Can we run cat6 with electrical wires??

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QwertyJuan

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I'm pretty sure you can't.... but how close CAN you go parallel with electrical wires in a building?? We are rewiring a whole building here and the electrical guys wanna run our network wire with their electrical wires... I say no, but I want to see what the experts say ;)

Thanx,
QwertyJuan
 
It's not a good idea, as it can pick up AC interference and cause network problems..
 
QwertyJuan said:
I'm pretty sure you can't.... but how close CAN you go parallel with electrical wires in a building?? We are rewiring a whole building here and the electrical guys wanna run our network wire with their electrical wires... I say no, but I want to see what the experts say ;)

Thanx,
QwertyJuan
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Depends what kinda current will be traveling those powerlines and if they plan on using special sheilded conduit.

I'd say rather let the cables travel their own path.
 
QwertyJuan said:
I'm pretty sure you can't.... but how close CAN you go parallel with electrical wires in a building?? We are rewiring a whole building here and the electrical guys wanna run our network wire with their electrical wires... I say no, but I want to see what the experts say ;)

Thanx,
QwertyJuan
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Check with the local inspection official as to if it is even *legal* to run low voltage cable with electrical cable.

I would recommend running the cables at least 6 inches apart in parallel. If they still insist on running them together then I would make sure they (installers) will "certify" the cabling (e.g. tested for bandwidth, crosstalk, etc.) That way you can be sure there will be no problems with interference.
 
SJConsultant said:
Check with the local inspection official as to if it is even *legal* to run low voltage cable with electrical cable.

I would recommend running the cables at least 6 inches apart in parallel. If they still insist on running them together then I would make sure they (installers) will "certify" the cabling (e.g. tested for bandwidth, crosstalk, etc.) That way you can be sure there will be no problems with interference.
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quoted for truth.

also, i dont know whether it would be a big deal or not, but should you ever have a short or a small electrical fire, it could jump to your network cables, and burn out devices, or could produce poisonous gas if your cat6 starts to burn (and you arent using the spendy non-poison-gas-producing-when-burning:p cat6)
 
vwild2002 said:
What if both the electrical and the Cat6 wire are in EMS conduet???
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That depends on local electrical and fire codes. Most places require low voltage cables to be in their own coduit seperate from high voltage cables. Not only that, running them in parallel tends to induce alot of interference in any copper based network cable.
 
ZeroOne said:
fix me if I am wrong, but couldn't cat6e shielded do the trick?
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Shielding only does so much and it increases the cost a great deal since you need to make sure each end point is also using shielded components.

Shielded or not, AFAIK most, if not all areas of the US are subject to the same basic electrical codes which do not allow for low and high voltage cable to be run in the same conduit.
 
draconius said:
also, i dont know whether it would be a big deal or not, but should you ever have a short or a small electrical fire, it could jump to your network cables, and burn out devices, or could produce poisonous gas if your cat6 starts to burn (and you arent using the spendy non-poison-gas-producing-when-burning:p cat6)
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aka that plenum stuff i think
 
ok guys... sounds to me like it's not a good idea... so perhaps 6" apart and I should be somewhat ok??

Thanx,
QwertyJuan
 
QwertyJuan said:
ok guys... sounds to me like it's not a good idea... so perhaps 6" apart and I should be somewhat ok??

Thanx,
QwertyJuan
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Since it's a commercial job and it will need to be inspected, you should check with whoever is going to be inspecting the job, he/she will have the final say as to if it meets code or not.

FYI, generally speaking minimum 6 inches apart and might as well run it in an oversized PVC conduit with a few "fish lines" left in the conduit. The cost for PVC conduit and fish lines is minimal compared to the time savings later on if you need additional lines run.
 
there are special conduits that can be used to run both low volate and high voltage cable. they are costly and mostly used for short distances. in the long run it would more than likely be cheaper to run them seperate and leave yourself some space for future upgrades.
 
Is it alright to have cat5/5e next to or very close to a large power cable [I'm talking about something like the main power line] for a short distance [like a foot or less]

I'm going to be running a line down to a lower level and the easiest way to get it to where I need to is through a small hole that has a fat power cable through it. I havn't checked to see what is running off it yet. I don't really want to have to drill through brick.
 
Paragon said:
Is it alright to have cat5/5e next to or very close to a large power cable [I'm talking about something like the main power line] for a short distance [like a foot or less]

I'm going to be running a line down to a lower level and the easiest way to get it to where I need to is through a small hole that has a fat power cable through it. I havn't checked to see what is running off it yet. I don't really want to have to drill through brick.
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If your running copper cabling parallel to power cables, chances are you will pick up some interference. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have solved networking problems simply by rerouting network cables away from power cables.
 
SJConsultant said:
If your running copper cabling parallel to power cables, chances are you will pick up some interference. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have solved networking problems simply by rerouting network cables away from power cables.
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Talked to another friend.. he feels the same way. Looks like we will be drilling :D
The power cable is the main line for the upper area.
 
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