pre-wiring for Dish Network TV & Internet

[jrepp44]

I am pre-wiring a new home for Dish Network TV & Internet, and I have a few questions:

1) How many cables and what type of cable do I need to run from the Satellite dish location to the TV location?
2) Do the TV signal & Internet signal use the same cable? If yes then what do I do if the PC is in a different physical location from the TV?
3) I want to do as much as I can before the Dish tech arrives, but I have heard they do not want the homeowner to put the connectors on, if this is not true can you recommend a good connector?
4) Are there any options from Dish to upgrade to a better Satellite dish? I have a lot of weather related drop-outs at my current home.
5) I am thinking of upgrading my receiver to the newest Hopper, however I have read a few bad reviews, any thoughts?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[techman]

I am pre-wiring a new home for Dish Network TV & Internet, and I have a few questions:

1) How many cables and what type of cable do I need to run from the Satellite dish location to the TV location?
2) Do the TV signal & Internet signal use the same cable? If yes then what do I do if the PC is in a different physical location from the TV?
3) I want to do as much as I can before the Dish tech arrives, but I have heard they do not want the homeowner to put the connectors on, if this is not true can you recommend a good connector?
4) Are there any options from Dish to upgrade to a better Satellite dish? I have a lot of weather related drop-outs at my current home.
5) I am thinking of upgrading my receiver to the newest Hopper, however I have read a few bad reviews, any thoughts?

Thanks,
Jim

If you are building new, I would suggest the following:

Run at least one RG-6 cable and one CAT-5E (ethernet) cable to each room. In larger rooms I would run 2 sets. Try to locate the cables in likely locations of TVs and laptops. Terminate the cables in a central location, generally close to other utility items. In my house I also ran from a utility box in each room to the central location with 1/2" PVC conduit. This gives you max flexibility. You can run phone, internat, dish/cable, security cams, etc through these cables and the spare box lets you add in the future. Here in the NE we generally have basements so the runs all led there, but you may not have that option. Search under "structured wiring" for boxes and enclosures to use as a termination point.

As for your dish issue, if it goes out in less than a heavy rain, I would have the positioning checked. The dish may need to be better aimed.

Paul

 

[kcflhrc]

Dish Network and Direct TV are all Coax connections. I have had Direct TV for over 10 years and it will go out on occasion with heavy rain. I don't use the satellite internet though, it sucks beyond belief. But if that's your only choice then there ya go.

 

[rustyshakelford]

We ran cat 5 I think to our master closet. That's the hub for the house. Direct tv is now all wireless. No point in running cable lines to each room for us. We also ran the phone line for Internet to the office and that's where the router is. Worked for us

Brett

 

[kcflhrc]

Direct tv is now all wireless.

Not entirely true, you still need a coax to the Primary DVR/Receiver, the new Genie Remotes are now wireless.

 

[rustyshakelford]

Not entirely true, you still need a coax to the Primary DVR/Receiver, the new Genie Remotes are now wireless.

Good point. I can see where that would confuse someone

Brett

 

[techman]

Not entirely true, you still need a coax to the Primary DVR/Receiver, the new Genie Remotes are now wireless.

True now, but it does limit your future options. Do it while building because it can be difficult later.

paul

 

[joefromga]

Dish hopper requires 3ghz coax because of the multiple signals it carries on the lines. It's common but if you use 2ghz or less the installer might use it but they won't guarantee it and you may have issues.

You need two of these coax to your main hopper and one to the other hopper if you have two.

The coax to run from hopper to Joey doesn't have to be 3ghz. Just about anything will work.

Most stuff is wireless these days so with those two connections you'll be Ok for the dish.

The ethernet cable comes from the router to the hopper. You only need one hopper connected to the ethernet wire. That main hopper will share the Internet through its coax cables to the other hopper and joeys.

Again, wireless will pretty much allow you to avoid all the extra wires but wireless is never as good as wired but is getting better. Every wall you have will lower wireless stability and signal.

Summary:
From dish antenna to the switcher box (usually close by) will use 3 coax cables, 3ghz each. From that box you'll need 2 coax 3ghz cables. You'll need an ethernet connection there from a router or Internet switch . use cat6 or better. It's bandwidth capabilities are far greater. (or use WiFi)

The installer will do anything you need and yes, will most likely insist that he put his own snap loc connectors on all wires so you're wasting time terminating the coax cables. But running them saves your time waiting for him to run them.

He will also try to set up the TV and program it all for you. Unless you needed him to just tell him to get you a signal and you'll do the rest. It will take a while for initial program download but after that you'll love it.

 

[thatguy]

When we had DirecTv we already had one coax cable ran.. BUT since we wanted a DVR it needed a second line so we could record multiple channels at the same time..

We have since updated to HD signal, and they now use wireless to broadcast to remote tvs (no more wires)

brian

 

[rtimgray]

When we built our house, I ran pairs of RG6 and Cat 5 cable to each place I thought that I would like to someday have either an internet or TV connection. I had a total of 21 spots throughout our 1,800 sq. ft. house. When we built an addition a few years ago, I ran other 9 sets. All of mine run back to a central junction box that is in a closet on an exterior wall. I recently upgraded my dish equipment, and it was a breeze. I did all of my own terminations on both cables and I've never had an installer balk at using my wiring.

If it's a new build, I would run more than I think I'll ever need - the cable is cheap and it's really easy to do when the walls are just studded up. Our house is mostly built on a concrete slab, is two stories with the second floor under roof, so I don't have either a crawl space, basement or attic. That made me really try to put cables everywhere I thought I would ever need them.

As a result, I've only had to add/move a couple. I've ended up just fishing cables through walls and using cut-in boxes.

Good luck with your project. Take care.