running a network cable outside

i recently moved back in with my parents and live in a guest house in the back yard. they have broadband internet and i would like to have it in my house without creating a whole new broadband account, installation fee, etc. I already have a router and i know that with a normal home networking router i would be limited to 300ft and i do not have enough money for wireless equipment. i measured how far it would be from the computer room in my parents house to the room where my computer would be and found that i would need a wire about 170 feet long. i plan on getting cat5 enhanced cable and running it underground. i am also going to run the cable through some sort of weatherproof conduit so that the cable will never be exposed to the environment. my question is, am i going to experience any negative side effects from doing this? will the performance of my internet connection be comprimised? if so, what should i do to fix the problem?

If your wire is going to be 170 feet long, this could be a problem since I thought the maximum length for cabling was 100 feet (although you may want to check this). You could solve this by putting a hub/switch in the middle of the cable (but this could be difficult if it's underground).

The extra 70 feet probably won't create too many problems. The speed of cat5 cabling is 100Mbps. You only need around 512kbps for Internet access, so even if there were problems with the cable at this length, the Internet access speed probably wouldn't be affected.

It is 100 METERS or 328 feet. You will have no issues concerning cable length. I would suggest you get a premanufactured cable since bad ends can reduce cat5 to cat3.

As long as the cable is not in water or exposed to direct sunlight I don't see any problems here whatsoever.

If you are in an area subject to thunderstorms be ready to replace nic cards with regularity. Your cable will act as a generator and pick up lots of juice, with bad effects on your hardware

oops, I'm sorry. It was late when I posted that

Nothing to apoligize for. I have learned and forgotten this stat more times then I can remember. Only due to a recent discussion on cable lenght in another forum refreshed my memory on this one. :-)

Oh and concerning lightening storms, if you are getting ground hits close enough to get hit thru your network cabling they are too close for ANY electrical connection. This is why you are suppossed to UNPLUG your computer from everything including wall power outlets, modem/phone lines and network lines with an approaching thunder/lightening storm. Any wire that can make an electrical connection should be disconnected from the PC.