The installation of an ethernet cable is the same for most outbuildings, although their use may be slightly different. Summerhouses and log cabins can be used for streaming music or movies when converting the building into a space for entertainment. Garden rooms are often turned into a garden office and fast internet connectivity is essential for video calls. Even a shed being used as a workshop can benefit from ethernet to keep mobile devices connected. These cables can be incredibly cheap, starting at around a tenner depending on how long you want them to be, but there are a couple of things to look out for. Those looking to really future proof their network might want to look at the newer Cat 8 standard, which supports speeds of up to 40Gbits/sec at distances of up to 30m using the same RJ45 connectors as Cat 6a. Predictably, though, it’s expensive and mostly used in data centres to hook up the most demanding high-performance network kit. Which category do you need? One less obvious thing to consider is what sort of cable construction you want. Most Ethernet cable consists of stranded, shielded wires inside a flexible plastic casing, which is easy to wind up and move around. However, solid-core cable is less susceptible to interference and offers slightly better performance. It’s less flexible, but if you’re running cable inside a wall it’s a good choice. StarTech doesn’t make the cheapest cables, but they are rigorously tested and have a reputation for reliability. This Cat6 cable comes in blue, white or grey in lengths that cover everything from short patch cables to longer 15m runs. It uses 100% stranded copper conductors with 50-micron gold-plated connectors, and the cables are tested with the industry-standard Fluke tests to ensure they deliver reliable, professional-grade performance.

If you have an underground rodent problem in your area (moles) your buried Ethernet cable is at risk. It is advisable to use conduit in this circumstance, and preferably metal conduit. The costs are higher, but the benefit is the conduit need not be buried as deeply. A rather detailed and extensive blog with installation examples and recommended hardware is found in When Lightning Strikes! Ethernet Data Cable and Lightning Protection . Tips Wired internet connections are widely used in commercial environments, but less common at home. There are many benefits of using an ethernet cable including a reliable performance at a range of up to 100m and eliminating buffering on connected devices. If the cable is being buried underground, be sure to choose an option that is suitable for direct burial. Not all cables will support being buried underground and replacing a cable after a few years can be a big job. Most garden buildings feature timber walls where a small hole can be made to feed the ethernet cable into the interior. Be sure to seal around the cable to prevent water from getting in during the winter months.

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Another decision is whether to use an unshielded or shielded ethernet cable, with most being unshielded. The difference with a shielded cable is an aluminium foil that is inside the cable and wrapped around the twisted-pair wiring. Shield cable is used to prevent interference that can slow down or cause errors in the internet connection. Even if you’re paying through the nose for the very best broadband, the location of your router, the size of your garden (or balcony) and even what you’re trying to do outside can make a big difference to how strong your speeds are. And this means you may need to invest in a little, or possibly a lot, of tech. To make digging a trench more efficient, a trencher machine can be rented from the local equipment rental store. Sure, a shovel can be used but it will result in far more mess, take longer and result in a less consistent trench. In the event operating the trencher is beyond your comfort zone, then hire a local handy person with experience. Eye and ear protection are important. Dealing with Above-Ground Scenarios While armoured cabling is essential for electricity supplies, it’s generally not used for ethernet connections at home. The steel wiring can make the cable difficult to work with and hard to terminate at either end. A professional installation is often required when using armoured cabling.

The standards and protocols used for internet cabling are continuously evolving. The most common decision is whether to use Cat5e or Cat6 ethernet cables, with Cat6 providing the best performance. Ethernet cables come in many different varieties, all with different specs and designs suited for different use cases. Some are better for having around your home, some better for outdoors, some better for gaming, and some that offer lightning-fast speeds. Some additional equipment is needed for installation, with most being available at a low cost. The end of the ethernet cable must be terminated and we recommend using wall boxes at each end of the connection. A wall box allows for a separate ethernet cable to be connected and keeps the installation tidy.The short Ethernet cable running from the second adaptor can then be plugged directly into a laptop, TV or other appliance – depending on what you’re doing in the garden that requires the internet. Alternatively, this second Ethernet cable can be plugged into a second router placed in closer proximity to where you’re sitting in the garden to create a “new” Wi-Fi network from which to connect wirelessly. Given the potential pitfalls of shielded cable, it is a good idea to carefully consider your environment. trueCABLE carries a number of CMX rated Ethernet cable types, and further information around selection is found in Selecting the Correct Outdoor Ethernet Cable . Dealing with Direct-Burial Scenarios Correctly positioned and in the right number mesh systems can cover your home and potentially the garden," says BT's Danny Marshall. "There are even some mesh products that have been designed to be outside in the garden.”

