Installation and wiring of Cable

[ernster]

I am renovating a house and have got to my final room - the living room. I have a branch from the main NTL network come to my wall where there is a little brown box. There is then a hole through the wall at this point to the inside where two cables come into the living room. I am presuming one of these is the phone line as it has an NTL phone socket on the end and the other is the cable TV feed with what looks like an F-connector on the end ( it has a twisty bit and a wire sticking out of the middle).

My question is will this cable (it looks like coax to me) be able to be fed to a point in my living room where I can put an F-Connector socket on the wall for it to emerge - then will i be able to use an double ended F-connector cable to feed the Set Top Box from this point.

Also I presume there will be issues with anyone doing work before the cable enters the STB which is what I am proposing - therefore would NTL do this preparatory work for me and if so would they charge me for it ??? I can't see that it would be more than a couple of hours work for an experienced engineer.

I don't have a set top box yet as I havn't ordered anything from NTL - will they do this work as part of an order for a STB although i don't plan to use it for about 2 months as the house wont be ready until then.

Please excuse me if any of the terminology is incorrect and this makes no sense as I am new to the whole Cable TV/ Satellite TV thing !

thanks for any responses in advance.
ernster

If you aren't an NTL customer yet, then the install tech who brings you your STB will put the main wall box where you want it, running cables as ncecessary. This won't cost you any more than if you wanted the install done with the wall box left sitting where it now is.

Technically you shouldn't do cabling work yourself, although seeing as you aren't an NTL customer yet I'm not sure what they can do about it. They can't accuse you of braking terms and conditions you've not signed up for!

On the whole I'd suggest you order from them and let the tech do the wiring.

to the forum by the way!

[ernster]

thanks for the advice- ideally though i would like all the wiring in place before I paint and decorate in the living room - from what your're saying unless i get them to come round before i do that and have a STB i won't use for a couple of months . Thing is i've hidden all the wires in my house as best in can behind plaster etc. so would be pished off if i had to hack out again.

thanks
ernster

[Chris W]

Originally Posted by ernster

thanks for the advice- ideally though i would like all the wiring in place before I paint and decorate in the living room - from what your're saying unless i get them to come round before i do that and have a STB i won't use for a couple of months . Thing is i've hidden all the wires in my house as best in can behind plaster etc. so would be pished off if i had to hack out again.

thanks
ernster

what you could do is put ducting through your walls/ under the floor and run a string through it- the install techs can then pull the cables through this to the places that you want any equipment so you can do the work before and don't have to pay for the extra couple of months before you start using the equipment.

[spike7451]

Originally Posted by ernster

thanks for the advice- ideally though i would like all the wiring in place before I paint and decorate in the living room - from what your're saying unless i get them to come round before i do that and have a STB i won't use for a couple of months . Thing is i've hidden all the wires in my house as best in can behind plaster etc. so would be pished off if i had to hack out again.

thanks
ernster

One problem!
If you have hid the wireing,did you leave enought for the isolator to be mounted on entry from the ETB?Is the the isolator/splitter going under the floor?if so,did you think about the possibility of the isolator/splitter going faulty & how it would be fixed if it did(we are not allowed to lift carpets/fllorings,ect) Did toy use the correct type cable?ie;'solid cored' not honeycombed)
Thing is,the problem of getting the work done before you need it NTL will charge big time! The are health & safety issues too,& the engineer/NTL might refuse to do the work on this basis.Also,what happens if,once the wireing is in place & it's faulty?What then?
Best thong to do is ask for a pre-install survey to be carried out before.
M