Two POTS lines -> 1 Ethernet?

[marklbucla]

I've seen that there is plenty of info online about running phone through a CAT5, but what about the opposite?

I've got two 4 wire lines that are running through underground PVC conduit between a detached garage and the house. I tried tugging from both ends of the conduit, and it doesn't seem to want to move at all. (Are wires ever fastened within conduit?) So, I was wondering if I could just use the wires from both lines together to make a RJ45 connection on both ends since I'd have 8 wires in total? The wires look like they are a thicker gauge than what I normally see in a CAT5E Cable though.

 

[ItsNemo]

Can certainly try...just mind your pairs. Technically 100mbps ethernet only need 2 pair (4 wires) to work.

 

[Worsedog]

It most likely will be sketchy at best. Ethernet cable is twisted pairs to reduce cross talk between the pairs and help prevent picking up outside interference.

 

[csi123]

What distance and what kind of POTS wire? As the other person pointed out, the key is that they have to be twisted pairs. If you are okay with 100mbps just use one wire. There is no way gigabit is going to work on your wires, unless you are talking about over a few inches.

Btw you said the wires are a thicker gauge so how are you going to terminate them? I don't think your regular rj45 jack is going to work.

 

[DGersic]

I've seen that there is plenty of info online about running phone through a CAT5, but what about the opposite?



I've got two 4 wire lines that are running through underground PVC conduit between a detached garage and the house. I tried tugging from both ends of the conduit, and it doesn't seem to want to move at all. (Are wires ever fastened within conduit?) So, I was wondering if I could just use the wires from both lines together to make a RJ45 connection on both ends since I'd have 8 wires in total? The wires look like they are a thicker gauge than what I normally see in a CAT5E Cable though.

It’s wrong, but it’ll probably work ok.




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[pentavolvo]

I did it on a 40 foot run to get a router on the second floor of a home with no good way to get wire there and it worked fine. Just used 4 wires it was non twisted as well

 

[The Cobbler]

give it a try. it may work. it may not. you have nothing to lose but some time .

 

[jdewitt]

It will work, but not as well. You'll get more dropped packets that you would with twisted pairs in Ethernet wire, which means that you'll have less throughput as dropped packets need to be resent. There will also be more variability due to interference.

 

[ard]

1. how far

2. What speed do you need?

If you arebrowsing the internet over a 2Mbps DSL connection, thats one thing. If you are streaming 4K video from your homeserver, thats different.

and no, wires should not be 'attached' inside conduit. Any chance there are boxes or LBs you dont know about?

 

[marklbucla]

1. how far

2. What speed do you need?

If you arebrowsing the internet over a 2Mbps DSL connection, thats one thing. If you are streaming 4K video from your homeserver, thats different.

and no, wires should not be 'attached' inside conduit. Any chance there are boxes or LBs you dont know about?

Thanks for the replies so far. I'm trying to go about 10-15 feet in buried PVC conduit.

I'd want as close to gigabit as possible. The intent would be to have an office in the garage workshop that is fed from the home. Wifi doesn't have the reach.

I think I'm going to keep investigating possibilities for pulling the wires through as best as I can since it sounds like what I'm asking won't really work.

 

[theoldwizard1]

It w̵i̵l̵l̵ MIGHT work, but not as well. You'll get more dropped packets that you would with twisted pairs in Ethernet wire, which means that you'll have less throughput ...

A friend tried it. Did NOT work !

 

[YukonXL04]

What size wire, and what size conduit? Is it only the 2 wire sets in the conduit? If there are more wires and your only trying to pull 1 or 2 out then that's usually a problem as they get twisted together when being pulled. But if it's only 2 wires, it should pull through the conduit

 

[kylefitz]

How about a WiFi bridge? I just set up a bridge 300 or so feet from my house to shop. Two 60 dollar ubiquity nanostation m5’s and a few hours and I have a 300 mbps signal in the shop.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HXT8KJ4/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Innovate1]

Perhaps there is some moisture in the conduit and the cables are frozen to it? I didn't see where you are located so don't know if that might be an issue. For a short run it shouldn't be too hard to pull unless the conduit is fairly full and the cables are tangled as has been mentioned.

