Can I pass CAT5 over electric wires

[ron194]

So basically I am wiring my new apartment, I did not initially plan for a network, but it dawned on me after placing all conduits and plastering the walls that I need a network. I am now going to pass the network cables through the same conduit as the coaxial (satellite and cable) cables. I just want to know if my CAT5e cables will be effected by electric cables where the conduits cross over each other, please note the CAT5e and electric cables are in separate conduits, also is there a chance that the CAT5e could be effected by the coaxial cables. By the way conduits are PVC.

Thanks in advance for anyone's help

[Jakesty]

This post probably should have been place in the "Off-Topic" area as it's really not "SNAPSTREAM DISCUSSION"

To answer the question...not likely. The cat5 cabling is twisted to help prevent interference and increase throughput. Now if you passed the cabling over a transformer or Florescent light, that could affect the data going through it.

[ron194]

Thanks for the reply. You are probably right about this being in the wrong section but i'm a noob to here and I had trouble even finding this section to post here

[Nick Burns]

Regular CAT5 can be affected by electrical lines when run in parallel. CAT5e and CAT6 even less so. However, if your CAT cables are crossing perpendicularly to the electrical lines, you shouldn't incur any interference.

[DonK]

Nick's right. As long as you're at least 18" (preferably more) from any Flourescent ballasts or perpendicular to a power line, they shouldn't affect CAT5/6 cables. That's the reason for the twists in the cabling, to keep different signals on each wire 90 degrees from each other to avoid crosstalk. If you opt for the more expensive shielded variety of Cat5/6, then yeah you could run them parallel to the power and not see any problems, but sometimes you can't run power and network along with each other. In general, it's a bad idea.

You could also opt for a MoCA (Multimedia over Cable Association) setup and use something like the new stuff D-Link put out or a few Motorola NIM100's and just run your ethernet through your wall coax wiring, and not even have to run Cat5/6 cabling. I am doing that and it's working rather well.