Coax questions

[Marauder2003]

Have a friend with Spectrum problems. They are saying his inside wiring is bad. House is 35 years old. He is willing to replace a long run in the attic.
What is best current coax for use in the attic and walls? Location is High Desert. I am sure temps get up to 120+ In the attic. The current long run (100 ft) has a booster in it. How long do those last in the attic?

I suggested he get one of these and check readings at each wall outlet before doing anything. He is that kind of guy.

https://www.amazon.com/AUGOCOM-Handle-Signal-Tester-47-870MHz/dp/B01AXWC7PK

Any idea what an acceptable reading should be?

[Jeepergeo]

I'll bet he jumps through a lot of hoops only to find out the issue was on the Spectrum side of things.

Spectrum must have a policy to always tell customers the problem is with the customer's side. I've had them tell me that when other Spectrum customers on the street are out at the same time I am. It must be a tactic to delay service and save them money.

Good luck. It will be interesting to see what ultimately resolves the problem.

[Oneaudiopro]

Coax should be RG-6. sometimes older homes, or owners of homes that are trying to save a buck, have RG-59 installed. RG-59 is garbage and should be replaced with RG-6. Thats all.

[Skip_Dog]

U ran into this same issue when I lived in New Orleans. Cable was spotty. Done times perfect, other times crap. Cable guy came out several times and finally one of them said it was bad wiring in the house. I didn't believe him but after we drank a few Homebrew beers and some home flavored Vodka, we went to his truck, tapped his roll of new cable to my old cable and went to the other end and pulled. He terminated both ends and there were no more issue.

[ceh383]

Coax should be RG-6.

RG6 Quad Shield is even better.

[Marauder2003]

That appears to be for outdoor use. What difference would it make for attic use?

RG6 Quad Shield is even better.

[the86d]

That appears to be for outdoor use. What difference would it make for attic use?

I believe the RG-6 is a thicker cable, w/higher speeds, and reliability-specs.
If you are referring to shielding, it will always be better than non-shielded, but you pay for the shielding in the price of shielded cable.

Electrical Shielding prevents more cross-talk (interference), and noise from other devices, like running it next to power cables. AKA picking up noise and signals which forces more retrans (re-transmitted) packets due to collisions/noise(, essentially speeding things up, from the user's perspective) w/out solid ACKs on those packets that data/files/pr0n-vidz are broken up into...

[Robotron2k84]

That appears to be for outdoor use. What difference would it make for attic use?

[67Cuda]

That appears to be for outdoor use. What difference would it make for attic use?

Better?

[ibanezfoo]

RG-6 and remove all splitters... Unless the signal is too hot then add a splitter. Unless you actually need cable all over the place I'd run it straight from the box to the wall plate. I've done a few of my houses like this. Did my current house like this.

[Marauder2003]

RG-6 and remove all splitters... Unless the signal is too hot then add a splitter. Unless you actually need cable all over the place I'd run it straight from the box to the wall plate. I've done a few of my houses like this. Did my current house like this.

[ldsnet]

Unless high quality cable with properly installed ends, the problem can be in the house. The problem is proving it; their test equipment can measure the signal strength at the junction outside the house, and probably get a similar number from the cable box and modem. If the numbers show low, its inside the customer cable.
It's generally cheaper to replace cable than to chase down line loss.

[the_tunaman]

Should use a distribution switch or patch panel. Just asking for problems using splitters.

[Marauder2003]

So, how does one replace wire that is inside outside walls?

[Robotron2k84]

Splice, join and pull. If they were tacked into the studs, cut the ends and fish new lines.