FusionGuy
join:2001-12-06
edit:
March 28th, @10:53PM
|  RG59 from street to RG6 in the house
I have an RG59 that enters my home and connects to a splitter. I would like to upgrage my 2 TV's and internet modem to a RG6 after the splitter. Is this acceptable and will there be any advantages to this? |
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GRiDL0CKD
join:2008-03-27
Monticello, MN
| RG-59 wire does not carry digital signal nearly as well as RG-6 due to the the size of the center conductor. I have been to many trouble calls where customers could not receive digital/data services because of obsolete/incompatible house wiring. Now, when you said you have an RG-59 line that enters your house, do you mean the drop line that runs from the cable ped (if underground)/aerial tap (if aerial) or the service line that feeds in from the ground block in the house box?
If you have an RG-59 drop then you should get that replaced immediately. RG-6 is considered the bare minimum for drop lines, and as of this year it became a policy within my division that we run RG-11 drop lines to houses with the recent inclusion of telephony to our services.
If it's the line that feeds in from the house box then it'll depend on how far it travels through the house before it meets the splitter(s). Personally, I recommend replacing RG-59 wire whenever possible as it will only lead to problems in the future. |
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FusionGuy
join:2001-12-06
 ·Mountain Cable
edit:
March 29th, @11:37AM
| It enters underground from the cable ped on the street directly into my basement and into the splitter. There is no house box. |
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FusionGuy
join:2001-12-06
·Mountain Cable
| I should of done this before I posted but I disconnected the cable and it does look like RG6 and not RG59. The cable without the connector is RG59. |
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beerbum
Premium
join:2000-05-06
somewhere
·Comcast
| said by FusionGuy  :I should of done this before I posted but I disconnected the cable and it does look like RG6 and not RG59. The cable without the connector is RG59. are you sure you have rg-6 in the house? in your first picture it looks like all the connecters are PPC RG-59 connectors..
to me it looks like RG-6 feeding the main splitter and everything else is 59.. also I suggest replacing that twist-on fitting for tv #2.. |
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FusionGuy
join:2001-12-06
·Mountain Cable
edit:
March 29th, @01:15PM
| I thought the main cable from outside was RG59. But now under closer investigation it in fact does look like RG6.
I know that the in house cables are all RG59. I want to change those to RG6.
What brand of RG6 cable should I be looking for? |
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MadMANN
Premium
join:2005-08-19
·Comcast
| said by FusionGuy :What brand of RG6 cable should I be looking for? CommScope and Beldin are the first two brands that come to mind. No matter what brand, though, the best is quad shield if you live in a RF-rich area or are running electrical or data lines beside them. The downfall of that, is it takes special connectors. Other that, tri or dual shield is fine.
On another note, I don't know if it just the lighting of the picture, but the RG6 shown in the picture beside the RG59 with no connector looks like it has a black center conductor, which is usually a sign of water damage. If that is the case, it could cause some problems later on. The center conductor should be nice and shiny copper.
Keep in mind also, it will not matter much what kind of cable you have if you use those twist-on fittings like the one in the picture. The best connectors to use would be a decent compression fitting similar to what the cable company has used. |
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FusionGuy
join:2001-12-06
·Mountain Cable
edit:
March 30th, @05:32PM
| What do you mean special connectors? The standard compression connectors won't fit a Belden cable?
I have a package of Ideal compression connectors.
I don't know why the copper pin is oxidated. The cable is up between the joists of the basement and there has never been any water damage here. Can I clean it with something or should I cut it off and install a new connector? |
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MadMANN
Premium
join:2005-08-19
·Comcast
| said by FusionGuy :What do you mean special connectors? The standard compression connectors won't fit a Belden cable? I was referring to quad shield cable, not necessarily the brand. Standard compression fittings do not fit quad shield cable well, unless they are specifically labeled as universal. If you decide to use anything else (tri or dual shield), you will be fine with the standard connectors.
As far as the oxidized center conductor, it would be best to cut it back until you find a nice shiny center conductor and install a new connector. However, if you find that the braiding of the cable is not shiny and is powder-like, you likely have had water in the line somehow and it should be looked at by a tech for replacement. If you have never had water damage in the home itself, it is possible that water has migrated into a break in the jacket from the outside and traveled through the cable over time. |
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brianl703
join:2004-02-26
Manassas, VA
edit:
April 2nd, @11:58AM
| reply to FusionGuy
I've been using PPC EX6 connectors, PPC claims they'll work on any RG6, double, tri, or quad, and in my experience they do.
There is also a PPC EX6XL connector which is the same thing except longer so you can use a standard compression tool to install it. (The PPC EX6 connectors are shorter and therefore a standard compression tool may not compress them all the way unless it can be adjusted).
Incidentally, why are the ground wires coiled and why is there a ground wire connecting the two splitters? The ground wires should not be coiled and the extra ground wire linking the two splitters is just causing a ground loop.
Plus I don't think the splitter on the left was designed to have two ground wires in it, so it may not be making good connection to either of them. |
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Rombus
Premium
join:2007-04-11
Cuyahoga Falls, OH | @brianl703:
Looks like the same splitter to me, the left one has the same ground screw the right one has. Your right on with the coiled ground wire and double ground connection though. |
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Jabbu
Premium
join:2002-03-06
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to FusionGuy
said by FusionGuy :I should of done this before I posted but I disconnected the cable and it does look like RG6 and not RG59. The cable without the connector is RG59. Is that the cable coming into the house? The stinger looks corroded, also you should just have the ground going to the first splitter and no loops and no pig tails. |
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burner50
Pinlifter
Premium,VIP
join:2002-06-05
On the lead
·Mediacom
 ·FrontierNet Intern..
| reply to FusionGuy
Oh boy... where to begin.
