Hi, I want to run CAT5 lan and/or VGA cable around my house. There are a couple of places where it would be easier to go up from the 'office' into the loft, through the wall then down the outside of the house and back in (just like TV Co-Ax). Is that OK? I'm hoping not to have to put up trunking for aesthetic reasons. Thanks, Simon
As far as Im aware, there are no regulations stating you must not do as you intend, however I would check with the cable manufacturer to see if the cable is suitable to installed in direct sunlight, or where it may be prone to freeeze! However i stand to be corrected!
There are 2 problems with this but they might not be major ones. The UTP cat 5 / cat 6 cable sold off the shelf is particularly porous. As such it will soak up rain water. I've heard of some people who have run it outside and it's been OK for 5 years or more. If that is the case it will mean replacing it once it stops working. If the runs are easily accesible and short this would probably be the cheapest option. If you're looking to run Gigabit ethernet over the cable then the performance of the cable might deteriorate more quickly. You can buy external grade UTP (Brand-Rex & Systimax). Brand Rex is much cheaper but would still be more expensive than buying a cheap box from the likes of Screwfix and replacing every so often. The second problem is surge protection. Running the cable externally leaves it open to lightning strikes. You can buy cat 5 lightning surge protectors but it would be cheaper to install the cables in adequately earthed metal trunking / conduit. Personally, I've not heard of an external UTP cable being hit by ligtning but it only takes that first time to frazzle your PC. I have had experience of an unprotected external telephone cable being hit by lightning and drying £10k of unprotected PABX.
Is that OK? Yup. Keep it at least 30cm away from mains cables where you can. Remember to check for burried cables and pipes before drilling and seal the holes with silicone or similar filler when you are done. The following diagram illustrates where you can expect to find cables but beware that that may be where you don't expect: http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Figures/4.14b.gif
VGA is unlikely to go any distance. You will end up with an increasingly dark picture the further you go. I recently fitted a couple of VGA extenders to computers that were too far from their monitors. These convert the signal and send it down a CAT5 cable, then convert it back again. They are good for a couple of hundred metres if I remember correctly. Might be quite pricey for a home setup though.
i saw plenty of rooms at collage that had 10m or so to a projector and were wired with oridinary cheap vga cables and at university there are even bigger distances (some of the lecutre theatres are huge) between pc and projector although they may be using extenders
VGA Cat5 extenders are in the £200 area - and some are better than others, make sure they support your desired refresh/resolution rates. As with most HF cables, avoid sharp bends or squashing the cable with clips etc. - I have an external cable running to the house next door, about 75 feet, and it's worked just fine for DAYS now.....!!!!
Art college, was it? <span __jive_emoticon_name="wink" __jive_macro_name="emoticon" class="jive_macro jive_emote" src="http://migration_03.ps.jiveland.com:7003/images/emoticons/wink.gif