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What data cable to run next to power cable to garage?

T

the bear

Nordic Pine
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Background
I am currently digging up the front garden to get an EV ultra cable from the consumer unit in the house to where I want an electric vehicle charger on the drive. It seems sensible that while I have the trench open to also drop in 1 or 2 data cables and make a small detour at the end to get them into the garage (workshop). Never had much joy with wifi extenders and this isn’t a question about them. I understand that the EV Ultra cable contains its own data cable that is required to monitor the current drawn by the charger and must presumable be sheathed/shielded from the power element of the EV ultra cable. The EV Ultra cable and the separate data cables will be in their own ducts but pretty much side by side in the trench for about 10 metres, until the latter make a detour into the garage.

My Question
What data cable do I need to buy? The data cable although in ducting for most of the distance will need to be clipped to a wall far a short section so ought to be armoured? Are there different types of sheathing/shielding for data cables? Can you get a cable that is both armoured and properly sheathed/shielded? Are they all 4 pairs or should I consider something else? I’ve also read stuff about grounding wires, wet rated etc.

I am not intending to have these additional data cables connected straight away so do not have a friendly sparks to ask. The EV ultra cable is being wired up by whoever Octopus energy send out so unable to ask anyone there either.

Seems there is too much info on the net for a simpleton like me, can anyone tell me what I need in simple terms please? Maybe even a link to a site I can buy it from.

Cheers

Mark
 
Armoured cable is only needed if you're going to be burying it bare, and even then it's questionable whether it's really necessary for data; inside a duct you'll be fine with normal stuff as long as it's waterproof. For clipping to a wall outdoors the only additional requirement is that the outer sheath is UV resistant - unless you know of any mechanical hazards that it'll take a beating from, and even then protecting it via conduit is probably more cost-effective than armoured cable.

There are different types of shielding available, but unless you're laying them in a high interference environment and have very specific requirements for signal integrity, you don't need to worry about them. The baseline for all network cables is UTP, or Unshielded Twisted Pair - each pair of data conductors is twisted together, meaning that the vast majority of interference will act oppositely on each cable in the pair and cancel itself out. FTP or STP add a layer of either foil or braided shield around the entire cable, and S/FTP or F/FTP wraps each pair in foil before shielding the whole thing again. Any of those will be overkill for outdoor use; you just won't have any interference sources close enough to need them. Just use UTP unless you know why you need anything else.

Grounding for data cables is only important if you're using one of the shielded variants - the shield has to be grounded to be effective. If you're using UTP then no need to worry about it.

Something that you didn't mention is the various categories of data cable - the generally available options are 5, 6, 7, and 'enhanced' or 'augmented' variants of each - in ascending order of capability and cost. Cat 6 will future proof you as much as is reasonable to consider, 6A is nearly double the cost, and 7 even more so.

Add all that together, and this is almost certainly the type you want.
 
Very helpful. I am about to upgrade my EV charger. I have put the duct in but not got as far as thinking about the cables.
 
I haven't been involved in this type of project since I retired, but have done hundreds of facility and site renovation projects that included trenching for power and IT infrastructure. My customer base always solicited me for my advice, but about half chose to ignore it only to pay much more later when they had to dig another ditch, or open the previous ditch, to run additional cables and ducts.

The majority of the cost is in digging the trench and the primary cable/ducting going into the trench. For a 10-20 meter ditch, I would install a separate suitable duct just for the data cable(s). Include a pull box at the mid point as well as the point where the ducting turns to go to workshop. Make sure you identify the location of the pull box in case you have to dig a hand hole for access later. Include a few lengths of pull string when you run the data cable (fiber or copper) in case you want to pull more cables later.

Before the trench is backfilled, I would pull a suitable length of pre-terminated CAT-7 cable in the duct. Make sure you have enough at both ends for flexibility in locating the devices you will connect, such as a hub or patch panel. If this was my project, I would also include a length of pre-terminated OM3 4-core fiber and use inexpensive media converters at each end.
 
I agree with Mike. Lay a spare duct. Put a string through it. I always do this if I have a trench in place. Costs peanuts and can save a lot of hassle later. I usually run a blue water pipe in as well as you never know when you will need a tap!
 
Guys, thanks for the replies. Will digest a bit more when I have a bit more time. Spare duct has already been thought of as we are getting fibre in the lane soon and getting that to the house will be a nightmare without spare ducting if we do sign up.
 
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