Do you know anyone who has used burial Ethernet cables?
Do you know anyone who has used burial Ethernet cables?
Certainly. It means there’s a possibility the connection isn’t properly grounded. Regarding the depth, it depends on your specific setup, but generally you want to bury the wire about 8 to 12 inches below the surface for safety and effectiveness. Let me know if you need more details!
I experienced a lightning strike on the utility pole near my home last year. It damaged the main router's Ethernet ports and fried the second router. The issue wasn't related to the conduit run, just unfortunate timing. The cable itself was intact, so I replaced the routers and operations resumed. The conduit sits roughly 12 inches below the surface—about 18 inches—so water and freeze-thaw cycles were my main worries. Be sure to seal the ends properly.
Consider using fibre to prevent any possible electrical problems. After your network was damaged by lightning, you definitely don’t want to rely on copper again. This is why I’m excited about FTTP—it reduces the chances of everything failing. My chimney was hit a while back, but it didn’t affect the cabling; it still ruined everything connected to the phone line, even the modem from dial-up days. It switched from the modem to the motherboard IO chip, turning it into charcoal (probably many of us don’t remember when chips were built-in). The diodes on every NIC were also affected because it was coax, not knowing how far it would travel over a switch. Given how much my switch cost, I wouldn’t want to risk that again.
This statement stands out to me because it raises some concerns. You seem focused on just running a data line, but going deeper is better. If you're not using conduit, you should consider going 24 inches down. This advice comes from electrical codes, but the core idea remains the same—deeper installations are more reliable and less affected by temperature shifts, water levels, or root intrusion.
Lol, maybe I should have mentioned I’m fine with digging the trench. I’ve already tried using satellite wire for that. Just like with any other project, I always do some research first. Honestly, if the cable fails 10 years from now (or even then), I’m not worried about starting over. The fiber idea isn’t my thing—it feels like wasting money on the ground.
For your situation, fiber might be too much. Simply run the cable straight on the ground or through a conduit for safer long-term use. Ethernet limits range to about 100 meters (328 feet), so it should work. Since the cable is underground, you won’t need to worry about lightning interference.
The 8BitGuy on YouTube had a connection between his house and his parents' home broken by lightning twice. He switched to fiber optic cables afterward. I think copper wiring is better for handling electricity, so grounding or using fiber would be smarter. Fiber also offers higher speeds without electrical interference.
Fiber is always just right and offers long-term security. It also sidesteps the complications of grounding and keeps copper protected from lightning.