atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Cabling Telephones Systems Wiring Need professional advice fast

Hello everyone:

I found your forum by chance trying to search for an answer to my questions. There is my story.
I bought a new house and have to sigh a contract with a company to wire my phones, cables etc.
The sales person offers me different cables for TV such as:
1.COMMSCOPE 2000896CM, CMG c(ETL)us DR CATV (ETL)us 18 AWG
Is it RG-6 cable or not?
2.ANDREW(R) DAXCESS (TM) BY PCT A660-BVV-N Series 6 cable (ETL) CATV OR BM 150V or RT-4 18 AWG 60711261
3.Ultralink Contractor Grade RG6/U Type CMR 18 AWG 60% Braid+Foil (UL) E224705 CL-2/FT-4 HDTV 3 GHZ B4HO32 Canada
This one has a very little shield.
4.Ultralink Professional Grade RG6/U Type CMR 18 AWG solid copper HDTV 3GHZ quad shielded

First cable comes with the offer. For the second I have to pay some $100 extra. For the third they asked triple price. The fourth cable you just can imagine. I am planning to have HDTV and Satellite TV in my house. My house is located close to the communication tower( for cellphones). What is my optimal choice?
In addition, I have to decide to install CAT3 or CAT5e for the phone lines. I have read your previous posts on this topic, but I am still confused.
For the smart home system they offer the same #1 cable and 2x CAT5e.

I have no knowledge in this field, and I would greatly appreciate your advice.
Thank you for your time.

Alina

What idiots! How the heck do they expect you to know the difference? They don't and hope that the sucker customer will think that more money is better. Actually those cables cost them about the same, a bit more for quad shield. I also have no idea about them, some I have never heard of and that COMMSCOPE number doesn't even come up on their site search.

I would recommend that you dump these guys and find someone more reputable that will just wire your damn house.

RG-6 with bonded foil and 60% braid swept to 2Ghz is fine. A solid copper center conductor would be better for satellite installations.

I always recommend CAT3 for phone lines. Less money, easier to work with and that's all that is needed. Unless you think you will need to convert that wiring to a data network to connect your computers together that is what they should use. Most people use wireless for computers now anyway. Just make sure that each jack has a separate run back to a central point like in the basement or closet, NOT to the outside of the house. This goes for the RG-6 cable also.

Oh, and smart homes are really dumb. Don't waste your money.

-Hal

The CommScope cable in question is better known as CommScope F660BVV or by the "BrightWire" trademark. The spec sheet indicates a 1GHz sweep, which is really only good for CATV...not satellite or HDTV.

Interference from the cellular tower and adjacent voice/data cable runs need consideration. I would play it safe with something like a Belden 7915A "Duobond Plus". It's better than quad shield and is sweep tested to 3.0 GHz.

I certainly agree with Hal's suggestion about all cable runs terminating to an inside central point. Even for voice cable, I can't stand that looping technique. If the loop becomes damaged somewhere along the way, it will affect all the voice jacks after it. And if you're hip to a "smarthome", you might also be the kind of person that would put in a PBX. That choice won't be available to you if the voice wiring in your house is looped.

The CommScope cable in question is better known as CommScope F660BVV ...

Don't know how you get that from "COMMSCOPE 2000896CM". More logically "ANDREW(R) DAXCESS (TM) BY PCT A660-BVV" but what the hell is going on here?

Look, like I said I wouldn't even do business with these guys. Giving you confusing information and leaving choices like that up to you is not the way an honest contractor operates. You are not an engineer, you have no technical knowledge. Find somebody else who WILL TELL YOU what you need and STAND BEHIND THEIR WORK when it's done. I don't want to hear anything about cell towers, that's their job to figure out. (I really don't think the cell site will be a problem at all.)

-Hal

I gotta tell ya Alina, you are getting ripped off , grab your yellow pages and look in the telephone Cable and install section and call around, I'm sure you can find a way better deal.

And on a side note looping is unacceptable PERIOD!! If your paying someone to cable your house it should be in one central point as was stated above, we do this all the time and I can tell you it doesn't cost my customers anywhere close to what they are asking,, kick them to the curb and shop around.

Hope this helps

My esteemed colleagues on this forum and I have different views on the Cat3 vs Cat5 issue. We do agree on all other points.

Every wire, regardless of its intended use, should be a "home-run" to either the basement utility area, or a closet that is centrally located.

Cat 3 costs 6 cents a foot. Cat 5e costs 9 cents a foot. I stock and install only Cat 5e, and for complete flexibilty -- like future rearrangements of furniture -- I run a minimum of two of them (along with one coax) to every location in a house. That includes one set of all three (phone, ethernet, TV) on every wall of any bedroom, one outlet of all three wires in the kitchen, and at least two outlets with all three in the living room.

For a room that is dedicated for a home office, I run more than that. The difference in price is negligible. The extra cost of installing more wires later is a big problem. The hassle of terminating the Cat5e wire is inconsequential for a professional who does it every day. (You won't be asked to help, I assume, so why would that be a factor?)

I use quad shield RG6 coax. I have no idea what all those numbers and words mean in your initial post. I'm sure they are important to someone, just not to me.

There are lots of companies who do this work.
Check with your local BBB or Chamber of Commerce.

The hassle of terminating the Cat5e wire is inconsequential for a professional who does it every day.

So inconsequential that this professional charges an additional $5 per termination for every CAT 5 run that is used for voice. This money is to help offset my inevitable carpel tunnel surgery from untwisting it every day.

-Hal

You're right... you DO need to get out of this business.

lets get this back on track....We already have plenty of threads on cat 3 vs cat 5 for voice.

Back to the topic.

I Run at least 1 cat3 and 1 cat5 to each location. then 2 coax. preferable quad shield to where ever you may want a TV. Keep in mind that direct tv requires a phone line to each box and the newer boxs will also take a network connection

.*****home run everything******

Stick to decent cable and you will be fine, even the stuff at your local big box store (LIKE HOME DEPOT) will do the job.

better to do conduit to each location then your future proof for sure