Caravan supply help..

[pc1966]

There are companies that will make up leads as you need, they might be worth a call for some advice. For example:

Universal Networks

Armoured Fibre Patch Cables provide added protection against damage & take up far less space than a standard patch cable. OS1. Made to order.

www.universalnetworks.co.uk

 

[pc1966]

More recent fibre adaptors use a single fibre core for both ways, one end using one "colour" of light for TX and another for RX, and the other end the opposite. You can get universal SFP that adapt to either end, but the cheaper options mean you have to get an 'A' and a 'B' type SFP so they are able to talk to each other. For example the TP-LINK TL-SM321A & TL-SM321B

 

[pc1966]

Here is an example that is ready to go.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07B65K9L9

Make sure the termination style matches the fiber termination style. "LC" in this case.

That looks like a good choice, and it uses a single fibre so you might be able to get a cheaper cable to match, either off the shelf or made up as needed.

 

[DPG]

I'd also go with fibre. As mentioned above, you will probably end up going above 60MB at some point, especially if you are sharing it between your house, hlliday cottages and a home office.

Shouldn't be a problem if you have fibre to the property; we get close to 70MB with fibre to the cabinet! Having said that, you are probably limited by the contract you are on rather than any actual limitations, so I would think you could ask them for a faster rate.

 

[pc1966]

Another minor advantage of fibre, though possibly not a big issue for you, is it is practically immune to interference or damage from any external non-physical events such as RF or lightning. For between-building connections you get excellent lightning resistance, where as typical Ethernet is, I think, 1.5kV rated (not sure about PoE survival limits) which is not bad but easy to exceed with a big layout and nearby strike.

You can get SPD units for Ethernet but if looking at that and not needing PoE then fibre is a better solution all round.

 

[brianmoooore]

you are probably limited by the contract you are on rather than any actual limitations, so I would think you could ask them for a faster rate.

The BT contract is the daughter's. BT is her employer (although she work's for the Police), and the broadband comes free with the job. I've no idea what limitations might be in place, but I'll mention it to her.
You've all given me plenty of options to think about. Seems that fibre is good, but cable, with a network switch near the middle, will also work.
One problem with a single piece of pre terminated fibre is that it will have to pass through two 600mm thick solid stone boundary walls between properties. These walls have 20mm round PVC conduit through them that was fitted when the renovations were done, and have Cat5E, bell wire, and 2 pair 'phone cable passing through them. Plenty of room for more Cat5E or 6, but those optical plugs are going to be a problem.
45m of Cat5E/6 followed by 100m of fibre is possible, or is that pointless?
As far as the trench is concerned (still another 30m to dig), I've ordered some green 65mm outside/50mm inside smooth bored twinwall duct to go in with the SWA and 20mm water pipe, so that kicks the final decision down the road for a week or two.
10mm2 3C for the SWA turns out to be just too small. Considered 6mm2 5C doubled up, which is just adequate, but will probably go with 16mm2 3C and have done with it. Costs another £100 on top of the 6mm2, but that's minor compared to what the whole project is costing.

 

[UNG]

One problem with a single piece of pre terminated fibre is that it will have to pass through two 600mm thick solid stone boundary walls between properties. These walls have 20mm round PVC conduit through them that was fitted when the renovations were done, and have Cat5E, bell wire, and 2 pair 'phone cable passing through them. Plenty of room for more Cat5E or 6, but those optical plugs are going to be a problem.
45m of Cat5E/6 followed by 100m of fibre is possible, or is that pointless?

There are plenty of cheap fibre termination kits out there with good reviews so not beyond a DIY termination job with the wealth of knowledge on youtube for an experienced electrician IMO based my experience.
Personally I taught myself fibre termination and polishing from books and videos ( pre youtube ) about 25 - 30 years ago although cheap termination kits were not available back then and the kit I still have cost close to £1000 but paid for itself after 2 - 3 jobs when I was quoted just over £500 to terminate 2 fibre cores (4 ends) for one job I looked into the options and decided I could do it myself with the right kit. These days the fibre terminations are a lot different and some don't even need polishing after termination. Even buying a few extra terminations to practice with it's a good option to look at and makes it easier to do the full run in fibre

 

[pc1966]

If you get the "single fibre" style of unit then a single / simplex LC type of connector will fit through something like a 10-12mm hole, though really for protection you should put it in a bit of tube, etc, and feed it through with any other cables, etc, that are going in at the same time.

Having some cat5/6 cable then the rest in fibre is not pointless, while you could do the rest in copper the fibre still has the electrical isolation aspect but it means you need the powered switch at the point, going all-fibre avoids the need for some network kit hidden in an outdoor box or whatever.

@UNG suggestion of getting the tools to do it is maybe not worth while for just one cable, but you might find someone who would do it for you ate a sane price if asking around or you might find local work you could charge for to make it pay.

 

[UNG]

@UNG suggestion of getting the tools to do it is maybe not worth while for just one cable, but you might find someone who would do it for you ate a sane price if asking around or you might find local work you could charge for to make it pay.

When I said cheap I meant cheap Optical Fiber Tool Kit Cold Connection tool Optical Fiber Stripping Cleaver for SUMITOMO with 36000 Cleaves and Fiber Optic Drop Cable Fiber Stripper CFS-2 Double Port Hole - - Amazon.com - https://www.amazon.com/Optical-Connection-Stripping-SUMITOMO-Stripper/dp/B01GLRWXDC/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=Fiber+Termination+Kit&qid=1661238435&sr=8-6
It has good reviews and I wouldn't dismiss it as not a viable option

When I spent £1000 25 - 30 years ago it was a totally different market with a lot of voodoo about fibre termination around, the tooling, terminations and termination methods have changed a lot over the years making home termination a lot easier and more viable now.

 

[pc1966]

When I said cheap I meant cheap

When I spent £1000 25 - 30 years ago it was a totally different market with a lot of voodoo about fibre termination around, the tooling, terminations and termination methods have changed a lot over the years making home termination a lot easier and more viable now.

That is cheap, I was thinking of these sort of machines:

Fusion Splicers

Fusion Splicers

www.fibrefox.co.uk

Might be a case of not trying monomode fibre with the cheaper kits though in terms of alignment, etc, but worth some experimenting with a short fibre as 1m (test) or 150m (final) of fibre won't make much difference to a SFP combination that can do 2-10km!