Horizontal Network Cable Runs

Each floor of a building is referred to as the horizontal. Cables should be routed in the most practical direct route from the equipment room to the work area outlet position.

Two types of routes are permitted "direct" and "indirect". When cables are routed in the direct method there are no transition points along the cable run. If the cables are routed in the indirect method than an intermediate transition point will be installed generally under the floor or in a ceiling prior to termination at the work area outlet. This transition point is often used as an additional flexibility point allowing the same cables to support work area outlets within a radius of the transition point. The under floor termination is usually made within a simple housing of either plastic or more commonly metal. Often the transition point is an additional plug and jack interface. It should be noted that links installed with a transition point will perform marginally less well those without cable separations. Data cables run in trucking must be segregated from power lines. Recommended separation distances are given in the table below:

Separation of Telecommunications Pathways from < 480 Volt power lines

Recommended separation distance for 240V electrical cables and data cables

These separations are guidelines only and it may not be possible to adhere to them in all cases. Segregation of the power and data cables within trunking or tray work however is not negotiable. Safety regulations dictate that where power and data are run together in trunking there must be a physical separation, preferably separated by a middle section if possible.

When cables are to be run on a tray either under floor or in the ceiling, physical separation should be maintained along the lines of those recommendations in the tables above.

Where trunking is metallic, adequate grounding of the containment should be provided.

When cables are run in ceiling voids several key factors must be taken into consideration.

1. Under no circumstances should the cables be laid directly on top of suspended ceiling tiles. For various reasons, the weight of a large number of cables will distort or even collapse the ceiling tiles. Also future access to the roof space would mean cables being moved around or even being trapped as tiles are replaced, both or which could cause damage to the cables.
2. Therefore it is recommended that the cables are support in some way.
3. With all Cat6 applications it is recommended that some form of cable tray is adopted to prevent any undue stress to the cables.