Outdoor/Garage WIFI Extension

[Drew]

I don't know how much space is in the conduit, but usually fiber comes in a corrugated plastic sheath which considerably increases the diameter.

Running an RG-6 coax from the house to the garage might be easier and its length limitations will not be exceeded. And since you'll be running it in the same conduit as AC power, any coax should be double shielded and grounded at both ends, but it will be easier to terminate than fiber. Of course, you'll use a media converter (ethernet to coax) at both ends.

I thought all of the MoCA converters had the same length limit as Cat5/6? Roughly 300’.

https://us.hitrontech.com/learn/how-...n-moca-travel/

For $200 difference and empty conduit that would be an easy pull, the pre-terminated fiber seems like an easy win. Definitely won’t hit the bandwidth ceiling. And if the digging/trenching is done and conduit run, contracting out the wire pull and termination/testing shouldn’t be too bad either, then the connection is solid for sure.

Edit: found a coax SFP converter that says it will do 500m over RG-6, but the cost of the converter easily outweighs the cost of fiber vs rg-6, which explains why it isn’t available anywhere. https://www.transition.com/wp-conten...x-Overview.pdf

[Drew]

As much as I hate to say this… I’d buy two of the Amazon SFP converters I linked in post 3, and a ~1 meter piece of pre-terminated fiber, and prove this out on a bench before I sprung for the full piece of fiber. If it doesn’t work, Amazon will take the SFP’s for a return and the 1m piece of fiber is $15. Cheap education. Then if it works, maybe purchase and run the direct bury fiber in post 4.

The “computer” on top in the image below could easily be replaced by a WAP.

604A67A0-05CB-4BCA-84D5-E7DFC2ACEA07.jpeg

[Drew]

I suppose I should state that I am not a network professional and that I have not tried any of this… I’ve done a lot with Cat5/6 networking but have never messed with fiber.

[Peter Polack]

I suppose I should state that I am not a network professional and that I have not tried any of this… I’ve done a lot with Cat5/6 networking but have never messed with fiber.

Our company has worked with a municipality that had security cameras at a local park-think running track/football field, adjacent parking area and local swimming hole. All the cameras ran coax from the light poles surrounding the park to the field house, runs of several hundred feet. My research shows RG-6 has a limit of 1k feet. I don't know what the municipality connected to previously, but we converted the all the coax camera inputs to a single Cat. 5/6 output, ran that to a microwave link (much like the Wi-Fi link the OP was considering). Works well.

[NYCfixie]

I am an IT Professional who has overseen/managed many copper and fiber buildouts over the past 25 years.

Definitions First:
Ethernet is a networking standard (10T, 100T, 1000T)
Copper wiring is most often used in network cabling (that people think of as ethernet and can not be run longer than 100m which equals about 328ft.)
Fiber optic cables/strands are also used in network cabling (and is obviously faster than copper and does not have the EMI interference issues so it can be run longer distances which is the point of using it instead of copper. Think of Verizon who is running all the FiOS cable to replace all the over 100 year old copper.)

Understanding Fiber Optic Cable Jacket & Fire Rating
Outdoor, Outdoor/Indoor, and Indoor Fiber Optic cabling
The Fiber Optic Association Reference Guide To Fiber Optics

There are many good options listed in this thread but here is my advice...

I would do this one first (if cost is not an issue):
- Run outdoor rated fiber optic cable within the conduit. You can run indoor rated cable as well but if you ever pull more cable through that conduit you risk damaging the indoor rated fiber cable.
(someone mentioned corrugated plastic sheathing, that is only used when indoor rated cable is run through risers/ceilings and may be prone to other vendors damaging it when the run HVAC, electrical/etc. It is solely protective, not a part of the cable itself, and does not meet this use case).
- Use the fiber to copper converters (if you do not want switches on both sides with fiber ports).

Second:
- Try any of the "line of sight" WiFi options but know that it will never be as reliable or as fast as a cable connection. You should also check the connection and placement of the sender and receiver about once a month. I used this many years ago when we needed a quick and temporary connection across Madison avenue between two buildings for a swap office space during construction. It was fine until someone bumped the sender or receiver but everyone knew to call IT and we would realign both sides.

Jorn - you have my contact info if you need a company to get quotes and/or have someone do the job for you. These are commercial companies so it will be more expensive than an individual who does this work as a side hustle or doing it yourself.

[NYCfixie]

As much as I hate to say this… I’d buy two of the Amazon SFP converters I linked in post 3, and a ~1 meter piece of pre-terminated fiber, and prove this out on a bench before I sprung for the full piece of fiber. If it doesn’t work, Amazon will take the SFP’s for a return and the 1m piece of fiber is $15. Cheap education. Then if it works, maybe purchase and run the direct bury fiber in post 4.

