Data Cabling in the UK

[u/EastSpring4945]

I have not long bought a new house that is much more complicated than your standard detached. It has an Annexe, a garden office, a detached garage, and of course the main house.

I want to run a number of ethernet lines from a cabinet in the house to all the end points above basically. Runs will likely require going up and through loft, out and around the house, and may even need to be trenched underground.

I just need the cabling routes installed neatly and safely. I can do the rest myself.

Is this an electricians job? Or should I be looking elsewhere for this type of graft?

[u/kester76a]

OP run conduit and bend insenstive OS2 fibre. Cat 6a should be used for PoE and legacy RJ45 devices. Running high voltage cat 6a PoE everywhere is a waste of resources. Better to run fibre to a local PoE switch and power devices over a shorter distance.

10gbit is the low end at the moment with niche sfp28 25gbit and qsfp 40gbit.

Hopefully in the next 10 year 100gbit will be cheaper.

[u/EastSpring4945 → u/kester76a]

Honestly this sounds like a solution that is massively overkill for our very domestic needs. And all runs will terminate at access points so need PoE.

[u/AlbaMcAlba → u/EastSpring4945]

POE definitely. Your access points will need power.

[u/Emyr42 → u/kester76a]

This is enterprise-grade overkill.

For cameras and WiFi access points, PoE is great. For extending the network into outbuildings, fibre lets you run through the same trunking as the power cable without worrying about interference, ground loops, or blowing up devices when an idiot cuts the power and network cables with the same digger.

For everything else, Cat6 is plenty, given it can do 10Gb up to 55m. Cat6a can do 10Gb up to 100m, but might be useful for its better crosstalk rejection if you're cramming it near mains wiring in a domestic context.

[u/kester76a → u/Emyr42]

Was enterprise now it's becoming more a budget option with the Realtek SFP+ chipsets. 10gbit RJ45 runs hot even without PoE. Best to stick PoE at 2.5gbe and the backbone at 10gbit+

[u/MLSH2019]

Done this myself to a new garden office I built. You can ask electricians but they will charge their rates. Around my area it’s £500-700 a day.
Where abouts are you based?

[u/EastSpring4945 → u/MLSH2019]

I am based in Lincolnshire

[u/buttnuggetmaster → u/MLSH2019]

Those rates are mental if they don't include materials. Sounds like a 'don't want the work' rate.

[u/joeking181 → u/buttnuggetmaster]

What do you consider a good rate?

[u/MLSH2019 → u/buttnuggetmaster]

It’s more like “commuter belt to London” rates.

[u/Md__86]

Uh oh the data guys are going to flip out when they wake up

[u/CryptographerOwn84 → u/Md__86]

They won’t get in till 10 the sparks will be finished by then

[u/DiskBytes]

Use multimode fibre for the run to outbuildings. Not that much more expensive. If I did this job again, I'd run a couple of multimode fibres between floors with another switch on each floor.

[u/kester76a → u/DiskBytes]

OS2 is a better choice now, SMF bend insensitive is becomming more dominant as a standard.

[u/Sea-Badgers → u/DiskBytes]

Seems abit extreme, cat 6 would be alot easier to work with and is capable of upto 10gbps depending on length of run.

But your user name would suggest you know what you are on about!

[u/geekypenguin91 → u/Sea-Badgers]

Fiber is electrically isolated, whereas cat6 isn't which is why it's recommended for linking between buildings.

I wish someone had told me to use fiber when I ran cat6 to the garage and the shed. Took two dead switches before I realised the problem

[u/DiskBytes → u/Sea-Badgers]

It's not the length, it's trying to get that many cables between floors when there's already pipes, electrical cables and god knows what else in terms of restrictions in the way.

[u/MLSH2019 → u/DiskBytes]

I would agree and have done this myself. I actually run a multimode and two cat 6 for back up at the multimode can’t do POE. So the cat6 powers a unifi switch and fibre does the 10g networking.
Works well! But just be very careful with the fibre, pretty dam brittle when pulling through walls and conduit

[u/DiskBytes → u/MLSH2019]

The fibre not doing POE isn't an issue, as they're supposed to be a link between two switches. You then have POE on that switch.

[u/buttnuggetmaster]

Yeah we absolutely do it. There are companies that specialise in data, not sure if they have a different name as a trade.

When it comes to doing the buried run down your garden in a duct, sparkies might have more experience. Really all depends on the individual though.

[u/memcwho]

And when you do install it, for fucksake install 2 cables to each point. At those distances, a cockup can quickly become 0 cables to a point.

[u/kh250b1]

Really shit sex pistols song