Will Cat 6 & Power Cables 12” Apart Be a Problem?

[Cavalry Canuck]

Hi folks,

 

 I am installing a CAT 6 jack in an area of the house near the breaker box, so the electrical cable density is pretty high. Where I want to run the data cable through the floor, there is only a 24” gap between two different groups of 3 power cables (5 x 15A and 1 x 20A cable). I would like to space the ethernet cable so that it is 12” away from either power cable bundle. The Ethernet will be within 12” of each bundle and running parallel for 18”-24” before the electrical cables disperse to their various areas.

 

Will this give me grief, particularly if I want to upgrade to a 10GB network in the future? It’s an otherwise very short Ethernet Cable Run (9’6”/2.9M).

 

Partially related question; will running cables parallel to heating ducts cause issues? If so, what spacing should I seek to maintain?

 

Thanks for your time!

[brwainer]

Over such a short distance there should be not any issue, but if you want to be absolutely sure you can use shielded cables.

[COUPER MILLAR]

Like @brwainer said that interference is really more of a concern then people try running high and low voltage parallel for a significant run. Also here is an explanation about the difference in Cat standards. basically cat 7 would be the most stable, however they state that cat 6a should be more than enough for most peoples needs https://planetechusa.com/blog/ethernet-different-ethernet-categories-cat3-vs-cat5e-vs-cat6-vs-cat6a-vs-cat7-vs-cat8/

[brwainer]

7 minutes ago, COUPER MILLAR said:

Like @brwainer said that interference is really more of a concern then people try running high and low voltage parallel for a significant run. Also here is an explanation about the difference in Cat standards. basically cat 7 would be the most stable, however they state that cat 6a should be more than enough for most peoples needs https://planetechusa.com/blog/ethernet-different-ethernet-categories-cat3-vs-cat5e-vs-cat6-vs-cat6a-vs-cat7-vs-cat8/

The problem with Cat 7 is that it is not a full cabling standard and therefore many so-called Cat 7 cables are just shielded (STP) Cat 6 or Cat 6a. SFTP Cat6a is also available, whereas your link implies that SFTP is only Cat 7.

[lexidobe]

I have tried to cause interference in ethernet cables by wrapping them in high current power cords, etc. I have never been able to cause any problems, even with cheap CAT 5 cables. Hope this helps

[Cavalry Canuck]

Thanks for the reassurance guys. I take it if the power cables wont be much of an issue, having some runs adjacent to the steel ventilation system wont cause any hard either?

[lexidobe]

1 minute ago, Cavalry Canuck said:

Thanks for the reassurance guys. I take it if the power cables wont be much of an issue, having some runs adjacent to the steel ventilation system wont cause any hard either?

I don't see why it would be a problem. Unless you are talking about running the cables beside an air handler or furnace with a motor that may create interference, but I doubt it would be a problem even if you did