RG6 Cable Question

[c-montcityknight]

Got one for the experts....I'm having a house built right now and want to have it properly wired for Dish. The builder says they install standard RG6 cable throughout the house. Is there anything specific I need to ask, or will this suffice for Dish? I'll likely be getting the 922 once it's out if that makes a difference.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Elroy]

RG6 will be fine as long as it will pass at least 2150 MHz. It seems most Dish installers use cable that is rated to 3000 MHz.

 

[c-montcityknight]

Thanks! Any idea if that's a standard freq for RG6 cable? The sales guy that you sign the paperwork with didn't seem to have this info specifically. I guess the best thing for me to do is look at one of the partially completed houses in the neighborhood..

 

[lineman20109]

I bought a 250 ft spool of rg6 at Lowes the other day and the cable says it was swept to 3.0 Ghz. If that's what your builder is using, you should be fine.

 

[thedamaja]

Some is only swept to 1ghz, I'd be surprised if your builder is making sure to purchase 3Ghz swept RG6. More than likely they are getting whatever they can at the best price.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to check other houses from the builder if you can. The swept range is usually printed on the jacket of the cable.

Personally i would let them wire like normal then add a second run of 3GhzRG6 specially for sat.

 

[RedWings]

I'd think far ahead about what you could possibly upgrade to in the future. Its a lot easier to throw wires in the walls before the drywall goes up.

1. Where could you possibly need an outlet. Some homes only have outlets on one wall when it would have been better on certain walls or multiple outlets on a single wall.

2. Cat 5. Never know if you want to connect a slingbox, HTPC, or Dish receiver to your network. yes you can use wireless, but not having another piece of equipment around your TV is always a plus. I would run 2 CAT5 to the same locations as your RG6.

3. Speakers. You may not want surround sound now, but you may in the future. If so, where would the speakers go. Have the wires run.

When we finished our basement I thought I had all the wires run that I could possibly need. 2 RG6 to multiple locations. Speaker wire run to each location a speaker could go. But since I didn't think hard enough, I wish I would have had RG6 run to each location plus at least 1 HDMI cable run to each location.

 

[CowboyDren]

It wouldn't be a bad idea to check other houses from the builder if you can. The swept range is usually printed on the jacket of the cable.

Best thing to do is to talk to the electrical people; they can read it right off the spool.

Personally i would let them wire like normal then add a second run of 3GhzRG6 specially for sat.

Call me paranoid, but this is a pretty good idea. In a perfect world, where cost is no issue, I'd have two RG6 and one RJ45 (ethernet) at every single wall plate in the house. That'd allow you to run Sat on one RG6, Antenna or Cable on the other, and broadband to every location.

Don't assume that just because wireless LANs are prolific that it's a good idea. The 922 really should have a dedicated hard wire to your cable/dsl/whatever box, as should any set-top box that needs a fast connection. There are lots of situations where a WiFi device just can't overcome the interference that all of these electronic devices kick out, which is the official answer for why the 922 won't have WiFi.

 

[Foxbat]

See if they can run flexible interduct (also known as structured raceways). This way, it's a lot easier to pull new cable through to a location if you find you need CAT 5 / CAT 6 / CAT 7 in the future. Like RedWings said, start thinking about where you'd like to put stuff and try to put some sort of a low-voltage box in the area.

 

[Elroy]

Any idea if that's a standard freq for RG6 cable?

By telling you that the RG6 is standard the builder probably means that it is not RG6 quad shield cable. This has an extra layer of foil and braid and is not required for Dish Network.

I agree with checking what is printed on the cable. I would also check when the cable is being run to make sure. If it is not swept to at least 2150 MHz, preferably higher, then it will cause you issues once you have your Dish installed.

Your installer will be happy that you had the foresight to get the proper cable installed.

Also, since you stated that you wanted the 922 when it comes out have CAT5 ran to the receiver location with your RG6. It will be much easier to connect it to the internet that way.

 

[harshness]

Specify that the cable be solid copper center conductor. Copper Coated Steel (CCS) is less than optimal for carrying switching voltages. Solid copper costs a few cents more per foot so you might expect a small up-charge.

 

[hendrix04]

If i was going to run ethernet cable, I would run Cat6. It is a little more expensive but also more future proof. While Cat5e can run a gigabit network, Cat6 was made for it, and can push more when the technology comes out.

 

[cparker]

I just had my house completely rewired (electric) and while we were punching holes and pulling wire, I went in an ran 2 RG6 and 2 cat5e to a bunch of locations. RG6 and cat5e all come to a wiring location in the basement. I can run satellite and OTA over separate RG6 to each location. Any cat5e jack can be either network or voice, depending on where I patch it at the patch panel.

Could I have run more stuff or different stuff? Yeah, probably. But it's a ranch house with full basement and I can pretty easily add anything I want, anywhere I want.

Forget about getting too crazy with "future-proof". Right about teh time you're sitting there all fat, dumb, and happy 'cause you paid for and pulled cat6, they'll be running fiber in the home. Nothing is future-proof.

You CAN, however, make your future much easier by doing what was suggested earlier. Run smurf duct to any location that you can't easily get to later when it's walled up. Corrugated conduit. Amazing stuff. I'd run inch and a quarter or so if I was doing it.

 

[tcpipageek]

I definitely agree with all the other posters that future proofing in some way is always best when you’ve got the walls open. Tearing them down or punching holes in them is just not fun, so no matter what you choose, think ahead and do it now!

But about the RG6 question and what’s standard, it’s important to remember that there isn’t really a standard for “RG” cables anymore. The RG numbers themselves all date back to an old military standard that isn’t followed anymore (Mil-C-17 is now used). The numbers stuck though, and that’s why the cables still go by the “RG” name. If a company says they make RG6, it’s probably pretty close to the old standard, but it could differ slightly from the next company’s RG6…you’re always better off if you double check exactly what you need and what you’re actually getting. Check out these specs for RG6 and the current military standard for example, both from the same company:

RG6: http://www.awcwire.com/ProductSpec.aspx?id=RG6-Cable.
Mil-C-17: http://www.awcwire.com/ProductSpec.aspx?id=M17/2-M17/47.

It says right on the RG6 spec that they are “Mil-Spec Equivalent” and nothing about an actual standard they followed. They’re very close, but not exact, and that goes for the cable the builders will use.

 

[kvnfl]

If i was going to run ethernet cable, I would run Cat6. It is a little more expensive but also more future proof. While Cat5e can run a gigabit network, Cat6 was made for it, and can push more when the technology comes out.

+1 for the Cat6. We keep pushing faster speeds that Cat5 will not be able to handle over long runs.

 

[BuddyBoy]

I'm not aware of any attenuation limits for "swept tested" RG6. I've recently looked at the spec sheets for a bunch of different RG6 from Belden and CommScope, and they show significantly varying amounts of attenuation at 2200MHz.

You're probably safe with anything that's swept tested, but if I were closing up the walls, and pulling new cable would be really expensive, I'd pay a couple hundred bucks to get a specific part # in the walls, just to insure against a costly replacement later. Who knows when Dish might quadruple stack transponders on a single cable for a four-tuner DVR.