Phone/Data to a seperate building

[Cow]

I'm wiring a new shop right now for a customer built adjacent to their existing shop. Phone/Data isn't really my comfort zone, but the general asked us to take care of it since there isn't a whole lot. We usually sub this stuff out...

What I have is, I extended an underground conduit from the existing phone demarc to this new shop. I'm told all they want right now is one or two phone lines(the minimum) to the new shop to handle the dial out for the fire alarm control panel.

I was planning on pulling one direct burial Cat5e to the existing shop, but was unsure what I needed to land it on in the new shop. I stubbed out a #6 bare where all the phone cabling will land, but was unsure if I needed it or not.

What do I use? 66 block? Demarc box? I'm pretty green with this stuff, if you hadn't noticed, so feel free to explain it to me like I'm a six year old if you have too...

Thanks for the help.

 

[luckylerado]

I would recommend supplying a surge suppressor at the building entrance on both ends. They are available in as little as two lines. Then either go directly to the phone drops or to a small patch panel or a 66 block and cross connect to the phone line drops.

Assuming that they already have a data network that they will extend to the new building and that they are using regular dial tone for their phone instead of VoIP, one cat5 is not going to be enough for both phone and data.

There is really several ways to get the data out to the new building depending on the length, the number of drops, the speed of the connection that is required and the existing configuration. The easiest way would be to set up a wireless ap good for surfing and email, printer sharing and such but not so much for large file-sharing from building to building. Better would be a cat5e from the existing router to a switch in the new building then drops from there or individual runs from the existing router to each drop providing that there are enough ports, and the runs are not too long (295') Either way I strongly recommend that you put some sort of surge suppression on anything that comes up out of the ground or down from an antenna even if it is in a conduit.

 

[Cow]

Thanks for the help Lucky. I sure appreciate it. I'm trying to do this right for them, so I didn't want to just slap something together that works.

I'll have to look into a patch panel and surge suppressors and see what I can come up with. The longest run from the existing Demarc to the farthest jack in the new shop, I bet, is still under 250' so it looks like I'm okay in that sense.

 

[Tracenet]

Phone/Data to a seperate building

Just my two cents worth I would always terminate to a 66 block and then cross connect to the alarm pannel. I have just one comment for you to consider when you connect the POTS Line (1FB) from one building to the other remember that the alarm panel is grounded in the second building and you could create a ground loop which may show up as false alarms say a week or month from now.

 

[Cow]

Good to know. Thanks Tracenet.

 

[hurk27]

Ground loops will only be a problem if neutrals and grounds are bonded together at this other building, if it has its own service then I would say it will be a problem, but if fed from the other buildings service then it shouldn't be since they should be kept seperate, the only other thing is try to keep your phone/cable/data runs in close proximity with the power cables, 6" away is fine, and enter the building in the same area as the power, this eliminates field loops that near field lightning strikes can induce voltage on, running power under ground and com cables over head is a bad design because of this problem, and surge protectors can not protect against this condition.

 

[zbang]

How big is the new shop? A 4000 sq ft shop will eventually need a bit more than a 200 sq ft shop.

If you think two CAT5's are enough, might as well pull 6 or 8. Cable is cheap and they'll thank you eventually. Consider a 25-pair telephone cable for POTS lines. Again, the materials are cheap.

Do not put network lines on 66 blocks, use 110 blocks. They won't mess with the Ethernet signal nearly as much.

Whatever you do, put a surge suppressor at both ends.

 

[Cow]

Sorry guys, I've been away visiting family for the weekend and haven't been around a computer.

Ground loops will only be a problem if neutrals and grounds are bonded together at this other building, if it has its own service then I would say it will be a problem, but if fed from the other buildings service then it shouldn't be since they should be kept seperate, the only other thing is try to keep your phone/cable/data runs in close proximity with the power cables, 6" away is fine, and enter the building in the same area as the power, this eliminates field loops that near field lightning strikes can induce voltage on, running power under ground and com cables over head is a bad design because of this problem, and surge protectors can not protect against this condition.

This building does have it's own seperate service. There is a 2" from the existing shop to this building we were planning on using to tap into the existing phone system. But, there was also another 2" added from this new shop that goes out towards the power poles. I didn't install it but I assume it's for the telephone company to pull directly into this building. Both of these conduits enter the building right next to the service.

How big is the new shop? A 4000 sq ft shop will eventually need a bit more than a 200 sq ft shop.

If you think two CAT5's are enough, might as well pull 6 or 8. Cable is cheap and they'll thank you eventually. Consider a 25-pair telephone cable for POTS lines. Again, the materials are cheap.

Do not put network lines on 66 blocks, use 110 blocks. They won't mess with the Ethernet signal nearly as much.

Whatever you do, put a surge suppressor at both ends.

This is a 9000' sq ft shop with an office and breakroom at one end.

I did buy a 1000' reel(I was going to make the customer buy the whole thing) so I could probably pull more in if need be. I was thinking 2 runs with a string in the pipe for future and then just give them the rest of the reel.

 

[GeorgeB]

I've been waiting to see someone else jump in. I've had many cases with data (10BaseT, 100BaseT) between buildings where the connected equipment was destroyed by lightning in the area ... WE THINK the ground voltage spiked differently in the 2 buildings. I specify an optical link between buildings; I used a small control transformer for one side for isolation. This was a long time ago ... now there are optical isolators with internal isolation transformers.

Cable ... I'd at least transformer couple.

Phone ... I have no idea. With a single line and no ground connection, I'd not expect problems, but I'd ask the PABX supplier for recommendations.