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Phone lines and coaxial cable- outdated?

Lsversaw

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Joined
May 31, 2017
Messages
11
Having read all the comments, the executive summary seems to be:

One use for the old wiring is to use it as "pull strings" in order to replace it with RG-6 and Cat6. But if the old wire is stapled to the studs inside the wall, you won't be able to use it to pull new wires, or even get it out.

Cat6 makes dandy wire for phone connections. It'll even cary 4 separate lines in one Cat6. And an RJ-45 8-conductor jack, as used for network connections, can feed a phone. Or 4.

A plain old phone line might be required in the future for 1) emergency communication during a power outage (But if power to the house is out, a plain old phone line might be dead as well. Unless a bad guy cuts off power to just your house.) OR 2) an alarm system OR 3) a future buyer of the house. None of these reasons call for dedicated 2-wire phone jacks in every room, though...or any room, given that you can use Cat6 for phone.

With RG59 (or better, RG6), you can feed an antenna signal to a TV, or to multiple TV's via a splitter. Will you ever want to do that? You (or the next owner) might, if you want to add broadcast (terrestrial) news and sports to your list of options.

For now, you can install wire without terminations for future use, or you can install empty conduit (like smurf tube).

Summary summary: Use the old wire to pull new wires, or allow access to it to pull new wires later, or if it's stapled in place abandon it. But leave a coule of phone jacks in place.
 
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jimreed2160

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Aug 7, 2016
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Tallahassee FL
Here are some thoughts to ponder when you plan to ditch your land line.

Remember that the phone system is self powered from the local substation. It works during power outages. That is nice to have here in Florida during hurricane season. But you need an old style telephone because the new phones need power.

My wife has a pacemaker that "talks" to a bedside box. The box interrogates the pacer at intervals and sends reports via telephone to the cardiologist. It also listens for alerts and can call the doctor during a crisis. I am sure there is newer technology that works via cell phone but we use the box since we have a land line.
 

laser3kw

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Nov 17, 2012
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7,276
Location
northen IL
But if power to the house is out, a plain old phone line might be dead as well.
not so. Telco is self powered. Even if their power goes off, the have battery / generator backup. If you have a standard plugin phone, it will work. If you have a portable (wireless) phone that sets in a charging cradle, it won't work. No power to the cradle, no transmit power.
 

SmartShoe

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Jul 27, 2013
Messages
62
Coax can be converted to ethernet via adapters, so it can be pretty useful in old houses where it is prewired with coax.

http://www.mocainyourhouse.com/moca-products

This is what I used when I moved into this house a few years back. This house had coax in every room, well except the bathrooms and kitchen. I figured I'd run full speed internet over the coax in the house using MOCA adapters. This way I am able to run internet streaming boxes for the TVs. I have not had a single issue of lag when using the boxes.

I have full speed internet in every room and I didn't have to run all new wiring or tear out any walls. Moca adapters work much, much better than any powerline adapter I have ever used.
 

Tullugeon

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Jan 6, 2013
Messages
89
This is what I used when I moved into this house a few years back. This house had coax in every room, well except the bathrooms and kitchen. I figured I'd run full speed internet over the coax in the house using MOCA adapters. This way I am able to run internet streaming boxes for the TVs. I have not had a single issue of lag when using the boxes.

I have full speed internet in every room and I didn't have to run all new wiring or tear out any walls. Moca adapters work much, much better than any powerline adapter I have ever used.

Man GREAT idea! I had not thought about that!. I also like the idea someone had earlier about running the snake tubes to the room! I will be doing that also. No more cursing and fishing. LOL

I love the ideas on this forum!:beer::beer:
 

LifeLongWNYer

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Oct 23, 2013
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1,231
Location
South of Rochester, NY
This is "sort of" on the subject, but i didn't think it worth opening a new thread..... I have a fairly sizable spool of coax, there is not a "RG-x" number on it, but it does have 75 ohms printed on it. The Belden # is 1189A. A friend, who installs security systems was doing a large CCTV project for a client, and I have what was left over.

May I use that for in-home TV, between the cellar splitters and the wall outlets, or do I need the "quad shield" that was mentioned earlier?

As I recall, a friend, who installs security systems was doing a large CCTV project for a client, and I have what was left over.


.
 

Happy in NC

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Nov 3, 2017
Messages
44
Location
Connelly Springs North Carolina
Keep the Coax! Anytime cable service is used it is a desirable way to deliver signals to any room it is installed in. Phone lines are history. Coax is mush more versatile and usually spread out for that versatility. I just built a house that I don't really have much use for it but I expect that when the need arises I will be ready. I had Cat 6 and coax pulled to each location that I had designated. I don't want to rely on wireless only at this point.
 
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Parrothead

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Apr 27, 2014
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Earth
I'll add my $0.02

There are some interesting points, and I won't fault anybody for having land lines and hardwired cable but in my home they're obsolete.

I have Comcast Xfinity for cable/internet and Verizon for cell service. I have a main cable run into the house which connects directly to the cable box for the main house tv. All the rest of our television are run by Roku. Right now (and for the last year), Roku has an Xfinity beta app that allows you to stream every channel you pay for. It's like adding a cable box, only wirelessly. So a $30 Roku and I don't even have to worry about running cable.

