ismail

Hi Folks,
am redecorating and thought it would be a good time to lay cat5e cabling and coax cables as well. I have read that the cat5 cables shouldn't be too near power cables. Can anyone say how much is too near?

It would be good if people can also mention some useful tips/hints/warnings.

I'm planning on buying a 100m cat5e perhaps from screwfix or maplin around £35. I would prefer to go into a store to pick it up rather than delivered. If anyone knows any place in North/East London...

As for coax, I think I read somewhere that a CT100 is good at around £40.

Anything else someone can recommend I can get done at the same time? (e.g. TV speaker wiring). I don't want to go overboard and can't spend too much.

Look forward to your responses

Ismail

KiwiGTI

Just go wireless.

jowl

...if you can wait for a couple of years

or you don't want to transfer large (video) files around the place.

You can get trunking that seperates Cat5e from power. Just don't run them taped together (power+cat5)

ismail

Wireless is not too good for me since due to the layout of the house and old (thicker) walls.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Allan

iTrader: (1)

Took out my wireless system and hard wired, no problems now

I didn't get too fussy about routing, obviously kept cables apart where possible but wasn't too worried about them coming into contact at the odd point. Worked for me.

Allan

BlkKnight

just get some shielded cat5

ismail

what implications are there for shielded/unshielded? does it affect what hardware you use such as hub, nic etc?

Chris L

Shielding will simply protect the wiring from interference - it won't affect the equipment you connect to the end. The cabling tends to be a little thicker (the shielding is normally foil), but other than that, you won't notice any difference. Don't forget to factor in the cost of buy the Cat 5 connectors and a crimper (or wall outlets, if you're going to do it properly). Also as you are wiring your house, I would consider going for the LSZH (low smoke zero halogen) jacket.

Chris

HHxx

Videk Online is somewhere north of London.

For structured cabling, go for a solid conductor.

I would try and keep power and data about a foot apart. You can cross power cables no problem in a home install. Forget shielded cat cable unless you are prepared to spend the extra on the connectors etc..

CT100 will be fine. What is it for? Are you going to use a multiswitch for sat distribution? Or something as interesting?

You could always put trunking behind the wall and run other cables at a later date?

I've been "trying" (read can't be arsed) to do the same for the last couple of months! Will get there someday...

BlkKnight

We use minitran for our cabling stuff.

Shielded (not armoured) cat5 if about £10.00 more expensive than non.

Rule of thumb is that if you are going over a distance of 10m you need to use Solid rather than stranded cable.

You do not need to get special connectors or crimps to use shielded cat5 (unless you are looking to get certificated!) - just use the normal cheapies.

Tools you'll need aren't expensive. You will obviously need a crimp tool:

Structured Cabling & Accessories - Tooling - Minitran - Distributing Network Solutions - the RJ45 one at the top for £9.00

Cabling:
Structured Cabling & Accessories - Cat5e, Cat6 & Cat7 Cable - Minitran - Distributing Network Solutions

Termination tool (for connecting cable to wall boxes) this will save you lots of effort: RS Part number 470-128

ismail

I plan on having TV in 3 rooms and want the sockets in the wall aerial and thought it would be a good idea to get a setup as shown here:
http://www.letsautomate.com/10567.cfm?

I think that's as much interesting as I'm interested in lol


Thanks folks for all the other info, 2 ppl have suggested solid rather than stranded. I heard that stranded should be ok for upto 100m, although tha max run any one cable will do is approx 15m, so not sure which option is more suitable. Any thoughts?

ismail

Thanks BlkKnight for the detailed explanation :-)

shooter007

dont kink the cable dont use a takker gun and no sharp bends try to cross mains at 90 degrees

BlkKnight

15m on stranded should be ok - just test it before you put it in place