Cat 6 cable to garage problem

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acehogrider

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Jul 21, 2016
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I am running 285 feet of cat 6 burial outdoor cable to a garage. Running from my router to my garage into an 8 port switch. My problem is it disconnects every so often. The light will go out on my router and then come back on. Can anyone tell me what my issue might be it has been working fine for 3 days now it's doing this.
 
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There are 2 major issues with CCA cable. The first is the ends do not terminate correctly or become loose over time because of the 2 types of metals expand and contract at different rates. The second and much more likely in your case is the distance. There is no certified number that CCA cable can go but the distance is well under the 100 meter limit.

I really wish there was a way to prevent vendors from calling CCA cable CAT 5 or CAT 6 but those terms are not regulated or licensed. The EIA/TIA one is and they can't say their cable meets those standards unless it really does. Now you still find direct ship CCA cable out of china even on amazon that claims EIA/TIA. The standard states the gauge of wire and it must be copper so...
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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Agree with jeff-j.

What do you see in the router logs? Or the lights on the 8 port switch?

Also: how deep is the cable buried? Does traffic go over the cable run? Any correspondence with rain or sprinkler systems - i.e., water?

Any power problems in the garage: lights dimming, flickering etc. due to machinery or other loads? Maybe a power loss on the switch perhaps.
 
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acehogrider

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It is buried bout 8 inches deep. Does not run near any electrical and the lights on switch are all on when it it disconnects the main feed light goes out. No problems with electric at all in the garage. No traffic does not go over where cable is buried. It's been working fine since yesterday evening. It seems to be just occasionally. When it happens it stops and goes about every 5 minutes.
 
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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Any patch panels or wall jacks in use? If so, check the punchdowns.

Try known working ethernet patch cables to replace patch cables on each end. I.e., router to patch panel, patch panel/wall outlet to switch.

RJ45 plugs: one or more wires may not have crimped properly.

Did you terminate the connections on both ends yourself? No problem with you doing that per se - can be tricky sometimes.

Does not take much to lose connectivity on one or more pairs. Recrimp on new connectors.

Any correlation to temperature: more problems during the day than at night perhaps?
 
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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Hopefully that will be a constant "pattern".... i.e., heat related.

Next to narrow down the location:

Try a small fan on the switch during the day or anything viable to help "cool" it.

Look for places along the cable run where heat could cause any sort of expansion/contraction/twisting or otherwise impact the cable.

Bends, staples, zip-ties, anything. Does not take much to cause a problem.


 
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acehogrider

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It is doing it when it's the hottest out. I am thinking of running fiber optic instead. My next question is what kind. And what to put at each end. By the way thank you all for helping. I really appreciate it.
 
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bill001g

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Fiber is overkill. You will need conduit to even think to do it yourself. You would pull indoor patch cable though it. Direct bury fiber is not terminated and it takes very special tools and skills to cut and polish the ends of fiber.

Copper cable should have no issues going the full 100 meters. The heat should not be a huge problem we run copper to AP in non climate controlled warehouses. It gets almost 140 degrees near the ceiling in summer and has no issues. In the ground they likely be a little cooler than the maximum air temp.

I would suspect the most common issue which is the ends are not terminated properly. When you are near the cable length maximum you need to have the ends perfect or you get a tiny bit more resistance that pushed you over the limit. Next be very sure you have pure copper cable. You will find lots of aluminum clad cable calling it self cat5 or cat6 but it is not certified eia/tia cat5 or cat6. The reasons these companies can get away selling CCA cable is most people do not push it to the limits and find out why it can never be certified cable.

Hard to say it should work with no problems. If you had not installed direct bury cable I would be suspect of soil damage to the cable but direct bury cable is designed for your application.

Also be sure it is not your switch causing the issue if the garage is not climate controlled. We have to use very special AP to withstand the high temp in our warehouses. Most consumer equipment is not designed to operate in temps much outside a normal living area.
 
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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Per bill001g's post (in full agreement) fiber would be overkill. And introduce many other factors and concerns. Not to mention the cost.

And overall we do not really know what the existing problem may be: e.g., the ends not being properly terminated or the switch overheating.

Continue with the troubleshooting.... at least things are working "part time". Not ideal but you still have that versus a complete loss of connectivity.

Once other possible causes can be eliminated is it at all viable to run another exterior rated ethernet cable above ground - some temporary run just for testing?

You would need to purchase the cable but that will cost much less than fiber, etc.. If the above ground cable works then the culprit could be a problem within the buried cable. Then use the test cable as a permanent installation if, again, that is at all viable.



 
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acehogrider

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Jul 21, 2016
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Thank you for that info I thought it would be expensive and overkill myself. I will run a test cable and see. I have unhooked every connection to switch when it does it and still does it with just the feed connecting. I redone both ends of the cable and still is an issue. The garage is air conditioned well except where the the wire runs through the wall. And is kept 70 degrees all the time I am sure it is hotter in the wall. I just looked and this is the copper clad aluminum. So could that be my problem. The wire itself. What should I look for. And this is not gel filled. Should I get gel filled. Thank you all again you have been a big help. I have narrowed it down I know it's the cable running from house to garage, well I am pretty certain now.
 
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bill001g

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Aug 9, 2012
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There are 2 major issues with CCA cable. The first is the ends do not terminate correctly or become loose over time because of the 2 types of metals expand and contract at different rates. The second and much more likely in your case is the distance. There is no certified number that CCA cable can go but the distance is well under the 100 meter limit.

I really wish there was a way to prevent vendors from calling CCA cable CAT 5 or CAT 6 but those terms are not regulated or licensed. The EIA/TIA one is and they can't say their cable meets those standards unless it really does. Now you still find direct ship CCA cable out of china even on amazon that claims EIA/TIA. The standard states the gauge of wire and it must be copper so it will never meet the standard even if it does magically pass a test on a certification meter. This is outright fraud but not much you can do other than only buy cable from reputable vendors.

You should not need gel filled cable. Most the issue with underground cable is the soil will eat though the outer plastic. The soil generally is not so wet that water would get though even small nicks in casing. You would though need it if you ran cable though say a small pond. The inner wires are also plastic coated so just water has little effect. You may want to compare the costs of burying cheap water pipe used for sprinklers and use it as conduit for normal indoor ethernet
 
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