 Lurch77Premium
join:2001-11-22
Oconto, WI
kudos:4 | reply to TheSMJ
Re: Should I run RG6 or skip it? We built our home in 2010. We ran cable everywhere. Every room except the kitchen and the hallway. And I sometimes wish I did those two as well. And I wish I ran it to various locations in each room. All bedrooms have one, while the living room has two. It makes furniture arrangement limited in the bedrooms.
Most everything is going wireless now days, even TV connections, so it isn't such a big deal anymore. I can tell you that when we bought our last house (before building this one) we did not even consider whether or not it had cable ran everywhere. If you want to do this, do it for your convenience, not for any resale. People are not going to make their decision on that. |
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Reviews:
 ·Verizon FiOS
4 edits | reply to alkizmo
said by alkizmo:said by Critsmcgee:It won't add any value to the property but it will play into the decision making process. I am not in real estate, but I am a lot in mortgages at work. I could ask realtors if you want, but I am 99% certain that this will NOT play any role in the decision making. Even if you had two houses side-by-side that were IDENTICAL and one had CATV wiring while the other one didn't, the tie-breaking factor will be about what/who are the neighbors and not whether the house has CATV or not. Ask anyone you want and as many of them as you want. I've bought 3 houses and coax has been a requirement in all 3 for me. My sister and parents the same. As a matter of fact even the service providers came into the picture. Last year when I bought this house FIOS was a requirement. The fact is coax DOES play a role in decision making for some people. Discount it all you want but blanket statements will never win and you know it. At best you can say something like "For most people it won't play into the decision process". A 100% statement just gets you into trouble. 
For your example those people don't know what to look for. The most common problem with people is they don't know what they want or what to look for. A Realtor will tell you whatever sells the house. Do they care if you have cable or internet once you buy the house? NO! Do they care if it costs you $300-500 to have the house wired? NO! This is a classic hindsight problem with buying property.
Next people will be saying a septic system vs sewer or electric range vs gas range or driveway length/material doesn't play into the decision. |
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Lurch77Premium
join:2001-11-22
Oconto, WI
kudos:4 | Major utilities and appliances like those you listed have always played a role in choosing a house for most people. Whether coax is run in the walls has not played a role for most people.
Not a 100% statement.  But you are in a significant minority as a buyer that would pass up a house you otherwise love just because of the lack of coax runs. |
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 nunyaWho is John Galt?Premium,MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO
kudos:8
 ·Charter
 ·surpasshosting
 ·voip.ms
| reply to TheSMJ
I've run a few hundred miles of coax in my day. Here's my opinion: Run it. Don't use cheap crap.
This stuff is reasonably priced and of reasonable quality: »www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-50···oScosH6k
I'd recommend using a tri-shield or quad-shield cable.
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If someone refers to herself / himself as a "guru", they probably aren't. |
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 PoloDudePremium,VIP
join:2006-03-29
Northport, NY
kudos:3 | reply to TheSMJ
As a FiOS installer, I have been in houses that were newly redone without being pre-wired. I try to do the neatest job possible, but it is ALWAYS upsetting to the home owner when they see all the exposed cabling.
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“My horse fights with me and fasts with me because if he is to carry me into battle, he must know my heart and I must know his or we shall never become brothers.
-Plenty Coups, Chief of the Crow” |
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Reviews:
·Verizon FiOS
| said by PoloDude:As a FiOS installer, I have been in houses that were newly redone without being pre-wired. I try to do the neatest job possible, but it is ALWAYS upsetting to the home owner when they see all the exposed cabling.
Good thing it wasn't a concern when they bought the property right? Now they have no one to blame but themselves! If only people understood their decisions. As Lurch77 pointed out the majority of people wouldn't consider it but you better believe they'll bitch out it later. Hindsight is always 20-20. |
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scooper
join:2000-07-11
Youngsville, NC
kudos:2 Reviews:
·Time Warner Cable
 ·Embarq Now Centu..
| reply to TheSMJ
If I was in your shoes -
RUN IT - TWO runs of it in fact - to every wall in every room, all to central wiring closet (or at least a central location). As well as the same for CAT5E/CAT6. And make sure it's all labeled at your home run as well as the endpoints.
Back in 2000, when I first got Dish, I went on an RG6 cable wiring spree - our kitchen and bedroom got 2 runs of RG6 from the central points in the family room and attic, even though I needed only 1 run at the time for signal distribution. It worked out REALLY nice for me when I got some new technology that required different coax run than my original - it meant a wiring job that could have required all day took only a couple hours to put the new system in place.
I haven't done the same thing on the UTP - I've only run point to point where I needed it - Wifi has saved alot of effort on that score.
I do differ from some of these other people by saying "RG6 coax is RG6 coax" - none of my installed cable was swept to anything, yet it has all worked well in DBS use to what ever Dish uses in what ever technology their using.
I would invest in some decent tools and/or a system for putting on cable ends - it makes the job so much easier. I used to use crimp ons (with a big heavyduty die), but I've switched over to compression ends for my last couple projects. The tools you can find at Lowes/ Home Depot will work fine for the average homeowner. |
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TheSMJ
join:2009-08-19
Farmington, MI | reply to TheSMJ
I bought a $50, 500' spool of quad shielded RG6. It was only $15 more than the dual shielded stuff, and I figured that I'd rather spend a little more on the cable now then get stuck kicking myself later if it doesn't work out for whatever reason.
Now I'm trying to figure out how many drops per room. I wasn't aware satellite systems needed two wires (I've never hooked one up before) and I was only planning on two drops in each room w/ one on opposite walls. But with this information maybe I should run two per wall?
