Good quality Cat5 cable

All being well over the next couple of weeks i will be moving away from a normal ISP to a 4G based network called "Relish.net" this has meant i have had to buy a new router that works at about 3.5Ghz and an external antenna as i'm on the fringe of their coverage, I will need to run the cat5 cable from the antenna down i guess a 10 foot pole then through the wall and about another 15 feet to my desk, now i know dealing with coax there is varying quality and loss to worry about but does anyone know if ALL cat5 cable is the same and should i just buy any old cheap toot i can get my hands on or should i be looking for a certain spec bearing in mind the distance it will need to travel and will be exposed to the weather, gold ceonnections etc. Cost is not too much of an issue but having said that the name isn�t Trump.



All1

What sort of cable does the equipment manufacturer (or ISP) say is required? It won't be Cat5 (twisted pair) unless the masthead electronics has Ethernet output, which is unlikely. If the antenna just has an amplifier, you will need some sort of coax, in which case Cat5 won't work at all. What is the ISP, and do you know what equipment they use?

Edit: Sorry. You did give Relish as the ISP.

Edited by micksharpe (Fri 30-Dec-16 03:52:24)

In reply to a post by micksharpe:

What sort of cable does the equipment manufacturer (or ISP) say is required? It won't be Cat5 (twisted pair) unless the masthead electronics has Ethernet output, which is unlikely. If the antenna just has an amplifier, you will need some sort of coax, in which case Cat5 won't work at all. What is the ISP, and do you know what equipment they use?

Edit: Sorry. You did give Relish as the ISP.

The ISP supplies there own router which has no fitting for an external antenna and is generally tjhought of as pants so won't be using that, i have bought a another unit that works on the band they use and have double checked it is a cat 5 cable as they state "Another CAT5 8-Wire Ethernet Cable, which connect the outside unit (ext ant) to the inside unit (Router)".

The outside unit (Ant) does have Ethernet port and a slot for the full size sim card, i just want to make sure i get the best i can (within reason) that will hold up to being outside in our lovely weather

All1

Generally it is cat5e. As it will be outside you will need cable that is weatherproof (normal cable is not necessarily designed to handle the UV rays from the sun). It's possible you may want to look at shielded twisted pair but I don't personally have experience of that so someone else would need to comment.

The router the ISP supplies doesn't need a connection for an external antenna as you have already said that part is dealt with outside unit. Your router also doesn't need to work on the "band" they are using if they are presenting an ethernet connection from their antenna - if you spent extra getting something that is beyond a standard router then it wasn't worth the extra - the router just has to deal with a standard WAN ethernet connection.

I would suggest you are slightly confused over what is being delivered and you need to sort this first. Either you need a router that can handle the 3.5GHz band in which case you need to check with Relish on what cable specs are required as it is not ethernet being delivered OR they are providing the connection themselves for the 3.5GHz and you just need a standard "cable" router (this is the old term to differentiate from ADSL/VDSL routers).

What is being carried on the cable? Is it Ethernet or another protocol?

If it is Ethernet then any EXTERNAL Cat5e will be fine - just make sure it is copper and not CCA (copper coated aluminium). If it is another protocol such as a low level demodulated data signal then you should try to find a larger gauge cable. Cat5e tends to be 26AWG but you can get 24AWG or move to Cat6 which can be obtained in 22 and 23 AWG.

I would err on the safe side & go with foil sheilded Copper CAT 6 external 23AWG cable, last time I bought some it was less than £50 for 100m inc. VAT & delivery.

NJSS

No real need for CAT6, if the mast head is doing the modem stuff (and it sounds like it is) and then anything that is outside grade and CAT5E spec or better will suffice. So don't bust a gut finding CAT6.

Suspect POE is used to power the mast head.

The reason outside grade is important is that the outer sheaf is UV resistant and won't crack in sunlight. Though this makes it unsuitable for indoor use as in a fire it will give off toxic fumes - so best to terminate that cable at a socket just inside the building and use an indoor patch cable after that, or some internal cabling.

On the CCA stuff, yes do avoid like the plague

http://amzn.to/2iM9NeP looks to be not too costly at £49.99 for 100m of CAT6 outdoor stuff, even gel filled. Even a basic cable tester will help a lot.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Suspect POE is used to power the mast head.

Which makes me wonder whether you can avoid using the Relish router without perhaps also using a POE switch?

There is a mismatch in the original posts around the hardware on the mast and the hardware in the premises. Without knowing what the hardware on the mast is doing then we are mostly guessing about what is required. I am not sure that the router that has been bought is going to be suitable from the basic info provided so far.

My guess is something like http://www.jatontec.com/products/show.php?itemid=223 (fits the description so far) but confirmation would be good, and also whether it does actually work with the Relish service.