Can I Get Cable?

[Bobby]

OK, I've had some email action with my Comcast engineer and it goes as follows:

Paul,

I have a question that doesn't relate to any work I am doing but was asked of me by a friend. This friend has a home that is about 1800 feet from the cable in the public franchise. Is that too far for a service drop? Would a cable tap need to be placed somewhere within his property to support service? Obviously a pull box or two would be needed in any event.

And the answer:

Yes, that is way too far.
Hard line would have to be placed within at least 150’ feet of his home.
A few pull vaults would be needed.

So, given the action that has happened here since my post, here are my thoughts. First, Jayn_J thought that maybe with an easement you might be able to use your neighbors hard line (trunk) as a step off point. There might be some truth to that but not as a lease. Comcast would want that easement built into the property record as permanent. Next, the distance is still too far.

What Comcast is telling you is correct, although you could use underground boxes (13"x24"x12"D) as well as pedestals. The main issue here is the placement of trunk cable to about 150' of your home. That is very expensive. Cable companies might, and I say might, be willing to place that cable at your cost.

You might ask your neighbor if it cost him anything to have Comcast place the trunk line into his property and if so, how much.

There are ways, but it will probably get expensive.

[fromadistance]

OK, I've had some email action with my Comcast engineer and it goes as follows:

Paul,

I have a question that doesn't relate to any work I am doing but was asked of me by a friend. This friend has a home that is about 1800 feet from the cable in the public franchise. Is that too far for a service drop? Would a cable tap need to be placed somewhere within his property to support service? Obviously a pull box or two would be needed in any event.

And the answer:

Yes, that is way too far.
Hard line would have to be placed within at least 150’ feet of his home.
A few pull vaults would be needed.

So, given the action that has happened here since my post, here are my thoughts. First, Jayn_J thought that maybe with an easement you might be able to use your neighbors hard line (trunk) as a step off point. There might be some truth to that but not as a lease. Comcast would want that easement built into the property record as permanent. Next, the distance is still too far.

What Comcast is telling you is correct, although you could use underground boxes (13"x24"x12"D) as well as pedestals. The main issue here is the placement of trunk cable to about 150' of your home. That is very expensive. Cable companies might, and I say might, be willing to place that cable at your cost.

You might ask your neighbor if it cost him anything to have Comcast place the trunk line into his property and if so, how much.

There are ways, but it will probably get expensive.

Thanks for the reply,i could see it heading in this direction.Pretty much giving up,like i said,no way would they do that for a single customer and i am not gonna turn my property into a subdivision! That's probably the only way this could happen.

[jayn_j]

Well, I think we both agree that 1800 ft is too far for an RG-11 drop, but members here have regularly run LNB drops for DISH and DTV around 200'. Therefore, I think 150' is way conservative, especially since the OP's Comcast says 700'. Remember, cable frequencies are significantly lower than DBS IF freqs. I do think 700' is iffy though.

At 150', an awful lot of existing suburban subdivisions couldn't be served, and they all have cable feeds. I would tend to put a reliable cable limit at around 400-500'. Maybe 700' if your Comcast isn't running over 1 GHz.

Yeah, I believe that Comcast would want a permanent easement, not only from you, but from your neighbor as well. Tough to do once the deed is executed, since you need to get the bank to buy off on it as well.

Sorry fromadistance, it looks like you already have the best solution available to you.

FWIW, I can run off a list of 50 things I hate about Comcast, especially their garbage DVR. Unfortunately, there is no magic answer.

[Bobby]

The person I contacted is not a technician, and not a CSR. He is a design engineer for Comcast. I have worked with him in my job as an underground utility designer for many years. I work with electrical, gas, telephone and cable TV designers for a living. I, myself am a retired telephone company outside plant engineer. I might agree that 150' is a bit conservative and is an ideal that can't be served in many places in America. A 700' service drop is more than iffy, it is probably not serviceable even at RG11. You have to believe that a service company is not about to enter into service if any part of the equation is iffy.

[fromadistance]

Update

Well i got a hold of a Comcast manager and it appears that,Yes they will absolutely run cable and get me all hooked up!There is a pedestal at the road!
Man i am psyched!!




Then, he said...............

$9 a foot from the pedestal

The pedestal is 1796 feet from where they need to make the drop by my house,of course i will likely need amplifiers(not included) and a couple more items.

So i can get cable and it will only cost me $16,000.00 to $17,000.00

I am not feeling real Comcastic about this deal

Thanks again everyone for the help and input,looks like this ordeal is finally over.

[Bobby]

There are ways, but it will probably get expensive.

Update

Well i got a hold of a Comcast manager and it appears that,Yes they will absolutely run cable and get me all hooked up!There is a pedestal at the road!
Man i am psyched!!




Then, he said...............

$9 a foot from the pedestal

The pedestal is 1796 feet from where they need to make the drop by my house,of course i will likely need amplifiers(not included) and a couple more items.

So i can get cable and it will only cost me $16,000.00 to $17,000.00

I am not feeling real Comcastic about this deal

Thanks again everyone for the help and input,looks like this ordeal is finally over.

Like I said, it could get expensive...

It's too bad, but there you have it.

[jayn_j]

Well, at least you got a straight answer. Sorry it wasn't workable.

[The Insider]

Well, I think we both agree that 1800 ft is too far for an RG-11 drop, but members here have regularly run LNB drops for DISH and DTV around 200'. Therefore, I think 150' is way conservative, especially since the OP's Comcast says 700'. Remember, cable frequencies are significantly lower than DBS IF freqs. I do think 700' is iffy though.

At 150', an awful lot of existing suburban subdivisions couldn't be served, and they all have cable feeds. I would tend to put a reliable cable limit at around 400-500'. Maybe 700' if your Comcast isn't running over 1 GHz.

Yeah, I believe that Comcast would want a permanent easement, not only from you, but from your neighbor as well. Tough to do once the deed is executed, since you need to get the bank to buy off on it as well.

Sorry fromadistance, it looks like you already have the best solution available to you.

FWIW, I can run off a list of 50 things I hate about Comcast, especially their garbage DVR. Unfortunately, there is no magic answer.

No way 400ft is way to far. Look at it this way. at 750mhz (which is what most cable systems max out at) an RG11 cable will lose almost 5 DB per 100ft depending on the cable type. At 400ft thats 20db of signal lost.. Most taps do not even send out 20db of signal on ch116 (which is the highest channel in a 750mhz plant)(however some cable companies push over 750 even on their 750gear)

So you really do not want to go farther then 250 or so ft from the service point, or you will really start to have some problems. Ive seen drops upwards of 300 to 350 but that is really pushing it.