I was wondering what anyones thoughts are on this. I have cat-5 run to a separate building that’s about 380 feet away. It looks like Ethernet is only good for 328 feet. I plan on having a switch on each end. Would you recommend putting a (rather expensive) Patton extender on each end or maybe just try to find a router/switch that puts out just a little bit more power than standards? Any thoughts? (If I could do it over again I would have put in fiber, oh well) Thanks!

380 feet is too far for cat5 no matter what you do at each end. You'll need to add a switch in the middle, or spend the extra money and replace the cat5 with fiber. If you don't like those options, then (if you're luky) you might be content with a poor 10Mb connection instead of the 100Mb.

A switch isn't needed if it's only a single connection. Get a repeater. It'll save you money. "Computer security." — Oxymoron

I have seen lenghts beyond 350' that would work but as stated you will be running at 10 mps, not the worst thing... Just for your information it is not the power level that cause the restriction with length it is collisions of the signal within the cable. Fiber,repeter,hub,wireless you do still have some options, sounds like you have it in place run it as is and see what happens Keep the old stuff running

Simply add a repeater at 190 ft. Network repeaters regenerate incoming electrical, wireless or optical signals to preserve signal integrity and extend the distance over which data can travel. With physical media such as Ethernet, data transmissions can travel only a limited distance (100 Meters) before signal quality degrades. By limiting the maximum distance of each segment to 190 ft. you ensure that you will have a quality signal and good performance.

The maximum is not that it won't work. It will work. It will not operate at the full rated speed. If you protect that data to be sure only useful data can go across it you would be OK most likely. Use stats to see if you might need a device between it. A simple hub might suffice. I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you goober.

I have seen lenghts beyond 350' that would work but as stated you will be running at 10 mps, not the worst thing... Just for your information it is not the power level that cause the restriction with length it is collisions of the signal within the cable. Wrong! The problem is not collisions or lack of "speed". The problem is attenuation (ie: signal degradation). It might work, and I stress might, but at best your signal will be sporadic (ie: you'll have frequent losses of connectivity) and you will get data corruption. Ethernet networks are contention based. Regardless of cable length, if you have multiple users on a segment, you will have collisions. Although a proper switched network can and will reduce collisions. I don't know where some of you guys get your info....