Burying Cat6 and running alongside power

Mike_J_Smith

Mike_J_Smith

Mike_J_Smith

Associate
Joined
25 Oct 2005
Posts
465
Hi All,

I’m having some electrical work carried out next week which will involve running electrical power through the loft, down the side of the house, underground for ~5m and then into the garage.

Since the electrician is going to be doing this and digging channels for the power cables, I was thinking of using this as an opportunity to run cat6 cable from the loft into the garage, as that’s what I wil need in 3-6 months time.

Given that the cable will be buried and travel alongside mains cable, what cable should I use? I’d probably need 30 meters or so allowing for leeway.

Or is it a bad idea and I should just run the cat cable later and separate from the power?

Cheers,

Mike
 
Presumably the electrics will be SWA as it's going underground and to the garage?

If you can put some conduit in for the 5m underground section, use it just for the Cat6 and then just just buy standard external rated Cat6 cable (like this stuff for £21) and direct clip the rest along the walls etc... But you should keep it a good few (ideally 6-8") apart from the SWA, although interference is unlikely with SWA it's best practise (might even be in regulations somewhere) to keep it a suitable distance apart as suggested.

Or if you don't want to run conduit for the underground bit, you could buy 30m armoured external Cat6 cable (here for £68). Just means it'll be more of a pain to run the cable (less flexible) and terminate (removing the protective steel wire etc). However it would be a proper job and you should have no worries that trees/roots/rats could eat into the cable, or someone accidently digging into it there would be much better protection.

Still keep it a few inches apart from the electrical run regardless, but I'd definitely get the Cat6 done if you're paying labour to have the electrics being run from/to the same area!
 
Excellent, thanks. I think I just needed some reassurance! I had already looked at that cable so I’ve ordered 30m. I will just get the electrician to bring it into the loft and leave it so that I can route it at a later date.
 
Sounds good, I'd have gone for the armoured cable personally as well. Is the sparky not burying the SWA and running it to the garage already? I'd get him to do it at the same time if you'll have the cable on hand. Leave it loose in the garage then so less labour for yourself? Just my 2p anyway.
 
Yes that’s exactly what I’ll do. He’ll be burying the cable anyway and messing about in the loft, so may as well get him to run the cat cable. I’ll leave some loose in the garage and loft to play with in the future. Thanks for your help.
 
bledd said:
Run two of them!
Click to expand...

That’s a good idea. I got 30m so I could split it into 2 15m lengths and do from just inside the loft, down and into the garage; not sure if that is possible to do with 30m though.

How would I connect them inside the loft? They’d need to connect up to standard cat6 cable to go off into the patch panel
 
Keep as much of it as possible as one cable. As few joins as possible. But do install pull wires in the underground pipe - don't just bury the cables - and oversize the pipe to allow for more cables later.
 
Sparx said:
Presumably the electrics will be SWA as it's going underground and to the garage?

If you can put some conduit in for the 5m underground section, use it just for the Cat6 and then just just buy standard external rated Cat6 cable (like this stuff for £21) and direct clip the rest along the walls etc... But you should keep it a good few (ideally 6-8") apart from the SWA, although interference is unlikely with SWA it's best practise (might even be in regulations somewhere) to keep it a suitable distance apart as suggested.

Or if you don't want to run conduit for the underground bit, you could buy 30m armoured external Cat6 cable (here for £68). Just means it'll be more of a pain to run the cable (less flexible) and terminate (removing the protective steel wire etc). However it would be a proper job and you should have no worries that trees/roots/rats could eat into the cable, or someone accidently digging into it there would be much better protection.

Still keep it a few inches apart from the electrical run regardless, but I'd definitely get the Cat6 done if you're paying labour to have the electrics being run from/to the same area!
Click to expand...
Hi.

I hope you are all well.

I am going to do these same thing. Running an armoured cable in trunking in a trench 25 metres to a future summer house and, want to run 3 cat 6 cables and 1 coax in the same trench in trunking. Would this be ok?

Thanks all.
 
I would also give some thought to doing this with fibre optics. Its not anywhere near as expensive as it used to be and will provide much better future proofing without pulling new cables etc.

You will of course need termination either end but by the sounds like youll have a switch of some description in the garage anyway?

What equipment do you need to run over the link?
 
Last edited:
Hi

Thanks for your reply.

I am just wanting to add an extra wireless router down the bottom of the garden to the virgin one in the house. I actually found info which said it will be fine as long as there is 2 inch of dirt between the cables in conduit which I will do. Thanks for the reply and advice. Appreciate it.
 
You can run the cables in the same trench, it will be fine.

I’ve got some CAT6 running in the same clips as a mains cable that’s not SWA (standard external insulation only) for 10m+ and it’s fine.

Edit: either use standard external CAT6 in conduit or SWA CAT6 directly in the ground.
 
Last edited:
Coming from someone who's done this.
I ran 3 cat5e outdoor grade cables into a 20mm conduit (much cable lube needed) and then ran that conduit inside a larger 100mm duct pipe alongside SWA mains into my mancave. At the same time I stuck some draw cord in as well.
Order more cable! As per above, don't cut your cable short, you want to finish it nicely both in the loft and your garage which may mean some internal run and going into wallboxes, that's not easy with your face in insulation with a roof directly above your head and minimal light. Longer cable means you'll get the patchbox where you want it.

The draw cord came in useful further down the line when I installed 3 multimode fibres in a 25mm conduit and pulled them through (FTTMc). Akways remember to pull your fresh cable through and attach more draw cord to it so you don't get left without a cord.

Never had any issues with power interfering and all 3 of my cat5's run PoE as well.
 
I'd eco everything in this thread.

Run more than one cable (just in case) use conduit if you can and always run a draw wire. I've not run stuff next to existing wiring but various comments suggest people have done this without issues.

I've cabled three rooms in this house, drilling holes and running internal / external. It's hard work but now done. If you can get a helper, do it. Pulling / pushing at both ends is a lifesaver
 
Mutleyracers said:
I am going to do these same thing. Running an armoured cable in trunking in a trench 25 metres to a future summer house and, want to run 3 cat 6 cables and 1 coax in the same trench in trunking. Would this be ok?
Click to expand...

For that length, you need a decent sized tube and - if the tube is continuous - a man with a ferret. There are ferrets that are trained to run through pipes pulling a string. You then attach a stronger string and pull that through. Then you use that to pull your cables and more pull wires.
 
best thing I've seen all day. Pretty sure the cameras on the 'rods' are also called the same thing (further adding to my confusion)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom