Can you run cat6 cable outside

Manufacturers designed direct burial cables with additional protective layers to make them safe to bury without requiring conduit. However, you must meet local regulations when it comes to burying cables. When in doubt, call before you dig. Like we mentioned previously, there are several environmental factors that can damage your cables. The best way to protect your cables from the sun is by running the cables through a UV-resistant conduit.

The electrical charge produced by standard cables attracts lightning, not to mention rain and snow. Before you order your cables and begin digging, make sure you know what category cable will work for you. In most cases, you can use a Cat5e or Cat6 cable and have excellent connectivity. We take pride in supplying high-quality cables that are guaranteed to last.

Otherwise, protect your cable with a weatherproof box of your own. Before running a cable from your weatherproof box into your home, make sure you have the best one for your needs. An outdoor cable must be weatherproof and rated for outdoor use.

Speed is essential as well. Determine your speed needs, as well as the speed of the service coming from your ISP. Cat8 ethernet cable is the fastest available and allows speeds up to 40 Gbps. Cat7 allows 10 Gbps. Older cable types such as cat6 and cat5 allow 1, Mbps and Mbps, respectively.

To run a new ethernet line where none exists, you will have to drill a hole through an exterior wall of your home. Choose a point that allows you to run a cable into your home easily. The best position is typically on the same wall as the existing internet hardline installed by your ISP. When drilling through exterior walls into a room in your home, use a wall scanner to detect elements in the wall. Then, mark the safe location for the hole. This is best done from inside the home.

In both basements and crawlspaces, plumbing and electrical lines are easy to find and avoid. This also allows you to run the cable along the basement ceiling or crawlspace, then up into the wall in whatever room you choose.

That way, you can pinpoint the location where the cable will enter your home. Basements and crawlspaces are often cramped, which makes maneuvering a drill difficult. Plus, the precise location where the cable enters these spaces is less important. You will be running the cable elsewhere in your home from your crawlspace or basement. To do this, tape a length of thin, stiff metal wire to the end of the ethernet cable.

Feed the wire through the hole you drilled. Then, go to the other side of the hole and pull the wire through. It will bring the ethernet cable along with it. This quick tip makes feeding ethernet cables easier. Whatever you do, avoid excessively bending, twisting, or forcing the ethernet cable through the hole.

This can cause damage to the cable. The last thing you want is someone tripping over it when it could have easily been buried and kept out of the way. When you do come to bury the conduit, make sure it is positioned away from underground power lines or anything else that can cause electrical interference. This may mean changing the way in which the cable is ultimately run, but it is worth it when you consider how the interference could affect the long-term use of the cable and you may end up having to dig up the conduit anyway when you come to replace the faulty cable.

That being said, I would still recommend using the exterior-grade cable over the interior-grade cable and conduit combination. Depending on the weather conditions you receive , it may be worth using a conduit even alongside the exterior-grade cable.

There are several benefits that come with using the exterior-grade cable, even it is being placed in a conduit and buried. The first is that the outside jacket is much more rigid than you normally find and is often made with specialist materials to provide it with that extra bit of protection. Unlike the regular ethernet cables which absolutely should be placed in a conduit, you can get away with not burying the exterior-grade cable and leaving it exposed to the elements if you choose to given how it is designed not to allow any water inside.

One thing to keep in mind here is that if you do decide not to bury the cable, you should definitely make sure it features a jacket designed to protect against UV light as sunlight exposure is more likely to cause the cable to fail than any other weather condition, even heavy rain or particularly low temperatures. My recommendation is to get the exterior-grade cable whilst still placing it in a conduit and burying it outside, just to be on the safe side and increase the longevity of the cable.

If you live in a particular cold part of the world, a valid concern you may is whether the cold weather can affect ethernet cable; even those that are exterior-grade and designed specifically for outdoor use. Cold weather can affect ethernet cable, even those that are exterior-grade.

Although the cold weather will not affect the performance of the cable itself , it can make the cable stiff. Bending the cable too much could result in damage, so it should be left alone once in place.

As new standards of ethernet cables are introduced, better materials for both the insulation and the outer jacket are used to improve the chances of the cable continuing to work in both hot and cold environments.

When running cable outside, particularly if you experience cold weather throughout the year, you will want to make sure that you are using exterior-grade cable given how it is double insulated. Being double insulated, the cable is typically thicker than the regular ethernet cable you are used to using indoors.

This makes the cable quite stiff, which is especially true if it has already been left out and exposed to the cold weather for an extended period of time. It may not be as stiff when you receive it new, but it will certainly stiffen over time.