Install Question

[jrv331]

Me and a buddy signed up for E* and I have a question on the install method. His was already installed and he said the installer just hooked up to his existing cable runs and was in and out in no time. The way his cable(from cable co) lines were set up had the main cable from the street going into his basement to a panel and all the lines to the various rooms ran off splitters from there. The installer just used the lines off the panel.

The way my cable is set up (again from the cable co) is that the main line runs to a box on my house, from there all the lines come outside and into the cable box. Will the installer still be able to use those lines or will I need new lines run? Will those lines need to be pulled inside the house? Im trying to avoid wires running around the outside of the home.
Thanks
John

 

[Cokeswigga]

The installers will generally use the existing lines to the receivers in each of the rooms.

They will run lines from the dishes down to the cable box.

 

[jrv331]

Thanks for the speedy reply. The cable box has no type of lock on it, but I was just curious if they would connect to the wires in the box seeing how the box is the cable co's - or does the homeowner own the box?
Thanks
John

 

[Cokeswigga]

Is this in a condo building? I assumed it was a house.

Often times..the dish will be installed on the patio or an owner controlled area of the condo...

 

[webbydude]

Once those lines hit your home, they are yours...not the cable company's

 

[harshness]

Once those lines hit your home, they are yours...not the cable company's

Once inside your home, they're yours, but they may retain ownership of the outdoor fixtures depending on the local laws and/or franchise agreements. Usually they will leave them in place in the hopes that you'll come back.

 

[webbydude]

So you're saying if someone mounts something on my home that is NOT a public utility they can lay claim to ownership?

 

[Cokeswigga]

the way I understand it:

Water company - Resposibility ends at your end of the meter
Electric company - responsibility ends at connection to your electrical bus
Cable comany - responsibility ends at the cable box where there cable connects to yours.

 

[tastim]

The cable company does own the box they mounted to your house as they paid for it and installed it.... HOWEVER, they do NOT own the lines that run from inside that box, to your cable jacks inside your house. The only cable the own is the one running from the street (or pole) to inside of that box...

Yes, the Satellite guy can in fact use those lines... some guys open the box up and remove a portion of the lines.... however most of the boxes have a designated area (usually actually marked in there) that says something like "Customer Access" ... so even if they dont want to open up the cable companies portion, they can just snip the line before it runs into that panel and put their own fittings on them and do their connections on YOUR side of the box.

Be prepared though, any which way, you WILL have some cables on your house... but only from the Dish to the cable box outside...

We actually had a whole big dispute with the local cable company in my area after one of their techs came to install cable internet on a home that we just did a New Connect on like 3 days prior(this had happened on several different occasions prior to this, by the same cable company, but this was the one that put my GM over the edge)... their Tech told the customer that the cable company owned ALL the lines inside the TV can, and that he was going to have to disconnect one of their Dish receivers because we used one of their lines (this line ran right into the customer's ON-Q box in their 2 story home, mind you) and said they would have to call Dish to come redo the install "the right way"...

In other words, because we got their first, and he didn't want to run a line into the attic, he lied to the customer and deinstalled half of the customer's satellite system.

We "fixed" it and got the customer's system back up, but the cable company received a nice bill from Dish Network, which they eventually paid. I haven't seen this happen since then....

 

[harshness]

So you're saying if someone mounts something on my home that is NOT a public utility they can lay claim to ownership?

In many jurisdictions, CATV companies are a utility just like power and telephone. With that goes all of the privileges (and baggage) of any other franchised utility.

 

[tastim]

Just to clarify... the Cable company that has exclusive right to service your territory has made a deal with the builders/developers when your home was built, or in the case of rental houses/apartments, the building owner, to install their equipment... so yes, they have the right.... it's not like if you own a home with NO cable drop, they can just go put one in without your permission (they will happily do so for free btw)... that deal was made before you owned the property.

This is the whole reason Comcast is so ridiculously huge... all the wiring is there already when the person moves in, so the general population is much more inclined to order cable TV.

 

[jrv331]

Thanks for all the replies, it is a house. I was actually hoping they could just tie into the existing box to hopefully simplify things. I know i have to have the wire form the dish to the box on the out side of the home. I just want to avoid a wire runnig all along the out side of the home to each room where a receiver is going.
Thanks again for all the help
John

 

[tastim]

Thanks for all the replies, it is a house. I was actually hoping they could just tie into the existing box to hopefully simplify things. I know i have to have the wire form the dish to the box on the out side of the home. I just want to avoid a wire runnig all along the out side of the home to each room where a receiver is going.
Thanks again for all the help
John

Trust me.... the installers WILL use your existing wiring, provided it is in good enough condition to work