The cost differences between both have shrunk in recent years and are small. We recommend choosing Cat6 cables to maximise the potential performance and reduce any degradation of the internet connection. One last thing to keep an eye out for: most Ethernet cabling is of the “patch cable” type, which is used for standard connections such as plugging a NAS drive into a router or a games console into a powerline adapter. However, you may also come across “crossover cables”, which can be used to connect computers directly together. Don’t buy one of these by mistake! CAT6 Gigabit - Pure Copper Cable Approx 7mm diameter cable 4x2x0.56 Copper / 0.98HDPE + 4.5 Separator + 6.0PE UV resistant Occasionally, it's necessary to use exterior Ethernet cable (CMX) to run an Ethernet cable outside. These are the common scenarios:

The best Ethernet cables to buy

Shielded cables are used when the ethernet cable is run in parallel with electricity cabling. If the cabling for garden building electricity is run next to the ethernet cable, then a shielded cable is recommended. A wired internet connection is the best way to achieve fast and consistent performance inside a garden building. The best outdoor ethernet cables provide gigabit speeds for outbuildings where reliably extending Wi-Fi is not possible. A common question we get is “Is it better to use conduit underground”? Since direct burial Ethernet cable is rated for direct burial you may indeed bury it without conduit. In fact, based upon my experience, direct burial is actually superior to putting it into a conduit as conduit will allow water in over time (especially PVC). If you live in an area that has a frost line only 3” down, then simply bury the cable without conduit at least 10” down to avoid mechanical damage from shovels and the like. For areas that have frost lines measured in feet, freeze/thaw cycles can play havoc with PVC conduit. Consider that a conduit full of water will have nowhere to go when it freezes and potentially ruin your underground run. The best bet in this scenario is to directly bury Ethernet cable 18 to 24 inches down bedded on top of a couple inches of pea gravel to help with water drainage. Further, it is a good idea to leave some “lazy” curves in the run to allow for ground movement. Cat 6 is capable of gigabit speeds (this is dependent on your network). Our cat 6 cables are high spec 23 AWG cables that are easily installed and provide reliable results every time!

An outdoor ethernet cable can connect the outbuilding directly to the router inside a house. The connection will terminate inside the garden building and can be connected to an access point to provide a separate wireless network. Right now, very few of us have home equipment that supports 10GbE, let alone anything faster. In theory, Cat 5e should cover all your immediate needs, but given that there’s so little price difference between that and Cat 6 or even Cat 6a or Cat 7, it’s worth going for the faster cables now. That goes double if you’re cabling up your home, as it’ll save the bother of replacing cables in the next five years should 10GbE-compatible devices take off. What else do you need to think about? Shielded Ethernet cables contain aluminium foil inside of the cable to protect against interference and crosstalk. If the cable is run alongside the electricity for the garden building for a long run then a shielded cable is recommended. This cat6 version from Kenable is available in both 50m & 100m lengths. Are you at risk for a lightning strike? Technically speaking, we all are. Just ask the poor golfer who chose to golf at the wrong time…. yikes! This cable achieves this durability by being built out of clad aluminum (CCA) and unshielded twisted pair (UTP) to maintain performance. Even better, it's available in a variety of lengths from 25 feet to 250 feet, meaning it should be easy to get this cable to whatever you need to plug in.We recommend to use faceplates with full copper cables as oppose to crimping them for our plates see the QS numbers below: Both standards can support a 1-gigabit connection speed (Cat6 supports up to 10 gigabit in small runs) but Cat6 has considerably more bandwidth compared to Cat5e. This allows the cable to process more data at once, similar to a motorway having an increased amount of lanes available to support higher throughput. Our kenable Cat 6 outdoor networking cable has FULL COPPER 23AWG twisted pairs and can be used indoor as well as outdoor. Its ideal for long or short runs and is UV resistant thanks to its PE sheath ensuring it wont erode over time like standard networking cables when left outside. Our Cat 6 cables are also waterproof and can even be buried underground! You'll also want to pay attention to what each cable is made of. Some offer poor designs that can lead to accelerated aging or fraying over time, while others can withstand harsh weather conditions for years on end.