c/cable-installers

The guy who asked me to hide his cable behind a painting

Last Tuesday I was running coax through a basement in Arlington and the homeowner kept following me around nervously. He finally said "can you just run the line behind this framed poster of a golden retriever so my wife doesn't see it" like I was his accomplice in some cable crime. Has anyone else had a customer treat you like you're hiding evidence instead of installing internet?

Finally realized I was stripping coax wrong after a senior guy watched me for 30 seconds

He pointed out I was nicking the braid on every pull because I was holding the tool at the wrong angle, and now I fix my cuts before crimping every time - has anyone else had an old habit that took someone literally just looking at you to catch?

Warning: stop using that cheap compression tool for fittings (learned the hard way)

I used the same $30 Amazon compression tool for 5 years on cable installs around Denver, thinking it was fine. Last week it slipped on a RG6 fitting at a new build and I shorted out the whole line, cost me 2 hours of rework and a angry builder. Has anyone found a reliable brand that won't break the bank but actually holds up?

Spent 4 hours on a simple drop because I ignored the blueprint

Had a new build in Denver last Tuesday, just running a single coax drop from the basement to the attic. I figured I knew the path and skipped checking the prints, ended up hitting three fire blocks and a 2x4 brace that wasn't on my mental map. Took me from 45 minutes to almost 5 hours to fish that line. Anyone else ever pay the price for skipping the blueprint look-over?

Appreciation post for that basement job in Akron that made me switch to push-to-talk headsets

After 4 hours of yelling over a noisy furnace and having the homeowner complain about my crew's chatter, I finally realized those cheap speaker mics were wrecking our communication and now I can actually hear what the other guy is saying without repeating myself three times, anyone else switch gear after one bad job?

First time I hit under 20 minutes on a full house drop...

Been running drops for about 8 months now and yesterday I did a full house install in 18 minutes flat. Last winter I was pushing 35 minutes easy on similar layouts. Switching to a lighter coax stripping tool and actually pre-running my fish tape is what did it I think... anyone else notice a big jump in speed after changing one small thing?

Overheard a customer say my ladder was fake news yesterday

I'm out in Maplewood running a new drop from the tap to a second floor office and this guy yells up at me that my fiberglass ladder can't be OSHA rated because it's made in China. He literally said 'that ladder is fake news, I saw a report.' I just nodded and kept working but later I looked it up, my Werner ladder is actually certified and built to ANSI standards. Has anyone else had a customer just make stuff up about your gear while you're on the clock?

Warning: I was stripping cable wrong for 3 years and never knew

I was out on a job last Tuesday pulling coax through a drop ceiling in an office park near St. Louis. The jacket kept fraying and splitting unevenly, so I tried the technique where you score it lightly with your snips first instead of yanking it. Turns out my old method was crushing the dielectric layer and causing signal loss. Has anyone else had a moment where a simple tool swap fixed a problem you didn't even know you had?

My trick for getting through thick fire caulking without ruining the bit

I know everyone says to use the designated firestop bits for drilling through fire caulking, but I found a better way that saved me a lot of trouble. On a job in a hospital basement last month, I had to run coax through four separate fire-rated walls, and my regular drill bits kept gumming up within two holes. The problem was the caulking was that hard, intumescent stuff that turns into cement when it heats up from friction. I tried soaking the bit in water between holes, but that just made a mess and slowed me down. What finally worked was switching to a standard masonry bit and running the drill at low speed with steady pressure, no pulsing. The masonry bit doesn't clog like a regular twist bit, and the low speed keeps the heat down so the caulking doesn't harden around it. Has anyone else found a tool or method that goes against the usual advice for these firestop jobs?

Had to fish a line through a firestop in an office building in Denver last Tuesday

The firestop was this solid silicone block, and I couldn't find the right bit to drill through it without cracking it. I ended up using a long 6-inch masonry bit and going super slow with a hand drill, not the impact driver. Took me 45 minutes to get one cable through, but the firestop stayed intact. Has anyone else run into these newer firestop blocks and found a faster way through them?

That simple coax splice that ate my whole afternoon

I had to do a simple splice on a customer's drop line last month, figured it would take maybe 20 minutes. Two hours later I was still battling a signal issue because the connector wasn't seated right inside the weather boot. The funny part was the customer brought me lemonade and sat there watching me fail for half of that time. Has anyone else had a job that should have been quick turn into a comedy of errors?

Tired of seeing coax connectors not tightened with the right tool

I've been doing residential installs for about 12 years now, and I keep running into service calls where a previous installer just hand-tightened the F-connectors on the outside of the house. Last week I was at a job in a older neighborhood where the customer said their internet kept dropping out every time it rained. I got up on the ladder and found the connector at the ground block was barely snug. After a few rainstorms, water had seeped right in and corroded the center conductor. I had to replace about 15 feet of cable because the damage had traveled inside the jacket. A simple 7/16 wrench or a proper compression tool would have prevented this whole mess. I see this at least twice a month, especially on newer installs where guys are rushing. Has anyone else noticed an uptick in these kinds of callbacks?