The “computer” on top in the image below could easily be replaced by a WAP.

604A67A0-05CB-4BCA-84D5-E7DFC2ACEA07.jpeg

The converters work well. In the simplest of terms, all they do is convert light pulses into electrical pulses because light pulses can go father with less degradation of the signal and they are not prone to EMI interference. One also needs to ensure single or multi mode is used throughout all parts (converters, fiber cable, SPF/switch ports) as well as the connectors are the same type (SC, LC, etc.)



Fiber Optic Cable Types: Single Mode vs Multimode Fiber Cable

SC vs LC—What’s the difference?

[NYCfixie]

...but its speed/bandwidth limitations will be exceeded, if not now then certainly within a couple of years. The only reasonably "future-proof" data cable is either fiber optic, or shielded twisted pair (e.g., CAT8 or the mythical CAT7, possibly CAT6A). And terminating bulk CAT8 makes fiber look like a Fisher-Price My First Low Voltage! toy.

Cat8 copper still has the same 100 meter limitation of copper cabling (Cat5, Cat6, etc.) even though it is shielded. I actually think the spec says it has a shorter max length for the highest speeds. So yes, fiber is the way to go if a the wired solution is chosen.

[Drew]

@j44ke : update? Did you take a swag?

[j44ke]

@j44ke : update? Did you take a swag?

No not yet. I am more sold on the fiber optic set up than the antennas. Your suggestion to do a test with a short cable is a good one. But doing the work has gotten pushed down the to-do list.

[Drew]

@j44ke :

I got tired of hearing my kids complain about my older wireless setup, which is non-mesh, so they have to switch between AP's and wireless ssid's, etc... and it was old and slow.

I recently switched my home over to Ubiquiti products, as referenced earlier by @Bewheels and @newellbt . Easy to set up. All of their newer stuff has 10g sfp+ ports built in, so you can run fiber without issue. And if you want to set up cameras/security/etc, it's all integrated now into UniFi OS. The kids don't complain anymore, and I have to admit, it is all seamless and works very well... which it better, for how much it costs.

Point of the story... if you want to have a mesh network between your home and garage, do it once and do it right, Ubiquiti is a good choice. Some research and you can DIY. But any competent smarthome type contractor should be familiar with their products. There are plenty of wireless bridges available from Ubiquiti as well if you want to avoid pulling fiber. I used fiber for two longer connections on property. Happy to share more details if you want. Hopefully I'm future proof now for at least ten years, until 8k tv becomes the norm and gigabit up/down ISP's are available everywhere. It will be interesting to see how Starlink progresses... if they can overcome the traditional wired telecoms.

[j44ke]

@j44ke :

I got tired of hearing my kids complain about my older wireless setup, which is non-mesh, so they have to switch between AP's and wireless ssid's, etc... and it was old and slow.

I recently switched my home over to Ubiquiti products, as referenced earlier by @Bewheels and @newellbt . Easy to set up. All of their newer stuff has 10g sfp+ ports built in, so you can run fiber without issue. And if you want to set up cameras/security/etc, it's all integrated now into UniFi OS. The kids don't complain anymore, and I have to admit, it is all seamless and works very well... which it better, for how much it costs.

Point of the story... if you want to have a mesh network between your home and garage, do it once and do it right, Ubiquiti is a good choice. Some research and you can DIY. But any competent smarthome type contractor should be familiar with their products. There are plenty of wireless bridges available from Ubiquiti as well if you want to avoid pulling fiber. I used fiber for two longer connections on property. Happy to share more details if you want. Hopefully I'm future proof now for at least ten years, until 8k tv becomes the norm and gigabit up/down ISP's are available everywhere. It will be interesting to see how Starlink progresses... if they can overcome the traditional wired telecoms.

That’s great. I may look into that. I got the Amplifi mesh units and they’ve been so trouble free - I don’t think I’ve touched them once - I haven’t thought about them. But they don’t reach the garage and of course winter is when I think about having some sort of connection in the garage. It will have to wait until spring as everything is winter cleanup right now.

[COVRTDESIGN]

That’s great. I may look into that. I got the Amplifi mesh units and they’ve been so trouble free - I don’t think I’ve touched them once - I haven’t thought about them. But they don’t reach the garage and of course winter is when I think about having some sort of connection in the garage. It will have to wait until spring as everything is winter cleanup right now.

Linus Tech Tips has some great videos and reviews on Ubiquiti products on the youtube channel.