I'm putting way too much thought into something I may not ever use... |
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 Jack_in_VAPremium
join:2007-11-26
Mathews, VA
kudos:1 | said by TheSMJ: I wasn't aware satellite systems needed two wires (I've never hooked one up before)
I'm putting way too much thought into something I may not ever use...
Directv satellite only needs one coax. |
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TheSMJ
join:2009-08-19
Farmington, MI | So then why do most people seem to recommend running two per tv location? |
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robbinPremium,MVM
join:2000-09-21
Leander, TX
kudos:1 | Satellite used to need one feed per tuner. So if you wanted to record one channel and watch another then you needed two coax. I haven't had satellite in a while so I'm not sure if that is still the case. |
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 LazManPremium
join:2003-03-26
canada | reply to TheSMJ
Dish can require two runs per box, depending on the setup; particularly for PVR's or multi-tuner boxes. |
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| reply to TheSMJ
As long as you have 1 drop per room you'll be fine. In the future people can use splitters if they need more. You can do 2 drops a room but that's overkill IMHO. If they want satellite the installer can add another cable. |
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| reply to TheSMJ
Run two per location in case you want like OTA tv plus either satellite or regular cable. Plus some people like having a separate outlet for a cable modem and another for their tv/dvr box.
I definitely say run atleast 1 RG6 to each location, possibly even on on each side of the wall (so each room would have two runs of coax). Definitely run one RG6 to each wall of your main living area as others have said, it may limit your furniture arrangements. You don't want to be sitting under your TV. We don't really watch a lot of tv so we only had one run of coax and two cat6 per box, one utility box per room and two boxes on opposite sides of the wall in the main living area. I also put a wireless AP in the ceiling above the main living area as well with a dedicated cat5e line back to a home run area in our laundry room.
Contrary to what others have said, this WILL affect future home buys. I don't see how it wouldn't. Everyone I know who has bought a house, this has come into play with. It costs several thousand dollars more to have it installed AFTER the walls are put in and they NEVER look as well done. Plus, you can't run drops to outside walls without tearing up the walls. I had my entire house wired up for $1,000 for coax and cat6 wire. It would have cost 4x that after the house was completed. |
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| reply to TheSMJ
said by TheSMJ:Now I'm trying to figure out how many drops per room. I wasn't aware satellite systems needed two wires (I've never hooked one up before) and I was only planning on two drops in each room w/ one on opposite walls. But with this information maybe I should run two per wall? Simple answer is bring a single drop into each room that you have access to and if some coax is left over then double up on say the living room or a den or more.
You have already bought the coax, so may as well utilize every inch you paid for. |
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 alkizmo
join:2007-06-25
Pierrefonds, QC
kudos:1 | reply to Critsmcgee
said by Critsmcgee:Ask anyone you want and as many of them as you want. I've bought 3 houses and coax has been a requirement in all 3 for me. My sister and parents the same. As a matter of fact even the service providers came into the picture. Last year when I bought this house FIOS was a requirement. The fact is coax DOES play a role in decision making for some people. I don't know if these houses were new construction (as in you could DEMAND the installation of the cables).
A used house is a different story. You hunt and hunt for a house in the right area of the right style of the right size, it's not custom made to you. Once you find that house, you'll be lenient as to whether or not there is network/catv wiring.
A bit like house inspection, if you're buying a old house, you can't DEMAND that the inspection finds nothing old in the house.
said by Critsmcgee:Discount it all you want but blanket statements will never win and you know it. At best you can say something like "For most people it won't play into the decision process". A 100% statement just gets you into trouble. There are always exceptions, but as a house improvement investment, it will bear very little return. It's not just the spool that costs $$$, it's the termination jacks, the labor, and 500' will get little coverage especially if you want dedicated lines to every room (instead of piggy backing from room to room).
said by Critsmcgee:For your example those people don't know what to look for. The most common problem with people is they don't know what they want or what to look for. A Realtor will tell you whatever sells the house. Do they care if you have cable or internet once you buy the house? NO! Do they care if it costs you $300-500 to have the house wired? NO! This is a classic hindsight problem with buying property.
And if you find a house you like and it is not wired, you can't demand it to be wired (at least, in my local realestate market). It's more lucrative to negotiate over the price and not over the wiring.
In OP's case, he doesn't need CATV, so for him it's a bad expensive. If he wants a real using addition, he should run conduits that are easy to use for pulling anyy sort of cable in the future. 50 years later, when we're using house-central-nerve-system wiring to wire brain scanners in every room, they'll be glad they had conduit in place, they won't care for the obsolete CATV. |
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robbinPremium,MVM
join:2000-09-21
Leander, TX
kudos:1 | It's not something to demand but for many it could make a difference between two competing properties. The cost of materials is minor compared to the cost of labor to wire the house retroactively. Conduit is nice but both cost and labor are greater than coax. As far as future proofing, high quality coax can support a very large amount of bandwidth. For instance, you can't get a coax to ethernet converter to run cable over an ethernet line, but you can get an ethernet to coax convertor to run ethernet over coax. |
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Jack_in_VAPremium
join:2007-11-26
Mathews, VA
kudos:1 | reply to TheSMJ
said by TheSMJ:So then why do most people seem to recommend running two per tv location?
Most people? Tell that to the Directv installers. I have two installations and one coax to each one. |
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Jack_in_VAPremium
join:2007-11-26
Mathews, VA
kudos:1 | reply to robbin
said by robbin:Satellite used to need one feed per tuner. So if you wanted to record one channel and watch another then you needed two coax. I haven't had satellite in a while so I'm not sure if that is still the case.
I have a DVR and can watch one channel and record another. Directv has an upgrade to allow more channel recording. I have one coax to the DVR. |
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| reply to robbin
»www.costcaptain.com/mm5/merchant···od2E4A2Q
Reasonably priced to boot. Who would have thought it? |
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