Underground Ethernet Cabling Building Code Requirements

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Yoban

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#290087 20-Oct-2021 08:58

Hi all,

Been planning a new build (Wanaka district) for my parents and have technology rack (routers/switches/patch panel/etc.) in the garage which is 4-5 metre from the main house.

Speaking to the data cabling guy, he has said that I need to be using a water proof cable as it is going under ground even though it will be in conduit to meet with building code. Now this adds to the price considerably with 30ish runs compared with normal cat6.

Just seeking clarification from those in this field as it would seem puzzling to me as I would be surprised if a building inspector was specifically looking for this.

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#2798010 20-Oct-2021 09:12

Hi, conduit will get water in it even if fully sealed, thermal differnce will cause moisture to accumulate, do not put PVC sheathed data cabling in underground conduit, you will regret it.

If there is limited room in the house for much of the tech then I recommend you split the gear, ie routers, NAS/Server etc in the garage, and in the house a minimal inwall patchpanel and distribution switch with two or three U/G rated waylines back to the garage to pickup services there (ie router, NAS etc).

Cyril

Edit, as far as I am aware there is no code enforacble regarding this, no NZ local authority inspector gives a damn about data/tv cabling.

chevrolux

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#2798016 20-Oct-2021 09:23

Yea you MUST use outdoor cable. Yes, its more expensive, but standard cable will simple rot in a conduit underground.

There's no standard for it, so building inspector won't care at all.

Yoban

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#2798028 20-Oct-2021 09:34

Thanks for that @cyril7 - do appreciate the knowledge. Do have an alternative to run cable within covered walk way/above ground and will also see what can be done with a "split set up" that would utilise the U/G rated waylines or may be even SFP port fibre above ground.

Some thinking to be done :-)

Yoban

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#2798029 20-Oct-2021 09:35

chevrolux:

Yea you MUST use outdoor cable. Yes, its more expensive, but standard cable will simple rot in a conduit underground.

There's no standard for it, so building inspector won't care at all.

Thanks for that!

mdooher

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#2798070 20-Oct-2021 10:50

put in a duct, so you can replace or put more in at any time. Then you can use whatever you like. if you use a single piece +2 radius bends for the ends it wont get water in it

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mulac

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#2798100 20-Oct-2021 11:23

I've seen friends that have had standard Ethernet cable running in conduit for 10 years and it's still working fine. I went through the same thought process as you and eventually just settled for standard CAT6 cable. Just try to ensure that you make it relatively easy to pull through new cable if required in the future (which you'll want if you ever need to upgrade for bandwidth), and use heavy duty conduit at a depth that you won't hit when forking/aerating if across lawns.

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BlueOwl

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#2798106 20-Oct-2021 11:36

I've got a run between my house and garage that is 2 x 1G ethernet aggregated with LACP, it's just bog standard cat5E solid cable. Total run is 50metres partly under a metal driveway, partly buried 20cm under clay. It's just contained in 25mm white PVC pipe, and I can pull new cables through it if needed. At the lowest point it's got a few holes in the bottom to let any water out.

When I put it in I was concerned about water, rodents, and rot and things - but it has been running 18 years without a hitch.

cyril7

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#2798115 20-Oct-2021 11:39

Hi, I think the issue in this case is its a whole house load (say upto 24 runs) that would be in the conduit, replacing all that would be a pain. I would recommend you take an option as I suggested, either with 2-3 U/G Cat6 waylines or as you suggested a suitable multimode fibre run and put some 10G SFPs on each end (and obvsiously suitable switches, such as this and this.

Cyril

mulac

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#2798137 20-Oct-2021 12:24

cyril7:

Hi, I think the issue in this case is its a whole house load (say upto 24 runs) that would be in the conduit, replacing all that would be a pain. I would recommend you take an option as I suggested, either with 2-3 U/G Cat6 waylines or as you suggested a suitable multimode fibre run and put some 10G SFPs on each end (and obvsiously suitable switches, such as this and this.

Cyril

Apologies, lazy reading on my behalf. I agree with Cyril7's advice here.

Slight hijacking of post, but what would you suggest (if anything) for a UPS solution for switches in a recessed in-wall enclosure?

cyril7

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#2798154 20-Oct-2021 13:23

Hi, if you want it to fit in the cabinet, then you will have problems finding a solution, check out the Powershield LiOn solutions, great for routers and some switches, both the switches I linked above run off a 24V adaptor, so will work with those.

Alternatively, I have in a few installations installed a UPS in the bottom of a nearby closet and had a direct TPS feed from the closet to the cabinet, and obviously a GPO to feed the UPS.

Cyril

nickb800

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#2798190 20-Oct-2021 14:43

Agree with the other comments here.

How much cost difference are we talking here though? Looking at Cables Direct, in round numbers it seems that 305m of indoor Cat6 is $200 vs $300 for underground gel filled. Not a huge difference even if you need say 1-3 rolls. Perhaps added cost in terminating each end since it's not very nice working with gel filled? I would have thought that $1-300 premium in cable cost may be preferable to having a separate enclosure in the house, with another power point, etc

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chevrolux

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#2798212 20-Oct-2021 15:29

The outdoor cable should only really be maybe 50c more per metre (depending on the type of outdoor cable, but lets assume unshielded, gel-flooded, Cat6). It's a drop in the bucket compared with the cost of the house build.

And as for the comments of having standard cable buried for years, and it being fine. That's purely anecdotal. I've pulled out MANY meters of wet, corroded indoor cable out of ducting that might have only been there for a year.

And lastly, just rethink the cabinet position and get it inside (surely there is a top of a shelf things could go on) and run a single fibre tie out the to the garage for anything "big" like a NAS. Pre-terminated fibre is very cheap these days.

mattwnz

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#2798224 20-Oct-2021 15:44

mulac:

I've seen friends that have had standard Ethernet cable running in conduit for 10 years and it's still working fine. I went through the same thought process as you and eventually just settled for standard CAT6 cable. Just try to ensure that you make it relatively easy to pull through new cable if required in the future (which you'll want if you ever need to upgrade for bandwidth), and use heavy duty conduit at a depth that you won't hit when forking/aerating if across lawns.

It is long term durability that is the problem. I ran an overhead Ethernet cable for about 15 years and it worked fine. But on a new build, the electrician failed to install exterior grade cable underground, (was picked up by the network installer), they instead just used internal grade. It had to be replaced when this was picked up. So it had to be retrenched. So it is definitely something you want to check and make sure it is done properly.

Mehrts

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#2798264 20-Oct-2021 17:39

My thought on this would be to have one or two runs of fibre going out to the shed.

That way, the throughput is not limited by the cable medium, but by the transceivers on each end which are easily replaceable in the future if higher throughput is required.

So all the copper runs would terminate into a switch inside the house (via patch panel if necessary), and then one or two fibre links would take the traffic to/from another switch in the shed with all rack devices connecting to that.

neb

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#2798270 20-Oct-2021 18:05

I would go with fibre as well, but for a different reason, you probably don't want to make your networking gear the return path for any voltage differentials between the house and garage. Many metres of fibre makes for a great optoisolater, and you can get cheapie ethernet fibre transceivers off Aliexpress, I use some $25-a-pair ones to isolate a bunch of external gear from the house network.

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