Pulling cat6a through existing electrical conduit?

[chrisc]

If the time comes to get an electrical certificate, the presence of low voltage cable in the same tube as mains will fail until it is removed

 

[envo]

If the time comes to get an electrical certificate, the presence of low voltage cable in the same tube as mains will fail until it is removed

Well, those electricians are scum anyway, I had to redo my electrical certificate after one was issued after finding more than 3 grounding issues. I doubt they check for anything.

@LazyLion, a dude on this thread said he did the same with 0 degradation. Are you just googling the answer and regurgitating what you read? or do you speak from experience?

 

[LazyLion]

Well, those electricians are scum anyway, I had to redo my electrical certificate after one was issued after finding more than 3 grounding issues. I doubt they check for anything.

@LazyLion, a dude on this thread said he did the same with 0 degradation. Are you just googling the answer and regurgitating what you read? or do you speak from experience?

Well, my entire house is cabled every single room. I ran it all myself. But I can't speak with experience about the degradation because I religiously avoided any power cables. I just ran it through the roof then chased the wires into the corners and painted over it. I avoided the power cables because of everything I had ever read about it.
My network runs at gigabit speeds so I'm happy with it.

So yeah, sorry. I don't have any experience with degradation.

 

[sand_man]

I would be inclined to stick with the power line solution. The tech is improving all the time...

http://shop.dbg.co.za/tl-pa8030pk.html

Won't be long before the AV2000 starts locally either...

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/review/p...-av2000-powerline-starter-kit-review-3643494/

 

[upup]

I will use those screen type lan cable.

 

[Drake2007]

How would you go about wiring up a place with network cable where there isn't separate conduits for each?

16 x 16 trunking, you'll not even notice it after a week or so.

 

[InusB]

Also CAT6A is not necessarily shielded, you have to get FTP or S/FTP. I've installed normal CAT6 UTP with power cables before without any problems, but this was just for temporary setup.
As have been said already this is certainly not recommended due to COC and insurance issues should the place burn down. I will not do it in my own house anyway.

 

[halfmoonforever]

16 x 16 trunking, you'll not even notice it after a week or so.

Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of a ceiling, so the trunking would look ugly and obvious AF. There is also no nice/direct route it can take and as I mentioned, I have those oldschool skirtings which is wood, so trunking will be very very obvious.

I would be inclined to stick with the power line solution. The tech is improving all the time...

http://shop.dbg.co.za/tl-pa8030pk.html

Won't be long before the AV2000 starts locally either...

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/review/p...-av2000-powerline-starter-kit-review-3643494/

Can you guarantee a speed improvement if I buy another power line solution? The one I have is 500mbps, so I'm assuming if 500mbps gives me 20-ish mbps real-world speed, that I would need a unit rated for 5 Gigabytes to achieve 200mbps?

Well, my entire house is cabled every single room. I ran it all myself. But I can't speak with experience about the degradation because I religiously avoided any power cables. I just ran it through the roof then chased the wires into the corners and painted over it. I avoided the power cables because of everything I had ever read about it.
My network runs at gigabit speeds so I'm happy with it.

So yeah, sorry. I don't have any experience with degradation.

Thanks, much appreciated

 

[halfmoonforever]

Also CAT6A is not necessarily shielded, you have to get FTP or S/FTP. I've installed normal CAT6 UTP with power cables before without any problems, but this was just for temporary setup.
As have been said already this is certainly not recommended due to COC and insurance issues should the place burn down. I will not do it in my own house anyway.

Thanks, I still don't understand why they would have an issue with it. There will be no way high voltage would be able to get into the low-voltage communication cable and cause damage to equipment, even then, that's a reality in JHB with direct lighting strikes anyway.

I will see if I can get quotes from a contractor to get myself conduits done, even if I have to redo most of my walls (again)

 

[sand_man]

Can you guarantee a speed improvement if I buy another power line solution? The one I have is 500mbps, so I'm assuming if 500mbps gives me 20-ish mbps real-world speed, that I would need a unit rated for 5 Gigabytes to achieve 200mbps?