If you put in new wires they should ideally be rated for wet locations because of moisture. I think lots of times non wet rated is used but it may degrade performance over time.

 

[was2]

Properly installed wire is not secured inside a 15 foot conduit. It may be broken or crushed. Can you run a fish tape through it? Too many 90 degree bends will bind up cables, more so if they are twisted around each other as they are originally installed.

 

[CoogarXR]

I tried it back in the 90s, but it was a much longer run, maybe 75ft-100ft though an old office building. I could only get 10mb out of it. It was just for a network label printer, so that was good enough for me.

I just had to turn off the auto-negotiate on the ethernet adapter. It kept trying to link 100mpbs and it would light up for a second and retry, over and over until I dropped it to 10mbps. Then it was solid.

 

[jdewitt]

A friend tried it. Did NOT work !

You're absolutely right. Should have said it might work to a degree.

 

[Falcon67]

Agree w/above - most likely not and if it does could be very unreliable. You could use a pair of ether-over-copper repeaters. Expensive solution IMHO compared to using the right type of wire.

 

[shawhite]

What size conduit? I’m sure you could shove a stiff wire next to the existing wire and use it to pull back a cat6 as they are very small. This is assuming the conduit is not crushed. In my opinion it’s not worth the time and effort to get the existing cable to work. However you would be surprise what the cable looks like that carries your home internet service.

 

[jdewitt]

Is anything else running through the conduit? You don't want to run Ethernet near/parallel to power.

 

[ard]

10 or 15 ft conduit run???...Id take a fish tape and try a new run through the conduit.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Underground conduits will get clogged up with silt, dirt, etc. sooner or later.

 

[ishiboo]

Ethernet may very well work at that distance with no problem and not even a significant loss in speed... it's a pretty short run. Definitely try it first.

 

[ForceFed70]

I tried it back in the 90s, but it was a much longer run, maybe 75ft-100ft though an old office building. I could only get 10mb out of it. It was just for a network label printer, so that was good enough for me.

I just had to turn off the auto-negotiate on the ethernet adapter. It kept trying to link 100mpbs and it would light up for a second and retry, over and over until I dropped it to 10mbps. Then it was solid.

This.

4 conductors, unshielded and not twisted = 10mb. As it's a short run, you might get lucky and have it connect/work at the 100mb/s frequency, but it's a gamble. You will not be able to get over 100mb/s and gigabit is a pipe dream.

 

[LifeLongWNYer]

If you tried to pull on the cables, and they didn't come out easily, I would not try to get them out. Likely the conduit is crushed, or filled with slit/dried mud, and if you do get those wires out, you may not get a new one in. Use what you have, unless it doesn't work at all. The alternative may be to trench and then bury new conduit. NOTE: Always use 2 sizes larger than you "think" you need, and you won't have this problem again.

There are media converters available which convert data, and/or video, to run over untwisted wires, and they are fairly inexpensive. Remember that you need one on each end. Search for "baluns".




.

 

[Worsedog]

Thanks for the replies so far. I'm trying to go about 10-15 feet in buried PVC conduit.

I'd want as close to gigabit as possible. The intent would be to have an office in the garage workshop that is fed from the home. Wifi doesn't have the reach.

I think I'm going to keep investigating possibilities for pulling the wires through as best as I can since it sounds like what I'm asking won't really work.

Not trying to rain on your parade, but as close to gigabit, is going to be well below 100M. Might just be time ahead to not try and save time with alternatives.

 

[danb35]

Wifi doesn't have the reach.

There are lots of ways to give Wifi the reach. That's not what I did for my shop--I ran fiber in conduit for a 10G connection--but Ubiquiti has a pretty good selection of point-to-point wireless networking devices that should do the job for a couple hundred bucks or so.