simple network hardware question
 

OK folks. I am trying to run an ethernet cable from my router in the house all the way (about 75 feet) out to my RV so I can have net access out there for a few devices, namely a Blu-ray DVD player and a computer or two.

I know I need a gigabit switch to put multiple devices out there but my issue is more basic. How do I get the cable into the camper without drilling a hole? Should I McGuyver a receptacle on the camper? Drill a hole and seal it real good and make a pigtail? I refuse to run it through a window and compromise the weather seal. Is there an option I haven't thought of?

Ideas appreciated. I am worried that long runs of cable and breaks in the line for removable connections can lead to line losses and data loss.

Thank you!

Make a removable connection on the camper that is inside a weather tight box. These can be found in the various internet companies that specialize in communication cables, connectors, etc.

The hole is inevitable. However, get electrical putty to seal the hole from both sides. The hole should be the size of a wire (not larger which means attaching a connector after the wire is installed). Located where not exposed to weather. Best is behind that weather tight box. The hole also should be deburred with a round file before installing an ethernet cable.

Don't worry about connectors. At 75 feet, the connection is quite short. Be more concerned about wire that is exterior grade.

There are already access holes, no? Look around where the water, electric, etc. enter and see if you can piggyback there somehow.

If you do drill a hole, make sure to put a grommet in. Wind etc. will slice your cable on the metal eventually.

Can you go wireless?

IIRC, Grainger.com has all kinds of enclosures for this type of application.

Be careful about that because electricity can cause interference in your ethernet cable. I remember having a lot of trouble with a customer network some years ago until until I realised cables were running past a big three-phased wire. Moving ethernet cables away solved the problem.

Personally, I'd try to go wireless.

Wireless is not a possibility due to the siding interfering with the signal. Tried that already!

I want the ethernet because it can handle the needed bandwidth for TV (Netflix etc) and my internet usage at the same time.

TW's solution is pretty much what I was thinking. I've been checking the RV stores but no one seems to have the proper (read: recessed) box for a camper. Sure, I can drill a hole and put in a grommet and seal it and even put in a weatherproof box, my concern here is packet loss over that long a run plus the connection might be noisy.

I was hoping there was a engineer-type who knows more than I do about these things. Data is not the same as electricity.

THanks

Yes, there are electrical, water and cable TV connections but oddly, no RJ11 or RJ45. I can buy a recessed connection for RJ11 but not RJ45.

I think this is what you want:

http://www.digikey.com/us/en/ph/Assm...Connector.html


Half-inch knockout or square flush mount, with a threaded section around the RJ45 to make it fully waterproof when connected.

Dont drill thru the side unless you Have to , drill underneath the trailer thru the floor , put the eathernet cable in pipe , Pvc will be fine , go to lowes , they have Cat5 cable , connecter kits for the ends , or 75 and 100 foot pre made cables

BestBuy has 50' ethernet cables for under $6. Maybe $8, I cant recall. In colors.

Grainger is your friend
 

Get the box and run it under your trailer, and find a hole for it. I'd also seal up that hold where it goes in the box. Directron in TX has Gig-E switches for $25. I'd also look for some high-end cables (nothing Best Buy would carry) with a strong outer jacket so that it's harder for critters to chew into it (http://www.turck-usa.com/illustrations/B3026_J20.pdf).

Better yet, get a second router, run DD-WRT on it, and run it in the trailer so you don't have to have wires all over the place.

Internet is chock full of companies that sell data cables, connectors, peripheral equipment ... and weathertight RJ45 type boxes and connectors. Or go to Digikey, Allied Electronics, Jameco, Mouser, or Newark Electronics for this stuff. More companies that come to mind are Black Box, Showmecables.com and, well, some of this stuff can even be purchased direct from Singapore or China.

As I said, your connection is so short as to be trivial - no problem. Worry more about water, exterior grade cable, etc. Worry zero about data degradation if the cable is Cat-5 exterior grade. And if connectors at both end are weather tight.

Grommet means water gets into unpainted surfaces (rusting) created by drilling. Electrician's putty is one superior solution. Or view the so many weathertight connectors from the so many above retail sources. See Heyco.com or turck.com as example. Consider solutions that include strain relief and that include nylon to avoid sharp wire bending (if necessary). Sharp wire bends are destructive both electrically and 'dataly'.

'dataly'.

TW Made a FUNNY !!!!!

Logic knows no humor.

I agree with mbpark ... take a look at what Grainger.com has.

