how-to block ads
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Dzudzurvun
@rr.com
| Speed? How do you know? How do you guys check the speed for Downloads/Uploads?
Some particular website?
Mod Note: If you'd join it would be easier to help with questions like this!  Go to the BBR Tools page and choose the Speed Tests. Also, you'll find good speed tests on the SpeakEasy network. Start on this page of theirs:
»www.speakeasy.net/main.php?page=sup_pops
They have several speed sites located across the U.S.
[text was edited by moderator] | |
| mc5w
join:2002-06-14
Independence, OH
|  Reliable underground cable tv
One of the clients of my electrical wiring business here in the Akron/Cleveland Ohio area had one active and 5 abandoned underground cable tv services when I started work on replacing his underground electrical power service.
Because of a narrow right of way between the driveway and the property line, I had to install a temporary power service and have the telephone company (Verizon) lay a temporary telephone service. The cable tv people never came until the trencher sliced through the active service and even then, they only patched the line and we had to call them again a few days later.
When Verizon's telephone technician came over to to lay a new telephone cable on top of the PVC conduit for the power service he had no problems with leaving lots of slack. That is, when you directly bury a small cable such as telephone or cable tv, you need about 1.25 to 1.5 feet of cable for each foot of trench so that the cable can conform to the bottom of the trench.
When the cable tv tech came out he allocated what he thought was enough cable, but I ended up having to stretch it taut at the corners of the trench. The first 10 feet out by the road had to be stretched tight over the top surface of the concrete pad underneath Ohio Edison's transformer.
I know now that one reliability problem is that cable tv people are skimping on the cable length needed to compensate for ground movement and the like. The result is that as the ground settles and heaves due to freeze/thaw cycles the cable eventually breaks. They also try to get away with burying the cable just a few inches deep with the result that the cable works its way out of the ground and then a lawnmower gets it. Somebody who is running a lawn edger around a tree blah blah blah will also kill it. They also used to try to get away with using indoor coax underground. However, at least it is low voltage; some houses around here have power cables running right underneath the shingles.
When your underground cable tv breaks, do these things to get a good installation:
1. Put up with rabbit ears a few days to a week.
2. Have all the other underground utilities marked but do NOT tell the cable tv people the line is broken.
3. Dig a real trench (at least 12 inches deep). Your electrical inspector may require more or allow less, but the power service is usually about 2 or more feet deep and you want to go over it if you have to cross over and a sudden change of depth is bad for telephone or cable tv. You can usually get underneath a sidewalk by hammering in a steel conduit an inch, pull it out, wash out the dirt , and then hammer it another inch etc.
4. Now tell the cable company that you need a new line.
5. Install a piece of 3/4 inch PVC conduit vertically against the house where the trench ends at your house. This is to protect it from weed whackers (R) and other mechanical damage. Be sure to strap the conduit to the house.
6.a. Be there when the cable tv person comes and make sure that uses 1.25 to 1.5 feet of cable for each foot of trench. Make sure that he puts it in that short PVC conduit that you strapped to the house.
6.b. You may also need a new telephone cable in the same trench and PVC conduit. That is, you may have to cut the telephone cable when digging or the cable might be too old to continue using.
7. Backfill carefully, making sure that no rocks are in contact with the cable(s) and all the slack lies on the bottom of the trench in a snakey fashion. Also leave an ample s-loop where the cable(s) go into the PVC conduit on your house.
8. Replant the grass and enjoy reliable cable tv and internet access.
You could also install conduit all the way from the street to your house, but it is not worth it unless you absolutely have to go under a driveway. You might need at least one junction box for wire pulling purposes. Best bet is to Keep It Simple Stupid. Direct burial is very reliable when done right. If you are going under a sidewalk, just use conduit there leaving an s-loop on each side.
Mike Cole, mc5w@earthlink.net | |
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freeze
Magic Murder Bag
Premium
join:2001-05-13
Columbus, OH
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: Reliable underground cable tv LOL... Been there, done that. Our cable has to travel a good 100-200 feet from the Street to my House. At one point, it looked as though somebody just dropped the cable on my lawn. So of course, the lawnmower got it.
Three calls, 2 weeks, and 5 techs later, a real cable tech came, and came back the next day, the same tech, with a CAT. He dug the 100 foot trench a foot deep, installed not 1, not two, but THREE high grade weatherproof cables (In case 1 failed...) We got his name, and invited him to dinner.
Anyways long story short, its been 5 years, not a hitch.
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To play Age II:Conqueror's with me contact me at Zone.com/Freeze9 AIM/FreezeFA ICQ/146164245 CS Stats | |
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werty120003
@rr.com
| r u nuts? Or do you just have way to much time on your hands? Most people would just call their cable company, like i did and have them replace the line. They come out, lay a new one on the ground, said they'd be back in a week or so to bury it. Well 5 days go by, i come home and its buried. That was 5 years ago. No 12 inch ditch, no pvc, no problems. Seems that maybe you need Time Warner!!! | |
| 
W8ASA
Tieng gi vay?
join:2000-07-31
Dayton, OH
clubs:  | Roadrunner or AOL? You mention both in your post. Which one exactly do you have?
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Microwave and RF Components at www.ohiomicrowave.com | |
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freeze
Magic Murder Bag
Premium
join:2001-05-13
Columbus, OH | Re: Roadrunner or AOL? TimeWarner IS AOL.
Some data transfers over the AOL backbones and routers. (ATDN.net) they can handle lots of traffic, but pings sux0r. | |
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