Re: CAT5 surge/lightning strike protection recommendations?
There's not much left to interpretation and preferences here, aside from the choice of medium to be used. I should also add that some of the advice that has been posted in this thread, as well-meaning and thoughtful as it has been, has been downright dangerous to follow. If one is going to run copper cable between buildings, or outdoors, in general, in lieu of the better alternatives of fiber or wireless, then there are local and national electrical, fire and safety codes in effect that spell out what you must do, enforceable under the penalty of law. And while certain of those precautions have been spelled out upstream in piecemeal fashion, none thus far has been entirely accurate or complete. Yes, when running copper between buildings, lightning arresters/circuit - i.e., protection - are a must, but they must be placed within a couple of feet of the building point of entry, or POE. Think about it. Does it make great sense to protect a cable from surges deep within the interior of a building if the cable traverses vast distances on premises unprotected between the point of entry and the terminal point. Therefore, the stipulation of performing grounding, bonding and surge protections at the point where the cable enters the building (in potentially at addition points, elsewhere, when required). Also, if the copper cable is "armored" with a corrugated steal jacket, as many outside plant cables are, then the shielding (the armor) must also be "bonded" to earth ground at the POE, as well. So the issue becomes one not only of grounding, but bonding, as well. And while I'm on that subject, be aware that many FIBER OPTIC cables designed for inter-building/outside plant use are also armored and must be treated in the same manner. BICSI (Building Industries Consulting Systems International) www.bicsi.org does a good job of rolling up all of the relevant standards, as do a number of other sources. For some good coverage of safety, grounding and bonding principles and techniques see the following Structured Cabling Supplement reference by Panduit (taken from the Cisco CCNA Networking Academy Program) http://www.tecmiami.com/cisco/extra/CCNA1_CS_1_en.pdf Frank A. Coluccio DTI Consulting Inc. 212-587-8150 Office 347-526-6788 Mobile
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Frank Coluccio