Best options to extend BB to garden office?

[maby66]

I've had a garden office built which I'm now having fitted out with power and so on.

As part of that, I'm having a trench dug for an armoured cable to the room from the mains power distribution board in the garage, which is around 40/50 metres away.

The electricians are going to supply and fit all the power elements (grounding spike, fuse board, trunking in the office etc) but asked if I wanted to lay a network cable at the same time - presumably an RJ45 or similar.

My question is am I better off trying to support a wired extension to a small switch or wireless access point in the garden room or try to extend WiFi to the garden via directed or unidirectional antennas/extenders?

If I got the wired route then I need to connect the network cable they lay to <something> at either end - my router is on the first floor next to the main BT socket so need to bridge that gap firstly.

I already use powerline adaptors to a small powered switch on the groundfloor which supports my xbox/tv etc in the living room.

Usage in the garden room will be for xbox/tv/internet access. Ideally I don't want to spend a huge amount if I can avoid unnecessary expense - its for light home use not corporate grade!

Thanks in advance.

 

[bremen1874]

There's a potential issue with running a copper network cable due to differential earths between the two buildings. You can totally avoid this by using fibre instead of copper. That said, many people seem to get away with it without any apparent problems.

If it was mine I'd install pre-terminated fibre through some conduit/ducting (with suitable pull cords installed to allow flexibility in the future).

 

[apachegoose]

Earth's shouldn't be a factor at all if done correctly.

Assuming its conduit'ed then as bremen said fibre is probably the better option for many reasons but you will need SFP Switches at either end.

If its not conduit'ed avoid fibre and get a spool of Outdoor CAT 7 from one of the proper network companies and you will be fine. Cat 7 as best to go overboard as you will want it installed and never have to touch again. Personally though I would lay fibre if you can conduit it.

 

[Avalon]

Earth's shouldn't be a factor at all if done correctly.

Assuming its conduit'ed then as bremen said fibre is probably the better option for many reasons but you will need SFP Switches at either end.

If its not conduit'ed avoid fibre and get a spool of Outdoor CAT 7 from one of the proper network companies and you will be fine. Cat 7 as best to go overboard as you will want it installed and never have to touch again. Personally though I would lay fibre if you can conduit it.

Wiring regs tend to suggest otherwise, now granted if you actually read them, they contain a number of dubious items - ask a sparky why the earth thickness from a shower pull cord has to be thicker than the rest of the earths in the circuit. 5e will do 10Gbit over the distances in question assuming it's not CCA or terminated by chewing the end off using your neighbours dog (don't use your own - it can get messy). Given the glacial pace of 10Gb penetration into the consumer market, suggesting cat7 as 'future proof' might be of use for his grandchildren, it also complicates things needlessly. If you want future proof, fibre is that, but it's also overkill unless you have SFP+ capable switches at either end, SFP will only give you gigabit.

 

[Akagi]

Ubiquiti wireless bridge.

 

[Duke]

Usage in the garden room will be for xbox/tv/internet access. Ideally I don't want to spend a huge amount if I can avoid unnecessary expense - its for light home use not corporate grade.

I think most have ignored this line. Just get them to run a CAT5e cable and have a small switch (like a Netgear 5 port switch) the other end so you can connect up those devices within the room. In terms of the house end, if you use external grade cable you can run it up the wall and into the first floor to where the router is or just run it to your powerline adapter on the ground floor. The first option would be my preference as it has less things on it to go wrong (power line adapters).

 

[maby66]

Thanks for the answers - I'll speak to the sparks about adding a cat(x) cable/conduit into the quote.

 

[Erm yeah that’s hard to pick one]

Screwfix. Get some 25mm conduit. Get some twin, ripe, string. I use Kevlar my self.
Bit of J cloth tied to the string. Vacuum the other and fire it down. Then berry it with the cable. If you can do multi lengths you can add to it at a latter stage. The armoured cable will be safe.

 

[Quartz]

The electricians are going to supply and fit all the power elements (grounding spike, fuse board, trunking in the office etc) but asked if I wanted to lay a network cable at the same time - presumably an RJ45 or similar.

Absolutely yes you do. And make it Cat 6, not Cat 5e - do it right first time. The extra cost over 5e is trivial. Two ethernet cables (one as a spare) and at least one pull cord.

 

[BowdonUK]

im sure by network cable he meant ethernet.

I'd lay it. I've got cat5e outside for the cameras I put in years ago. But yea, if I was doing it now I'd use cat6.

I'd have a network switch poe (power over ethernet) in your office so you can plug the ethernet cable in, then from that you can plug ethernet cables from your xbox/tv and pc in to the switch too.

 

[Avalon]

im sure by network cable he meant ethernet.

I'd lay it. I've got cat5e outside for the cameras I put in years ago. But yea, if I was doing it now I'd use cat6.

I'd have a network switch poe (power over ethernet) in your office so you can plug the ethernet cable in, then from that you can plug ethernet cables from your xbox/tv and pc in to the switch too.

Ignoring the zero benefit of 6 over 5e point, why on earth is a PoE switch required, what exactly will it be powering?! No mention of VoIP or CCTV etc.

 

[BowdonUK]

Ignoring the zero benefit of 6 over 5e point, why on earth is a PoE switch required, what exactly will it be powering?! No mention of VoIP or CCTV etc.

Yes I was thinking that later

These days quite a lot of switches have PoE so it's a bonus. But as you rightfully say not necessary for what was asked.