So I’m looking at buying this TP-Link Deco mesh system from Costco. I’d be running each unit off Ethernet within the house, but would like the outdoor unit to be mounted on the dock. The dock has electricity, so it wouldn’t need PoE. I was just going to buy 200 feet of Cat8 until I just read for the first time about how grounded lighting will destroy electronics connected to trenched ethernet.
Now I’m thinking I buy 2 short ethernet cables, and then use a fiber optic ethernet adapter on each end (like this MC220L). I am however reluctant for a couple reasons. I’ve known mesh points to not work when on adapted ethernet, like MoCA. Also, will I have to conduit this trenched fiber optic line, and considering that, how much more expensive is it as compared to just a long outdoor cat 8 cord (about $70)? Is it possible to make this trenched Cat 8 safe by grounding it to something else? It is a lakefront property after all.
Alternatively, the closest point to the dock that I could mount the outdoor access point without trenching is the base of the patio stairs, which is about 70 feet from where the WiFi would be used on the dock. I need the entire house on 5 Ghz, but am I able to run just the outdoor point on 2.4? Would it reach 70 feet wirelessly anyway?