What sort of distances are we looking to cover from router to rooms?

I reckon you would get your full 100Mbps fibre internet speeds and around 30MB/s on a file transfer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDt77CBoZxY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQy4MimoJ1w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i80X99Gdcw4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTgHSV8rEso

 

[AndyC]

Most decent modern networking equipment can work around the minimal interference that you may pick up from your proposed setup but its still a big no no:

The chances of a spike in the 220VAC causing electro-magnetic interference and 'jumping' onto the lower voltage line of the networking cable is high. The longer the high and low voltage cables run together in parallel the more likely of this happening.

Eskom's supply is notoriously spike prone country wide

Any lightning strike on your 220VAC mains will induce high voltage in the networking cables and blow everything connected to it

CoC will be null and void

Any and all electrical related insurance claims could be voided due to the installation even if not in the same vicinity thereof.

 

[halfmoonforever]

The chances of a spike in the 220VAC causing electro-magnetic interference and 'jumping' onto the lower voltage line of the networking cable is high.

Thanks for this input, it makes sense now why you wouldn't want to do it.

What sort of distances are we looking to cover from router to rooms?

I reckon you would get your full 100Mbps fibre internet speeds and around 30Mbps on a file transfer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDt77CBoZxY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQy4MimoJ1w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i80X99Gdcw4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTgHSV8rEso

Dude, I just realized I might have mistaken Mbps for MB/s So if I'm getting 20-23 MB/s, that means I'm achieving above 200Mbps speeds with my 500Mbps TPLink units.

Maybe I should concentrate on my kitchen instead

 

[envo]

Dude, I just realized I might have mistaken Mbps for MB/s So if I'm getting 20-23 MB/s, that means I'm achieving above 200Mbps speeds with my 500Mbps TPLink units.

lol n00b

 

[AntennaMan]

Have you thought about running with fibre? Some of the newer Mikrotik/Ubiquiti routers supports fibre. As I understand it, you may run fibre in the electrical conduit.

Just an idea...

 

[sand_man]

Thanks for this input, it makes sense now why you wouldn't want to do it.



Dude, I just realized I might have mistaken Mbps for MB/s So if I'm getting 20-23 MB/s, that means I'm achieving above 200Mbps speeds with my 500Mbps TPLink units.

Maybe I should concentrate on my kitchen instead

Which means you could probably get closer to 40MB/s with the AV1200's. Nothing wrong with that!!

 

[Geoff.D]

Have you thought about running with fibre? Some of the newer Mikrotik/Ubiquiti routers supports fibre. As I understand it, you may run fibre in the electrical conduit.

Just an idea...

As many have pointed out, it is a bad idea to do this, from a legal view as well as from a practical point of view.
Sure fibre sorts out the risks of interference BUT how do you expect to get to points you want to without going through your DB ?
go to a manufacture such as CBI and see the neat fibre available that can be used for a fibre installation.

 

[halfmoonforever]

As many have pointed out, it is a bad idea to do this, from a legal view as well as from a practical point of view.
Sure fibre sorts out the risks of interference BUT how do you expect to get to points you want to without going through your DB ?
go to a manufacture such as CBI and see the neat fibre available that can be used for a fibre installation.

Can't you just install a router by the DB instead?

Fibre does sound like an option

 

[Geoff.D]

Can't you just install a router by the DB instead?

Fibre does sound like an option

Of course it is an option BUT not in the same conduits as the power distribution. It is not a practical solution [Opinion, informed by more than 40 years of experience]

 

[LazyLion]

I would love to change my whole setup to fibre, but surely it's going to be an expensive exercise! :wtf:

 

[LaraC]

Rather go for separate conduits. It will provide you with the ability to fit your choice of wall mounts/plates.

ps. Also remember that CAT6 is thicker and requires easier bends.