Cable TV to 6 rooms? Which pro? (1 Viewer)

[WillJ]

Hello,
The cable TV runs in my house are a mess. All over the place, inside the house, outside the house, inside the walls, running along the floors.
I want to have someone come in and re-do this the right way. Split RG6 from where it enters to the house to six rooms throughout, terminating at wallplates.
Do I call an electrician or some other professional in order to get this done right? And any idea what the ballpark cost of something like this would be?
Thanks,
Will

 

[Mathew Shelby]

When I moved into my current house, there was only cable outlet (that was obviously not going to work). I called the cable company and asked them if they could send a subcontractor instead of a contracted employee because I had some additional work for him to do. He came out, gave me an estimate and ran everything for me. It is a win-win because he makes money on the side and I get what I need done for a cheap price.

 

[Jason Monette]

You really don't need to hire someone to do this, it is pretty easy.

Just go to radio shack and get a 6 way splitter/amplifer and six wall plates.

Connect your cable coming into your house to the splitter. Run the six cables that come off the splitter to where you want them. Install the wall plates and connect the cables.

Shouldn't cost more than $40 i would assume and a couple of hours of your time.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Before you call up your cable company - make sure that at the point where the cable get to your house - that it is properly grounded. Properly means legally.

It has to be grounded to the house ground i.e. the same ground that your electrical box's ground is at. If it isn't, and you have 2 grounds, it could cause problems with your signal because it forms a 'ground loop'.

You'll have much better leverage if you call them up and you can tell them that their cable line is installed illegally. Grounding to a water pipe is not legal in a lot of states. The house ground usually goes to an 8' pole that has been driven into the ground.

And no, do not install the cable yourself unless you are comfortable doing it.

Glenn

 

[Jason Monette]

And no, do not install the cable yourself unless you are comfortable doing it.

You really shouldn't do anything, if you aren't comfortable with it

 

[JeremyFr]

One thing to also remember is if you do it yourself you're going to need to have the signal checked if you install an amp to make sure it is at 0db especially if you want to get digital cable or High Speed Internet service having a signal above or below can cause many problems and will end up costing you more to have the cable company come out to test the lines and get the signal right.

 

[Kevin-M]

The first thing you should really do is call the cable company. Many cable companies allow you to have up to approx. 6 outlets even with the basic packages, and will install the outlets and lay the cable for free.

This is just my experience with Shaw and Rogers cable in Canada, but I assume many US cable companies would have similar practices.

 

[John.W]

I work for a cable co. Here's what we do and charge. For the first outlet its $19 to install it. then its $12 an outlet for any additional outlets. The first ones more for the truck roll. Make sure when you call and get it scheduled that you tell them 6 outlets. They might not schedule enough time for your job if you don't. Also make sure you tell them if you need walls fished. Some people arent set up to fish them, some arent allowed to fish them. So its probably way less expensive than than an electrician, plus having the cable co do it, they are going to ensure the quality of service.

 

[Shervin]

Cabling is not hard but it is far from easy. Getting the cable down the walls it a bitch if you don't have a rod and the rod is 50 bucks. Itis highly flexible and made of fiberglass. With that you can tape the cable to it and "fish" it down to the hole. Otherwise be prepared to spend a lot of time yelling down to the buddy trying to find the place you cut a hole in the wall.