Home Networking

Yes, probably run an outdoor CAT6 cable and bury if needed.

You may want to trench and lay 1" PVC conduit so you can pull wire in the future if things change.

City code might have rules on detached structures. But usually it’s for power not internet.

Oy! you got a license for that?

I worked in an environment where we ended up putting fiber to Ethernet converters on both side. Ran fiber and never looked back. Pre fiber we suffered several lightning strikes that would fry the switches.

I don't see any cops here.

You can, but depending on the setup you should be aware of a few things:

• make sure you don't have a ground potential difference.
• use appropriate rated cabling and not plain UTP
• you may want surge protection on that line coming in from outside

Do your homework and stay safe.

Permission granted

Can you?

Yes.

Should you?

Probably not.

I have $6000 worth of burned out electronics to help you understand that this in not the best idea.

I'd use fiber instead. If you are not using fiber and you insist on going with copper you need a really good burial AND really good surge protection on each end.

There is no problem with doing that in principle, as long as the cable is protected and the run is less than about 100m.

Yes, you can run Ethernet from your home router to your shed.

Ideally you'd use conduit to protect the cable, or use Ethernet cable designed for outdoor use. However, I've seen normal Ethernet cables last 10+ years outside without issue.

As others have mentioned, ideally the router in the shed will have DHCP turned off, and the incoming line will go into one of the normal Ethernet ports (not the WAN/Internet port). This will allow two-way communication between your house and shed (IE, your computers, network drives, network printers, network cameras, etc. can all see each other no matter which router they are connected to). However, if you only need Internet you can just plug the Ethernet cable into the WAN/Internet port on the shed's router.

If your shed is only 15M away, you’ll be fine using CAT6 OSP shielded. It’s designed for direct burial so no conduit needed. If you are really concerned about anything getting fried make sure to use shielded RJ45 connectors and shielded patch panel.

I'll have to ask my dad first, but I'll get back to you.

just use a switch and access point in the shed instead of a router. you would have to make sure you get all the router specific settings turned off and some routers don't let you do that. if you are unsure about it, access point and switch is much simpler.

Don’t run any copper cable outside your building .WLAN or fiber converter is your solution. You can lose your home not only the LAN 🫵

you can but you should run fiber instead unless you want lightning to fry a bunch of your stuff

Another option is just a wireless bridge.

For example (and certainly there are cheaper versions)

https://store.ui.com/us/en/pro/category/all-wifi/products/ubb

No, you cannot. Believe it or not, straight to jail.

Router to router isn't the best idea. Do you need to connect more than one device in the shed? If yes, switch or access point.

Yes. Use CAT6 direct burial and appropriate connectors. Good to 328-feet.

I'd personally find a cheap switch with fiber ports on both ends and use fiber. It's non-conductive so a lot of the complexity of grounding and lightning protection is off the table.

may cost a few hundred, but if you fry you're pc in the shed from a lightning strike it will probably cost more than that.

2.5gb unmanaged switches with 10gb sfp ports can be found for $50-75ish new and sfp's are maybe 10 a piece. Depending on the local market you may be able to find a used Cisco 3750 for $10-20. If you just need one port you can find a pair of 1gb media converters with sfp's for about $60. You can find pre-terminated direct burial fiber in various lengths for $110 or so for 250 ft, if you want to go overhead run a steel wire and attach the fiber to it, but you probably still want the armored fiber.

Depending on the speed and line of sight, a wireless point to point bridge may be an option.. you can find a pair for anywhere from $50 for 300mbps (I wouldn't bet that's real world, probably 50-100mbps) to much more expensive options (I ran 4 between 2 buildings at my last office that ran at very high, licensed frequencies that were probably $5k a piece, but they did 10gbps on a good day, and we're pretty rock solid even in the rain)

You can, but I recommend to run single mode fiber. It's stupid cheap, you put a media converter on each side and avoid grounding and electrical discharges issues.

Mesh network is the easy solution. No wires needed if you can arrange the nodes where they don't get too much interference. (metal siding would be a problem unless you can place the node in a window or similar.)

yes

personally I would use fiber instead.

I get downvoted every time I respond to one of these posts but hey why not...

I strongly suggest running Fiber with a media converter on each end. This reduces the potential for lightning to travel from 1 structure to the other. Removes grounding concerns. It is by far the safest option.

Yes. Also consider just using an AP outside. It may be a simpler solution.

Just do a point to point wireless link. Less issues with ground difference and no trenching to do.

If you do trench use fiber -not- Ethernet cable

It's safer to run fiber between two buildings. If lightning strikes nearby it can enter the ethernet cable and destroy equipment and potentially start a fire. They even have direct burial armored fiber.

Also, lightning may be a real hazard.

Id lay some conduit and just run a long cat5e/cat6 cable out there. If you are just watching YouTube or googling stuff out there you can get away with a good mesh network but if you want some decent reliable speed hardwiring is the way to go

I say yes - what does your wife/GF/Other say?

Bury it if possible. Maybe conduit. Use cable appropriate for burial. Also how long is the run?

If you have power in the shed, there are units that you can buy that you plug your Ethernet wire into then plug into the outlet. Put another unit in the shed and they send the signal thru your electrical wiring.

I’d use fiber, conduit and bury it. I got a sprinkler company to do mine. And run extra fibers for long term potential.

No more than 100 ft runs ideally.

I did coax with MOCA adapters.

I just used a powerline adapter (I owned from a previous house) and a spare WiFi ap. The summer house already had power. It still works despite the small consumer unit in there.

Don't care about super high speeds really in that location.

Obviously in the future I might run a cable.

Sure, why wouldn't you be able to? I have an ethernet cable run from the garage to an RV. Cable is run to the garage from the main house.