I haven't had a land line in over 15 years, and haven't missed the solicitation calls one bit. I barely talk on the phone so no big loss there (text).

I have unlimited data on my cell, so if the tv and internet go down, I can always stream TV or surf the net depending on what I feel like doing.

A good Mimo wireless router makes this all possible and as of yet there's been no lag.
 

finn

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Mar 27, 2005
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16,195
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The UP, God's country
I'll add my $0.02

There are some interesting points, and I won't fault anybody for having land lines and hardwired cable but in my home they're obsolete.

I have Comcast Xfinity for cable/internet and Verizon for cell service. I have a main cable run into the house which connects directly to the cable box for the main house tv. All the rest of our television are run by Roku. Right now (and for the last year), Roku has an Xfinity beta app that allows you to stream every channel you pay for. It's like adding a cable box, only wirelessly. So a $30 Roku and I don't even have to worry about running cable.

I haven't had a land line in over 15 years, and haven't missed the solicitation calls one bit. I barely talk on the phone so no big loss there (text).

I have unlimited data on my cell, so if the tv and internet go down, I can always stream TV or surf the net depending on what I feel like doing.

A good Mimo wireless router makes this all possible and as of yet there's been no lag.
That’s how I feel about it.

Unless you are a technology geek, it’s obsolete.

Sort of like turntables . An audiophile will say they are an essential part of their home entertainment system.

The other 99% think of them as unnecessary clutter.

Time marches on.
 

ckucia

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Joined
Sep 23, 2008
Messages
370
Location
West Virginia
I think a lot depends upon where you live.

We're out in the sticks. Sometimes we can get cell service, oftentimes not.

We have a regular phone line with DSL (surprisingly) that is so-so. I'm not sure we'll ever get cable. When we moved in, it was atrocious. Turns out the PO wouldn't let the phone company bury it (he eventually wanted to excavate along the path) so they just laid it across a pasture - full of cows. You can imagine what happened to the wire. We're on a new temp line but once the weather improves, they're going to bury it properly.

So for us, a landline is a necessity, although it doesn't have to run to every room. We own most of a valley, so wireless security isn't that much of an issue (but it's secured anyway) but I have had DSL modems with wireless where the wireless conked out but the modem still worked. Was nice to have wires at the time until we could get it fixed. Due to the nature of wireless vs wired, it's unlikely that wireless will ever surpass wired in terms of capacity if you're using standards from the same time period. Might not be important now but tech moves quickly. Who knows what sort of equipment you might want down the line?

Wired is a big plus in a metal building, even if just to install a separate wireless access point or wireless phone base inside.

In a house I'd do at least some sort of strategic wiring. Maybe run cat6 and quad coax it into a closet on every floor (wouldn't hurt to put a power outlet nearby) so you could mount some future device. Terminate them all in a central location easy to access from the outside.

It depends on the house structure, but it's not a bad idea to run a pull cord up to those locations where you might need some more wire later. Maybe someday you'll want fiber in your bedroom for the 3D TV or some other new tech...
 

chicken89

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Mar 11, 2013
Messages
302
Location
Shelbyville, IN
i recently purchased my house, 1 story with full finished walk out basement. PO had antenna on 60' mast. line was run into attic then split a few times, then ran to each room with rg59. in the basement, i have my dsl from pole. down there i have my server for computers and my main computer with hard drives for videos and music. since i was running my internet from there, i installed a signal booster and coax splitters for antenna lines. i ran a 2.5" pvc line from basement to attic via closet to run lines in
before i left Dishtv, i purchased a spool of dual line and single line. also purchased 2 spools of cat5e lines. i have ran all 4 lines (dual coax, single coax, 2 cat5) to family rm and my soon to be theatre rm. i ran the dual coax- 1 to connect to antenna (which i will run a new line to hub in basmenet) and leave an extra in case i ever get sat or cable tv (unlikely due to trees and too far for cable, but never know and i was already running lines), i ran 2 cat5 lines- 1 for hard wired connections and a redundant line (family rm using it for wireless router, theatre will be extra for now). the single coax line will be for pulling lines or as a backup (had the cable, might as well use it). i may use it for a powered antenna in the attic
when it warms up, i will run dual coax and 2 cat5 lines to each rm in house- since there are rg59 lines in each rm, i will use those to pull my lines down from attic to each coax plate and replace the plates with keystone jacks. i will also be rerunning the outdoor antenna to go into the basement instead of the attic
this is completely over kill, but it will be easy since i have the pvc pipe from basement to attic, and rg59 pull lines already ran to each jack. this way, the only things using wireless will be cell phones and amazon echos. smart tvs, computers (at each tv) and printers will all be hard wired. if i ever go bigger on home security, i can run more lines to attic and fish them where ever from there.
when i started buying supplies, i got 2 8 port splitters for run my cat 5. about a month ago, i came across 2 24 port splitters for $3. that should clear up some clutter
off topic add on, i've also replaced a few key power outlets with the ones with USB additions so i can leave echos plugged in and charge phones without using a power outlet.
 
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