Custom install setup and questions. First Time with DT.

[green6767]

Hello. Been lurking here for a few days absorbing all the great info. I've learned quite a bit and got a lot of questions answered just by reading the questions/answers of others. A few things Im still wondering about however. I've always been a "cable guy", but I've decide to try satellite. DirecTV seemed to have the upper hand. My setup will be a 4 TV system (Internet will be through local cable company still). After a brief web chat with a Direct rep, I was told I'd be getting a Genie with 3 clients (mini's).

To make this simple, I've pre-wired everything while the house was down to the studs. 2 RG6/2 Cat5e/2 HDMI to each TV terminating at a wall place with keystone jacks. There are other runs throughout the house for various other items terminating at wall plates/jacks, but they ALL run to a central drop point where I currently have my network closet with the various distribution setups. I've got 6 RG6 (solid core) and 12 Cat5e lines running to the attic at various spots so I'd cover all possibilities of where the heck they're going to mount this Dish. (Overkill I know…..but its not all just for TV) There's more than enough slack up there on all those coax lines to go wherever they needed to be. All of THOSE runs pass right next to the fuse panel/grounding center for the home and also drop into the network closet.

Any coax that I left open ended I did not compress fittings on yet as I thought the installer would probably prefer to do that part himself as he can terminate the run where its best suited to be at the closet. I think I've got a pretty good understanding of about 90% of how this DirecTV setup will go, but I'm still confused on the power injector/switches/splitter (something about a SWiM 8 that was recommended I get that would handle my setup). I've checked into that a bit, but maybe I need some clarification.

Its my understanding the the newer dishes only require 1 drop from the dish (granted your equipment is the more recent/new end). I know there are plenty up there that could be used, but I'd imagine the technician will only use what is needed? Thats where I get a bit lost. That drop from the attic needs to split somehow for the 4 TV's. 3 of the coax runs will go directly to the TV's (for the Genie Clients mounted on back of wall mounted TV's) and the third will go the network closet. I think thats where this SWiM 8 (or SWM8) piece comes into play correct? And then some kind of power injector/power source? Where will those items be placed? The Genie itself will most likely go up near the main TV, but I'd like to keep it in the network closet and run it off my IP2IR controllers. We will see I guess.

I'm extremely picky and particular about my home network/automation setup. I've spent a great deal of time organizing thousands of feet of low voltage cable/data runs throughout my home before I buttoned it all up. I did leave some PVC access tubes to grant access between floors/wall/attic/etc if there was a need to add more lines from the network closet to wherever really.

Please feel free to correct me where I need correction in my assumptions and thinking on this DirecTV install.

 

[raoul5788]

to Satelliteguys green6767!

You have a better understanding of how Directv works than most long time customers!
The work you have done will be well appreciated by the tech, no doubt.
Since you will have no more than eight tuners, you won't get a swm8, just a swm lnb, power inserter, and splitter.
If you needed a swm16 switch, there would be four lines from the dish, but you will only have one in this case.
Where they are physically is flexible, but can likely go where you want. That will depend upon the tech and how
he likes to set things up, but I'll bet he will work with you on location of most everything.

 

[texasbrit]

You will get an SWM Slimline dish installed with just one cable run to the house. Then the tech will need to install an SWM splitter, and then have cable runs from the splitter to each of the Tvs. It looks like you should have the splitter in the network closet, assuming he can connect the cable run from the dish into the network closet. You do not need an SWM8, that is for people with the older "legacy" setup. Your splitter will be an SWS8, maybe you are confusing this with the SWM8.
The power inserter could either go in the network closet, or could go anywhere in the house as long as it is on a coax that connects to the power-pass connector on the SWS8.
My guess is that the Genie itself should go next to its associated TV, that's where I would put it (and where the tech will put it unless you agree somewhere else. Putting it in the network closet and controlling it via IP is technically possible but you would need an HDMI cable from the Genie in the network closet to the associated TV. And the tech will not be happy because he needs to do setup using the regular remote and he can't easily do that if the Genie and TV are in different places, in fact he might simply say no.
The tech will also install a CCK which connects the DirecTV internal (DECA) network to your router. You can hard wire the Genie to the router but DirecTV's standard policy is to install the CCK, it can go anywhere where there is a coax connection. My recommendation is to let the tech install the CCK, and then in a few days if you want hard wire to the router make the change yourself.
Same with the idea of putting the Genie in the network closet. You can experiment with this in the future.

 

[green6767]

Ok that makes a lot more sense now. I must have been confusing the SWM8 with the SWS8 and mixing them up. I fully understand the importance of making the technicians job a bit more fluent and give him more time to focus on quality and not so much on quantity. I will go ahead and let him do his thing with the CCK. I can "edit" that out if I feel the need at a later date. I may just work the way it is also though. As for the Genie, I've got it all pre-run to be located in the network closet. HDMI included (and even to all the other TV's, before I knew how small the clients were). I will however just have him install the Genie on the floor under the respective TV. Its wall mounted and there's no stand for components. They're all located on the rack in the closet. (See my inclination to have the Genie there too?). Its a floating plasma that I backlight against a recessed wall, so I'd really hate to put a stand there for just the Genie. For the means of convenience for the technician, retrofitting an HDMI line to the back of the TV down to the floor for the time being is an eyesore I can definitely live with so he can do his job properly. Like you mentioned Texasbrit, I can "edit" that after the fact also.

I appreciate the quick responses!!

There are 6 cable runs from the attic to the network closet, so he can take his pick as to which one he wants for the Dish to tie into. By the time he gets to the network closet, It should be a cut/compresses/twist everything into its place. All the runs are labeled. There will be plenty of room and power access on a shelf on the rack for the various components you have mentioned. If it gets crammed, I have contingency plans!

 

[raoul5788]

The tech is going to love you!

 

[green6767]

Well this is what I'd want to walk into if I was the tech! I know what its like to walk into an install and its a complete mess and you're thinking "why me???" Why today? haha. I installed 12 volt electronics/audio/video for 13 years. Some of the vehicles I was told to do a "custom job" on were a lost cause…..but you make it work I guess.

However…..Its 24 below zero ambient temperature right now (52 below with the windchill). Thats just ridiculous for anybody to even think about being outdoors for more than 10 minutes. Thats not even exaggerating. At these temps with this wind, frostbite can occur on bare skin in less than 8 minutes.

So I will schedule this next week when its actually above zero…….

Thanks again for the help!!!

 

[raoul5788]

I'm sure I'm not the only one that wants to see pictures of the install when it's done, especially the data closet.