I don't care what ya'll say....

[Travis798]

This is deep enough!

I'm running outdoor rated (but not direct burial) cat 5e in conduit to get back to my garage, and to get to the cameras on the house since my attic design sucks. It's a 98 degree heat index right now and only getting hotter. Ditch is maybe 6-8" deep. I'm leaving several access points to pull from so if I have to re-run the wire in a few years then so be it. I could run deeper since I'm digging most of it with my tractor back hoe, but man, it's getting hot out!

 

[CJ133]

It's only CAT 5....
If you have kids I'd go deeper tho or at least put it in conduit.

I ran normal CAT5E outside back in 2016 and it hasn't failed yet. I'm sure the outer jacket doesn't like the sun but it's tolerating it a lot better than I expected.

 

[Travis798]

It will be in conduit. No kids to worry about so the only person to dig it up will be me. Right now the cable is just ran alongside the outside of my house and I think conduit will look better. Plus burying it is the best way to get it to the 3 cameras on the garage. I'm back inside now. It's hot. As a welder by trade heats never bothered me much but the past few years as a welding inspector has made me soft

 

[Holbs]

In a pinch, someone could run indoor rated Cat5e or Cat6 through a conduit or even in the ground or stapled to house trim. Will last a couple years before the sun UV rays demolish the outer jacket, opening up the copper to begin to rust. Same for in the ground conduit: will take some time for water to rust the copper. But you will have to replace it eventually with the proper in-ground cabling. uckily, you can do it later in fall or winter
I am 75% completed of digging my 2' down x 65' long for retaining wall. The high temps of late have delayed me. I have to keep reminding myself I am not 20 years old anymore. People like me end up on YouTube doing 'wtf is he doing' vids

 

[CJ133]

In a pinch, someone could run indoor rated Cat5e or Cat6 through a conduit or even in the ground or stapled to house trim. Will last a couple years before the sun UV rays demolish the outer jacket, opening up the copper to begin to rust. Same for in the ground conduit: will take some time for water to rust the copper. But you will have to replace it eventually with the proper in-ground cabling. uckily, you can do it later in fall or winter
I am 75% completed of digging my 2' down x 65' long for retaining wall. The high temps of late have delayed me. I have to keep reminding myself I am not 20 years old anymore. People like me end up on YouTube doing 'wtf is he doing' vids

If you've got copper rusting I think you got ripped off.

 

[looney2ns]

This is deep enough!

I'm running outdoor rated (but not direct burial) cat 5e in conduit to get back to my garage, and to get to the cameras on the house since my attic design sucks. It's a 98 degree heat index right now and only getting hotter. Ditch is maybe 6-8" deep. I'm leaving several access points to pull from so if I have to re-run the wire in a few years then so be it. I could run deeper since I'm digging most of it with my tractor back hoe, but man, it's getting hot out!

Couple of these would have been much easier.

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[aristobrat]

Your dog doesn't look overly concerned so you're probably OK.

 

[Travis798]

Lol the dog is only ever concerned with when I'm gonna throw a ball. I gave some thought to the uniquiti stations but I still wanted conduit to the other cameras and it would almost kill me to set up a wireless link for that short of a distance when I have cable I can run. The other 2 houses on this block are also mine, on my list of things to tear down, but I'm capping the conduit off running that way in case I want to put some more cameras on down.

 

[bp2008]

The other 2 houses on this block are also mine, on my list of things to tear down, but I'm capping the conduit off running that way in case I want to put some more cameras on down.

Nice. I couldn't even afford to buy my own house a second time, the price has gone up so much since I started living here. If you want a reliable network between buildings, I'd strongly encourage fiber optics. That way you can avoid any potential issues with power surges traveling from one structure to another. You technically get the same protection using Ubiquiti radios, but only at a fraction of the speed and at the cost of interfering with local wifi. 100 meters of quality fiber optics isn't much more expensive anyway.

 

[Travis798]

Luckily I live in a cheap area. I have 4 houses, 3 are on my tear down list when I get to it. My old house cost me 10 grand, eventually when it's torn down those lots will intersect with my other stuff. The house behind me is actually a 4 bed, 1 bath house in good shape. I paid 8 grand for it. Probably the worst house of the bunch is the one I'm buying now at the end of the block. There's a lot of work in cleaning it up just to tear it down and I overpaid for it at 11,000 but it gives me the rest of the block and I don't have to worry about someone moving in there. The house I live in now cost me the most at $36,000 for a 2 bed, 2 bath house with a 2 car garage, but I didn't even try to negotiate when I got it. It's been well maintained, had new windows and vinyl siding, central heat and air, it's perfect for a single guy like me.

Fiber is something I know nothing about and have never messed with. I'm sure eventually I'll look into it and start messing with it and wish I'd done it earlier, but for now I think Cat5E will serve me fine.

 

[TonyR]

I'm sure eventually I'll look into it and start messing with it and wish I'd done it earlier, but for now I think Cat5E will serve me fine.

Hopefully the lightning will accommodate you for a long, long time....

 

[Travis798]

I've been extremely fortunate with lightning, especially considering the storms Oklahoma gets. My house is old. I've replaced most of the 2 prong outlets with ones that have a ground, so I can, you know, plug stuff in, but none of my electrical is grounded. Everytime I plug something in I wonder if I'll get zapped, but it hasn't happened yet.

I have a 35' or so pole next to my house. I have fixed wireless internet and that's where my antenna has been until a couple of weeks ago. For 12 years I've been waiting on the lightning strike to it, but it hasn't came. I've moved the antenna to a location with better line of sight, but there are several "lightning rods" around the house, like that pole and the 20' 4" pipe I just put up for the internet, that will most likely take the hits.

Now that I've said that, everything I own will get fried by lightning in the morning. For now, I'll do what I can do that's within my current wheelhouse and if it doesn't work out, I'll start over and learn better ways.