home network cabling

Im in the planning stages of wiring my flat with cat5e, intentions are to run the cables underneath the ceiling coving and in&out of chalkboard walls so i can have rj45 wall plates in the rooms and the router in the hallway cupboard.

My cat5e runs at a certain point are going to be fairly close to mains cables - will i get away with using FTP cat5e or should i be looking at shielded?

Secondly, i want to extend the BT master socket at the same time by connecting the extension cable to the back of the master socket, running it behind the walls and to the cupboard where ill put another "phone socket/plate" which the router will plug into with a filter for the adsl. Will the same cat5e be ok to use for this extension or will another type of cable be better suited (keeping in mind i want the router to sync as good as it does when connected directly to the master socket).

Any help/info appreciated, thanks.


ps - Anybody got links as to how well FTP and STP cable handle emi? I'm stuck with dial-up right now (not even 56k !) and googlin is painstakingly slow.

Yes, you can run cat 5 close to mains cables without any trouble, no need to get the shielded version. Best policy if crossing mains cables is to try and cross at 90 degrees but I've never seen any problems if you are unable to do so. Especially at the lengths of cable which would be involved in a domestic installation.

As for the BT master socket I'd get a filtered face plate like the XTE-2005 and then run the cable away from that to the new location. This filters at the main BT socket so you are less likely to have problems which can be introduced on the extension wiring.
Stick an RJ45 faceplate (wire to terminals 4&5 or on some the blue pair) on the other end and then you can directly connect the RJ11 into this. No extra filters required.

As Dave says, no need to get foiled or shielded cable - regular Cat5e will do the job fine.

In reply to:

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Stick an RJ45 faceplate (wire to terminals 4&5 or on some the blue pair) on the other end and then you can directly connect the RJ11 into this. No extra filters required.

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Unless you need a telephone in the same place. In that case, use a standard box and get an ADSL filtered face plate - not the same as an ADSL NTE5 face-plate.

To clarify one point in Rockh's excellent summary, all existing extensions should be wired to the back of the ADSL faceplate, using connections 2 and 5. (and ring wire on 3 if you need it, it should make little difference on the telephone side of the filtered face plate). The line to the router (and, possibly, another telephone) must be connected to the A and B sockets on the ADSL face plate so make sure you get one that has these connections. XTE-2005 recommended by Rockh is one such, be careful if choosing an alternative.

The op said it was going in a cupboard so did sort of assume unless they want to lock themselves away whilst using the phone

If you're running unscreened twisted-pair (Cat5e), it's recommended practice to keep the cable as far away from mains sources as possible. I used to work in structured cabling systems/LANs some years ago and I seem to recall a recommendation of a minimum 4 inches separation. Indeed, I think there are specific regulations about never running mains cabling and data/telephony cabling in the same ducts or trays. Parallel runs of mains cabling with Cat5e unscreened should be avoided, specifically. It's okay to cross the two at right-angles but avoid them getting near each other, if you can, in the first place. One thing, fluorescent light fittings can play havoc with unscreened cable.

Screened Cat5 could be used, but to get the best out of it, in terms of its screening ability, you'd need assured earths at the ends of the run (to earth the screens). With domestic routers, I don't think there's any provision for that; most routers (and therefore any of the pin connections on their RJ45s or RJ11s) are not themselves connected to mains earth (or any other earth), as far as I'm aware. If you insisted on using screened Cat5, you could probably get away with just earthing the foil somewhere near the master socket (you might be able to run an insulated earth wire from a nearby electrical 3-pin socket).

I seriously considered screened Cat5 myself, for a future setup here in a domestic environment, some time ago, but soon came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth all the bother, especially as none of my (wired) routers have an assigned (and used) earth pin on either the RJ45 or the RJ11 DSL connectors.

I'd say 'stick with unscreened cable and just be sensible as to how you route it around the house'. (Sorry about the pun).

With a screened cable in a fully screened installation the screen is connected to the outside of the connector - both plug and socket have screened connectors.

In almost all of the installations I have seen the screen is not properly terminated and/or the kit does not support a screened connector (as you say) so my recommentation would be to go for normal UTP.

Thanks everyone for the replies, some excellent advice all round. It's good to know that cat5 and mains cable running close but perpindicular shouldn't be much of a problem.

The push for UTP is welcome since the STP cable is around 3 times the price so that advice is well noted. I wasn't previously aware that with screened cables the screen is actually grounded, does complicate things slightly as i was only planning to crimp the ends in the cupboard and im sure my router doesnt make use of shielded plugs.

Having said that though a site called minitran have a foiled cable for the same price alot of others are charging for UTP so im wondering if its worth getting that for whatever little benefit it gives? LINK

And that XTE-2005 is definately on the shopping list, cheers rockh.

Lastly, im on the lookout for a IDC punchdown tool thats decent but cheap, any recommendations?

Thanks for the help!


(edit - fixed link)

Edited by boaby (Sun 24-Sep-06 16:01:36)

In reply to:

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Lastly, im on the lookout for a IDC punchdown tool thats decent but cheap, any recommendations?

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I bought one recently from B&Q for a fiver. It's made of plastic but the working end is metal and it does the job. It's also got a very handy wire stripper in the handle - the biggest hole fits Cat5e cable and strips the outer sheath perfectly.

Eric

I really wouldn't bother with the foiled cable...

If you're making off more than a few ends (which clearly you will be) then investing in a 'proper' punchdown tool is a good plan. Shouldn't cost you more than twenty or thirty quid.

Er, just to make it clear, we're not saying that -in your words - you should run Cat5 and mains cables 'together but perpendicular'. Instead, we're saying that you should keep the Cat5 cabling and mains cabling as far away from each other as possible but that, if their routes do meet at some point, that the cables cross ar right-angles to one another. These two descriptions are not the same.

If you are going to crimp the plugs onto the solid core cable then you will run into problems. Most of the plugs available are not designed for crimping onto solid core cable. Although they will work at first they eventually fail.
Best option is to terminate onto faceplates and use short patch leads.

The Belkin tool is more than adequate for the amateur user, and sells for less than a tenner.

was about to order my list of networking goodies from www.minitran.co.uk, untill i came across THIS special offer at a site called www.blackbox.co.uk.

The reel and panel work out to

Edited by boaby (Fri 29-Sep-06 15:42:45)

Black box stuff is usually ok, they are normally on the expensiive side but that deal looks decent. Would check the delivery costs as they are sometimes rather costly.

yeah, did notice alot of their prices are jacked up which is why i was looking for the fault with that deal. i'll give it a go and get the rest elsewhere.

thanks everyone for the help!

thought i'd post this for anyone in the same (or soon to be) situation as me.

following up on that offer i posted earlier i phoned blackbox up and asked if they would combine two offers they're doing on the site, offer1 and offer2.

they got back to me an hour later by email and quoted me:

01 x 24 port patch panel (vertical idc mounts and tabs for cable management)
24 x 0.9m cat5e patch leads (you can choose your colors)
01 x 335m cat5e grey cable

for

Edited by boaby (Mon 02-Oct-06 17:18:04)

Use them for some of the more obscure networking stuff (protocol convertors etc). Don't use them for the day to day kit as get better deals elsewhere.