Video & Data cable run

[Ray]

I'd like to run phone, video, intercom and data out to a workshop in my backyard that is approximately 200 feet away from the house. This would all be run in the same conduit.

Can I run cat 5 to use for data and intercom and run a separate dedicated phone line. The coaxial cable would be used only for TV.

Would this be the optimum way to run, or what can be suggested ??

p.s. If this is not the appropriate forum, please direct me to it !

Thanks,

[Brian]

I would run

1 for Data 1 could spilt between phone and intercom

Some seal it in pvc but it does get wet and over time needs replaced. What I would do.

I've also heard of burying the cable without anything. Not something I would do though. This is usually done when sharing internet with the neighbor.

[hgawluk]

You can split the pairs of the CAT5 cable. Technically you only use the green and orange pairs (pins 1,2,3 and 6 on an 8-pin jack) for ethernet anyway. I've hooked up CAT5 on green and orange pairs and telephone on the blue pair (center pins) of a second jack. Intercom, I'm not sure if the guage is adequate but you can certainly try it on the brown pair. If not pull the intercom cable seperate. When you pull in the cables pull in a back string in case you have/want to add any other cables later. A little waterbased lubricant makes it slide through nice. I would however recommend outdoor grease filled CAT5 cable if there is any doubt about the conduit being water proof. The cable is not that expensive. Try an electrical wholesaler as apposed to home depot, building box or whatever. Good luck.

[HorneTD]

I would suggest that you run the data line in a separate cable from the telephone or intercom. Having the telephone and intercom in the same cable should be OK though. You should install network protectors on both ends of your communications wiring and a grounding block of both ens of the coaxial cable. Those should all be bonded to the houses electrical grounding electrode system and the workshops electrical grounding electrode system. There are whole building protectors that are designed to bring all of those together in one place and provide surge and spike protection at the same time.

-- Tom H

[Les Wilson]

There are direct-burial variety of cables for these various needs - most large home centers stock it. Keep the data, phone and intercom separate from each other - run separate lines for each to minimize interference. They can co-exist with each other in the same conduit without any problems.

I'd personally go with a wireless solution. It costs a little more up front - but in the end makes for a much simpler installation. You can do wireless for data, phone and intercom.

Data: 802.11b/g access point in the house, 802.11b/g ethernet card in the PC in the workshop... depending on the equipment you can purchase directional antennae to put in place of the little 3" antennas this stuff comes with (most consumer grade stuff is good for about 300'). Should be line-of-sight between house and workshop (in other words - no big hills in the way). There are also units out there that'll send voice/data through house electrical wiring (look up "HomePlug" on the internet).

Phone: Cordless phone with the base in the house and a remote charging unit in the workshop will work fine. Most have sufficient range for that distance. Should be line-of-sight between house and workshop. Can also run voice over your electric lines (i.e., GE InstaJack).

Intercom: You can buy ones that you plug into the wall outlet and the signal would travel through the house electrical wiring. No wires to run. Or grab a pair of FRS base radios (not the walkie talkies - but you can also use those as well). Some cordless phones also double as an intercom as well.

Caveat with running this stuff through your electrical is that if the workshop is on a different meter/service, that none of this stuff will work. In that case, you'd have to go with wireless data, phone and that FRS solution. Otherwise, start digging a trench and buying up 200' of 3/4" ID conduit, couplings, PVC cement, assorted cabling, etc...

TV: Going wireless for that is tricky (and expensive). Buy some direct-burial quad-shield RG-6 cable... same stuff the cable companies use to bring the service from the pole to the house, doesn't require a conduit to run through.. Other solution is to get a satellite dish for the workshop - but that'd be another monthly bill for you.

[MC]

There may be a couple of issues here.

Even if you put in conduit, use burial cable anyway, condensation and water can seep into buried conduits.

The TV cable, I would use RG-6. However depending on what you are driving the signal from may need head-end amplification first for that distance.

Data, use cat 5 or better, Maximum length for data is going to be 325 feet, and degrades for every piece of network gear and patching you use. Do not splice but only use data grade jacks/patch panels. We only run a maximum of

285 feet in most commercial buildings due to the added patch cabling usually used from the network jack to the PC or other equipment. Do not use standard phone line protectors on data cabling, use data rated protectors, usually rated for lower voltage that use for the phone lines which has to be rated for the higher ring voltages.

On the phone lines, use cat 5 also, most would say is not needed for phones but can run together with data wiring and help not interfere with the data also. We run many phone and data bundled together in commercial buildings without any problems as long as both are cat 5 at least (most data these days are cat5e or cat 6)

for the intercom, use a shielded paired wire cable, how ever many pairs required for your system (most are two wire these days)

Also as mentioned before in this discussion, could have problems if the house and other building are on different power sources and not from the house. The ground differential can blow many electronics on the phone/data line connections during any electrical surge/ lightening no matter how much protection you install. If that is the case, then fiber may be the better choice for data, can be used with the other services but the converters are expensive and may have to get from a commercial source. Wireless may seem to be an affordable option then.

[Dave]

What the heck kind of data? Video from where?

[Anonymous]