Maximum LAN cable length?

[Hydroxil]

Hello,
I want to set up a LAN network between two houses, but its about 500 feet apart. Now, I can buy the wire, that is not a problem, but I was wondering if 500 of LAN cable is too long? I know it will be a little bit slower if it works, but will it???

Thanks for the help!

Hydro

[Magnj]

i think you will need something called a repeater. Damn I wish I listened during my A+ class. Maybe wireless?

[Jamo]

from what i understand u cant have a cat 5 cable above 100m length

[Magnj]

that what 320 Ft?

[Dissolved]

that what 320 Ft?


328FT

I've heard and read (via google) you wanna stay around 70m, past 70-90m can cause "issues"..

maybe buy a wireless router and a card.. probly pick a decent one up for under 150bucks card inc.

[_Eduard_]

place a hub/switch/router every 75 meters... will cause bad pings though

[J-Mag]

place a hub/switch/router every 75 meters... will cause bad pings though
I highly doubt you will even notice the ping difference. maybe 2-3ms MOST...

[Disposibleteen]

a hub, switch router, every 70m or so wont do anything, they dont amplify the signal at all. A hub just reouts a the signal through all of its ports, a switch and router intelligently route the signal where it needs to go. To amplify the signal get a repeater.

[rcofell]

a hub, switch router, every 70m or so wont do anything, they dont amplify the signal at all. A hub just reouts a the signal through all of its ports, a switch and router intelligently route the signal where it needs to go. To amplify the signal get a repeater.
That would depend on whether it was an active or passive hub.

[Disposibleteen]

thats true but some repeaters would be easier IMO

[rcofell]

Thing is you don't really see many repeaters for sale nowadays, anyways hubs are essentially multiport repeaters.

[cubanyayo]

i would sugest you buy a wireless router and shot a signa usin this baby http://wirelessgarden.com/ i have one and i love hacking other peoples wep and :banana::banana::banana::banana:ing with their network

[uscfan]

As the other dude said before, its 100M and then the signal will start to degrade. You could buy some cheapo hubs I suppose and dasiy chain a bunch of 100M cables.

[kiwi]

And how would you power hub/switch in the middle of plain/forest or whatever the environment between the houses is :D

Twisted pair is 100m but in reality it can be even more depending on the cable quality and source.

You can use fiber optic cable, it is good up to 2000m but more expensive

[Disposibleteen]

simple, just have the hub in one of the houses and the cabling outside, fiber optic is too expensive for this kind of project

[Daveb2012]

from what i understand u cant have a cat 5 cable above 100m length

185meter max.. you need a repeater yes but if its going to another house it would probably end up outside (not good)

[jjcom]

Couldn't you have the cable go out say 70m, then have a hole that's dry (maybe make some kind of water tight box) and have the repeater and the wireing running to it?

jjcom

[i found nemo]

i say 5-6 layers of plastic wrap and 5-9 times around with tape.....?

[=[PULSAR]=]

CAT-5e is rated up to 350M, I would suggest buying some try it if doesnt work return it. Even though its specs are not approved you might want to try and find some CAT-6, CAT-6e, or I saw a cable store around here recently that had CAT-7 it was rated for atleast 700M.

You could also try coax I mean the transfer rates arent astonishing, but it has very little loss over a distance. You want to get really high-tech you can use directional antennas.

[ghidon]

longest cable in my LAN is 135m
it connects two Trendnet switches .. Uniflex FTP cable (made in China i think)
no problems at all .. i don't think you're gonna get the same results with UTP cable tho

[winterburnd]

I'd go the wireless route that pulsar was saying yes there is some security issues. Most of the time you can set up your routers to only allow computers by MAC address. That should stop most hackers since you can crack WEP encryption with Knoppix STD. :)

As for antenas, you probably don't have to spend a whole lot. I have seen people make antenas out of old apple juice cans. Not sure of the range you can get with them (and have only seen it mostly for recieving) but the idea sounds exciting.

[[XC] moddolicous]

Theres only one way to find out:trial and error. If it oesnt work, then give the cable back.

[Obi]

well I have a mate that uses a wireless network to send data between him and his mates lace using normal wi-fi and a cantennae. (empty can of cat food attached to the wireless antennae) this gives him a constant 20Mega bits/second.

Bot sure if you would like faster, but he mainly uses it to stream video :)

I believe that he bought some proper parabolic dishes now, and get close on 40Mb/s so its plenty fast enough.

cheaper than cables, but limited to line of sight, well sort of.... for good speeds at least.

[happyhero]

that what 320 Ft?piece of cake i have reached 150 meters with cat5 and 200 meters with cat6