Can you run PoE Cat6 alongside standard Cat6 cables?

Question

I need PoE for some devices (CCTV cameras, WiFI Access Points) - can these wires be run in parallel with

Cat6 cables going to non PoE devices (e.g. datapoints of PC)
Cat6 HDBaseT Cables being used for HDMI over Cat6

DavidPostill · Accepted Answer · 2024-06-11T19:59:59.787

Can you run PoE Cat6 alongside standard Cat6 cables?

Yes. But you should be running Cat6A cable because of heat dissipation not interference (see later).

Notes:

Cat6 can be shielded or unshielded. Shielded will clearly be better.
Cat7 has an overall shield as well as individual shielding of every pair (so may be even more suitable).

Twisted pair cables are HIGHLY resistant to interference pickup. Furthermore, DC does not cause interference, since it is basically an unchanging current, so there's no change in magnetic fields from it to cause interference (other than when turned on, and off - and the twisted pair cables will reject that interference by design, anyway.)

^{Source data wiring - Can PoE cause interference with neighboring non-PoE Ethernet cables? - Home Improvement Stack Exchange}

You should be running Cat6A cable

In fact, a new PoE standard, IEEE 802.3bt, supports up to 100W of power per cable.

But higher power levels running through a cable can cause performance issues – namely by making the cable hotter. And when the cable gets hotter, insertion loss increases. This escalates your chances of your business experiencing a productivity killer – downtime – and may also damage the cable itself.

You’re better off using Category 6A for a number of reasons we’re going to cover here.

Larger-Gauge Diameter

Less Power Loss

Tightly Packed Cables

^{Source 3 Reasons Why Power over Ethernet Demands CAT 6A Cable}

Can you run PoE Cat6 alongside standard Cat6 cables?

1 Answers1

Can you run PoE Cat6 alongside standard Cat6 cables?

You should be running Cat6A cable

Further Reading