Bridging a 100+ metre gap - PoE?

unde4d · 25 Jan 2010 at 21:13

Hi Folks,

I'm stuck with a dilemma. I have two offices which I need to connect, but they are over 100metres apart (approx 150m). A wireless bridge is out of the question, interference in this particular area is a headache. So I was hatching a plan to get a PoE injector & a PoE powered switch, to help bridge the gap. Is this feasible, or even possible? I've never used PoE gear, so shooting into the dark. i was thinking of:

-Install a PoE injector (eg SonicWALL PoE Injector 802.3af Gigabit N) in my rack.
-Connect 75m worth of Cat5e, and hook-up a PoE powered switch (eg Cisco Small Business Smart Switch SLM2005) in the midpoint of this 150m gap.
-Connect 75m worth of Cat5e to the SLM2005, and connect that to a regular switch on the far point of my network.

I know this setup is less than ideal, but I'm working on a shoestring budget for 3users. Am I barking mad, or would the setup above work?

Phemo · 25 Jan 2010 at 21:23

Why mess around with PoE stuff? Do you have any kit using this cable that'll need PoE? If you just want to join two 75 metre lengths of cable, you'll just need to use a regular Ethernet switch, no need to bring PoE into it at all.

unde4d · 25 Jan 2010 at 21:28

Sorry, should have said this earlier, i dont have a power outlet between the two offices.

Phemo · 25 Jan 2010 at 21:41

That makes more sense

It should work, can't see why not and is a pretty easy and cheap workaround.

bigredshark · 25 Jan 2010 at 21:58

Why bother? Just use fibre? It's not even expensive these days (certainly not compared to messing about with POE injectors and POE switches...)

unde4d · 25 Jan 2010 at 22:04

Never thought about fibre, kinda had the impression fibre was the expensive route.

bigredshark · 25 Jan 2010 at 22:18

Media convertors are cheap these days, 100Mbit units should be roughly the same price as your POE injector, then you just need the fibre itself. If you don't know a cabling guy who can make you one up you'll need to get a pre terminated patch, which won't be cheap for 150m - maybe £125-150 or so (which is silly, material costs are about half that but you'll need to know someone who can put it together).

It might cost you a little more than an injector and POE switch and CAT5 cables overall but on the other hand it'll definitely work properly and it's the right way of doing it.

Hairy · 25 Jan 2010 at 22:28

Its defiantly worth looking into the fibre router.

Long Ethernet links are so temperamental.

Caged · 25 Jan 2010 at 22:46

How fast does the link need to be?

Slime101 · 25 Jan 2010 at 23:09

2 offices for 3 people?? Presumably if you want to put a switch between them they are in the same building?

How much data are you moving?

Can you use a VPN over the internet?

Slime101 · 25 Jan 2010 at 23:11

Fibre links all over ebay for small ammounts of cash http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Methode-100m-...uting_CablesConnectors_RL?hash=item45f042fe9c

unde4d · 25 Jan 2010 at 23:53

Slime101 said:
2 offices for 3 people?? Presumably if you want to put a switch between them they are in the same building?

How much data are you moving?

Can you use a VPN over the internet?

No, the main office is about 30people, properly wired & running fine. The 2nd office is a makeshift office right in the back of our warehouse. They just need basic access to our network, webbrowsing and so on. A 10/100 link is fine. VPN over the web isn't a runner, they don't have broadband out there.

Caged · 26 Jan 2010 at 12:11

unde4d said:
No, the main office is about 30people, properly wired & running fine. The 2nd office is a makeshift office right in the back of our warehouse. They just need basic access to our network, webbrowsing and so on. A 10/100 link is fine. VPN over the web isn't a runner, they don't have broadband out there.

If fibre is looking too expensive then just run a length of Cat5. If it doesn't handle 10/100 reliably then stick a VDSL bridge at each end.

bigredshark · 26 Jan 2010 at 12:21

Caged said:
If fibre is looking too expensive then just run a length of Cat5. If it doesn't handle 10/100 reliably then stick a VDSL bridge at each end.

Or just do it properly and cough up a couple of hundred quid for the fibre...if it's a company with 30+ people you've got bigger concerns if they can't find a couple of hundred quid to properly connect the other office...

Caged · 26 Jan 2010 at 12:32

Presenting alternative options is hardly a bad thing. If there's already a phone line going to this office then you're saving on labour costs as well. Going over a VDSL bridge isn't ideal but it's a perfectly viable option.

I've no doubt a company of 30 people could afford to get fibre installed and terminated, whether they want to spend that money on a temporary office is another matter.

bigredshark · 26 Jan 2010 at 13:28

On the other hand, I think even a shdsl bridge is going to be more expensive than fibre and media convertors...

Caged · 26 Jan 2010 at 13:58

~£100 for each end. If you have any sort of account with a supplier then obviously standard discounts apply.

Like I said, only the OP knows the exact circumstances of the task at hand. I'd run fibre if I had to do something from scratch but not everyone has that luxury.

unde4d · 26 Jan 2010 at 20:17

Looking over the choices today, i think i'll be playing with fibre. Didn't realise it was so affordable, and it'll be a proper setup once we're done. Thanks lads.