Art Sauder wrote:

> using Cat 5 UTP cable. I need to tie in another user on the floor above our
> main office which involves running a cable about 130ft. My choice of cable
> routes is pretty limited because of the way the building is constructed and
> the location of this office. The route I am planning to follow involves
> running the network cable in a boxed in enclosure housing 5 electrical
> conduits carrying 120v household circuits. After about 40ft of this I will
> be able to follow another route away from conduit. If I use Cat 5 UTP can I
> expect to experience  signal problems on this leg of the network as a
> result of close proximity to the electrical conduits? Should I be using STP
> cable? If so, is it possible to use RJ45 connectors as this is all my hub
> has. I read somewhere that when using shielded cable you needed to use IBM
> connectors(whatever they are) which would terminate at both ends otherwise
> shielding would have no effect?????? Would appreciate any advice based on
> your experience.

I would not recommend this installation for the following reasons:
1. I do not know your area but i suspect that  you would be in violation of
their building codes.
2. I know you would be in violation  of  the NEC.
3. Also there are OHSA considerations present with this setup.
4. The noise level created by the electrical cables  would be
unacceptable for reliable data transfers.
5. The potential for damage to your computer equipment would be
high, should a short in the electrical wiring occur and also possible
danger to the computer operators using the equipment.
Recommendations:
1. Cat 5 wire is just fine for runs up to 300 feet.
2. Since this is an office setting,   I assume that you have telephones located
in each location.   Find the conduit carrying the telephone lines and install
double jacks in the box , one for data and one for phone... pull Cat 5 wire in
same conduit as the phone cables... I have easily pulled  seven, four- pair
Cat 5 cables in one 3/4 inch conduit.
3. This solution may increase the length of your cable run vs the electrical
conduit but as long as you keep the length 300feet or less between your Hub and
your computer,  you will have no problems.
Hope this info will be of value to you.
Joseph H. Bishop
PuterDoc