Running cable outside of house

[ricwilli]

Hi everyone.
I would like to know if I can run a cat5 cable outside my house. I have the D-Link DSM-320 that can take all of my mp3's and all of my pictures from my computer and transfers them to my reciever and the tv. I need to run it from the attic too the first floor. Can this be done? Will the wheather have any affects on the cat5 wire?

 

[JohnA]

You shouldn't need to; you just stream the media to the D-link wirelessly. Do you have a wireless router? If not buy one, they are cheep (cheeper than taking the time to run wire and conduit on the outside of your house). You place the D-Link at your receiver and TV and stream the media through the wireless router.

 

[ricwilli]

I'm actually doing that now. But I will be putting the D-link in an enclosed cabinet that will be surrounded by culture rocks. I'm afraid that the signal will not get to the D-link or be weakend. When trying to view pictures on my tv, it takes to long. I think running the cat5 might be faster.

 

[JohnA]

If you have to run cat 5 it will have to be in conduit. If it is not in conduit the elements will destroy it in no time. I would suggest getting a repeater or signal booster. Remember live by your handle

 

[jaxvon]

Yes, CAT5 does have more bandwidth. If you were running it outdoors, I would opt for installing it in some conduit to protect it from the elements. It just seems like a good idea.

 

[ricwilli]

I think I'm going to run it threw conduit. I'm not to happy with wireless right now. It will be much cheaper, I think.

 

[jaxvon]

I don't know how much CAT5 you need, but you can pick up 1000ft for $55 shipped from Newegg. They also carry it in orange, if you don't like gray.

 

[zipper]

Many makes of cat5 are fine if run outside...........there is really no difference in the insulation, just a tighter twist ratio of the conductors.

You shouldn't need conduit..........unless what you buy has a clear jacket on it.

 

[mkossler]

You shouldn't have any problems running in conduit, but be careful with the length - if you are running a 100 BaseT ethernet network, you are limited to something like 135 feet. Unless you have a very large house, that shouldn't pose a restriction, but hey, just in case - good luck.