Running Coax Around a House

SachaJ

I guess this has been asked a few times before but I can't find any info. Basically I'm looking at doing a house refurb in the not too distant future and after some advice for wiring each room for Sky/coax.

The plan (in my head) is to extend the current Sky coax cables to a cupboard under the stairs. From there I want to split each input signal to all rooms and more than likely a couple of points in each room. I'm guessing each signal will be split up to 8 times.

The cable I'm looking at using is this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170460587372

Do I need some sort of powered splitter or powered amplified when splitting the coax like this?

If so, would something like this do the job or is there better available? http://www.wiresandstuff.com/television-satellite/tv-amplifiers/labgear-8-way-stepped-output-distribution-amplifier.html

Any other advice for running coax around the house?

The Cush

How many rooms will have satellite TV points?
Will you be using Sky+ or Freesat+ twin-tuner PVRs at all or some points?
Do you plan to have a Saorview aerial feed to each room?

My suggestion would be to run 4 co-ax feeds from the dish to the central location plus a terrestrial aerial feed even if you don't plan to use it now.

I'd run a min of 4 co-ax cables to the main room for Sky+ or Freesat+ PVR/Saorview/spare or Sky RF2 and min of 2 to each of the other TV points.

I'd also run a couple of Cat5 or 6 cables for telephone/future connected receivers to each TV point.

Basically run the cables now even if you don't plan to use them, better to be looking at them than looking for them if you require them in future.

Regarding powered amp/splitter, each satellite tuner requires a direct connection to the dish so if you only plan to have a Sky+ or Freesat+ receiver in the main room and 2 basic Sky or Freesat receivers in other rooms the 4 feeds from the dish will do this without powered amps. A standard distribution amp can be used to feed the Saorview signal to each TV with this setup.

If you plan to have more than 4 sat tuners then the 4 feeds from the dish can be used in conjunction with a multiswitch to feed the required number of points. The multiswitch can also combine the Saorview signal from an aerial with the satellite feeds to each TV point.

jjf1974

You cannot split satellite signals that way. you will have to run a separate cable from the dish LNB to each room. You may need to replace your current LNB wit either a quad or octo LNB.

SachaJ

Thanks.....

I really only plan to run 2 x coax to each location as I don't ever see me needing Sky in addition to Saorview/Freesat in the same location. To be honest the vast majority of our TV watching is from a centralised media server, Sky is only really used for the trashy reality shows, soaps and cartoons. All sports stream over the Internet.

I will also be running 2 x Cat6 to each point and have a 1Gb switch in the TV area for the TV, Blu-ray, XBMC PC, Sky box etc.

I see IPTV probably being the future anyway and it will be interesting to see that before Christmas.

Although I plan multiple points in each room, I can envisage only one per room being used at a time. If that's the case I might get away with 5 runs ever in use: 2 x sitting room (to allow for recording) and one cable used in kitchen, master bedroom and spare room. The idea of running cables to multiple points in each room is to allow for room rearranging. I know from experience that the TV doesn't always stay where I think it should!

I guess I need to read up on this Sky stuff. I assumed I could just split it like I think I did with UPC when I lived in Dublin.

So off the top of my head. Sky dish on the roof, some sort of distribution box (I see it referenced to as an LNB above) which splits cables out and around the house?

Peter Rhea

The LNB is the device on the end of the dish arm that collects the signal as well as amplifying & converting it to a lower frequency that can be carried on coaxial cable.

They are available with up to 8 independent outputs, each of which can feed a single tuner. If you want more feeds, you need a multiswitch, as already advised.

jjf1974

The different types of LNB,s can be seen here.http://www.tvtrade.ie/satellite-dishes.html

SachaJ

Cheers lads. Great info there.

Did some reading last night and it seems that Freesat is an option to other rooms. Am I correct in thinking that if I have an octo LNB, I can feed two signals to the Sky box in the sitting room while running the remaining 6 signals to various Freesat boxes throughout the house (so I'm not paying €15 per point for Sky multiroom)?

On top of that can I also get a UHF aerial to mount on the roof and feed Saorview through the second cable to the other rooms? So with a Saorview equipped TV I'll be able to get the Irish channels plus the free UK channels from a Freesat box? Sounds like a viable option for the non-main TV viewing area.

