getting xfinity and worried installers might trash my rig.

edugamer

SatelliteGuys Family
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Sep 20, 2019
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hey guys! Haven't been here in a while. Been enjoying the fta hobby and learning a lot! So, we are getting xfinity next week and it will include cable, computer and landline. I will be getting tv in my bedroom as well, and need to know if they will need to rip out my dish or if I can ask the installers to leave it in as it is part of my education, what would be the best way to explain to them and is it even possible lol. It is only one disk in operation, will be building on my rig more in the spring. I obviously want to be able to keep both the hobby dish and the Comcast is possible. My room is the only one with the lnbf going to. Would they need to drill another hole and run separate wiring? The wiring Im using is the existing wiring we had from fios and it is routed outside on the side of the house and comes in through a hole in the wall right below my window second floor. I basically just disconnected the coax and ran it to lnbf instead of the box with all the lights and stuff on the side of the house it was originally connecting to. Newbe, but think that was the ONT?
 
hey guys! Haven't been here in a while. Been enjoying the fta hobby and learning a lot! So, we are getting xfinity next week and it will include cable, computer and landline. I will be getting tv in my bedroom as well, and need to know if they will need to rip out my dish or if I can ask the installers to leave it in as it is part of my education, what would be the best way to explain to them and is it even possible lol. It is only one disk in operation, will be building on my rig more in the spring. I obviously want to be able to keep both the hobby dish and the Comcast is possible. My room is the only one with the lnbf going to. Would they need to drill another hole and run separate wiring? The wiring Im using is the existing wiring we had from fios and it is routed outside on the side of the house and comes in through a hole in the wall right below my window second floor. I basically just disconnected the coax and ran it to lnbf instead of the box with all the lights and stuff on the side of the house it was originally connecting to. Newbe, but think that was the ONT?
and yeah I had it attached to a grounding block for good mesure! I just hope I don't need to sacrifice my disk in order to have cable tv lol.
 
They have no reason to mess with your dish.
The antenna itself is the easy part. If the TS ran a dedicated cable to the bedroom for the satellite dish, they should be good to go.

If, on the other hand, part of a pre-existing coax network was used, they'll need to make sure the installer understands what was done so they don't try to re-purpose the cable. If they have to run new cable, expect that they're going to drill some holes and you don't want them upset when they do it.

Don't be bamboozled: inside cabling (from the demarcation point on in) is part of the home, not the property of the cable company to do with as they wish.
 
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hey guys! Haven't been here in a while. Been enjoying the fta hobby and learning a lot! So, we are getting xfinity next week and it will include cable, computer and landline. I will be getting tv in my bedroom as well, and need to know if they will need to rip out my dish or if I can ask the installers to leave it in as it is part of my education, what would be the best way to explain to them and is it even possible lol.

Don't ask them. TELL THEM not to interfere with your existing satellite system. It's not theirs! Let them figure out the work-arounds.
 
Don't ask them. TELL THEM not to interfere with your existing satellite system. It's not theirs! Let them figure out the work-arounds.
Pro tip: If you know how to do it safely, pre-drill any holes they will need to run their cable and pull a string from wherever you want the cable modem to be to the hole where they will bring in their cable (usually right next to the electric meter, since by law they are supposed to use a grounding block connected to the house ground which is usually only available by the electric meter). Of course that puts it on you to avoid hitting anything you shouldn't, such as electric wires, or water, sewer, or gas pipes, etc. But I guarantee you that you will be a lot more careful with your house than those guys will. As ReggieA said, YOU tell THEM what you want them to do, and watch them like a hawk, because the minute you don't they will be drilling holes where you don't want them to or otherwise damaging your property. They have no business touching any of your existing wiring or equipment unless you want them to, and I won't even let one of those guys take an electric drill off their truck, much less into my house (unless they are willing to let ME drill whatever hole they think they need).

Also you may want to have a tube of silicone caulk handy (the real thing, not that gawdawful "siliconized" crap that should be thrown in a dumpster) so that you can seal the hole(s) going into your house after they run their wire. Many installers couldn't care less if they leave a hole unsealed (or if they use lousy caulk that cracks or peels away after a short time) and water gets in and rots your wood and invites carpenter ants - it's not their house and they don't have to deal with those problems. You do.

Yes there are good installers that do care about the quality of their work, but don't count on getting one!
 
Pro tip: If you know how to do it safely, pre-drill any holes they will need to run their cable and pull a string from wherever you want the cable modem to be to the hole where they will bring in their cable (usually right next to the electric meter, since by law they are supposed to use a grounding block connected to the house ground which is usually only available by the electric meter). Of course that puts it on you to avoid hitting anything you shouldn't, such as electric wires, or water, sewer, or gas pipes, etc. But I guarantee you that you will be a lot more careful with your house than those guys will. As ReggieA said, YOU tell THEM what you want them to do, and watch them like a hawk, because the minute you don't they will be drilling holes where you don't want them to or otherwise damaging your property. They have no business touching any of your existing wiring or equipment unless you want them to, and I won't even let one of those guys take an electric drill off their truck, much less into my house (unless they are willing to let ME drill whatever hole they think they need).

Also you may want to have a tube of silicone caulk handy (the real thing, not that gawdawful "siliconized" crap that should be thrown in a dumpster) so that you can seal the hole(s) going into your house after they run their wire. Many installers couldn't care less if they leave a hole unsealed (or if they use lousy caulk that cracks or peels away after a short time) and water gets in and rots your wood and invites carpenter ants - it's not their house and they don't have to deal with those problems. You do.

Yes there are good installers that do care about the quality of their work, but don't count on getting one!
great tips! Thanks! Will let them know I need the existing rig not to be modified and that I want to keep that how it is. Good call with the filling the holes. I did notice when I was feeling around as I was tracing the cable for my FTA project that there was some silicone rotted stuff outside at the hole and I put an improvised rubber stopper thing in there as temporary fix but will definitely be properly filling it afterword once the new stuff is set up if I end up with rushed work lol. . Hopefully won't have to but we'll see how it goes!
My dish wire is still ziptied to the bundle it was and I did my best to keep everything elce as close to untouched as possible for the rest of the existing stuff. You should of seen me with my improvised signal tracer lol! I had a VCR feeding the cable in my room with one of those black and white portable televisions from the 80s at the other end as a probe. There is roof right outside my window so if they need to make more holes it hopefully won't be so bad as far as needing to fill it.
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