Fisrt thing, Remove those ground wires completley. Your cable coming into the house should be grounded. If it is not call your cable company NOW and make them come fix it. This service call should be free.
BIGGER LOOPS. You could be damaging the cable. You need bigger loops than the ones you are using. Roughly your loops shold be no smaller than two and a half inches in diamater.
NO STAPLES. The impact from a staple gun may be breaking the shielding on the cable.
The difference between Dual shield and Quad shield connectors is the diamater of the barrel on the connector. Quad shield connectors are larger to accomodate more shielding being folded back.
Is there any writing on the cable coming in from the ped? That should say if it is RG6 or RG59.
--
I'm tired of killing stupid people just trying to do my job and go home! |
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brianl703
join:2004-02-26
Manassas, VA
| said by burner50 :Is there any writing on the cable coming in from the ped? That should say if it is RG6 or RG59. I have never, ever seen any cable installed by the cable company that actually said "RG6" or "RG59" on it.
Usually it says the model number of the cable (F6SSVV for example), along with the gauge of the center conductor. A cable that says 18 AWG on it is RG6, a cable that says 20 AWG is RG59. |
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burner50
Pinlifter
Premium,VIP
join:2002-06-05
On the lead
·Mediacom
·FrontierNet Intern..
| said by brianl703 :said by burner50 :Is there any writing on the cable coming in from the ped? That should say if it is RG6 or RG59. I have never, ever seen any cable installed by the cable company that actually said "RG6" or "RG59" on it. Usually it says the model number of the cable (F6SSVV for example), along with the gauge of the center conductor. A cable that says 18 AWG on it is RG6, a cable that says 20 AWG is RG59. Really? I installed miles of Times Fiber and off branded cable and it always said RG6 or RG59 |
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brianl703
join:2004-02-26
Manassas, VA
| said by burner50 :Really? I installed miles of Times Fiber and off branded cable and it always said RG6 or RG59 The times fiber stuff I saw said "TFC T10 6 SERIES" or something similar. Not RG6.
Cable companies don't often use off-brand cable. I've never seen them use anything besides Commscope and TFC.
Now what's odd is that Commscope has two different product lines of coax..one intended for cable companies (called "drop cable") and one, I guess, intended for satellite and MATV installers(called "network coax"). Those "network coax" cables DO say RG/6 and RG/59 on them. (and they work just fine for cable TV use so why have two product lines...?)
The ones intended for cable companies just say something like "F6SSVV 18 AWG" on them. In fact years ago I got some reel-ends of dual F6SSVV cable (free) and I wasn't even sure it was RG6 till much later. Glad I got it, though, after I figured out it's RG6 I used it. Still have some left.
Maybe TFC is similar, with two product lines of cable, one for cable companies and one for satellite/MATV.
You can see this on Commscope's website:
RG/6 "network coax", note it says RG/6 right in the product name:
»up.commscope.com/eng/support_doc···617.html
"Drop cable F6 series" (note it doesn't say RG/6 anywhere in the product spec sheet either!)
»bb.commscope.com/eng/support_doc···869.html |
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burner50
Pinlifter
Premium,VIP
join:2002-06-05
On the lead
·Mediacom
·FrontierNet Intern..
| reply to FusionGuy
AFAIK "6 series" would be RG6.
IDK about Commscope but there is a difference between CATV and Satellite cable.
CATV is rated to 1ghz and Sat cable is rated to 3.2ghz
"6 series" cable is all RG6 with commscope...
--
I'm tired of killing stupid people just trying to do my job and go home! |
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brianl703
join:2004-02-26
Manassas, VA
edit:
April 26th, @02:22AM
| Yep, 6 series is RG6. Why they just don't say RG6, who knows. Maybe it's some sort of "security through obscurity", so potential cable thieves won't know it's RG6 so they won't know what kind of connector to put on it.
Commscope has RG6 "network coax" swept to 1GHz as well as to 3GHz. The "6 series" cable is only swept to 1GHz.
By the way, the one piece of TFC coax I have around here says "TFC-T10 UL Exxxxx 6 SERIES" on it. (The Exxxxx is the UL file number, I just put xxxxx there since I didn't make a note of what it is). |
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FusionGuy
join:2001-12-06
·Mountain Cable
| Thanks for the tips guys. I removed the connecting ground and connected the main one to the first splitter.
I don't know why the tech put those pig tails on the grounds. It must be for a reason. I'm not a tech so I don't know. I originally just had the splitter on the left with the pig tailed white ground wire. Two years ago I moved into this house and had the second splitter and connecting ground installed. |
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R4M0N
Brazilian Soccer Ownz Joo
join:2000-10-04
Glen Allen, VA
·Comcast
edit:
May 8th, @12:05PM
| said by FusionGuy :Thanks for the tips guys. I removed the connecting ground and connected the main one to the first splitter. I don't know why the tech put those pig tails on the grounds. It must be for a reason. I'm not a tech so I don't know. I originally just had the splitter on the left with the pig tailed white ground wire. Two years ago I moved into this house and had the second splitter and connecting ground installed. My guess is that the pigtails were just a neat way to leave extra wire available for the future. |
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