Truck ladder rack snapped in half mid-route yesterday. Customer watched from their porch.

I was just pulling my ladder off for a job near Tacoma. The rack gave way with a sound like a gunshot. Ladder hit the pavement, rack folded down like a cheap lawn chair. Customer just stood there drinking coffee watching the whole thing. I had to finish the install using only my 6 foot Little Giant. Took twice as long. Anyone else had a rack just give up on them like that?

Spent 4 hours untangling a mess in an attic in Phoenix last Tuesday

Had my best day in 6 months on a new build in Gilbert last Thursday. The builder actually left a pull string in every drop and the drywall wasn't up yet, so I ran all 12 lines in under 3 hours. Does anyone else ever get suspicious when a job goes that smooth or just me?

Tried using a cheap fish tape from Harbor Freight and it broke on the second pull

I figured I'd save a few bucks on a 25 foot fish tape for a basic coax run in a drop ceiling. The wire snapped inside the wall and I spent an extra hour fishing it out with a magnet. Anybody else had bad luck with budget tools on a simple job?

Why does nobody talk about using the right compression fitting for coax?

I spent 3 hours last week at a job in a condo building redoing someone else's work because they used standard RG6 fittings on quad shield cable. They kept getting intermittent signal loss and the customer was ready to cancel. Has anyone else run into this or am I the only one who checks before crimping?

Was running drops at a hospital in Richmond and saw their structured cabling setup

Just realized those $50 signal testers are junk after a bad day on a job

I used the same cheap Klein signal tester for 3 years and thought it was fine until I spent 4 hours chasing a bad drop on Maple Street. Turned out the tester was giving false readings on coax lines with higher frequencies. Anybody else run into this with budget gear or is it just me?

Customer chewed me out for not using rubber grommets on a pass-through

I was running cable in an older house in Cleveland last month, just fishing lines from the basement up to the second floor. The homeowner walks in, sees my hole where I drilled through the floor joist, and goes 'you didn't put a grommet in there? that's a code violation waiting to happen.' I mean, I've always figured if it's a clean hole and the cable isn't moving, you don't need one. But he was a retired electrician and showed me how edge damage over time can fray the jacket. Now I carry a pack of those rubber split grommets on every job, even on low-voltage runs. Has anyone else run into a homeowner or inspector who called them out on something you thought was fine?

Had to choose between a fish tape and a glow rod in a 50-year-old building

I was running cable through a drop ceiling in a downtown Chicago office built in the 70s and the conduit was so corroded my fish tape kept snagging. Switched to a fiberglass glow rod and got it through in 10 minutes flat. Anyone else find glow rods way better for old buildings or am I just bad with a fish tape?

Spent $200 on a fish tape that snapped on the second pull

Ngl, I got burned hard last month. Bought this fancy fiberglass fish tape from a supply house, thought it would last forever. First job with it, I was pulling a bundle of Cat6 through a 40-foot conduit in a new office building downtown. Second pull on a tight 90-degree bend, the core just snapped inside the jacket. Cost me $200 and then another $60 for a cheap steel one from Home Depot that actually worked. Has anyone else had bad luck with those composite fish tapes or did I just get a lemon?

Tried using a coax crimper from Harbor Freight on a 50-unit apartment complex last week

First three fittings passed the pull test but the fourth one slipped right off after I ran the line through the wall, so I ended up redoing all the terminations with a Klein tool I borrowed from another guy, anyone else had that cheap tool fail on them mid job?

That homeowner who asked why I run my lines straight up and down

Had a job last Tuesday where the customer kept following me around asking why I didn't just take the shortest path through the attic. I told him it's cleaner to run coax straight down the wall from the attic feed. He said his buddy who does his own wiring just drills wherever. Spent 20 minutes explaining that a straight drop means less signal loss and way fewer callbacks. Has anyone else had a client question basic practices like that?

Question about wall plates and how many people actually use them

Was on a job in an old apartment building downtown. Overheard the super say they just leave coax dangling behind furniture. Said wall plates are a waste of time. I always put them on. Makes the job look clean. But maybe I'm overthinking it for basic installs. Do you guys still bother with wall plates or just tuck the cable behind the desk?

Took a fall through a rotten attic floor in a 1950s house yesterday

I was running a line through a crawlspace in an old house near downtown and stepped on a board that just crumbled under me. Ended up dangling with one leg through the ceiling drywall, covered in insulation and dust. Has anyone else run into surprise rot in older attics, and what do you look for before stepping?