# PVC piping for ethernet cable outside?



## ilyaz (Jan 18, 2021)

A few months ago Verizon upgraded my Fios service to 1Gbit so they had to switch from coax to CAT6. They refused to enter my house due to COVID restrictions so since then I've had the outside ONT unit connected to my router with a CAT6 wire fed through my window!

I want to drill a hole in the wall of my house and feed the cable through it like it should have been done in the first place. What I also want to do is feed the CAT6 wire through some sort of piping attached to the outside wall to avoid damaging the wire by accident for example when mowing my lawn.

I am planning to use PVC piping. It will 4 or 5 90-degree turns between the ONT unit and the point the wire enters the house. The total length of all the PVC segments would be about 20 feet. The pipes will be attached to the brick wall with some type of round brackets.

Questions:
1. What's the smallest diameter PVC pipe that I should use?
2. For that diameter, what's the smallest diameter masonry bit I should use to drill a hole in my wall? The plan is to have the final section of the PVC pipe to be inserted into the hole. I have an old corded drill (not an impact or hammer, just a regular one) that I tested the other day with a 3/8 masonry bit that went through a brick without any issues. This bit is too small but I am planning to use the same drill with the bigger one.
3. I am not expecting much space between that last section of the pipe and the hole but I want to fill it with some sort of insulation foam or something similar anyway. What sort of insulation should I buy? Does it come in small containers? (I will only need a little)
4. Is using CAT6 good enough or should I use CAT8 or any other type?
5. On the inside I am planning to use a wall plate with a dual female jack (something like *this*). Are they all equally good, or should I pick a specific brand?
6. The old coax cable enters the house through the wall and I am planning to drill the hole for CAT6 within a few inches of it. I am pretty sure there are no wires of anything else that I should not be drilling through there, but how do I double check?
7. Anything else I forgot?
TIA!


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## kok328 (Jan 18, 2021)

Why not just use the existing coax hole for your new CAT6?
Anyhow, my opinion:
1. 1/2"
2. same as the outer diameter O.D. of the pipe
3. small 8oz. squeeze tube of silicone
4. CAT6, 8 if you already have it
5. Hubbell brand
6. if you can't see the drill bit exit then just go slow and stop when you think your through.
7. will you be requiring "shielded" or plenum rated CAT wire?  Will there be a need for an expansion joint in your PVC run?


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## ilyaz (Jan 18, 2021)

How do I decide about shielded vs plenum?


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## kok328 (Jan 21, 2021)

ilyaz said:


> How do I decide about shielded vs plenum?


you have to look at the path your running your wires from/to.
shielded if your running near electrical wires, in order to eliminate RF signal interference.
plenum if you are running the wires through a space where an air handler gets it's return air from (not likely, mostly in commercial buildings).


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## Sparky617 (Jan 21, 2021)

Verizon has had to institute policies with regards to installations during COVID.  I work for them, and this response is not an official Verizon response.  I've seen some of the work they've done to keep installations and repairs going while keeping our technicians safe on our internal video updates. I did FiOS installs during the last strike by our union associates.  Even in normal times we're restricted in what we can do with regards to fishing walls to run cables.  Inside wiring is not part of our normal work.

I know here in NC Google Fiber is doing inside installations.  I've been holding off going to them as I don't really want them crawling all over my house at this time.


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## ilyaz (Jan 22, 2021)

kok328 said:


> you have to look at the path your running your wires from/to.
> shielded if your running near electrical wires, in order to eliminate RF signal interference.
> plenum if you are running the wires through a space where an air handler gets it's return air from (not likely, mostly in commercial buildings).



This is what it looks like now. The red lines are were I want to attach PVC pipes to the wall and fish CAT6 through them. The white cable is the original coax.

So it does not look like I have many wires nearby to need shielded, right? And no nearby HVAC ducting either., 

So just a regular CAT6?


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## ilyaz (Jan 22, 2021)

Sparky617 said:


> Verizon has had to institute policies with regards to installations during COVID.  I work for them, and this response is not an official Verizon response.  I've seen some of the work they've done to keep installations and repairs going while keeping our technicians safe on our internal video updates. I did FiOS installs during the last strike by our union associates.  Even in normal times we're restricted in what we can do with regards to fishing walls to run cables.  Inside wiring is not part of our normal work.
> 
> I know here in NC Google Fiber is doing inside installations.  I've been holding off going to them as I don't really want them crawling all over my house at this time.



When the contractor did the original "install" he said I would need to call them back "after COVID" to come and do it properly. But supposedly this would be a "repair" cal that I would have to pay for. So I might just as well do it myself, seems easy enough.


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## kok328 (Jan 22, 2021)

ilyaz said:


> This is what it looks like now. The red lines are were I want to attach PVC pipes to the wall and fish CAT6 through them. The white cable is the original coax.
> 
> So it does not look like I have many wires nearby to need shielded, right? And no nearby HVAC ducting either.,
> 
> ...


Yes.


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## Sparky617 (Jan 22, 2021)

ilyaz said:


> When the contractor did the original "install" he said I would need to call them back "after COVID" to come and do it properly. But supposedly this would be a "repair" cal that I would have to pay for. So I might just as well do it myself, seems easy enough.


