Trust The Cable Guy
If you want to save money and time, then let the real cable professionals do the work that you don't have to. You will spend more money in the end buying tools, equipment, and cable. Besides, most cable technicians are trained to replace inferior splitters, connectors, and cable. So if you want the job done right, then trust your cable installer to do the job right. The splitter and cable pictured above is a prime example of inferior equipment. The splitter is probably a 900MHz splitter which creates many issues for the cable guy when installing cable modems, dvr's, digital boxes, etc. The cable lines in the picture look okay to the novice, but us cable guy's will take them out and toss them in the trash. You wouldn't take a $50 bill and throw it in the trash, so don't buy inferior equipment you may be doing just that.
2. Find the right tools to do the job.
If you are bound and determined to install cable yourself, surround yourself with the right tools. Chances are you may already have the tools necessary to do most of the work right in your home. You'll need a cordless or electric drill, electrical tape, a flashlight, a long needle nose pliers, a drywall saw, a tape measure, and a 1/4 inch & 1/2 inch drill bit. These are all the tools you'll need for now to make the cable guy's life much easier. If you're going to purchase cable make sure it's RG-6 cable. Do not buy RG-59 cable. RG-59 cable loses much more signal over a span of distance than RG-6 does. Not to mention, the cable guy will have to replace it.
3. Where to begin.
There's people out there that have so much work to do that they don't know where to begin. If you're installing cable outlets, start from the furthest one away from your electrical panel in the basement. The electrical panel, 9 times out of 10, is where your cable splitters will be located. The job gets easier as you go because you'll find yourself running up and down the stairs multiple times. You may get tired towards the end of your work so the shorter runs will be last to account for your lack of endurance. Starting furthest away makes it easier for clipping up lines in your basement as well. I'll touch on that later.
4. Always "home run" your cable outlets.
There are jobs that us cable guy's call "cable nightmares". These jobs usually aren't due to the pile of laundry you leave trailing down the stairs or the kitty litter boxes overflowing in the basement. These "cable nightmares" are due to bad wiring. Not bad cable lines. By bad wiring I mean that someone tried to do it themselves without knowing what the heck they were doing. For example, they run 4 cable lines to one side of their basement, 5 to the opposite side, and 3 to another side. Doing this creates big problems, not just for the cable guy, but for your reception on your t.v.'s as well. When I say home run your cable outlets, I mean run them all to one area in your basement. This is critical for proper grounding, splitting quality signal to every cable outlet, and ease of work. The best place to "home run" your cable lines near the electrical panel in your basement. There's a cable code that cable technician's follow. The number one cable code is always, when possible, to follow power. This means that wherever the power meter is on the outside of your home, will be the same place where the technician will run or has run the main "cable drop" to your home.
5. Don't make the job harder than it really is.
Some people have a big ego and try to conquer the toughest cable outlet to install first. Don't waste your time. There are reason's why us cable guy's are often late. It's usually due to us fixing customer's schotty work. Tackle the easier cable outlets first, the one's that you know you can do with very little effort. If you're not picky you can simply drill down through your floor close to where your t.v. is. Putting the outlet in the wall requires a little more expertise, but it's not extremely difficult. The more outlets you install, the easier it becomes. If you're not sure how to install a more difficult outlet, just leave it for the cable guy and ask him what he thinks. Remember that two minds are often better than one. The technician may give you a couple options that you haven't thought of. Then you can have him do it, or wait for him to leave and do it yourself. Many cable technicians will leave you a splitter with more ports if they know you are going to run more lines. If they won't leave you another splitter then run your lines and call the cable company back to have it activated. Don't buy a bigger splitter yourself because we'll toss it out the next time we come by for a service call.
6. Look for a reference point.
Always look for a reference point before drilling. You must make sure that you aren't going to drill into water pipes, vents, electrical lines, or worse a septic pipe. There are situations in older homes as well that may cause issues when drilling. Older homes often have foundations that jut out near your outside walls. You may look at where you want your cable outlet and think, "this will be easy. I'll just drill down through my hardwood floor on this outside wall and pull the cable line down." As you begin to drill you hear screeching. This is a sign that you've just drilled into your foundation in the basement. 90% of the time it's much easier to do your drilling on inside walls. So you can arrange your room's accordingly knowing that it's much tougher to install a cable jack on an outside wall. When I say "look for a reference point", I mean look at things such as phone jacks, vents, electrical outlets, or water pipes that may give you a better idea of where to drill. If you see a phone jack in your living room and want a cable jack right next to it, chances are the phone tech drilled down into the basement to get that phone line there. Look in the basement first before drilling to find this phone line. If you see it, great! But make sure that it is indeed the right line before drilling. If you can't find a reference point, but you are in a room that is carpeted, there's another trick to making sure you aren't drilling into anything. Grab your 1/4 drill bit (4 inches in length), pull back the carpet from the wall, and drill a small hole through the floor near the trim. Using a short drill bit will ensure that you aren't drilling into anything. The bit should be just long enough to get through the floor. Next, drop a piece of string or a tie wrap through the hole and head downstairs. Find the string or tie wrap that you stuck in the hole. If you're putting the cable jack in the wall, measure 2 inches back from this hole and drill up from the basement using your 1/2 inch drill bit (6 inches or longer). You should now have a hole going inside your wall.