The Cush

SachaJ wrote: »

Did some reading last night and it seems that Freesat is an option to other rooms. Am I correct in thinking that if I have an octo LNB, I can feed two signals to the Sky box in the sitting room while running the remaining 6 signals to various Freesat boxes throughout the house (so I'm not paying €15 per point for Sky multiroom)?

On top of that can I also get a UHF aerial to mount on the roof and feed Saorview through the second cable to the other rooms? So with a Saorview equipped TV I'll be able to get the Irish channels plus the free UK channels from a Freesat box? Sounds like a viable option for the non-main TV viewing area.

Yes to both.

There are also TVs with built-in FTA satellite tuners, not as user friendly as a Freesat receiver but a 1 box solution. This is another compact FTA satellite TV solution for bedroom/wall-mounted TVs - Ferguson Ariva 102 Mini HD Digital Satellite Receiver

Talisman

Have you considered a multiswitch? You can run your satellite and tv aerial to it and distribute the signals from there. Depending on the multiswitch you use a quad or quattro LNB may be needed on the satellite dish. I chose a EMP-Centauri model because they are Quad LNB compatible and have a 4 year guarantee.

I'm currently renovating an old house and have runs of CAT6 to 8 outlets along with 2 runs of coax. The coax is terminated at modules which have 2 x satellite, 1 x TV, 1 x FM outputs.

Labgear PSW241M:


I'm waiting on the delivery of the multiswitch to get things up and running but should hopefully have it tomorrow.

Irish Steve

Ok, let's clear up one mistake here. A Multiswitch unit means that it is NOT required to run multiple cables from every room back to the location of the LNB, there are 4 cables from a specialised LNB to the Multiswitch, and then a terrestrial aerial can also be connected to the multiswitch, and then ALL cables from the multiswitch carry both Satellite AND terrestrial signals, which will work with a sat box, or a TV set. A 2 channel sat box needs 2 coax cables from the Multiswitch, but with the correct connector on the end of the cable, one of the 2 cables can also be used as the input to the tuner of a terrestrial tuner on a TV.

It is also possible with some sat boxes that have RF out to feed that signal back to the multiswitch, using another coax cable, so that it can be received by other TV's in the same location for playback of a recording.

Ideally, to ensure good signal, the next size up of satellite dish need to be used for the LNB, and setting them up does take a bit more care than the normal LNB, but once it's right, it works fine, I've got one here that's been in use for at least a couple of years with no issues on a number of boxes.

CAT 5 or 6 to each location is also a good idea, as that can be used for both computer networking, or phone signals, which are appropriate in some cases.

Make sure that you use good quality sat coax in all the runs, and not the cheap and nasty coax that is sold by some of the DIY stores for TV's, the signal quality of sat requires a much better quality cable if you want to avoid dropouts and other issues. and take care putting the connectors on, as a poor fit will also cause problems.

Peter Rhea

Irish Steve wrote: »

Ok, let's clear up one mistake here. A Multiswitch unit means that it is NOT required to run multiple cables from every room back to the location of the LNB, there are 4 cables from a specialised LNB to the Multiswitch

Clear up whose mistake? Who mentioned running a whole pile of unnecessary cables? Also, not all multiswitches need a 'specialised LNB'. (Presumably you mean a 'quattro' type with 4 fixed outputs.)

Some switches will work with a quad, as well as a quattro, as already mentioned by Talisman, above.

The Cush

Irish Steve wrote: »

Ok, let's clear up one mistake here. A Multiswitch unit means that it is NOT required to run multiple cables from every room back to the location of the LNB,

Can you quote the post where you see this mistake?

IsMiseJoe

I'm going to move my sky+ box from the living room to a bedroom, so I need to move the 2 cables running from the dish to the sky+ box.
The cables are quiet difficult to get at so is it possible to cut the cables where they enter the living room from the attic and then run them into the bedroom through the ceiling.
The bedroom is closer to the dish so there will be no problem with length.

The Cush

IsMiseJoe wrote: »

The cables are quiet difficult to get at so is it possible to cut the cables where they enter the living room from the attic and then run them into the bedroom through the ceiling.

No problem, join the cables with F-connectors and F-connector joiners.

IsMiseJoe

Should I disconnect the cables from the dish before I cut them?

The Cush

IsMiseJoe wrote: »

Should I disconnect the cables from the dish before I cut them?

Not necessary, just make sure the cables are disconnected from the satellite receiver so that there's no voltage running thru them.

Liameter

IsMiseJoe wrote: »

The cables are quiet ...

There's nothing worse than noisy cables!