Networking between buildings - Cat6 vs Fiber Optics

[sevendustweb]

Hello: Below is a survey of my back yard. I want an internet connection running from the house to the block garage. I have read a ton about burying Cat6 copper in conduit vs. fiber optics. I have read about how much of a pain fiber optics can be, how the runs are not tolerant of bends, etc.

Based on what I have read, it seems like fiber optics may be the way to go. I don't know the first thing about terminating it, etc. My thought was to measure the length needed and purchase 2-3 pre-terminated runs from Monoprice. On each end, the fiber optic run would terminate into a TP-Link Gigabit Ethernet Media Converter (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003CFATL0/?tag=snbforums-20). Cat6 would run from the media converters into wireless routers located in either building.

Any suggestions on the best way to proceed? I plan to trench for an irrigation system and to bury high voltage cabling to the house, so now is the time to tear up the back yard and run some conduit.

Thanks.

 

[thiggins]

Sounds like you have it figured out. Pre-terminated cable is the way to go. Just make sure you have the right SFP modules on the fiber.

 

[theonlyski]

Hello: Below is a survey of my back yard. I want an internet connection running from the house to the block garage. I have read a ton about burying Cat6 copper in conduit vs. fiber optics. I have read about how much of a pain fiber optics can be, how the runs are not tolerant of bends, etc.

Based on what I have read, it seems like fiber optics may be the way to go. I don't know the first thing about terminating it, etc. My thought was to measure the length needed and purchase 2-3 pre-terminated runs from Monoprice. On each end, the fiber optic run would terminate into a TP-Link Gigabit Ethernet Media Converter (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003CFATL0/?tag=snbforums-20). Cat6 would run from the media converters into wireless routers located in either building.

Any suggestions on the best way to proceed? I plan to trench for an irrigation system and to bury high voltage cabling to the house, so now is the time to tear up the back yard and run some conduit.

Thanks.

View attachment 9945

As a general rule, I never run copper data cabling between buildings. Fiber optic cables don't care about voltage differentials between the buildings and grounding and if protected properly will give you a very reliable connection.

The media converter you have listed will require an SFP module on both sides (to interface the electrical connection to an optical one), so I would probably go with https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003AVRLZI/?tag=snbforums-20 since it's got the SC connections built in. SC will be a little difficult to work with if it's pre-terminated but if you have a large enough conduit, it shouldn't be too much of an issue. You can even get stock length fiber from Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000M5SL7C/?tag=snbforums-20

With two media converters and the fiber listed, you'd be in for about $150 in equipment, which isn't bad. Don't forget to account for the conduit though. Also, on the SC duplex connectors, they're pretty bulky but they can be separated so that they take a little less space up for the run (then you can put the housing back on when it's through the conduit).

The hardest part will be digging the ditch and pulling the fiber through the conduit.

 

[CaptainSTX]

A few other things to consider:

If you live somewhere it gets cold in the winter and the ground freezes, the moisture that gets into the conduit will freeze and may crack the conduit then over time dirt will fill that section of the conduit. Consider using interduct instead of rigid conduit. Since interduct is flexible it may resist the freezing better and it has no or at least fewer joints to leak.

Since you are going to pull pre terminated fiber you probably want to avoid using a lot of cable pulling lube which might contaminate the terminations. To make the pull easier consider installing some intermeadiate pull points.

 

[Samir]

While a wired solution will always work the best, since the run is short and line of site, you may want to look into a wireless bridge like the nanostations by Ubiquity. They will actually be very similar on the price point, maybe even less, and won't require any wiring to be done.

 

[Xelas]

Good plan!
Get bigger conduit than you think you may need to make runs easier, and definitely get the "long sweep" elbows. Glue the conduit sections securely so that they don't leak, and terminate them with a 180 so that they face down if they are outside (and a good idea to do so even inside) or use a weatherhead (and seal off the unused holes in the weatherhead).
If you ever plan to pull something other than fiber in the same conduit, I STRONGLY suggest oversizing your conduit, and then pulling "smurf tube", and pulling fiber inside the smurf tube. The smurf will protect your delicate fiber from being harmed when you pull something else, later. It'll also protect your fiber in case water gets in through cracks/leaks. Tree roots and ground movement break conduit easily.
Wiring lube is a thing - can make pulling wiring (fiber or copper) much easier. Even Home Depot sells it. Try it without lube, first, but keep that in mind as an option.
When you pull what you need, definitely tie off another pull-string to the beginning of your pull, so that you are pulling new pull-string at the same time. If you'll ever need to pull a new cable, you'll have pull-string waiting for you.

I concur 100% theonlyski about running copper between buildings - the problem is ground loops and EMF surges during lightning storms (even when they don't hit anything).