Outdoor Ethernet Run lightning protection

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Starscream122

568 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#225560 23-Nov-2017 22:30

Hi Team

We have just had a Gel Filled Cat 6 cable (outdoor Rated) put in going from the room downstairs up into the soffit and into the ceiling up stairs.

My question is do I need any sort of lighting protection I did read that Outdoor Rated Ethernet cable has shielding/ESD and lighting protection.

Should I be all good or would I be better off disconnecting the feed if there's lighting/investing in some kit to protect from lighting... Attach it somehow to the nearby ground rod from our power meter.

Thanks.

raytaylor

4014 posts

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#1912443 3-Dec-2017 21:35

In general you are fine, however if going between two separate buildings then yes you should use lightning protection.

You can purchase lightning protection devices for ethernet cables - they are about $80 and have a third connection that goes to earth.

The unit is installed on the outside wall of the building as close as possible to where the cable enters the building through the wall.

Ideally that would be ~30cm above the ground so the earth connection is as short as possible.

use keywords "ethernet lightning" or "ethernet surge arrestor"

Ray Taylor

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Starscream122

568 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1954067 9-Feb-2018 09:47

raytaylor:

In general you are fine, however if going between two separate buildings then yes you should use lightning protection.

You can purchase lightning protection devices for ethernet cables - they are about $80 and have a third connection that goes to earth.

The unit is installed on the outside wall of the building as close as possible to where the cable enters the building through the wall.

Ideally that would be ~30cm above the ground so the earth connection is as short as possible.

use keywords "ethernet lightning" or "ethernet surge arrestor"

Sorry for the late reply I actually never saw it till now

I am not going between buildings.

I have bought a new Surge Protector that has ethernet protection. I connected it and I lost 100mbps so it normally gets 200Mbps but going though the surge protector it drops it down to about 92mbps which is a big drop

So I think I should only connect it to the surge protector in the winter when there's lighting or not bother at all as I should be fine..

webwat

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#1955157 11-Feb-2018 13:06

Starscream122:

Hi Team

We have just had a Gel Filled Cat 6 cable (outdoor Rated) put in going from the room downstairs up into the soffit and into the ceiling up stairs.

My question is do I need any sort of lighting protection I did read that Outdoor Rated Ethernet cable has shielding/ESD and lighting protection.

Should I be all good or would I be better off disconnecting the feed if there's lighting/investing in some kit to protect from lighting... Attach it somehow to the nearby ground rod from our power meter.

Thanks.

Yes Gel-filled cable is generally protected against UV "lighting" but usually unsheilded often has a more flammable jacket than the indoor type cable so don't use if all over the house.

Lightning on the other hand is massive amounts of electricity, impossible to protect skinny copper wires from something thats powerful enough to blow steel cladding right off the wall. The only useful approach is to protect the whole house, so lightning rod on the roof, big primary surge protectors on the switchboard, surge protectors on any copper phone line. Normally NZ weather isn't bad enough to go all out with lightning protection, we just make an insurance claim.

Time to find a new industry!

Starscream122

568 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1955242 11-Feb-2018 15:22

What do you mean don't use if all over the house?

Ours runs through the ceiling and down into a wardrobe and it's less then 35 meters long (I read somewhere there's a limit to how long it can be due to fire risk) but this one is only a short run.

webwat

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#1958830 15-Feb-2018 22:25

Starscream122:

What do you mean don't use if all over the house?

Ours runs through the ceiling and down into a wardrobe and it's less then 35 meters long (I read somewhere there's a limit to how long it can be due to fire risk) but this one is only a short run.

The rule used to be 15m for an indoor run of outdoor cable, not an issue if its UL listed cable rather than cheap stuff and even then must be still better than the old grease filled cable. I wouldn't put external cable anywhere it didn't need to be, indoor cable is more appropriate where theres no need for waterproofing.

Time to find a new industry!

Starscream122

568 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1958844 15-Feb-2018 23:17

It wasn’t cheap cable. I asked about changing it to indoor grade once it got inside the house (to save on cost)
And he said It would affect the cable I want a good speed and reliable connection from the cable so I just went with the one run rather then terminate it once it got inside and change to indoor cable.The run only goes as far as it needs to and the other run he did was with normal indoor cable and I did another room myself with normal indoor solidcore cable.