Faster net over 600'...?

That's because there is only about 20% difference in the 'speed' between the two mediums. - Unless you wan the same electron out, as you put in. ;-) Phil Partridge snipped-for-privacy@pebbleGRIT.demon.co.uk Remove the grit to reply

The lowest-tech fiber you can still buy is an old 160MHz/km-bandwidth multimode 62.5/125 micron, which is going to support 2000 meters at

100Mbit/s, so 600' are not a problem at all. There are even older types available exclusively from eBay's surplus dealers, such as 100/140 micron multimode fiber. No matter how cheap, don't even think of getting these: no way to buy connectors anymore. Anything relatively recent would be for 125 micron outside diameter.

The costs hugely depend on the type of jacket the cable is going to have, not so much the fiber itself. The OP did not specify the environment, but I think it would be wise to install an indoor-outdoor cable with at least

4 fibers (though only two will be utilized right away) or, better yet, 6. It would probably run you roughly 50 cents per foot. Plus installation. Expect to pay anywhere from $50 to $75 per connector if you hire a pro. Very small job, so per-item costs are going to be very high.

These guys are as "economy" as it gets to the best of my knowledge, but don't take my word for it - do a Google search:

Both are designed to support up to 2000 meters (6560 ft) on "regular" multimode fiber. At this point in time there is no price difference between 10 and 100Mbit/s (if you can still find 10, of course)

Good luck!

Hi Dmitri,

OP here...

I need to pull cable from the second floor of a building through a (properly designed) chase, then through a (properly designed) underground conduit for about 400 feet, then through a chase into a second building. We currently have 10-Base-2 and want to up the speed.

Your specific suggestions, and rough cost estimates, based upon the information I have provided would be most welcome.

Sincere thanks,

Hello again, OP here,

Ah, technology...

I have contacted several folks who install this sort of cabling and have informal quotes from $800 to $4000.

Perhaps I am missing something, but...

If I were to get appropriate cable, have it assembled with appropriate end fittings, and plug each end into an appropriate media converter it would seem that the job would be done at a cost significantly below the lowest estimate I have received.

Is there any (real) reason that I could not do all this myself?

Sincere thanks,

There is a certain amount of expertise that is required, but if you are careful and can spend literally hours feeding the cable through the pathway, there is no real reason you can't do it. Normally a company would send a crew to do the job, somewhere between 2 and 4 people. The minimum would be two who have experience, three if one is truly experienced, and four if they have some experience pulling copper but not necessarily fiber.

If you are going to do it as a DIY project, then you will need at least two people. One person to feed the cable from the first end point down to a second person where the transition will be made to conduit. Once the cable is down the chase, then that person would feed the cable into the conduit while the other does the pull. When that section is complete, move the people so the pull up the last chase can be completed.

You may want to invest in a bottle of cable lube to dress the fiber as it goes into the conduit as it already has cable resident. It will relieve a lot of the stress.

Oh, you will definetly want to buy/rent a cable pulling grip for the pull through the conduit. If you put strain on the connectors, or even too much strain on the fiber jacket itself you will damage the cable and it will be useless.

Howdy,

Sincere thanks for the suggestions,