internet coaxial cable... will any do?

[Sh40674]

i have broadband internet, and the coax cable going to my model runs up through my basement and into our bedroom. I'm finishing the basement in the area that it runs, and i figure before i get too much further i might as well replace it while everything is wide open and i have more room to reach it, it's a fairly old cable.... I don't know a damned thing about electronics... will any coaxial cable do? is there a specific type i need? or just run to walmart or somewhere and grab a decent coax cable?

just so we're on the same page its the screw in cable with the pin in the center, just like for cable TV.

 

[P_856]

Get a rg6 or better cable. Around my area Comcast uses rg6 quad shield and Verizon/fios uses a standard rg6 cable.

 

[RWorth]

Get a rg6 or better cable. Around my area Comcast uses rg6 quad shield and Verizon/fios uses a standard rg6 cable.

Ditto, and around here they (COMCAST/XFINITY), will do it for you for free because they don't want you screwing up the ends.

 

[csi123]

If everything is open why not replace it with an ethernet cable and leave the modem in the basement? You will get much better signal without the long coaxial cable.

 

[Sh40674]

If everything is open why not replace it with an ethernet cable and leave the modem in the basement? You will get much better signal without the long coaxial cable.

remember when i said i don't do electronics? yep. already lost me.

 

[pepi]

i'm thinking comcast will only wire to the exterior, inside is chargeable and why would it not be after all?



"might as well replace it while everything is wide open and i have more room to reach it, it's a fairly old cable."


the common sense side,

Truthfully that in not a reason to mess with it ..... it is not as if the cable will go bad ....... the only thing a cable does not like is being cut, and that it easily repaired......... unlike fiber

FYI do not fix something that ain't broke or will brake

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'd replace it with RG6. I had some old coax that I had ran and it worked fine for the TVs upstairs. The TWC guys drove by one day, stopped at the neighbors and came back to my place. They said mine was "leaking" and asked me to upgrade mine. I had to pull the porch soffit to run it but when I was done, they came back and crimped the ends. They were more than happy to do that after giving me RG6 to replace the old.


Around here the utility guys go the extra mile because they don't want to come back later. They will make up extra coax whips or give enough cable to run a future project.

 

[pepi]

He is talking about the cable section that enters the home from the distribution box mounted outside

apples / oranges

"TWC guys drove by one day,...."

This sounds to me at least, that the ISP knew they had bad cabling... Service providers do not randomly drive around sniffing the cable runs.


The coaxial installed in this home 20+ years..... I looks pretty good

yes I have upgraded network hardware, read modem, to accommodate the speed. However the copper - coaxial is solid... same as the day installed.

Again no need to change the coax because he thinks it's old .. feel free to use my cable install as a bench mark

Cheers,
Greg

 

[catron44]

I would use rg-6 quad. Both directv and charter use it by me. I would only replace it if it is rg-59. Verizon swapped it out at my old house because they say it would not provide a strong enough signal.

Rg-59 would be noticeably thinner than rg-6 or rg-6 quad.

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[NUTTSGT]

He is talking about the cable section that enters the home from the distribution box mounted outside

apples / oranges

"TWC guys drove by one day,...."

This sounds to me at least, that the ISP knew they had bad cabling... Service providers do not randomly drive around sniffing the cable runs.


The coaxial installed in this home 20+ years..... I looks pretty good

yes I have upgraded network hardware, read modem, to accommodate the speed. However the copper - coaxial is solid... same as the day installed.

Again no need to change the coax because he thinks it's old .. feel free to use my cable install as a bench mark

Cheers,
Greg

TWC guys, two different techs in their own vans working on a issue trying to track it it down in our area. Their advice was to upgrade the older style cable with newer RG6. I'll take their advice, they see it everyday.

For the OP, I'd suggest if you spot a tech from your local cable/internet provider out and about, stop by and ask him a few questions. Most of those guys are more than willing to answer a few questions and help you out.

