streaming to our new log cabin: WiFi or long ethernet cable?

Ubiquiti?

Cable everytime wherever possible.

I got our House alarm guys to install an Ethernet cable to our cabin in the garden, then added a WiFi access point. Money well spent. In your case it should not cost much more than £150 installed for cable and conduit.

Cable. Cable. Cable.  

I agree cable!

You will need WiFi in the log cabin, if you want to use the Naim app to control the streamer. So you could try connecting a wireless access point and your streamer to a switch, and see if this will be enough to extend your LAN from the house. Then, when you get fed up with the dropouts, instal a cable, and you will already have the necessary hardware in the cabin readt to connect to it. 

Cable.

The cheap / effective method would be bury a hose pipe and run Cat 6 thought that.  Even better would be a length of fibre but that’s a more specialist job.

Thanks, folks, so no concerns about a 30m long Ethernet cable (cat 6), then I go for this!

(I like the hose pipe idea, - thanks, Eloise!).

Hi Stefan, regular commercial grade Cat 5e is fine. Ethernet over twisted pair is specified to 100 metres on a single segment at 10/100 Mbps and 1Gbps. Remember Ethernet was designed to cater for distances more common in commercial setups rather the very short distances we have typically in the home and garden.

if you are going greater than 100 metres, and no repeaters, then fibre is the way forward , again very straightforward, albeit fibre adapters less common in consumer equipment.

if you bury, use a hose pipe that you cut up into 3 metre pieces (so you can easily thread the cables)... it’s what I do and gives the cables some protection... I have learnt the hard way....

BTW if doing a long run, use two cables or two/four fibres, this allows you some flexibility if you use suitable equipment at a point in time to load balance and provide resilience... again easy to do now, a lot of hassle to add later.

Go for a SFTP cable from a reliable source (such as BJC), although not needed Cat6 (or Cat6a) will give greater margin for signal stability on a longer cable.

Many Cat6 cables on the market even failed the Cat5 standard when actually tested (including ones sold on-line and ones sold by physical shops), hence the need for a reliable source for the cable.

If you’re going to use conduit, I would use something rigid  like Alcathene as hosepipe is easily compressible. Or use proper outdoor conduit that’s designed for the job. Make sure the ends are well sealed, or it is likely to fill with water over time, and can then be prone to frost damage. 

A Homehub 3 is nowhere near as good for wifi range as a Homehub 5 or 6, at least in  my house. You can probably get BT to update you for free. 

Pev posted:

A Homehub 3 is nowhere near as good for wifi range as a Homehub 5 or 6, at least in  my house. You can probably get BT to update you for free. 

Spot on,  my HH3 struggled around the extremes of the house,   HH5 made it to the top lawn area,  HH6 goes about double the distance maybe 35m from the hub to as far as I would normally use it where it works OK.  -  no need for wifi in the kitchen garden or paddock.  

Yes talk to BT,  they are open for deals at the mo.

As others mentioned, you do need wifi in the cabin so you can control the ND5.  The existing signal you get MAY be fine.  

My cabin (office) is 25 metres from the house. I installed mains water, electricity and a toilet waste pipe so a trench was already dug for me to drop two runs of Cat6 in to. Everything works a treat being connected to my Synology router in the house and I have also created a WiFi access point in the office for phones etc. All my music is stored on a NAS in the office and piped to my hifi in the house with no problems at all.