More durable fiber?

[ttabbal]

So, I tried out adding a 10G connection between my server and main workstation. It worked great, for a bit. I expected the fiber would eventually die, as it was run under the carpet and would get walked on. It died in a few days though. I hoped for a bit longer, to say the least.

I read about armored fiber, but can't find a reasonably priced source. Does one exist? It's not possible to do a proper in-wall install. It would require too much demolition of the house. Can't have it exposed either, so that's about the only way to run the line. Length is about 15M.

If I can't make it work, that's alright. I'll just wait a bit and get a switch with a 10G port and run the server to that. Then live with "just" 1G to the workstations. First world problems and all that.

 

[PigLover]

Not sure I'd really do a carpet-pull of fiber at all. Even armored would be at risk under foot traffic (most armor is designed for occasional, accidental damage avoidance).

 

[xnoodle]

Is there room under the base boards? And then for the runs that do cross carpet, use one of those channels to protect it.

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[TuxDude]

I'm not sure what kind of route may be required through your house - but usually you can carefully tuck cables in around the edges under the baseboard. Being careful in the corners with minimum bend radius - as long as you can keep the fiber within 1" of the walls for the entire run you should be able to minimize or eliminate it getting stepped on. If you actually pull your carpet up, you can try laying the cable around the outside of the nail-strips that hold the carpet down.

 

[ttabbal]

That's pretty much what I expected to hear, but hoped for "Hey, here's this miracle fiber that you can stomp on with impunity and it's super cheap too!!" ... No?

Maybe stuff one of those ramp looking covers under the carpet pad? Then it wouldn't be too noticeable. I thought about conduit, but that would be a bit rough on bare feet. Only needs 5mm or so of space I guess. Baseboards are no good, it's about the worst possible setup in that area for that sort of run. Lots of open areas, large entry ways, etc.. It would triple the length, but still have just as much exposed, just in different areas.

There is a spot I could do a short under-carpet run, then go along the edges. Across a hallway, about 1M. If it were wood under there, I'd just run a router across to make a channel then cover it up. but concrete is hard on router bits.

 

[cheezehead]

Assuming you have no bend-radius issues, you could get away with a hard cable cover.

Amazon.com: Dual Channel Cable Protector Straight Ramp: Home Improvement

Not the cheapest thing in the world, but can definitely handle the load. Else below is a more DIY option...your mileage may vary but it should handle foot traffic just fine.

If you have a table saw and some 2x4's handy
1)Rip it down to a 1x4
2) bevel both long edges
3) rip out a small area big enough for the cable to fit it on the underside.

 

[bds1904]

LC-LC (Uniboot) Steel Armored Fiber Patch Cable 15 Meter 50/125 Multimode Duplex

You want something like that.

 

[Jon Massey]

I've used flat twin patch cords before : http://www.turnkeyfibre.com/index.php?webpage=store.php&cID=20450 which certainly feel very tough while being a lot cheaper than SWA or CSTA armoured products. Can't comment as to how much it'll stand up to being stood on repeatedly, though.

 

[Jerry Renwick]

You are looking for more durable cables, but I am not sure the armored cable might be helpful cause I have never used it on your situation. Here is the link for you : 15M LC UPC to LC UPC 9/125 OS2 Simplex Single-Mode Armored Fiber Patch Cable - 3.0mm PVC Jacket I have purchased the cables from this before, hope it might be helpful for you!

 

[ttabbal]

Thanks for the info guys! I'll look into the options.

 

[spyrule]

The steel cables arn't protected from crushing force, but from being cut. Under a carpet, there is little protection from the cable still being destroyed from crushing forces (stepping on it). As someone else mentioned, I'd recommend you pull up your base board and run it underneath. The other possible option is to run the fiber through a central air vent (if that is feasible), through a ceiling space (again if that is possible). Or as someone has already pointed out, use a cable trough designed for pedestrian walking.

the last option is what I've seen someone build for themselves. They took a 2x2, cut them to the exact height of a 1/4" pipe, and simply strape the angled wood to each side of the pipe, and then run the wire through that pipe. so /0\ and it can be made for ~20-30$ for a 6-10ft length.

there is also this website, makes a bunch that looks like base boards:
Cable Ties and More

 

[Franko]

What about using an active twinax copper cable? It should handle the abuse better than fiber.

 

[spyrule]

Twinax isn't any less susceptible to crush forces. Generally speaking, almost all network cables are not rated for crush forces... excluding undersea cables (that are ~$1K / ft... lol)

 

[ttabbal]

I thought about twinax, but I suspected it wouldn't be a big difference. And I couldn't find any long enough anyway. I've also heard they get less reliable the longer they are.

I found a cheap 50ft normal fiber locally, so I'm going to give it a go with something to protect it. I'm leaning toward a piece of small molding with a slot cut for the fiber, then probably tape over it to make sure it stays in there. Cheap, easy to get and make. From there I can go under baseboards for most of the run.

 

[TuxDude]

If appearance is less of an issue, another option would be to suspend the fiber from the ceiling. Still stay around the edges where you can for appearances, but you can cross hallways/etc. with no worries. Just very gently staple it up there.

 

[spyrule]

If you go top of the wall, you can get the small telephone wire cable troughs for relatively cheap (and if you stick with LC/LC fiber, its easily small enough to fit) and it will look cleaner. My only recommendation, If your going to run cables, always run one extra RJ cable along with it, as a backup cable. It helps if you need to do maintenance on the switch and/or replace the fiber, you don't need to lose your connections.