Join two Cat6 cables together, outside.

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GotNoRice

GotNoRice

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I have a length of Cat6 cable that I use to connect my home to my garage. The garage is separate from the house, almost like a barn, with 60 feet or more separating them. I used Cat6 cable that is waterproof and rated for outdoor direct burial. Cable is buried in the ground maybe 6" deep.

Not long ago I lost communication with the garage. I went to inspect the cable only to find out that some kind of animal had dug a hole and severed the cable in the process. It doesn't look like the animal necessarily went for the cable, as there are other similar holes all over the yard. Probably a squirrel trying to bury a walnut or something.

Problem is, what is the best way to join the cable back together? I'm thinking, make a fresh cut on each side, crimp a Cat6 connector on each side, and then use a coupler. Then maybe use a large-diameter piece of heat-sink tubing to cover the entire coupler, so that it would be waterproof again and I can bury it back in the ground.

But maybe there is another, better way?
 
It will happen again and again. Redo the job correctly with fiber+conduit. Did you even ground it?
 
Terminate the ends with rj45 connectors and then put them together with something like https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai...wiJitmB7dnlAhWwJzQIHTbYCTkQwg96BAgMEBA&adurl=. Then protect as needed.

Personally, for that distance outdoors, I would highly recommend conduit. If you are in a lightning prone area you should look into lightening arresters. And if the outbuilding is on a different meter you might consider an opto-isolator or using fiber - otherwise you run some risk of a ground loop.
 
Most squirrel holes are invisible once they are done. Six inches down is just about perfect to be cut by moles, gophers, voles, etc. Plus dogs/coyotes will dig small observation holes and wait for the critters to go by before trying to yank them out. If the critter left a mound of soft dirt around the hole, suspect a gopher.

If this is a recent install, then 2nd the conduit fix. Plus maybe a deeper trench. If it has been in place for many years, then patch and take action against critters.

Depending on the bandwidth you are pushing, might be able to get by with just splicing in the proper length of replacement wire(s), soldering, and sealing. Try to keep all the replacement wires the same length. You could test by cutting a 100' Cat 6 cable and trying your splicing skills before repairing the garage run.
 
Nicklebon said:
It will happen again and again. Redo the job correctly with fiber+conduit. Did you even ground it?
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Agreed. Although i guess you could still use copper if you want. At the very least run it in conduit.. uh.. whats the standard for underground low voltage lines? 12" down? 16"?
 
Why not run cables up to the roof at each building and shoot a wireless signal across with Ubiquiti point to point hardware? You can get models that will give you around 500-600mbit speed for pretty cheap on amazon.
 
EniGmA1987 said:
Why not run cables up to the roof at each building and shoot a wireless signal across with Ubiquiti point to point hardware? You can get models that will give you around 500-600mbit speed for pretty cheap on amazon.
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Because like I said earlier in the thread, this was just a cheap project using cable that I already had, not a quest to spend money. Since it's main purpose is to be able to have a WiFi access point in the garage, I wouldn't really want to use another WiFi signal just to get there in the first place. I've never been a fan of daisy-chained WiFi or extenders. I prefer to wire cable to each AP.

The coupler posted earlier is bought, installed, and working great. Thanks.
 
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