Should I bother with fiber between floors?

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Jul 14, 2017
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I want to set up a 10 GbE connection between my upstairs and downstairs, it's not a long distance, probably 15'-20' max.

I have some CAT 5e cables already run, but both my upstairs and downstairs switches are SFP+ for their 10 GbE connections.

Given price and power requirements of the SFP+ adapters for 10 GbE, I was wondering if it was worthwhile trying to replace one of the cables with a fiberoptic cable. There isn't a lot of space for the cables/adapters in whatever you call the things that go behind the face plates in the wall, 2" max and it was a tight fit getting the ethernet cables through the holes to downstairs.

I currently have an HDMI cable run, but given the capabilities of a 10 GbE connection, I think my original motivation of running output from my gaming rig upstairs to downstairs, is probably irrelevant as I can do Steam Game streaming if desired, so I can probably replace that with a fiber optic cable. It's flat though.

Is it worthwhile to try and run a fiber optic cable, given the narrow spaces and limited space at the jacks?

If so what exactly should I try to run, especially what connectors should I get on the cables.

Thanks
 

ttabbal

Active Member
Mar 10, 2016
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If you think you can get the fiber in there, I would do it. 10G is usually OM4 LC/LC cable. It depends on the transceivers. The connectors are a little larger than the cable, so if a CAT5 was tight, the connectors might not fit.
 

sh1

New Member
Sep 20, 2020
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Unless latency is critical for your application, I personally would not. I run Cat5e ~50' and use 10GBase-T transceivers. For less than $100 and ~7W for 2 transceivers, ROI in running fiber is very low for my use case.
 
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Jul 14, 2017
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Doing some quick price checking, it does look like by the time I'm finished buying the cables, adapters and fiber optic SFP+ modules I'm going to be well more than the cost of the two 10GBaseT adapters.
 

ArmedAviator

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May 16, 2020
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I got a 50 meter 8-in-1 OM4 bundle from fs.com for not too much - honestly don't remember but it was probably between $100-150. This allowed me to connect all 4 of the 10G ports on my Brocade ICX 6450 PoE on the second floor closet to my Brocade ICX6610 in my basement rack. I just ran it up the wet wall to the attic then down into the closet I have the switch in. It was very nice having the cable pulling eye loops on the cable as well. Took all of maybe 20 minutes to run it.

It cost more, but it's nice to get maximum performance at a reasonable price and labor effort, and since it's a wall with questionable plumbing and romex electrical wires in a 135 year old house, I'm not adding any more conductive wires.
 
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Serhan

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Sep 22, 2017
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I recently moved to US, and we have a house with wooden structure built in early 2000s. I am not familiar with the building materials here but I want to pull networking cable to the attic from the basement, but I don’t see any hole or a vent that I can use for this purpose. I tried with a fish tape to pull cable around a water pipe but got stuck with the insulation. Do you have any suggestions as to what I could use for running the wires through? I want to avoid cutting drywall if possible.
 

ArmedAviator

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May 16, 2020
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You will likely need to drill through fire barriers between the floors. There are long, flexible drill bits made for this purpose. Generally, you'll be attacking from the attic down. Be certain to avoid areas of the walls with electrical or other cabling if at all possible since you will be drilling somewhat "blind." Once all the holes are drilled, then the rods will help you get your cable through. Run more than one pair of fibers if you can - give yourself some redundancy and increase capacity.
 
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gregsachs

Active Member
Aug 14, 2018
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I recently moved to US, and we have a house with wooden structure built in early 2000s. I am not familiar with the building materials here but I want to pull networking cable to the attic from the basement, but I don’t see any hole or a vent that I can use for this purpose. I tried with a fish tape to pull cable around a water pipe but got stuck with the insulation. Do you have any suggestions as to what I could use for running the wires through? I want to avoid cutting drywall if possible.
There is typically one wall with a pipe that goes basement to above roof for the sewer vent stack. This wall is usually the easiest shot vertical; it may be worth trying with a set of fish sticks as opposed to a tape to give more ability to push.
I can't specifically comment on below set, just an example:
 
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Serhan

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Sep 22, 2017
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There is typically one wall with a pipe that goes basement to above roof for the sewer vent stack. This wall is usually the easiest shot vertical; it may be worth trying with a set of fish sticks as opposed to a tape to give more ability to push.
I can't specifically comment on below set, just an example:
Thank you, this is really helpful.
 
Jul 14, 2017
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Well for what it's worth, I wound up needing to re-run the cable as what I had in wall wasn't able to handle 10gbe. So I picked up a fiber cable and a cat 8 in wall. It was about the same amount of difficulty to get both of them through the drilled holes. IIRC, probably about as much as it was originally.

So, the fiber connectors being on the cable really weren't an issue as it turned out and I now have two faster than 10gbe cables run.

I think I all told with the cables and sfp+ adapters. I think I spent about x2 the cost of the Xtel switch I got for the downstairs 10gbe portion, but that's one less thing to upgrade and a nice backbone for my home network.

Thanks for the tip on the fiberglass pole cable runner gregsachs, that was very helpful.

I think someone else somewhere on here suggested a cheap endoscope, that was also extremely helpful, once I figured out how to get everything pointing in the right directions. Strapping it on to one of the fiberglass poles worked the best. The endoscope wasn't the greatest, but it was only $20 and got the job done.

Now I just need Apple to release a 16" MBP with AX so I can really use the R750
 
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