So... I'd like help from the great solution providers of Locostbuilders please.

I actually think I know what I want... but finding it for sale is the problem!


In my office's meeting rooms we have removable desk power/network modules like these:

[img]
Desk power module [/img]

These will clip onto fold and move type desks when required.


The room has network floor ports. My boss wants to hardwire these desk modules with 2x network cables- inside an 'attractive' plastic trunking that can be plugged into the floor ports when needed. This will mean they can be rolled up and put away neatly when not used.


I'm wondering if it's possible to buy a 'twin' network cable and/or cable already armoured/in trunking. Otherwise we will get flexible plastic trunking and make up a couple of network cables to the correct length and fit them inside. It's ok to DIY it, but it strikes me that a solution must already exist for this problem.


I can't find anything like this on the web so over to the collective of problem solvers!


Thanks!
James

P.S. Yes, I did suggest everyone could just use the wireless!!! Apparently this "isn't reliable enough". Hmmm.

You can actually get adapters that turn a single port into 2 using the unused pairs, presuming none of your devices use Poe

^ or 1 GigE

Only stuff I have used on meeting room floors is this rubber channel to stop people tripping and protect cables.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cable-Tex-Rubber-Cable-Protector-Trunking/dp/B003QRMZ3Y/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1355488343&sr=8-3

Rich

As far as I know you can't buy 'twin' ethernet cables due to the nature of the data being transmitted. Ethernet's high data speeds require careful use of twisted wires and differential signalling to eliminate crosstalk, if you then throw in a second set of wires then all that work goes out the window.

We have similar units on our desks, with two power and two ethernet going to relevant sockets on the floor. The cables are made up individually with about two metres on the leads, then simply cable tied at one foot intervals. They're convenient enough to be coiled up and stored, and easy enough to feed through holes in the desk when they're used.

And I agree with not using wireless, once you get up to a decent number of office workers wireless can get a bit temperamental! We have one wireless for some work, but the majority of us are hard wired.

LINDY-UTP-Port-Doubler-2-x-10-100Base-TX-to-1-Por

you already need 1 or 2 networks wires, and mains,
and while running network and mains wiring adjacent is usually a bad thing,
I would probably plat the 3 wires together

I would just cut up a piece of dado trunking with an rj45 on the end of a length of patch cable in flexible trunk made off to twin cat 5e's in the dado, you could also mount the mains sockets as well but use flex not twin and earth. You can use stop ends on the dado trunk to neaten the job. The mains must be in seperate flexible and there should be a seperator between mains and data within the dado trunk.
Easiest way would be to get longish patch cables cut them in half, thread them through the flexible and make them off onto dual cat5 outlets within the dado.
The economisers (dual adaptors) suggested wont give you anything other than bringing your network down to 10/100.
Cheers,
Bob