I am at the end of a renovation, and only now I discovered that it is not recommended to run ethernet cable in parallel and closely to power cables, even if they are in separate conduits, but I may have the option to improve the safety and the data integrity:
As you can see in the photo there are 3 pvc conduits runs parallel to each other. Each with a diameter of 16mm. In one is threaded a telephone cable, in the other a cat 7 ethernet cable and in the third a 240V power cable.( I dnot know in what order)
On the left side there is an additional 50mm in diameter flexible PVC conduit also parallel and closely to the three conduits, but it is empty.I estimate that there is 2-3 cm between the cables. (not between the conduits)
I have the option to cancel the cat7 that is threaded inside the 16mm conduit, and thread a new cat7 cable inside a flexible metal conduit (that protects low voltage cables from electromagnetic) and thread the metal conduit into the flexible 50mm PVC conduit (conduit within a conduit)
Is it worth making this change?
(I am thinking of a future option that maybe I will increase the network speed, and even if there is a lot of amperage in the power cable which increases the strength of the magnetic field)
And another question: can there be an interference to the telephone cable as well because it is run parallel near to the power conduit?
It is not shielded and not a twisted pairs, but I can replace it with a more high quality cable, and also transfer it in the 50mm conduit.
Thanks in advance for any answers
Is an ethernet cable threaded inside a metal conduit is more protected from electromagnetic interference?
conduitethernetmetalpvc
Related Solutions
No, not a bit. Twisted pair cables are HIGHLY resistant to interference pickup. Furthermore, DC does not cause interference, since it is basically an unchanging current, so there's no change in magnetic fields from it to cause interference (other than when turned on, and off - and the twisted pair cables will reject that interference by design, anyway.)
I have many bundles of cables including POE cables in my work role. Interference is not a factor.
Wiring – Are there any disadvantages to switching from a punch-down distribution box to an RJ-45 one
Yes, you can pull out your existing telco punchdown block and replace it with a suitable block for Ethernet networking.
What you're really looking for is a Cat 5e (or better), T-568A or T-568B compatible punchdown block with RJ45 jacks. That's TIA/EIA-568 revision B, which is essentially identical to the older AT&T 258A (Systimax) standard, which was originally designed for telephone service. T-568A and T-568B are electrically compatible as long as the same standard is used on both ends of each segment. T-568A is still the official data networking standard, but a lot of vendors use T-568B. Whichever; just make sure the same standard is used on both ends of each individual length of cable.
So a typical structured cabling solution works for phones and data networking, although a residential solution may bridge tap all of the phone lines so all the extensions ring together, and that's completely incompatible with Ethernet networking. It's also easy to bridge tap multiple RJ45 ports together in the future if that becomes desirable.
Your new punchdown block
First confirm that those cables in the wall are Cat5e. If they're only Cat5, then you'll only be able to reliably use Fast Ethernet (100Mb/s), not Gigabit Ethernet (1000Mb/s).
You'll fasten your new punchdown block to the back of your media cabinet, then punch your incoming cables down to the new block. There's an example below (picture), but you can literally just walk into a big box store and grab one for $20 or so. Then you'll run short Ethernet patch cables between this punchdown block and your switch or router. T-568B is also compatible with telephones, so this upgrade won't prevent you or the next owner from using those existing wall jacks for telephone extensions later if you want to.
You'll want to confirm that your RJ45 wall jacks are wired up to the T-568B standard.
You'll fasten your switch(es) and/or router(s) to the back of your structured media enclosure as well, then you'll use short Ethernet patch cables to make connections from the switch/router ports to your wall jacks.
Someday you might want phones again
If you want to bridge some ports to turn on some telephone extensions in the future, you could easily do it with a little creative crimping of RJ-45 and/or RJ-11 plugs to connect all the right wires, which you would then plug into the RJ-45 jacks you want to connect phones to.
Or you could just buy a telephone interface hub similar to the one pictured below, which lets you adjust which jacks are bridged together using bridge clips. So you would snap on whatever bridge clips suit your purpose, then use regular telephone patch cables (2 or 4 wire) to connect the wall jacks to the telephone interface.
I guess I should clarify that you can plug RJ-11 (phone) plugs into RJ-45 jacks.
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Best Answer
You discovered wrong. Ethernet runs at 100MHz and up, your line voltage at 60Hz is virtually DC at that frequently difference.
With that said, you should still run your data cables in conduit. Not for interference concerns, but so that in 2040 you can easily replace the cat5 with something new for our 20K ultra VR direct brain video or whatever is the deal then. Plastic Smurf tube is fine, it doesn't need to be metal.