 

[Jbullfrog]

Call your service provider, they might do it for you or give you the wire. The Dish guy installed the 100' run thru the rafters of my shop and down to my TV. My Internet provider installed everything to the router and a transmitter from the shop to the house. They like happy customers.

 

[Sh40674]

I'm not talking about a box outside to the house on talking about a coax cable that goes from a splitter downstairs to upstairs into the modem. The cable before the splitter is much newer, I was just going to run new cable while I had better access, will be a tighter reach when that room is finished. We've loved there for 9 years this spring and that cable was there before that. Seems to be pretty old. From what I can tell it'll cost me about a whopping 10 bucks to replace it with a modern cable with what I'm assuming better materials

 

[ford33]

Another vote to call the service provider. They will help you. If there is a service charge ask them to waive it because the cable is old and "poor condition". The service people I have dealt with have been very helpful. They also have special tools and meters to check signal quality.

If you have little experience in running and making cabling, purchase pre-made cable to the length you need. Do not attempt to cut the cable and install the cable connectors yourself. You will need special tools and some practice to get the connectors installed correctly.

 

[EOC_Jason]

Another vote to call the service provider. They will help you. If there is a service charge ask them to waive it because the cable is old and "poor condition". The service people I have dealt with have been very helpful. They also have special tools and meters to check signal quality.

^^^^ +1.... If you can get them to come out for free, might as well let them handle it. At the very least if you end up buying your own cable you should let them come out to make the connections on the ends and do a signal test.

I would use rg-6 quad. Both directv and charter use it by me. I would only replace it if it is rg-59. Verizon swapped it out at my old house because they say it would not provide a strong enough signal.

Rg-59 would be noticeably thinner than rg-6 or rg-6 quad.

I would agree, if it's already RG6, no need to replace. But if it's RG-59 then I would definitely replace. You can get cable @ Lowes / Home Depot, either in spools or by the foot... I always go for RG6 Quad Shield...

When I lived in Houston our old house had all RG-59, so before the uverse guy came out I re-pulled it all RG6-QS. I just used some electrical tape to tape the new cable onto the end of the old one then pull that down through the wall. Easy as pie...

 

[ishiboo]

If it's being closed up, I would run 3/4" or 1" ENT if at all possible. Otherwise, run a RG6 quad shield and a Cat6.

 

[dogdog]

^this...EMT just in case, at least a minimum of an RG6-quad shield and a good one or two Cat6 cable Crimping that RG6 yourself is super easy. CAT6 cable is pretty easy as well...after the first few failures. There is no electronic knowledge needed at all for this.

 

[ard]

+2 on running SOME kind of conduit before you close it up. Even if the conduit is empty now. In the future when there is a new service, new technology, that conduit will let someone (you, the next company) run the wire without messing with your walls- or stapling **** on the outside of the house and drilling a wall.....

 

[Git]

Ya - get some 'smurf tubing' from Home Depot or Lowes and run it - it will leave you with some options later down the road
https://www.lowes.com/pd/CARLON-Common-3-4-in-Actual-75-In-Non-Metallic-Ent-10-ft-Conduit/3129595

It looks like this. You can get it in either 10' sections or a coil of 25' and they have connectors.

Actually, in my area it looks like it is on sale - $.55 for 10'

 

[ScottsGT]

Old stuff diesn't have the bandwidth capabilities. Replace it now. Also old designs were daisy chain from one room to the next. Bad technology. Think home runs for each location back to the main cable where it comes into the house.

 

[ishiboo]

^this...EMT just in case, at least a minimum of an RG6-quad shield and a good one or two Cat6 cable Crimping that RG6 yourself is super easy. CAT6 cable is pretty easy as well...after the first few failures. There is no electronic knowledge needed at all for this.

ENT is going to be a lot easier to run than EMT. I'd recommend it since appearance/physical damage is not an issue.

