CAT6A Shielded question concerning endpoints
Hi all,
I have a need to pipe some data to an external facility. Due to the path I will need to take with the line, it is going to end up being somewhere around 380 feet, in excess of the 100m rule. The few cables I need will be pulled through Building A to building B through a manufacturing warehouse. Outside, we are pulling the run below the concrete driveway into Building B via a conduit run with large radius sweeps on both ends. Goody.
To meet this need I have one plan and two backup plans.
Primary Plan: CAT6A Shielded, properly grounded on a shielded patch panel at either end.
Backup Plan 1) If the data doesn't like this distance, I will use ethernet extenders at the source and see if that helps.
Backup Plan 2) This is going to happen regardless. Later we will light up both facilities with full wireless coverage so I will be able to Mesh over to the other facility. (it is about 60 feet away wall to wall)
The main question is what kind of requirement do I really need at Building B?
I can do
A) Terminate the ends cable into a standard patch panel
B) Terminate the ends with shielded RJ45 connectors and plug them into my switch
C) Terminate into a shielded & grounded patch panel as I originally intended
D) Terminate lines into shielded surface-mount boxes. These do not have a method of grounding though.
In seeking advice / feedback on A-D my point here is that I don't want to have to install a 12 or 24-port shielded patch panel into Building B when it truly only needs 2 or 3 cables.
I could not figure out if a blank metallic patch panel is easily grounded or not if shielded push-through endpoint connectors are used on the cables instead of a punch-down type.
Should I go with B or D and if the signal stinks, upgrade with a shielded/grounded patch?
I have a need to pipe some data to an external facility. Due to the path I will need to take with the line, it is going to end up being somewhere around 380 feet, in excess of the 100m rule. The few cables I need will be pulled through Building A to building B through a manufacturing warehouse. Outside, we are pulling the run below the concrete driveway into Building B via a conduit run with large radius sweeps on both ends. Goody.
To meet this need I have one plan and two backup plans.
Primary Plan: CAT6A Shielded, properly grounded on a shielded patch panel at either end.
Backup Plan 1) If the data doesn't like this distance, I will use ethernet extenders at the source and see if that helps.
Backup Plan 2) This is going to happen regardless. Later we will light up both facilities with full wireless coverage so I will be able to Mesh over to the other facility. (it is about 60 feet away wall to wall)
The main question is what kind of requirement do I really need at Building B?
I can do
A) Terminate the ends cable into a standard patch panel
B) Terminate the ends with shielded RJ45 connectors and plug them into my switch
C) Terminate into a shielded & grounded patch panel as I originally intended
D) Terminate lines into shielded surface-mount boxes. These do not have a method of grounding though.
In seeking advice / feedback on A-D my point here is that I don't want to have to install a 12 or 24-port shielded patch panel into Building B when it truly only needs 2 or 3 cables.
I could not figure out if a blank metallic patch panel is easily grounded or not if shielded push-through endpoint connectors are used on the cables instead of a punch-down type.
Should I go with B or D and if the signal stinks, upgrade with a shielded/grounded patch?
SOLUTION
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I agree with the above poster, this is what Fiber is made for.
ASKER
Not up to speed on fiber. Complicated pull path. Looks like I'd need to run a nylon line and determine pretty accurately how long a cable I would need and have a pre-terminated line run.
If using ethernet extenders for the CAT6, wouldn't they need to be installed about halfway on the runs?
If going fiber, I'm not sure I know exactly how to terminate them properly and I know I don't have the tools.
If using ethernet extenders for the CAT6, wouldn't they need to be installed about halfway on the runs?
If going fiber, I'm not sure I know exactly how to terminate them properly and I know I don't have the tools.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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I would definitely go for fiber, for all the above reasons, plus the fact that you are running it through a manufacturing warehouse. From my experience with running Ethernet across several industrial facilities, the "noise" generated by some machines can be quite damaging to the signal quality over copper. It will depend on the kind of machinery and quality of the cabling, but with fiber, you are immune to this.
Ditto on wireless (Wi-Fi) links, I saw some cases where a simple rainy day wrecks the link quality... If you are thinking about wireless, definitely go for point-to-point links (line of sight).
Save yourself a lot of grief. You have the conduit, get a quote for a fiber run. Add up all the factors, and decide.
Ditto on wireless (Wi-Fi) links, I saw some cases where a simple rainy day wrecks the link quality... If you are thinking about wireless, definitely go for point-to-point links (line of sight).
Save yourself a lot of grief. You have the conduit, get a quote for a fiber run. Add up all the factors, and decide.
ASKER
Long story short, since properly planning and the fiber will take too long, I need to go with the already planned fiber run in the interim. I have since chosen an Ethernet extender that will get me where I need to go.
As for the grief part, only ignorance of fiber cabling is slowing me down at this point. I was given 2 days notice that I needed to bridge two buildings so it isn't on me and fortunately I'm in a position where I get to yell back. My management is aware that if this doesn't work, we will need to look into one of my other options and it will cost more $$$. If they gave me a reasonable time frame, all would go as it usually does: JUST FINE!
So Thank you all for the awesome feedback and info.
