I’m a longtime DirecTV customer whose account is currently in a suspended status while we are renting a townhouse waiting for our new construction house to be completed in December. Just before they hang the drywall, I plan to go in and run Cat6 cable, HDMI, speaker wire, etc., and thought it would be a good idea to pre-wire for DirecTV while I’m at it. I plan to have about eight TV locations around the house - all wall mounted. My question is, will DirecTV do this pre-wire for me, or will/should I do it myself? If myself, what kind of cable should I use, and do you have any tips?
Pre-wire new construction home for DirecTV?
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Do it yourself, it's much cheaper. I doubt Directv would do it anyways. Run two cables from every location to a central spot. It can be copper clad steel, it doesn't have to be all copper. I would also put it in smurf tubing smurf tubing - Google Search in case you need to run additional cables at some point.
IMHO two coax cables to a TV location is overkill, other than to the roof (if you ever add an antenna, or just as a spare in case one cable is damaged) Heck, I'm willing to bet coax isn't even a requirement before long - they'll probably support using ethernet instead of coax with the Genie 2 at some point. They already support wireless, so why not?
I would strongly recommend against running any HDMI through the walls. HDMI cables are finicky, standards change, and there's no way to repair them when they stop working for no apparent reason (which 99% of the time is due to the microsolder joints in the connector failing)
Run an additional cat6 line in place of HDMI, and use extenders. Even the cheapo $10/pair dongles on eBay from China work great in my experience, though if you want to do 4K or have a really long run due to building a McMansion you'd need to spend a little more.
I would strongly recommend against running any HDMI through the walls. HDMI cables are finicky, standards change, and there's no way to repair them when they stop working for no apparent reason (which 99% of the time is due to the microsolder joints in the connector failing)
Run an additional cat6 line in place of HDMI, and use extenders. Even the cheapo $10/pair dongles on eBay from China work great in my experience, though if you want to do 4K or have a really long run due to building a McMansion you'd need to spend a little more.
Using HDMI extenders on either end of the additional cat6 you run. These are what I bought, and work fine for me on about a 60 foot run (including two couplers for the wall plate on one end and panel on the other) and it says they're rated to about 100 feet.
Blue 2pcs 1080P HDMI Extender to RJ45 Over Cat 5e/6 Network LAN Ethernet Adapter | eBay
You can buy the same thing from US sellers for a little more if you want quicker shipment, or spend more money for (presumably) better ones from a name brand like Gefen or Blackbird, including some that support 4K.
You can put HDMI in the Wall, just run empty conduits so the cables can be replaced later if necessary.
My recommendation is minimum 2 coax to each location and a max of 4.
Reasoning is for Directv, OTA, and the 2 spares for Dish Not Work or cable.
Run a minimum 2 cat 6 to each location, 4 would be better to where your going to have your main viewing area.
Run empty conduit to areas you are not sure. Either the grey plastic cantex from Home Depot, or orange flexable fiber duct.
My recommendation is minimum 2 coax to each location and a max of 4.
Reasoning is for Directv, OTA, and the 2 spares for Dish Not Work or cable.
Run a minimum 2 cat 6 to each location, 4 would be better to where your going to have your main viewing area.
Run empty conduit to areas you are not sure. Either the grey plastic cantex from Home Depot, or orange flexable fiber duct.
Ugh, that's terrible advice. You ever tried to pull HDMI through a conduit? That's what you have to do it it goes bad - those connectors are a HUGE pain around corners. With twisted pair no problem - you can just cut off the RJ45 if its a problem.
The idea that HDMI never goes bad is ludicruous. It can and does, even if no one touches anything. Temperature cycles are enough to cause microsolder joints in the connectors to go flakey.
You say to run conduit, then say to run two coax so you'll have a spare. Why the heck would you need a spare if you have conduit and claim it is so easy to run a new cable through it??
What!
If you install a nice 1.5 inch conduit, HDMI pulls just fine. In addition I only suggest doing this if your wall mounting a Tv, and the source is nearby like below the Tv or in a closet. Any long runs, you should look into HDMI over Cat5 or 6.
No way would I ever run a bare HDMI behind drywall with no way to replace it.
As far as spare Rg6 it’s not a spare of the Rg6 does bad, but a spare for an additional source like Cable, Dish, OTA, etc.
Coax is cheap, run as much as you can figuring every possible scenario Since the drywall is open.
Yeah you can run an empty conduit also, instead of running cable.
Btw I’m prewiring a home this weekend.
Ordered special wire with (2) Rg6 and (2) cat6 in a single pvc jacket
Ordered special wire with (2) Rg6 and (2) cat6 in a single pvc jacket
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