[wplug] Cat5 wiring between buildings

[Michael Skowvron]

I use lightning arrestors from L-Comm/HyperlinkTech for my long outdoor runs.
http://www.l-com.com/familylist.aspx?id=2113

I have 5 outdoor runs of cat5e with the longest one running about 150' and strung up on a
wire next to the telephone and CATV. I don't think the expense of fiber-optic is necessary
unless your run is longer than what UTP is rated for.

There are thousands of outdoor access points using UTP and PoE and many are in harsh
environments. Fiber is just not an option because of the PoE requirement, so I think
that's proof enough that properly protected UTP is perfect for short outdoor runs.
Especially if you aren't expecting the installation to be long-term/permanent and it's
easy to change out the cat5 every few years.

Michael
Solutions Architect, Storage
SGI


DK wrote:
> I agree with Russ, you may want to consider running fiber rather than
> CAT5.  A point-to-point wireless bridge is another idea.
> 
> If you still want to keep using the CAT5, see
> http://www.provantage.com/tripp-lite-dnet1~7TRPS00J.htm for a surge
> suppressor.
> 
> Dave
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, May 25, 2009 at 4:07 PM, Eric Cooper <ecc at cmu.edu> wrote:
>> I have Ethernet switches in 2 buildings connected by a long run of
>> Cat5 cable, running through a buried conduit.  Normally this has been
>> working fine, but after yesterday's thunderstorm I found that the
>> switch port on one end of this connection had been fried.  (The rest
>> of that switch was fine, as was the one on the other end of the link.)
>> I've had one other switch completely fail after a storm, too.
>>
>> So, for any of you EEs out there: am I right in assuming that the long
>> run of cable picked up a voltage spike during the storm?  If so, is
>> there any kind of isolation or lightning protection I can use on the
>> inter-building link that won't cost more than simply replacing the
>> switch every couple of years?
>>
>> --
>> Eric Cooper             e c c @ c m u . e d u
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