Running ethernet in wall

[wrems]

I need to add some cat6 drops in my house. I have a couple of areas where my electrical runs close, and sometimes parallel to the route my ethernet will run. I understand that keeping UTP away from/perpendicular to the electrical is best.

1. What is the minimum distance I should keep my cabling from the AC lines?
2. If I have to run close to/parallel the AC lines does the flexible corrugated conduit offer any kind of EMI protection?

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by wrems

I need to add some cat6 drops in my house. I have a couple of areas where my electrical runs close, and sometimes parallel to the route my ethernet will run. I understand that keeping UTP away from/perpendicular to the electrical is best.

1. What is the minimum distance I should keep my cabling from the AC lines?
2. If I have to run close to/parallel the AC lines does the flexible corrugated conduit offer any kind of EMI protection?

Is there a reason you are running cat6 over cat5e? I have had problems running cat6 over any thing longer than about 30 foot.

[wrems]

Really? I thought that cat6 was better...

[JetreL]

Anything ~1 ft away from AC wiring should be fine. The fields put off by house wiring dissipates fairly quickly.

Here is a write-up about the difference between cat5e and cat6. You should really be fine with either.

Link [networkcablingdirectory.com]

The runs in a house are typically so short that cross-talk and line interference usually isn't an issue. I have seen old Cat5 ran directly on-top of live 220 wire with little real signal degradation. (It was noisy but it works) TCP is smart enough to compensate with resends.

[SDeGonge]

Originally Posted by wrems

Really? I thought that cat6 was better...

Here's a quote from an article I read...

"While Cat5e can support gigabit speeds, Cat6 is certified to handle gigabit Ethernet. Additionally, the Cat6 specification is better suited toward environments that are generally unfriendly to twisted pair cabling. This includes areas that have lots of interference from things like power lines, lights, and manufacturing equipment. Still, for most applications, Cat5e is perfectly suitable and preferable to Cat6"

http://www.networkcablingdirectory.c...ng-id_1151.htm

[Fuzzy]

In all actuality, any twisted pair is pretty resilient to and EM interference (that's the point of the pairs). Telephone, RF and audio cabling, on the other hand, is far more suceptiple to it, and that's where you have reasons to keep Low Voltage separate from Power. Electrical codes also require that they be segregated... including separate boxes - though this is for safety reasons (don't want a short between the power and low voltage putting 120 on your low voltage wires, and an unsuspecting LV tech getting bit). Also, make sure you are using Class 2 or better wiring if putting it in walls (again - electrical code requirement). There are some really nice combo LV and Power boxes out there on the market now, that use a common cover plate, but the internals are separated so the LV is segregated from the power. Great for behind a flat panel. example from leviton: Leviton 690 Series

[will]

When I built my house last year I made sure to have the entire house wired for CAT 6. The vendor I used only worked with CAT5e so I had to supply all the CAT 6 cable (which I purchased from monoprice).

I went with CAT 6 because it is certified to handle gigabit and I wanted to future proof myself. However, CAT 6 it isn’t as bendable as CAT 5e so if you use CAT 6 make sure you don’t have bends in the cable over 20 degrees (I believe it is 20 degrees, it may be 30). Also, a general rule of thumb is to keep the CAT cable about 1’ away from any power lines. I haven’t had any issues with my cable however I had the advantage of checking the cable and the installers work before the drywall went up.

If you plan to put your cable anywhere that could be exposed to heat, such as a vent, you need to buy Plenum cable (CAT cable with a fire retardant plastic coating).

Also, make sure all your keystone jacks are CAT 6. I got my keystone jacks, patch panel, and bulk cable from monoprice.com. I have been extremely happy with the quality and you can’t beat the price.

[Spectrum]

Originally Posted by will

If you plan to put your cable anywhere that could be exposed to heat, such as a vent, you need to buy Plenum cable (CAT cable with a fire retardant plastic coating).

Might want to check your local building codes before you make a cable purchase. Some places require plenum for ANY cable run inside a wall, above a dropped ceiling, etc.