SWM-8 vs Zinwell MS6X16WB (New Install)

[NNelson123]

I'm looking to add wiring to a few rooms of my house that are not currently wired and am at a crossroad of rather I want to pull one or two wires to my recievers. When I initially had D* installed, SWM wasn't an option and the only way to have a dual-tuner DVR operate was to have two RG6 coax runs to the receiver.

I have the non-SWM Slimline dish but have two capable SWM receivers (H21 and HR21). I'm wanting to add another HR21 to the mix too in the near future.

My main question is rather there is a reason to opt for two coax runs per drop and couple it with a Zinwell MS6X16WB versus single runs with an SWM-8? Realistically, I'll probably be pulling N+1 RG6 runs per drop for OTA since I read you cannot diplex with the B-Band MPEG4 recievers (not sure if it's true).

I know that the SWM-8 is not compatible with older recievers but this isn't an issue to me as all my recievers are SWM capable (and I'd assume all new stuff will be too). I don't know that I really consider that a negative in my particular situation. Price between the Zinwell and the SWM-8 seems close enough that I'd consider that a moot point too.

Thanks!

 

[jdspencer]

The SWM8 has three legacy outputs. And if needed you could use 4 high frequency splitters off the dish and feed the SWM* and an WB68.

There are ways to diplex with MPEG4. Those in the know will soon chime in.

 

[dishrich]

If you're going to the trouble of pulling wire anyway, regardless if you are using SWM or not, pull AT LEAST 2 coax's anyway. It's just as much work to pull 2 (or even 3-4) coax's at once & the coax cable itself is not expensive, so why not do it anyway for "future uses". Some that come to mind are:
-OTA &/or CATV feeds w/out having to mess with diplexing
-modulated backfeeds from the receivers in these rooms to feed seconday TV's
-future CATV feeds for cable modem

There's other possible future uses, but these are common ones that come to mind. If prewire a house, I would not even think of pulling LESS than 2 (1 dual) coax to each loc & in "main" locations (den, family room, etc) I pull a MINIMUM of 4. Once you want to use one in the future, you'll be glad you pulled them all!

 

[NNelson123]

So if I'm pulling two cables plus a third for OTA/cable/whatever, I should just stick with the Zinwell switch and run two wires to each tuner instead of the SWM-8? I guess it comes down to preference but I am not sure if I'll notice any difference one way or another.

 

[iwc5893]

Pull two now and save yourself the heartache later. Matter of fact, if you're pulling cable, you should go ahead and pull at least one CAT-5 cable at the same time.

 

[NNelson123]

Matter of fact, if you're pulling cable, you should go ahead and pull at least one CAT-5 cable at the same time.

I had already planned on pulling two Cat6 lines in each of my pulls. I'll go ahead and opt for the three RG6 drops and stick with the Zinwell switch then.

Thanks for the info.