How to and WHEN to change over from a CAT 5 cable to FIBER..

Archived from groups: comp.dcom.lans.ethernet (More info?)

Roscoe Pendoscoe <MrShade@Dont_Send_I_Wont_See_it.com> wrote:
>I am doing a new pull in a buried 2" pvc pipe between two metal
>buildings. approximately 130-150 feet with 3 90 degree elbows. BEcause
>[could pull Cat5]
>OR, better just to run the entire run in FIBER.

That's your best bet. In a lightning strike or other electrical
transient, you'll lose the equipment on both sides of the Cat5 that
runs between your buildings.

Archived from groups: comp.dcom.lans.ethernet (More info?)

On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 06:17:45 GMT, glen herrmannsfeldt
<gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> wrote:

>Roscoe Pendoscoe wrote:
>
>(snip)
>
>> OR, better just to run the entire run in FIBER. I know the costs are
>> higher for fiber materials and I have never terminated any yet in my
>> "career" as a network installer as I am an Electrical Contractor/
>> ELECTRICIAN who only does these things on a very limited basis, and
>> only for customers who understand this. In this case, for my Wifes
>> employer who is very limited in the money department and this is
>> mostly as a favor to her.
>
>As far as I understand, bulk fiber is about the same cost
>as bulk UTP, though the connectors are a little more expensive.
>For a relatively long link the relative cost should be pretty close.
>
>For lightning protection I could imagine terminating a UTP
>cable in a thick plastic box, converting to fiber, and bringing
>it out, powering the conversion electronics from the remote
>end, or using some kind of isolation system. I can't imagine
>that being cheap, though.
>
>-- glen

I am pretty well decided that I am doing it entirely in fiber to not
have to problem of changing over from UTP and the extra electronics.

Rick(Roscoe)

THANKS

Archived from groups: comp.dcom.lans.ethernet (More info?)

Roscoe Pendoscoe wrote:




> I am not certain if this is the group that helped me before
> but...............

> I am doing a new pull in a buried 2" pvc pipe between two metal
> buildings. approximately 130-150 feet with 3 90 degree elbows. BEcause
> of the 90's I suppose I should use PLENUM rated cables (of either
> type) since it's a little tougher and I don't want to knick it up

> I am under the impression that the best way to do this is to run CAT5e
> or CAT 6 and switch to FIBER at both ends.

> OR, better just to run the entire run in FIBER. I know the costs are
> higher for fiber materials and I have never terminated any yet in my
> "career" as a network installer as I am an Electrical
> Contractor/
> ELECTRICIAN who only does these things on a very limited basis, and
> only for customers who understand this. In this case, for my Wifes
> employer who is very limited in the money department and this is
> mostly as a favor to her.

> Awhile back, some may remember my questions about timeclocks on a
> network for this same company......................

> You guys were very helpful then.........maybe again you knowledgeable
> types will come thru again


> THANKS,

> Roscoe

Don't recall your last message, but can imagine it might have been
answered best in comp.dcom.cabling
Anyways, getting back to the subject:

Fiber is great, but it is not such an easy question as one might think:

#1 Question for applicability of fiber is whether or not phones are
involved. Although there are solutions for running phones over fiber,
phone guys will jump like crazy on the word "fiber" as those solutions
normally cost thousands and thousands of dollars, and may not be easily
justifiable, depending on the number of phones that have to run across the
link.

#2 Fiber cable and components themselves are not that much more expensive
than copper. However, the cost of electronics is in many cases is
prohibitive. Most of the time the existing equipment cannot directly
receive fiber, and additional equipment must be purchased and therefore
considered in the cost of the solution.

#3 There are several types of fiber you may want to use, and it depends on
the electronics, too. For a 100Mbit/s Ethernet you will be OK with
62.5/125 multimode fiber. For a Gigabit Ethernet you'd do better with
50/125 multimode and for 10G Ethernet you need singlemode fiber. To pick
the right fiber you also need to consider network upgrade plans as they
may need at least Gigabit in the (very near) future.

#4 Plenum has nothing to do with stiffness/rigidness of the jacket. As a
matter of fact, you cannot use "just" plenum cables in your case as they
are normally indoors only. You'd need to use indoor/outdoor rated cable
(fiber or copper), and then decide if you need plenum depending on the
environment INSIDE the buildings.

#5 If you end up running CAT5E or CAT6 copper cables, you will need to
provide high-frequency rated overvoltage protectors on both ends of the
link. These are NOT the "digital" protectors plugged into a regular
protector panel. The "digitals" are only rated for 64 kHz, and you need
10MHz and up (upwards of 250MHz), so get at least "CAT5" rated protector
panels. Note that those will not work with analog phones as they filter
out lower frequencies. Complicated, ha?

#6 You need to be extra careful about those three 90 degree bends with
both fiber and category copper

Good luck with everything!

--
Dmitri Abaimov, RCDD
http://www.cabling-design.com
Cabling Forum, color codes, pinouts and other useful resources for
premises cabling users and pros
http://www.cabling-design.com/homecabling
Residential Cabling Guide
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