As for the grief part, only ignorance of fiber cabling is slowing me down at this point. I was given 2 days notice that I needed to bridge two buildings so it isn't on me and fortunately I'm in a position where I get to yell back. My management is aware that if this doesn't work, we will need to look into one of my other options and it will cost more $$$. If they gave me a reasonable time frame, all would go as it usually does: JUST FINE!
So Thank you all for the awesome feedback and info.
You do not need special tools for fiber, just buy the patch cables made up with end on them, run your pull cable through your conduit attach your fiber and pull it through. pick up a media converter with the same connection as the fiber patch cables and plug it in, then plug your cat 6 into the converter to connect it back to rj45, simple and stable.
Parts list - total cost - approx $600
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/Tripp-Lite-124-Meter-LC-LC-Duplex-62.5-125-MM-Fiber-Cable-405ft/2852737.aspx
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/StarTech.com-Fiber-Media-Converter-Gigabit-1000Mbps-MM-Fibre-LC-550m/2741113.aspx you will need two of these
Parts list - total cost - approx $600
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/Tripp-Lite-124-Meter-LC-LC-Duplex-62.5-125-MM-Fiber-Cable-405ft/2852737.aspx
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/StarTech.com-Fiber-Media-Converter-Gigabit-1000Mbps-MM-Fibre-LC-550m/2741113.aspx you will need two of these
TheonW nailed it. But if time is an issue, just run a CAT6 cable (even if over 100m) with no extenders to get things going (temporarily!!!). Worst case scenario: it will work really bad (or not at all), and you'll have another reason to go for fiber ;-)
Best case: it will work well enough, and you buy some time to think about where to spend your money wisely (e.g. maybe your switches support fiber via some cheaper SFP add on, etc.)
Best case: it will work well enough, and you buy some time to think about where to spend your money wisely (e.g. maybe your switches support fiber via some cheaper SFP add on, etc.)
ASKER
I'm on the wagon with TheonW as well. I trust fiber but have never thought I would ever need it within my building so I never got around to even reading about.
My reservation with the fiber is the pull path. It is on the boundary of being too tight for even the CAT6 solid strand. I am not sure yet what kind of bend radius I'm permitted (vs: what im comfortable with) for fiber.
I did read up here though as soon as DaveB mentioned it:
http://www.lanshack.com/fiber-optic-tutorial-cable.aspx
http://www.lanshack.com/PreterminatedAssemblies.aspx
I'm not against the pre-terminated cables but to dig in, find out which configuration I need and have it here at my door within 1 day? Like Costa said, I'm letting them know I am getting something installed as fast as possible like they want and if it sucks I get to say "I didn't even get a chance to tell you so". But then I'll have 90% of the work done for running fiber. All the conduit will be installed with extra 200lb (now also one 500lb) pull line and I will be able to accurately measure the distance better and select my cable length.
Who has a 400 foot fiber patch cable? Is it the right configuration? What is common?
Do I need singlemode or multimode? I don't know yet!
ST-ST, ST-SC, ST-MTRJ, ST-LC, SC-SC, SC-MTRJ, SC-LC, MTRJ-MTRJ, LC-LC yaaaahhhh!!!
I'll figure out what I need fiber-wise when I have a moment.
My reservation with the fiber is the pull path. It is on the boundary of being too tight for even the CAT6 solid strand. I am not sure yet what kind of bend radius I'm permitted (vs: what im comfortable with) for fiber.
I did read up here though as soon as DaveB mentioned it:
http://www.lanshack.com/fiber-optic-tutorial-cable.aspx
http://www.lanshack.com/PreterminatedAssemblies.aspx
I'm not against the pre-terminated cables but to dig in, find out which configuration I need and have it here at my door within 1 day? Like Costa said, I'm letting them know I am getting something installed as fast as possible like they want and if it sucks I get to say "I didn't even get a chance to tell you so". But then I'll have 90% of the work done for running fiber. All the conduit will be installed with extra 200lb (now also one 500lb) pull line and I will be able to accurately measure the distance better and select my cable length.
Who has a 400 foot fiber patch cable? Is it the right configuration? What is common?
Do I need singlemode or multimode? I don't know yet!
ST-ST, ST-SC, ST-MTRJ, ST-LC, SC-SC, SC-MTRJ, SC-LC, MTRJ-MTRJ, LC-LC yaaaahhhh!!!
I'll figure out what I need fiber-wise when I have a moment.
I will re-iterate my warning about connecting the ground systems of the two buildings. It is not just a bad idea but it is probably against the electrical code also. 'Ground' is only good as a local reference. If it's low voltage equipment on the same AC power circuit, it is usually not a problem. But when you are talking about two different buildings with their own power systems, it is completely different. There is no reason to think that 'ground' in two different locations will be at the same voltage or electrical potential.
Note that the signal conductors of Ethernet CAT5/6 are transformer isolated in the network cards to expressly avoid ground problems between equipment.
Note that the signal conductors of Ethernet CAT5/6 are transformer isolated in the network cards to expressly avoid ground problems between equipment.
Again, DaveBaldwin has a point: if you're using STP, ground only on one side of the cable. Shielding should go to ground only on one side, otherwise it may connect two different potentials, effectively working as a conductor, not a screen/shield from electromagnetic interference. Just like running your datalink alongside a power supply line.
ASKER
Yes sorry I did not say that I was clear on that. I will be grounding only in our primary building. I think I have everything sorted out now. Thank you all.