What type of Coax to run through walls?

[claytonboen]

.wysiwyg { BACKGROUND: #dae6fa; FONT: 9pt verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; COLOR: #555a5f } P { MARGIN: 0px } .inlineimg { VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle } Hello everyone!

I recently had DN installed, and to my suprise, the installer refused to run the coax down the attic and through my walls. I even offered him an extra $100 a room that he could put in his own pocket!

Anyway, I've decided to do it myself... In fact, I've already started. I've been running RG6 F Type Quad Shielded Coaxial 18AWG CL2 Rated 75Ohm Cable -- But my question is:

Is this the right kind of cable? Basically, does DN use a special kind of cable that allows multiple signals on the line? Years ago I had DirecTV and they had to run two lines from the dish to my Tivo in order to use the dual tuner features. It seems this isn't the case with DN, as only a single line is running to my 722 box right now, and it's split there at the box. I don't want to get all the cable in my walls and hook up the satellite only to find out I did everything wrong.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Andrewwski]

That's fine...it just takes one RG6 for a dual tuner...just make sure it's it's in-wall rated.

 

[wassupTC]

That's fine...it just takes one RG6 for a dual tuner...just make sure it's it's in-wall rated.

To my knowledge, all Coax Cable is rated for use in walls. Not all cable is rated for plenum installations (air duct). The difference in typical cable and plenum-rated cable is the toxicity of the cable when it is burned.

 

[rich88]

.wysiwyg { BACKGROUND: #dae6fa; FONT: 9pt verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; COLOR: #555a5f } P { MARGIN: 0px } .inlineimg { VERTICAL-ALIGN: middle } Hello everyone!

I recently had DN installed, and to my suprise, the installer refused to run the coax down the attic and through my walls. I even offered him an extra $100 a room that he could put in his own pocket!

Anyway, I've decided to do it myself... In fact, I've already started. I've been running RG6 F Type Quad Shielded Coaxial 18AWG CL2 Rated 75Ohm Cable -- But my question is:

Is this the right kind of cable? Basically, does DN use a special kind of cable that allows multiple signals on the line? Years ago I had DirecTV and they had to run two lines from the dish to my Tivo in order to use the dual tuner features. It seems this isn't the case with DN, as only a single line is running to my 722 box right now, and it's split there at the box. I don't want to get all the cable in my walls and hook up the satellite only to find out I did everything wrong.

Thanks for your help!

How come the installer wouldn't do it??

 

[claytonboen]

My guess is that he wanted to go home. It was later in the day by the time he made it to my place, and he rushed the job.

 

[rich88]

My guess is that he wanted to go home. It was later in the day by the time he made it to my place, and he rushed the job.

I'm missing something. Did the installer use pre-existing cable to install your system?

 

[Andrewwski]

To my knowledge, all Coax Cable is rated for use in walls. Not all cable is rated for plenum installations (air duct). The difference in typical cable and plenum-rated cable is the toxicity of the cable when it is burned.

One would think...but I have a 100' length from Radio Shack that's probably 5-6 years old and says "not for in wall use".

Any decent stuff would be fine for inwall, though.

 

[claytonboen]

No, he did not use pre-existing cable. My condo was built in the 1980's before they started running cable throughout the entire house.

The installer ran new cable, but instead of running it through the walls, he drilled from the outside, to the inside, then ran cable around the room on the floor by the baseboards.

 

[BuddyBoy]

One would think...but I have a 100' length from Radio Shack that's probably 5-6 years old and says "not for in wall use".

If a cable is "in-wall" rated it means the jacket won't support spreading the fire from one room to another.

 

[Liquidforce88]

I recently had DN installed, and to my suprise, the installer refused to run the coax down the attic and through my walls. I even offered him an extra $100 a room that he could put in his own pocket!

Anyway, I've decided to do it myself... In fact, I've already started. I've been running RG6 F Type Quad Shielded Coaxial 18AWG CL2 Rated 75Ohm Cable -- But my question is:

Is this the right kind of cable? Basically, does DN use a special kind of cable that allows multiple signals on the line? Years ago I had DirecTV and they had to run two lines from the dish to my Tivo in order to use the dual tuner features. It seems this isn't the case with DN, as only a single line is running to my 722 box right now, and it's split there at the box. I don't want to get all the cable in my walls and hook up the satellite only to find out I did everything wrong.

Thanks for your help!

Couple reasons that he may not have done what you wanted.

1. His company does not allow him in the attic. Our company did not want installers in the attic.
2. He did not have any experience doing wall fishes, or did not have the tools to do it.
3. Do to so code restrictions, it may have been alot more work than he wanted to deal with.

The cable you are using is fine, but quad sheild is over kill for a home. Any RG-6 rated a 2200 - 3000MHZ is fine.

 

[Carl B]

To my knowledge, all Coax Cable is rated for use in walls. Not all cable is rated for plenum installations (air duct). The difference in typical cable and plenum-rated cable is the toxicity of the cable when it is burned.

Not all coax cable is rated for in-wall use. Only Class 2 rated cable is acceptable for in-wall use. Then there is specially wrapped Class 2 cable that is rated acceptable for plenum use, but that is seldom a home installation issue.

Note that Dish installers usually use RG-6 coax that is swept for 3 GHz, though it isn't typically quad shielded. My installer and most Dish material references say that 2300 MHz coax is fine for even the latest Dish hardware installations.

 

[cparker]

I used Quad shield because I had several areas where I had to run closer to AC power lines than I would have liked. I felt the extra shielding might yield a better result. Was it necessary? Probably not. But it made me feel better

And after spending $12,000 to get the entire house rewired and service upgraded, etc... I just couldn't see NOT spending a couple of extra dollars on the quad.

 

[claytonboen]

Wow, how on earth did you spend so much money?

I am rewiring my entire house, Cable and Ethernet, and it's going to cost me about $100 plus a few weekends.

I think you got ripped off!

 

[cparker]

Wow, how on earth did you spend so much money?

I am rewiring my entire house, Cable and Ethernet, and it's going to cost me about $100 plus a few weekends.

I think you got ripped off!

No, no.... "rewired" as in... all of the electrical wiring removed and replaced.

The coax and cat5 wiring, I did myself once the electricians were done.

 

[navychop]

Sorry, but IMHO the quad is a waste and will simply make affixing connectors more of a challenge.

 

[cparker]

Sorry, but IMHO the quad is a waste and will simply make affixing connectors more of a challenge.

And I respect your opinion.

Once I got the stripper dialed in for the quad, it was pretty easy to put compression fittings on there though.

 

[kvnfl]

No, no.... "rewired" as in... all of the electrical wiring removed and replaced.

The coax and cat5 wiring, I did myself once the electricians were done.

I hope they ran the romax through cable housing this time. That will make it much easier to replace next time. I could see the expense after doing a few historical renovations when mud had to be broken and then repaired after installation of wiring.

 

[585960]

If you're still running line, drop at least two. Theres always something else you can do with it. And if one does fail, your all set. I will not do any attic work that has blown in insulation.

 

[claytonboen]

Thanks for the suggestion... I actually did drop two into the main living area... But I think I'll drop two into the bedrooms as well.