7. Find your stud.
If you are going to install most or all of your cable jacks through the floor alone, you may not need to read this section. A great tool to have is a stud finder. If you don't have one, you don't necessarily need one if you follow my tips. I personally do not own one. They're nice to have, but a trained ear makes putting cable jacks in the wall easy. First, know what you're dealing with. If you know that your walls are drywalled, great! If the walls in your home are constructed with plaster and lats, it won't be easy to get a cable jack in the wall. If you know without a doubt that your walls are drywall then simply knock on the wall to find your stud. Even if your inside walls are insulated you should be able to tell the difference between a hollow sound and a solid sound. The solid sound is the stud behind the drywall. Studs in your wall are most often constructed 16 inches on center. This means that if you measure your wall, the direct center of it will be where you find your first stud. And each stud will be 16 inches from the center of the first stud to the center of the next. For example, if your wall measures 8 feet in length (96 inches), the center of your first stud will be at 4 feet (48 inches). Measuring from the center outward every 16 inches you will find 3 more studs in that remaining 48 inches. There are exceptions to this rule, but these are construction codes. I find it easier to knock when trying to find a stud. Another way to find a stud is by looking at the electrical outlets on that wall. More times than not, the electrical outlets were put in before the drywall was installed. Electrical outlet boxes are nailed to a stud in the wall. If you are careful you can take off the electrical wall plate and look to see which side the stud is on. Do not touch anything inside the electric outlet if you don't know what you're doing. Now that you have your reference point and know where your studs are you can move to the next step, drilling.
8. Drilling
If you used the reference point trick found near the end of tip 7, the most difficult part of your work is done. You should have a hole through your floor going inside your wall. Now, measure where you'd like your wall plate to be installed in your wall. Most people like the cable outlet to be at the same height as their electrical outlet. After measuring the height of where you'd like your cable jack, look down at the 1/4 inch you drilled underneath your carpet. You can now drill into your wall with your 1/2 bit. Let the drill do the work. You don't need much force, if any, when drilling into drywall. Now that you have your hole drilled into the drywall, take your drywall saw and cut a bigger hole out of the hole you just drilled. Make sure not to cut your hole any bigger than what your wall plate will cover. After you've cut your hole you're ready to run your cable lines.
9. Running cable lines.
Drilling usually requires the most expertise and planning. Now that all of your holes are drilled, you are ready to run your lines. If you purchased cable, set it near your electrical panel in the basement and work your way back to the outlet. It's much easier to fish your line up, then it is to fish it down into the small hole you've drilled inside your wall. Run your cable over vents, electrical lines, or anything else in your basement. You don't need to clip up your lines yet. You can let the cable guy do that. If you insist on clipping up your lines look for screw based clips. Don't buy electrical clips with nails because you may damage the cable when hammering them in. Make straight runs with your cable. Don't run your lines diagonally. If you do, most cable guys will replace it because it's against their cable code. Don't worry about putting ends (connectors) on your cable lines. The cable tech will be more than happy to put them on for you, especially considering you've done the bulk of the work for him. Make sure you leave enough cable slack at your wall plate and near the electrical panel. Better more cable than not enough. If you risk it and leave the cable short, it may have to be replaced as well.
10. Fishing cable lines in walls.
Your holes are drilled and your lines are now ran. Now for the fun part, wall fishing. Again, if you're running your cable lines directly through the floor you need not read this section. Most people use what's around the house to wall fish. There are tools you can buy such as glow rods or fish tape. You don't need these items when you can go to your closet and grab an old metal hanger. Undo the hanger with needle nose pliers first. You should have a long, firm, thin piece of metal now to do your wall fishing. Head to the basement beneath your first cable outlet and push the hanger up into the hole that runs inside your wall. The hanger is really effective when dealing with insulation because it can push right through it. Then use electrical tape to tape the end of your cable to the end of your hanger. Now go upstairs to the cable outlet. Shine a flashlight in the wall to see where the hanger is. If you can't see it, reach inside the wall with your long needle nose pliers. This may take some time so don't get frustrated. If you are having trouble doing this alone, find someone to help you. It's nice when you have a helper downstairs moving the hanger. It's easier to spot it in the wall then. When you find the hanger inside the wall, slowly pull it up to ensure that the electrical tape doesn't break. Have your helper push it up while you are pulling. Hurray!!! You've installed your first cable outlet! Just leave the end hanging out of the wall. The cable guy will take care of the rest. :-)
