Running Cat5E Cable

chugger93 · Post by **chugger93** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 10:11 am

Im starting to run cat 5e cable in my new house, cutting holes for the plates in each room etc. I bought Cat5E riser cable, instead of pleninum which I hope is ok.

My questions are this: Can I run this cable alongside an electrical wire or two? Will it interfere? Same with Coaxile cable?

Secondly, some of my wires are going through my cold air return vents because thats the only way. However only like 1 foot of each cable is going through the returns. Will this affect anything?

Thanks guys!

objohn · Post by **objohn** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 2:08 pm

Hi,
Why use wired connections? Do you really need 100Mbit or gigabit. 54Mbps on a wireless is enough for most applications.

Just asking the question!!!
OJ

Mactron · Post by **Mactron** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 2:48 pm

chugger93 wrote:Im starting to run cat 5e cable in my new house, cutting holes for the plates in each room etc. I bought Cat5E riser cable, instead of pleninum which I hope is ok.

That's fine for most home use.

chugger93 wrote: My questions are this: Can I run this cable alongside an electrical wire or two? Will it interfere? Same with Coaxile cable?

No, it should only cross at a right angle if HAS TO BE in proximity at all. Use Sheilded CAT5 if you just can't avoid parallel runs.

chugger93 wrote: Secondly, some of my wires are going through my cold air return vents because thats the only way. However only like 1 foot of each cable is going through the returns. Will this affect anything?
Thanks guys!

It won't effect electrical performance, but I doubt using it in a plenum is allowed by your building code.

Your smart to do this now while your walls are open. I had to crawl under my 40+ Yr old house to wire my place. YUK ! I hate going under houses.

Spiders, I don't like spiders.

chugger93 · Post by **chugger93** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 9:47 am

Is there a way I can test network connectiviety on each wired port, without internet hooked up at the house? Should I just use a switch? Then hopefully if I hook a PC up on each port, it will show it in windows as being connected. THen I will know if I wired it right...?

Mactron · Post by **Mactron** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 4:21 pm

chugger93 wrote:Is there a way I can test network connectiviety on each wired port, without internet hooked up at the house? Should I just use a switch? Then hopefully if I hook a PC up on each port, it will show it in windows as being connected. THen I will know if I wired it right...?

Sort of a poor mans tester I guess. I've done it that way when lacking any other tool(s) at times. So-so I guess. There are testers out there. Google will find them.

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 7:25 am

chugger93 wrote:Is there a way I can test network connectiviety on each wired port, without internet hooked up at the house? Should I just use a switch? Then hopefully if I hook a PC up on each port, it will show it in windows as being connected. THen I will know if I wired it right...?

For a home job, really the only test is having the computers running problem free. The basic "link light" testers are useless IMO, only tell you if there's "somewhat" of a connection, they dont' tell you about a weak crimp or a crossed pair. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a connection have to be redone, the cheapo "link light" test said it was good, but it was actually bad...like a crossed pair. Quality testers which tell you if all the pairs are correct, and no interference, such as various Fluke testers....are cost prohibitive unless you do this for a living.

BaLa · Post by **BaLa** » Sat Sep 24, 2005 6:29 am

YeOldeStonecat wrote:For a home job, really the only test is having the computers running problem free. The basic "link light" testers are useless IMO, only tell you if there's "somewhat" of a connection, they dont' tell you about a weak crimp or a crossed pair. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a connection have to be redone, the cheapo "link light" test said it was good, but it was actually bad...like a crossed pair. Quality testers which tell you if all the pairs are correct, and no interference, such as various Fluke testers....are cost prohibitive unless you do this for a living.

what is the cheapest 'good tester'?
and how much would I pay for one...
I'm not talking about $50 cheap..

$200 would not be too bad..

I know Fluke makes some good stuff, but most of theirs are very expensive..

Rainbow · Post by **Rainbow** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 6:49 am

Decent tester BK Precision 206 for 179 bucks
http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/b+k%2 ... on/206.htm

I use one of their higher models at work but we have these here too they work fine.

chugger93 · Post by **chugger93** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 11:31 am

I ended up buying this one:

Ideal
LinkMaster™ Tester

and its really good. Guess the true test is hooking up PC's though

Rainbow · Post by **Rainbow** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 4:05 pm

That will work just fine now you just need to practice

cablehelper · Post by **cablehelper** » Fri Oct 07, 2005 4:19 pm

This website has a variety of cable testers available, I provided a link to the one that I use.

http://cyberxlink.com/product_info.php/products_id/253

It will tell you if have a short, cross connection, split connection, and more.

Good luck