running external CAT5e parallel to buried SWA?

frankly almost anything is suitable ducting. I've seen plastic waterpipe used to good effect. seal the ends to prevent moisture/draught ingress..?

if you want the real McCoy bury it in a screed at the bottom of a slit trench.

Dunno, but I tried a relatively short length of network cable a year or so ago, and something like a little critter bit right though it in three months, so I'd say protection is a must. I'm sure we never used to have such a vandal population of wildlife around here.... Brian

Never mind creatures nibbling it, normal ethernet cable isn't really suitable for outdoor or underground use, it'll last a few years then start to degrade, look for direct burial cat5.

I'm sure that you are right long term, BUT, as a temporary measure when we moved in 6 years ago I ran an aerial CAT5 from the house to my office 50 yards away. I also used spare pairs in it for telephones. Earlier this year I completed a ducting run (110mm underground drain pipe) between the buildings, but the aerial CAT5 was still in very good condition after over 5 years of exposure.

Andrew

Hi Andy well, I did say *external* CAT5e ... though I appreciate this probably isn't suitable for direct burial, if I were to go that route.

Cheers J^n

In article , Andrew Mawson scribeth thus

If its the polythene Black type it will last very well but the best bet for this is to use a decent 50 mm dia duct and MAKE SURE you keep a draw string in it for all the other cables you might like to run thru there over time:)....

In message , tony sayer writes

And make very sure Mice can't get into the duct as they will eat your draw string and the insulation on the cable.

You are best using Armoured CAT 5 cable if your going the bury it but ducts are still best overall:)...

^^^^^ will inevitably

As has been suggested here before, lay a duct, but don't bother to put the external cat5 in it - bury that alongside. That way the duct is fully available for later expansion.

Hi Tony (and all) Thanks for the pointers to SWA armoured CAT5e BTW. I hadn't thought of that.

Can you suggest a source of suitable 50mm ducting (that's available in the relatively short lengths I need)? There is a bewildering variety available...

Thanks jon N

On Sunday 29 December 2013 15:13 jkn wrote in uk.d-i-y:

You could always sell the leftover as cut lengths on ebay - you'd probably end up with a net profit :)

On Sunday 29 December 2013 12:14 jkn wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Technically, by the IET 17th Wiring Regs, ELV (the cat5) and LV (the mains) should be in separate ducts or both must be insulated to the higher voltage.

However, this is pretty much a non issue as the LV is SWA, being pretty much surrounded with an earth screen.

Another option is to drop some inexpensive fibre in and use a media converter both ends - it's not expensive:

You can get fibre in preterminated lengths too to avoid the issue of terminating. You'd have to be a little creative and careful how it was drawn through the duct, but if the route is short and not tortuous, it should be straightforward.

HTH

Tim

Its a lot cheaper to use normal cat5 and some mdpe pipe to protect it.

MDPE is only about 50p/m in 25 mm dia and you can pull 3/4 cables through if you do them together.

The one I uused was a mid grey colour as I recall. I blame the rats. Brian

As long as its lubed and no sharp bends. I'd use a min of 50 mm if it were me.

Indeed..

Indeed you can. We used fibre for an outside run in duct some 110 metres and CAT 5 was sagging badly in performance .. the fibre OTOH!, had to use attenuator's on the adapter units, superb performance:)..

The last time I worked on kit terminated with fibre we just left 100km of fibre on the drum to keep the signal reasonably in range. That was a fore systems ATM switch with 10G links with real lasers.

Put in the armoured cable part backfill and then drop in a conduit and put CAT5 in that. Will help stop interference, and you can always pull through if it needs changing in future.

Power & Comms should not share same conduit.

I used 15mm flexible water pip (Hep20) as I had access to a large coil of it.