Unshielded for 23/24AWG Installation Cable, 10 pack - Monoprice.com

Cat6 Class Ea RJ45 Field Assembly Plug STP and FTP Easy Assembly ‑ terminate in field in minutes without special tools Wire Connection: Stranded wire AWG 27/7 to 22/7, wire di

www.monoprice.com

Monoprice Entegrade Series Cat7 or Cat6A RJ-45 Field Connection Modular Plug, Shielded for 23/24AWG Installation Cable, 10 pack - Monoprice.com

Cat7 or Cat6a Class Ea RJ45 Field Assembly PlugUTP and FTPEasy Assembly ‑ terminate in field in minutes without special toolsWire Connection: Stranded wire AWG 27/7 to 22/7, wire diameter from 0

www.monoprice.com

For Fiber 10G:

Generic 10GBASE-SR SFP+ Transceiver Module - FS.com

Check Generic 10gbe SFP+ Transceiver module data sheet (10GBASE-SR SFP+ module, 850nm, 300m, LC connector) and price list. 100% compatible, Order Now!

www.fs.com

Monoprice OM3 Fiber Optic Cable - LC/LC, UL, 50/125 Type, Multi-Mode, 10GB, Aqua, 2m, Corning - Monoprice.com

Because of its immunity to electronic interference and its greater speeds over longer distances, fiber optic cabling has become the conduit of choice for high speed network communications. Monoprice&t

www.monoprice.com

That's a 10gig short range multimode module with a 10g om3 multimode cable. LC connectors.

For Fiber 1G:

Generic 1000BASE-SX SFP Transceiver Module - FS.com

Check Generic Compatible Multimode SFP transceiver module data sheet (1000BASE-SX SFP connector, lc connector, 850nm, 550m) and price list!

www.fs.com

Monoprice OM3 Fiber Optic Cable - LC/LC, UL, 50/125 Type, Multi-Mode, 10GB, Aqua, 2m, Corning - Monoprice.com

Because of its immunity to electronic interference and its greater speeds over longer distances, fiber optic cabling has become the conduit of choice for high speed network communications. Monoprice&t

www.monoprice.com

Whatever fiber cable you get, make sure the ends match and the modes match (Single Mode cable for Single mode modules, multi mode cable for multi mode module).

 

[ZX3ST]

The bridge should do fine from a speed standpoint, but fiber will have a leg up on latency. If you plan to online-game this could be important to you. I'm not familiar with racing sims but shooter games like Call of Duty benefit from reduced latency. If you're not playing at a super high competitive level, you may not notice the difference.

Personally, I'd do the fiber for the marginal extra $$$. If for anything else because I wouldn't want the extra **** hanging off my buildings.

 

[Slednut]

As a person that works with fiber every day I would go with multi-mode fiber with bi-directional SFPs. This takes the guess work out of getting transmit and receive correct.

When pulling pre-terminated fiber cable be very careful you don't damage the ends. I have lost count of how many times I've had to go out and re-splice the ends onto a cable that was damaged when being pulled through the conduit.

Also make sure you get some kind of fiber cleaner so you can clean the ends before plugging them in. The best and cheapest way to go is fiber wipes and 99 percent rubbing alcohol.

I have a fancy cleaner that cost over $300 but when I scope ends I find that the wipes and alcohol works best.

 

[Smiles79]

Thanks everyone for the replies! I know that the fiber is overkill compared to copper, but I don't want to mess with grounding a copper cable.

I'll have to do more research on the latency is the p2p bridge

 

[justler]

Thanks everyone for the replies! I know that the fiber is overkill compared to copper, but I don't want to mess with grounding a copper cable.

I'll have to do more research on the latency is the p2p bridge

Fiber isn't overkill and it's really not that much more expensive than the wireless (It actually is probably less expensive).

Technically the cable you run from the radios on the p2p bridge to the switch you buy should be grounded and there is a specific type of wire and connector that have both a ground wire and a place to attach it on the connector when you crimp it.

 

[Augus7us]

If you're playing online games then you need to hardwire or you will not be happy. Like others have said fiber is overkill, copper would be fine and cheap.