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.

I agree, that is likely the sort of thing Relish will install as the outside provision. Then, a Cat5e cable runs from that to the indoor router. The Relish router probably provides POE and standard firewall/NAT facilities.

I am still unclear as to whether the OP is replacing both the outdoor unit and the router with their own or whether Relish will still supply the external provision in which case the OP only needs a standard router not one that supports antennas and 3.5Ghz. I am starting to think that Relish will not actually be providing any of the users kit and that they have bought the internal and external equipment in which case they need to follow the guidance from the manufacturer of that kit as to what wiring is required.

Edit : What we really need to know is the make and model of the router and antenna that the OP has bought.

Edit 2: Actually it doesn't look like Relish do use that sort of dish. It appears the offering as a standard 4G router that sits inside the house hence the OP buying a new router that has an external antenna. But, as in previous edit without knowing what this is and what the specs are we are somewhat guessing about cabling - it may not be running the link over ethernet at all.

Edited by ian72 (Fri 30-Dec-16 14:05:53)

Relish is just a provider which offers 4G unlimited broadband in London mainly. They just send a router which picks up the 4G indoors, so no external antenna by default.

The performance of relish is not overly stable, some hours you get 50Mbps others you get 5Mbps or at least that's my experience of it. The average I seem to get around Knightsbridge at my friends is 15mbps but concerning the upload sometimes drops as low as 0.2Mbps!

It is quite popular around east London where plenty of users can only get 3Mbps on ADSL and they have very long unreliable lines.

As far as I can tell if you are in Relish area you should just be able to use the default provided router, I can't find any details on using your own router not even on forums. I think it will be a try it and see situation but I would personally just use the supplied router and then connect my own cable router to it. This way the relish box is really just acting as a receiver.

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

Relish is just a provider which offers 4G unlimited broadband in London mainly. They just send a router which picks up the 4G indoors, so no external antenna by default.

The performance of relish is not overly stable, some hours you get 50Mbps others you get 5Mbps or at least that's my experience of it. The average I seem to get around Knightsbridge at my friends is 15mbps but concerning the upload sometimes drops as low as 0.2Mbps!

It is quite popular around east London where plenty of users can only get 3Mbps on ADSL and they have very long unreliable lines.

As far as I can tell if you are in Relish area you should just be able to use the default provided router, I can't find any details on using your own router not even on forums. I think it will be a try it and see situation but I would personally just use the supplied router and then connect my own cable router to it. This way the relish box is really just acting as a receiver.

My postcode is SE16 which is NOT covered by them according to their site, however i have been looking at Relish for ages and even took a trial with them about 18 months ago but stock Gemtek router is bot good for me as signal is too low, i can hack the router without too much of an issue and fit an ext antenna, but got lucky and picked up a suitable router with ext ant so that side is sorted, when it workd for me it worked well but was up and down like a yo-yo so went ahead and bought new gear taking a punt working on the basis of it will be at LEAST a year before i an improve on my poxy 3-4 mbit, also i don't like paying BT for line rental when i get nothing in return

Your edit 2 describes the Relish kit used in Swindon, in London its a pure indoors solution

Your question though was around the cabling - so what router/antenna is it as that might help us advise. Otherwise the advice already given should be adequate to select some cabling.

In reply to a post by ian72:

I agree, that is likely the sort of thing Relish will install as the outside provision. Then, a Cat5e cable runs from that to the indoor router. The Relish router probably provides POE and standard firewall/NAT facilities.

I am still unclear as to whether the OP is replacing both the outdoor unit and the router with their own or whether Relish will still supply the external provision in which case the OP only needs a standard router not one that supports antennas and 3.5Ghz. I am starting to think that Relish will not actually be providing any of the users kit and that they have bought the internal and external equipment in which case they need to follow the guidance from the manufacturer of that kit as to what wiring is required.

Edit : What we really need to know is the make and model of the router and antenna that the OP has bought.

Edit 2: Actually it doesn't look like Relish do use that sort of dish. It appears the offering as a standard 4G router that sits inside the house hence the OP buying a new router that has an external antenna. But, as in previous edit without knowing what this is and what the specs are we are somewhat guessing about cabling - it may not be running the link over ethernet at all.

OK to give some more info on this the router Relish give out is a Gemtek WLTFSR-115GN, and here is 2 images of the back of it, nothing else too see on the outside except apart from a few lights on the front

https://s26.postimg.org/w6h0pz33t/20161230_152228.jpg
https://s26.postimg.org/vfoak70qh/20161230_152225.jpg

I have to pop out right now but will be bck in about an hour to update with purchased info

All1

OK below are the link to the purchased router and ext ant

https://s26.postimg.org/nhygwacu1/20161230_185132.jpg
https://s26.postimg.org/5t6q4o12x/20161230_185225.jpg
https://s26.postimg.org/m5gruefeh/20161230_185324.jpg
https://s26.postimg.org/jpeygjxbt/20161230_185346.jpg
https://s26.postimg.org/k3gag5hfd/20161230_185402.jpg

As you can see full size sim cad goes in antenna plus the cat5 cable and IMHO that should just be fed into the router and away i go I know of others who are not using the Gemtek router so can't see any issues myself but i'm far from an expert i'll admit that much.

All1