Technical > Home Improvement > Should I run RG6 or skip it?

Should I run RG6 or skip it?

For resale value of your house, and since the walls are already open, run the RG6.

reply to TheSMJ
Run it now much easier and will be a neater cleaner install than trying to do it later.

reply to TheSMJ
I believe video over UTP baluns should be pretty easy to find; but I don't know how they'd work with CATV - they are usually meant for CCTV applications.

RG6 is cheap - nothing says you even have to terminate it - just run it to the same location as your CAT6 jacks, and leave it behind the wall, if you want...

You won't regret having it and not using it; but you will regret wanting it, and it not being there...

reply to TheSMJ
It's cheap and it's easy to install while the walls are open. Go for it!

reply to TheSMJ
No brainer. Install the RG6. The walls are opened and RG6 cabling is cheap. This way you are covered for DSL, Cable DSL, satellite or even an antenna set up.

reply to TheSMJ
Run it!

Even if you don't run cable TV over it, it could leave you open to using a MoCA adapter should you ever find the need to do so.

reply to TheSMJ
Run it. Don't just leave it in the wall. You don't have to terminate, but at least put in a LV box and a blank.

reply to TheSMJ
Well now, I was hoping for responses telling me I didn't need to run RG6, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to run a couple drops to the family room and leave them in the box unterminated.

Is there anything I should look out for when buying RG6 cable? I've seen both $35 500' spools, and $50+ 500' spools at Home Depot. Is there any real difference between the two?

reply to TheSMJ
That's normal rg6 and shielded rg6. All you need is the cheap stuff.

reply to LazMan

reply to TheSMJ
"Is there any real difference between the two?"
If they are from the same manufacturer , there should be .
Looking at Home Depot's site , seems one is dual shield and one is quad .
Link to a little info on types ( not a recommendation of the vender , since I have never used them )»www.cablewholesale.com/support/t···ner.html
Best rg6 would be quad shield solid copper core , but that is way overkill !
Would recommend a mid-grade cable , since the price difference will not be much compared to the work you will put into installing it

reply to TheSMJ
IMO run RG6QS, because IF you or someone ever uses it you don't want it to have to be replaced due to going cheepo.

Also I'd go ahead and use some keystone jacks to term them, if you just leave it in the wall only you will know its there.

I'd just go ahead and get a small electrical box and a grounding block

Might as well do it right instead of half-a**ed so if you or someone ever want to use it you don't have a sat or CTV installer just doing their own thing because your work wasn't done or was forgotten about.

So I'd put a grounding block where ever you imagine a CTV might come to enter the home and ground it to the breaker box.

Then have a cable from there go to the attic (or basement) and have a small electrical box (or whatever you want to use to organize the cables)

No need to term the ends at the aggregate location just be sure they're tidy and its clear what is what.

Then if/when you want to use it its ready to easily be finished and used.
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»www.change.org/petitions/create-···imcity-4

Yeah, what everyone else said. Run it! Just as it was common to have a TV antenna on your roof in the 70's and 80's, today its going to be a common thing to see homes wired for Cable/Internet service.

reply to DarkLogix
Darklogix is 100% right.
Do it right the 1st time, and don't do it half-a$$. Even if you don't terminate and just provide keystone jacks, it still will be worth more in the future.
Also depending on how open your walls are, spend the extra few hours and run it to the bedrooms as well.
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Getting it Done.

reply to TheSMJ
Get quad-shield.

Indeed. Is there that much a price differential? I ask because my supplier only has quad.

reply to CUBS_FAN
As a matter of fact, the house does have 300-ohm twin lead wire going to each room and is connected to an old antenna in the attic. However, the wire is in pretty bad shape with the insulation cracking and peeling all over the place. I've been removing the connectors in each room and reusing the boxes for Ethernet.

I may as well run a couple RG6 drops to the family room, one in each bedroom and MAYBE two in the master bedroom. I'll just follow the same paths I used for the CAT6 and have it all end at the CAT6 patch panel. I'll leave everything unterminated for now and buy keystone jacks for it later on.