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muzishun
Senior Member
United States
1079 Posts |
 Posted - 17 June 2005 : 00:05:41
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I'm going to be moving into a new apartment in August with roommates, and we'll have at least five or six computers running online at any given time. Due to cost, security and speed concerns we're going to be using a wired setup. I was wondering if anyone here had ever run ethernet cable through their air ducts in an apartment or house. My only concern would be whether or not the insulation on the cat5 would handle the temperature extremes when running the heat in the winter.
I know the physical act of running the cable wouldn't be too hard; just get a wire snake and get going. At this point, I'm planning on going ahead with the plan to run cables through the ventillation system. I'll do some more research on what sort of heat resistances the cables have, but hopefully it'll work out. |
Bill Parrott
Senior Web Programmer, University of Kansas
Co-Owner and Code Monkey, Eternal Second Designs (www.eternalsecond.com)
Personal Website (www.chimericdream.com) |
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StephenD
Senior Member
Australia
1044 Posts |
Posted - 17 June 2005 : 00:35:16
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| You can get Cat5E graded for outdoor use and run it through flexicoil pvc tubing to protect it from the heat. Use that as your snake. |
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muzishun
Senior Member
United States
1079 Posts |
Posted - 17 June 2005 : 09:12:45
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| Where would I find that kind of cable? Would NewEgg have it? |
Bill Parrott
Senior Web Programmer, University of Kansas
Co-Owner and Code Monkey, Eternal Second Designs (www.eternalsecond.com)
Personal Website (www.chimericdream.com) |
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seven
Senior Member
USA
1037 Posts |
Posted - 17 June 2005 : 19:23:08
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| I think you'll find you can go wireless for far less agravation and the cost really won't be that much if you buy right. The security and speed won't be an issue. |
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Classicmotorcycling
Development Team Leader
Australia
2084 Posts |
Posted - 17 June 2005 : 20:41:31
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Personally, I would not run it through the air ducts. I have had to go and fix one network (for a friend) who put it through thiers and they could not work out why it wasn't working, so I decided to run a new cable and pull out the old. We found that over the 12 months they had it in the duct, that it had taken the insulation off the cable (Cat5E) and was sorting out when heating was on.
I am not a big fan of wireless, but with what I have seen them comming out with, it appears that I am going to start using it here at home, so all the cable I ran was a waste for me. The security seems to have gotten better and the speed has really improved. I would suggest that you go wireless if it is not your place, there are some great 8 port wireless switches out there that are really cheap.
My 5 cents worth.. |
Cheers,
David Greening |
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StephenD
Senior Member
Australia
1044 Posts |
Posted - 17 June 2005 : 20:46:35
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| There's also ethernet over power (Netcomm out now in Australia) which looks good. |
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Doug G
Support Moderator
USA
6493 Posts |
Posted - 17 June 2005 : 22:53:36
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| In the US you must use plenum cable if it runs through any air ducts or you'll be violating the building codes. Plenum cable costs about double regular insulation. |
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Doug G
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Computer history and help at www.dougscode.com |
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muzishun
Senior Member
United States
1079 Posts |
Posted - 18 June 2005 : 12:05:54
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| Thanks for all the advice. Since we really aren't interested in wireless and I didn't realize that the higher grade cable would be so expensive, I imagine we'll probably just be stringing the cable along the walls and ceilings. Although after my last apartment, I will certainly be spending more time and energy on it to keep it from being an eyesore. |
Bill Parrott
Senior Web Programmer, University of Kansas
Co-Owner and Code Monkey, Eternal Second Designs (www.eternalsecond.com)
Personal Website (www.chimericdream.com) |
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