Network cables and mains cables.

robj20 · 7 Oct 2015 at 18:42

Going to be running some network cables at weekend. I have some Cat6e and Cat5e, now whats best in a real world situation follow the electrical cables are keep them apart even if it means drilling through joists, which im not sure i even can do due to drill size.

Danny091 · 7 Oct 2015 at 18:45

Technically you shouldnt follow mains cables for any length and if you need to cross them you should do it at a right angle.

In practice its impossible to dodge them sometimes. Would run one cable and see it it connects propperly run a LAN speed and ping test to check that its not having a negative effect.

passey89 · 7 Oct 2015 at 18:47

robj20 said:
Going to be running some network cables at weekend. I have some Cat6e and Cat5e, now whats best in a real world situation follow the electrical cables are keep them apart even if it means drilling through joists, which im not sure i even can do due to drill size.

Firstly there is no such thing as Cat 6e.

theoretically you wouldn't want them close to power cables as they introduce some degree of noise i really doubt it would make much difference though.

robj20 · 7 Oct 2015 at 18:49

I just don't see an easy way of keeping them separate, the networking equipment will be under the stairs along with the electricity meter so the only way up is to follow the electrical wires and water pipes.

robj20 · 7 Oct 2015 at 18:56

Only other option would be to run them through some sort of wooden box in a corner of a room, so instead of going straight up go under the house to the far wall then up. Would still come across situations where they need to go next to power but its impossible to follow the rules in a residential situation.

Danny091 · 7 Oct 2015 at 19:03

What kind of cable is it? Because as passey said Cat6e doesnt exist as a standard.

6 Inches of seperation is generally cited if you cant avoid follwing them. But if its only for a meter or two i wouldnt worry too much.

Hyburnate · 7 Oct 2015 at 20:25

For home use it will make very little difference sometimes we have to run with them for multiple metres >30m and it still passes our fluke tests.

Tephnos · 7 Oct 2015 at 20:55

robj20 said:
Going to be running some network cables at weekend. I have some Cat6e and Cat5e, now whats best in a real world situation follow the electrical cables are keep them apart even if it means drilling through joists, which im not sure i even can do due to drill size.

Doesn't matter for home use, it is only a problem in industrial settings where they could run for 100s of metres parallel.

Hyburnate · 7 Oct 2015 at 20:57

Tephnos said:
Doesn't matter for home use, it is only a problem in industrial settings where they could run for 100s of metres parallel.

You've got more problems if you're running Cat5e at >100m

But in the real world it makes very little different just like using tie wraps instead of hook and loop. Makes minuscule amounts of difference

robj20 · 8 Oct 2015 at 06:09

Okay so for say 10 metres I should be fine.

Steveocee · 8 Oct 2015 at 07:00

You'll be fine. I've run cat5 along mains for a long time. Check my build log below, I have a good 10m side by side and I have zero worries about it not working or causing problems

bledd · 8 Oct 2015 at 10:32

I would only be concerned if it was proper infrastructure cables. IE 48 cables running alongside the electrical feed for a whole office.

In home use it doesn't really matter tbh.

robj20 · 8 Oct 2015 at 12:08

No the question i have two rolls, 1 of cat5e and 1 of cat6, which to use. I have a load of 20mm conduit i plan on using to make future changes easier, run this up the walls to upstairs from the crawl space and then each socket should be a simple straight run down, i dont have any other stuff yet, but plan on fitting

3 x 4 faceplates upstairs one in each bedroom, then 2 x 4 downstairs one for pc and one for tv area, and 1 x 2 near the router and master socket.