Does anybody know anything about cables?

[YoYoBabyYo]

My family just moved into a house (about 20 years old) and the cables that connect the television and cable internet are very old.

I've been wanting to upgrade the cables to newer cables in hope for a more stable internet connection. I've been getting too many dropped connections, and I do not think the problem is coming from the router (could be from the modem, but I am planning on upgrading that too).

Well, does anybody know how to change the cables and run it in between the walls (non-visible) so it can hook up rooms that do not have cables? I went up the attic, but there seems to be no path to my room.

Also, does anybody know how much it would cost to hire somebody to upgrade the cables and add additional cables?

 

[sixone]

You could save a lot of money doing it yourself. Just study up on wiring first. It's not that hard, if you take the time to be careful.

 

[tami]

i'd just call the cable company and complain that the connection keeps dropping and it looks like it's attributed to old cabling. they should check it out. after all, you ARE paying them for service, so you're entitled to the best service available.

 

[YoYoBabyYo]

Originally posted by: sixone
You could save a lot of money doing it yourself. Just study up on wiring first. It's not that hard, if you take the time to be careful.

I thought about that. Is there a particular book, video tutorial, or a website I can learn from? I tried googling for websites, but I guess my search skills suck.

 

[sixone]

Originally posted by: YoYoBabyYo

Originally posted by: sixone
You could save a lot of money doing it yourself. Just study up on wiring first. It's not that hard, if you take the time to be careful.

I thought about that. Is there a particular book, video tutorial, or a website I can learn from? I tried googling for websites, but I guess my search skills suck.

I'd start at the library. I know it's low-tech.

Or try diynet.com


EDIT: fixed link

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: YoYoBabyYo

Originally posted by: sixone
You could save a lot of money doing it yourself. Just study up on wiring first. It's not that hard, if you take the time to be careful.

I thought about that. Is there a particular book, video tutorial, or a website I can learn from? I tried googling for websites, but I guess my search skills suck.

I don't know if they'd really have advice about this subject, but AVSforum is a good site for hometheater type stuff... and this is sort of related. I'm sure there are plenty of guys over there that would know all about this stuff.

Oh, and you have waaay too many "Yo"s in your name.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: tami
i'd just call the cable company and complain that the connection keeps dropping and it looks like it's attributed to old cabling. they should check it out. after all, you ARE paying them for service, so you're entitled to the best service available.

That's not how it works. They're only legally obligated to run the cable from the pole to your house. After that, it's up to you to run it throughout your house, or pay them to do so. If the cable between his house and the pole is faulty, they'll fix it. If not, then they're going to charge him an arm and a leg to run it the way he wants it.

 

[YoYoBabyYo]

Originally posted by: tami
i'd just call the cable company and complain that the connection keeps dropping and it looks like it's attributed to old cabling. they should check it out. after all, you ARE paying them for service, so you're entitled to the best service available.

I have called the cable company several times to check out the dropped connections, and they did confirm that our cables were really old. They would get the cable running for a period of time, and then it just goes bonkers. It sucks that I am losing .8 Mb/s for my 3Mb plan. I think I will take your advice and see if they can offer a service.

 

[Sphexi]

All you need to have really is RG-6, preferably a shielded variety. You don't need that QS (Quad-Shielded) stuff either, single layer shielding will work fine. It's very cheap to get ahold of, and yeah if you call the cable company they may agree to re-run the cable for you, possibly for free if you agree to a term of service with them.

Otherwise get a box of 500-1000' and a lot of ends/crimper, and run it yourself.

 

[vshah]

you should be able to drop wires down between walls from your attic

i wired my entire house with cat-5 a few years ago, this was the technique i had to use...

 

[So]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: YoYoBabyYo

Originally posted by: sixone
You could save a lot of money doing it yourself. Just study up on wiring first. It's not that hard, if you take the time to be careful.

I thought about that. Is there a particular book, video tutorial, or a website I can learn from? I tried googling for websites, but I guess my search skills suck.

I don't know if they'd really have advice about this subject, but AVSforum is a good site for hometheater type stuff... and this is sort of related. I'm sure there are plenty of guys over there that would know all about this stuff.

Oh, and you have waaay too many "Yo"s in your name.

:laugh:

Nah, they're just out of order

 

[Linflas]

If you get lucky you may be able to use the existing cable to pull the new cable if you can figure out how they did the original runs.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: Linflas
If you get lucky you may be able to use the existing cable to pull the new cable if you can figure out how they did the original runs.

Tie one end of the new cable to one of the old ends, and pull the other.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

For my own reference, is this a good deal on RG59/RG6?

 

[pyonir]

I've laid a lot of cable. No wait...that's pipe. Nevermind.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: Linflas
If you get lucky you may be able to use the existing cable to pull the new cable if you can figure out how they did the original runs.

Tie one end of the new cable to one of the old ends, and pull the other.

Actually IMO the best way to do it is to create hooks with the copper inner wire and apply some duck tape to make the whole thing as seamless as possible. There is a good chance the cable runs through some holes with a diameter only slightly larger than the cable itself.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: Linflas

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: Linflas
If you get lucky you may be able to use the existing cable to pull the new cable if you can figure out how they did the original runs.

Tie one end of the new cable to one of the old ends, and pull the other.

Actually IMO the best way to do it is to create hooks with the copper inner wire and apply some duck tape to make the whole thing as seamless as possible. There is a good chance the cable runs through some holes with a diameter only slightly larger than the cable itself.

We didn't use duct tape, we used thinner clear packing tape. But besides that, we used exactly the method you described.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: Linflas

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: Linflas
If you get lucky you may be able to use the existing cable to pull the new cable if you can figure out how they did the original runs.

Tie one end of the new cable to one of the old ends, and pull the other.

Actually IMO the best way to do it is to create hooks with the copper inner wire and apply some duck tape to make the whole thing as seamless as possible. There is a good chance the cable runs through some holes with a diameter only slightly larger than the cable itself.

We didn't use duct tape, we used thinner clear packing tape. But besides that, we used exactly the method you described.

When we installed my DirecTV a few years back I was fortunate to have a return air plenum that runs from the basement to the master bedroom that we used to get the run to the attic of the house. My brother is an electrician and he had this really long drill bit we used to drill through cross members if we ran into one dropping the cable down through the walls from the attic. I really need to get me one of those one of these days.

 

[Sphexi]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
For my own reference, is this a good deal on RG59/RG6?

That's a pretty decent deal, and it's good looking wire.

 

[YoYoBabyYo]

Thanks for all the helpful advice. What is the difference between RG59 and RG6?

I forgot to mention earlier. My cable internet provider is Cox. Does anybody know if they offer any free or cheap services?

 

[Wizkid]

RG6 is typically used for Satellite and is more future-proof. I think it has more shielding or something like that.

I would run RG6 just in case you want to use Satellite TV in the future. It will work fine with Cable TV/Internet.