Help: Running 400ft Ethernet Cable

[bkh2]

Hey HWC, I'm looking to run an ethernet cable that is close to 400 feet. Wiki says that the maximum length should be 100 meters, so I am thinking that I will need a CAT5 repeater or extender. Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing and can recommend a good brand to get? All the ones I've found extend HDMI signals over CAT5..

Also, at what segment would the extender need to be: midpoint, closer to beginning, closer to end, etc. Thanks in advance.

Edit:

I found a repeater: http://www.linhawstore.com/index.php...oducts_id=5217

I think this is what I am looking for, but now I have some questions about PoE (Power over Ethernet). How does the IEEE specification of this device relate to that of the sourcing device and sinking device? Any clarification on this would be appreciated.

[Keywork]

Instead of a repeater, you can just use a plain old switch if that makes things any easier for you. You may have an old one even lying around.

[Chromey]

How about run it first, Test it, before you spend any money on anything else.

[bissa]

is this for spanning a distance outside or for running inside a building? if it's for outside, then you might want to look into some form of FSO/radio device. if it's inside, you might want to look into setting up multimode fibre optic.

[bkh2]

@bissa - It's for inside. It needs to run from a computer room along the ceiling of a warehouse to a shop floor station.

@Chromey - Good idea. I could make a 400ft cable and test it on the floor first (before running it), then if it doesn't work, I can always cut the wire in half and re-crimp.

@Keywork - I'll look into that. Thanks.

[BlueByte]

+1 for fibre run. if its inside I assume its a commercial run and there is likely many things to cause issues with the Ethernet run. Plus if its commercial you dont want to have to explain or have downtime issues because of cheaping out with Cat5e. Do it right once, vs having to fart around with it later.

[bissa]

ya, fiber would probably be the safest method. rather than pushing the max limit on ethernet, use about 1/5th of the max length if you were to use multi-mode. it's actually probably cheaper than you are expecting.
ethernet to fiber connector
cable itself
with those 2 things and a couple 5 foot ethernet patch cables you could run a solid network. total would be a few hundred dollars for a much better connection as you don't have nearly as much data degradation.
EDIT: gigabit converter rather than 10/100

[grinder]

i've had a 575 foot run of CAT 5e work in a warehouse. It was IN CONDUIT and would only connect reliably at 10 mbit.

you've been warned ;)

[lcdguy]

you can't expect full performance over 100M/333Ft as that's the limit of copper runs. If it were me i would but in a fiber run. You will get full speed and not have to worry about any EMI issues. Not to mention it also gives you more potential bandwidth so you can have some additional expandability at the other end of the connection should you need it in the future. If it has to be copper you need a repeater/switch to make the run work at full speed and reliably.

[Arinoth]

I'm going to be another for recommending fibre as it's the better solution in the long run, plus you should be able to run just one cable without needing to repeat the signal.