 

[ard]

Just FYI- ENT = blue smurf tubing


in case someone is wondering

 

[warren57]

When I needed some, I saw a cable company truck doing work. Stopped and asked the guy if there was any way I could buy some cable with ends.
He asked what I was looking for and I told him a couple 50’ lengths.
He said no problem, rolled it off, installed ends and didn’t charge me anything.
Maybe just luck, but never hurts to ask.

 

[CJ7VFR]

Old stuff diesn't have the bandwidth capabilities. Replace it now. Also old designs were daisy chain from one room to the next. Bad technology.....

This was the issue at my house when I moved in.

All the cable was RG-59, and it was cobbled together in shorter lengths with splitters all over the place. And some of the connectors on the ends of the RG-59 were the really crappy DIY screw on kind.

So I had all kinds of issues. In the kitchen, nothing that I plugged into the cable connector in the wall would work. And the new high def tv we bought for the living room would pixelate all the time.

So I bought 500 feet of RG6-Quad Shielded cable, that came in a box that you can pull the cable out of, at Home Depot for about $50 bucks.

I attached the new cable to the old cable and was able to pull it thru the walls into either the basement or attic, depending on where it had to go, and run most of the lines as a single run down to the basement were the Fios box is.

I eliminated all but two of the splitters because the Fios box only had enough coax connecters on it for 4 lines. Where I had to use two splitters I bought new higher pass thru models.

That has seemed to work, and with all new connectors on every cable, everything was up and running.

Also, if people want to buy bulk cable like I did, and cut it to the exact length you need, and install your own connectors, I bought the compression type connectors and tool to install them. A box of 50 compression F-connectors was about $28 bucks, and the installation tool was about $15 bucks.

I bought the Klein tool with the Ideal F-Connectors and everything worked great.

For less than a $100 bucks, and a few weekend afternoons in the attic and basement, I have all new cable throughout the house.

Jim

 

[rburke65]

Cable guys are pretty friendly here also. Was having cable trouble in my shop and they came out, new cable, tossed my screw on ends and used crimped on ends and wired in a small amplifier.....wa la! A signal! No cost.

 

[dogdog]

ENT is going to be a lot easier to run than EMT. I'd recommend it since appearance/physical damage is not an issue.

True.... for low voltage stuff I guess...

 

[soj]

25 posts and nobody has mentioned solid copper vs copper coated steel. Just sayin.
jp

 

[Git]

you bring up a good point. Be wary of the local box stores selling CCA - Copper Clad Aluminum - you want pure copper

(how was that)

 

[Bad Habit]

25 posts and nobody has mentioned solid copper vs copper coated steel. Just sayin.
jp

Or Quad Shield. CM Rated or CMR, or what about CMP. Lot of cranial *********** for a short coax run...

 

[roc_on_the_rocks]

Just FYI- ENT = blue smurf tubing

in case someone is wondering

Thanks, learned something!

 

[soj]

Just FYI- ENT = blue smurf tubing


in case someone is wondering

Humm... and I thought ENT was Electrical Nonmetallic Tubing, therefore I figured Blue Smurf Tubing would be BST, it hurts to find out how wrong I was.[emoji24][emoji34]

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[Sh40674]

wow this blew up. i'll address a couple things.

first, the old cable (supplied by the internet company) is r59, as i saw tonight on the fitting. i wasn't talking about replacing that, i was talking about replacing where that ended, and whoever lived there before put their own cable from the end of that up through the floor and into our bedroom. that cable is very old looking, not in the best of shape and has no markings on what it is. that is the cable i was replacing. i may replace the whole thing to rg6 as suggested. I'm not going to call the company for a 15 dollar cable, and have to be at my house for 6 hours not knowing when they'll show up (that's how they do it here.. 'please be home between 10 a.m. and 4 pm for when the service tech shows up')

also, i'm finishing all the ceiling in drywall except along one wall that contains those cables and water line, so i can access it. that section will be drop ceiling. it will still be accessible, but with the new studs up and drywall there will be much less room to work where it goes up through the floor. still absolutely doable, but just wanted to do it now while everything is completely open.

thanks everyone!