I have. Thanks guys. I can find something like this but not for RJ45. Part of me is jonesing to just enlarge that opening and insert a RJ45 plug.

Mitch had a good idea going in through the bottom of the trailer, but that would require cutting through the insulation and vapor/insect barrier and I would prefer to avoid that if I can.

I know enough to choose the correct cable and boxes. I was worried about losing data over such a long cable, which goes outdoors and through several outdoor connections which might get corroded/intermittant from humidity or whatever. Some things are beyond my training.

Thanks for all the input. I will order a waterproof box, go through my wall and pay attention to strain relief and grommets.

I used to work as an installer with those boxes. Ahh what a wonderful trip down memory lane....


Pics Bri, we need pics!

L-com is one of so many souces. Go to electrical supply sources; not RV sources.

According to this, Maximum cat5 cable run is 100 meters or 328 feet.

http://www.cat-5-cable-company.com/f...t-5-cable.html

Yeah. I thought of that later. Most offices have longer runs of ethernet cable than I am planning with no problems.

Thanks TW, I will do that. I never buy from the RV dealer unless it is something I can't get anywhere else.

Now, next step. Are you using 100 Mb data? Or Gigabite? The difference is Cat 5 or Cat 6 cable. You should have asked and answered this queston. Since internet data is only around 0.01 Gb, then why do you need Gigabit data?

TV TW

TV as in radio waves in the air? TV as in 0.01 Gb digital signals from FIOS or a cable company? TV as in YouTube - again a ballpark 0.01 Gb internet signal? TV as in multiple closed circuit monitors on a 0.004 Gb interent cable?

TV only implies a digital internet signal; says almost nothing about desired bandwidth. How much bandwidth? Only that determines Cat5 or Cat6.

read the first post , he has a Roku box ,
I have the cheapest ( slowest ) package my ISP offers ,
But when i had to get a new wireless router i got a Giga bit router ,
i know it was Prolly a waste , but i didn't want a slow router being a bottle neck

I have done work like this for years. It's easy. I'd say make a surface mount block (I'd use a two jack box) sometimes called a biscuit block. These can be had for a couple bucks. I'd look for one that can be installed without tools. You take the wire, cut back the jacket, and fan out the individual conductors and nestle them into the color coordinated slots on the jack. Then you press down this little cap onto the backs of the wires and it pushes the wire down into a V with little blades that cut through the insulation to make the electrical contact. The cap clicks down and you're done.

Then I'd take that biscuit and mount it on the underside of your trailer whereever you can have easy access. /this is like installing an external jack/power outlet/ etc. Put it somewhere you can get to it, and that is protected from travel injuries. Any damn kind of weather box is fine.

The wires leading out of the jack/box will go through a hole in the floor like tw described and then up into your living space. Be generous with the cable, you can run it inside to whereever is another convenient space for your interior access. I would then terminate the inside end of the wires with another duplex rj45 surface mount block. The idea is that you'll have a "permanent" installation with female jacks on each end of a (pair of) cables that you never have to move ever. Cables that don't get moved dont' get worn or broken.

You'll then use regular patch cables with rj45 plugs on each end to go from jack to jack everywhere. From the house to the jack on the RV. From the interior jack to the interior switch. from the jack on the switch to the device. Don't make a cable that has a jack on one end and a plug on the other, you're begging for trouble there.

If you need help finding part numbers for these doodads, let me know.

BigV, you hit my plan fair and square. In the camper, the installation is indeed going to be permanent as well as at the house end. Proper cabling will be used. I am still trying to decide on routing for the buried cable as it crosses my sewer line if I run it the shortest route. I don't want to dig that up if I can avoid it.

pvc pipe

Crossing a sewer, that must be at least 2 feet deep, is irrelevant. A buried ethernet wire should be (according to code) at least 18 inches deep. Even at 6 inches or on top a sewer line would be no problem.

To be buried, (direct or inside PVC) means an ethernet cable must be exterior grade designed for burial.

Another problem exists. Cable must enter the building at the service entrance. Otherwise a nearby surge (ie lightning striking a nearby tree, the camper, stray car hitting a telephone pole, etc) may use that ethernet wire as a connection to earth destructively via routers, computers, and other interior electronics. This solution is inexpensive (especially compared to that exterior grade wire). But requires simple up front planning.

BTW, how did Cisco get started? All buildings in Stamford U were connected by putting ethernet cables 'inside' the sewers. Dirtiest parts of early internet were outside the cable.

Was that Al Gore's idea?