Using the Sewer Vent for Cable or Cat5e Run?

tljones · 2006-09-08T11:53:21+00:00

I'm trying to figure out the best path, other than drilling and thetime consuming process of fishing/drilling through floors, to get a RG6cable and Cat5e cable from my attic to my basement.I have heard that you can run plenium Cat5 down environmental ventswithout any issues. The sewer vent runs from the attic to the basement and is the only direct path I can see. The pipe is 2" and is used formy sump pump in the basement. I was going to cut the pipe and use a 45degree capped splitter for the wires in the basement to avoid drillingugly holes directly in the pipe.Is this NOT a good idea? Any restrictions on if I can do this with RG6or Cat5E?I'm in Georgia, if that helps any in regards to code.Thanks!Tony

Bill Kearney 19 years ago

Exactly.

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sylvan butler 19 years ago

Bill, this is my HOME. The network is usually under 10% utilization. But when I want to move a big file, it takes too long. A gE switch WILL help, because there will only be significant traffic between two systems.

Gee, sounds like someone forgot "alt.home.repair" and "comp.home.automation" is mostly about HOME... I do have two fileservers on my home network, but I suspect that puts me into a distinct minority. :)

sdb

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Marc_F_Hult 19 years ago

Sylvan,

I installed fiber hubs in basement and 2nd floor because of repeated lightning damage to 100baseT and RS-xxx systems with the welcome side-effect of gigabit transfer rates. If you can/want to physically run fiber, check out eBay.

Search " NETGEAR FS518" These have 2 gigabit fiber + 16 100BT, sell for about $30 and are OK but have noisy small diameter fans and do increase overall UPS power needs. There's a bunch up for sale now.

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I got a couple of these and also two four-port D-Link DGS-3204 gigabit fiber managed hubs for a bit more. There are couple up for sale now. I may put one of mine in my upcoming 'porch sale'. Same caveat about noise and power consumption. Otherwise also flawless in my experience.

HTH ... Marc Marc_F_Hult

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Bill Kearney 19 years ago

Well good for you. For others reading the thread is may help them to understand some network design issues. Just adding expensive gigE cards and wiring (not just the copper, but the wall plates too). That and unless you've got a fileserver that's capable of truly handling gigE throughput it's going to be wasted money.

Oh please, give it a rest.

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