The longer the COVID restrictions remain in place the longer it is going to take to get back to the work that is piling up.  We ran into the same thing during the strike but that was *ONLY* 7 weeks.  Very few of the jobs I did would have required any follow up.  The area I was in had mainly overhead FiOS lines and we did the same installations that the regular techs would have done.  Burying cables for underground stuff was generally done after the fact by contractors not Vz employees.  At one house I did dig under a sidewalk for the customer's underground service.  In NYS we weren't allowed to run cables across streets or sidewalks.  They could run across yards though.  Their neighbor cut his service while getting a new driveway built.

The Cat 6 doesn't need to be in conduit, but it would clean up the outside of your house.  I'd likely do the same thing.  That diagonal wire would drive me nuts.  I like everything run neat and in straight lines.


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## bud16415 (Jan 22, 2021)

Use a fitting like this. We call them a LB. Putting them on the corners lets you open the cover and pull a step at a time. 






						Cantex 1 in. D PVC Conduit Body - Ace Hardware
					

Used for a change of direction of the conduit run with the back hub usually exiting through a wall. Rectangular shaped conduit body with a removable cover. One entrance hubs at the opposite end in the back (floor).Find the BODY CONDUIT PVC LB 1 at Ace.




					www.acehardware.com


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## ilyaz (Jan 22, 2021)

bud16415 said:


> Use a fitting like this. We call them a LB. Putting them on the corners lets you open the cover and pull a step at a time.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Great idea thank you


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## Eddie_T (Jan 22, 2021)

When I was running coax in PVC I used thin wall ¾" PVC and pairs of 45* ° *couplers rather than 90* °*s.


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## 68bucks (Jan 23, 2021)

The size of the conduit sort of depends on whether the cat 6 will have a plug in the end when you pull it. If you can put your own plug on the end the 1/2" is plenty big. That has an od of 7/8" so I'd drill 1". If you have to pull with the plug on the cable then you probably need 3/4", that's 1-1/8" od. Just make sure you use sweep 90's for conduit not 90's for pipe. Also the LB idea is smart where you go through the wall and maybe on the last turn through the floor or wall. They make LL's and LR's too if that would work better. Personally I would use shielded cable regardless.


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## ilyaz (Jan 23, 2021)

68bucks said:


> The size of the conduit sort of depends on whether the cat 6 will have a plug in the end when you pull it. If you can put your own plug on the end the 1/2" is plenty big. That has an od of 7/8" so I'd drill 1". If you have to pull with the plug on the cable then you probably need 3/4", that's 1-1/8" od. Just make sure you use sweep 90's for conduit not 90's for pipe. Also the LB idea is smart where you go through the wall and maybe on the last turn through the floor or wall. They make LL's and LR's too if that would work better. Personally I would use shielded cable regardless.



Thanks but need help parsing: is "sweep 90 fr conduit" *this*?

And what are LLs and LRs?

Right now I have a CAT6 cable connected to the outside box at one end and to my router (throught the office window) to my router. This is the cable I am planning to pull through the pipes. The router end will be instead plugged into a female-female wall jack and so I will need another short cable from the jack to the router.


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## 68bucks (Jan 23, 2021)

Yes that's a sweep 90. LB's, LL's and LR's are about the same. Here are examples of the various fitting types. Just pick the ones that work best for your install. As you can see there are also T's and C's, that's the one that goes straight through.


When you pull the cable from outside through the conduit if the plug will already be on it you'll probably need the larger conduit. If you have the tool to crimp on a new plug you could cut the plug off and pull the plain end cable then you could use smaller conduit. The wall plate has options. You can use a Keystone plate that can have different connector types like RJ45, for CAT cable, or HDMI plugs or coax plugs. Just search Keystone plates. A lot of times you can just use a pass through plate where you just push the cable end through a large opening, those are a lot easier at times especially if they are not real visible. That eliminates the extra connection at the the wall plate. Hope that helps.


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## ctviggen (Jan 23, 2021)

You can't run that into the attic and then from there into the wall(s) of the house?  

If you use a keystone, you can get a tool to put the wires into the keystone.  Like this:



			https://www.ktool.net/morris-products-54562-cat5-cat6-punch-down-tool/?msclkid=00a197f3b4ba17c19948f7ffdf4356c5&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=**LP%20Shop%20-%20USA%20-%20Morris%20Products&utm_term=4582420876443490&utm_content=79625%20%7C%20Morris%20Products%2054562%20CAT5%2FCAT6%20Punch%20Down%20Tool%20%7C%20%2461.58
		


Then you plug in a store-bought cat6 cable from the keystone to wherever you're going.


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## Eddie_T (Jan 23, 2021)

To eliminate the need for crawling in the attic I pushed CL 200 PVC sections with coax inside them all the way into the soffit then fished the coax through a hole in the soffit.


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## ctviggen (Jan 24, 2021)

I guess it depends on what you want to do.  I have 8 computers in my house, and only 2 of them are wireless.  All the rest are wired. I have many other wired devices (server/15TB storage, Fire TVs, audio servers, etc.). For me, the attic (in my previous house) or the unfinished basement (this current house) were essential to run the wires.


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## ilyaz (Jan 24, 2021)

Here's the partial fix: the wire is now going through the wall not the window. Which was the main goal. Used 1/2 regular PVC pipe which seems to be big enough.

I'll finish the rest when it gets a bit warmer.

Thank you all for the help!


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## 68bucks (Jan 24, 2021)

Great. You could just use an adaptor and something like a cord grip fitting and just skip the conduit. Hide it behind the downspout and tuck it behind the siding, done. Unless maybe you want to run something else in it too.


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