Opinions Matter

c/cable-installers

24

richard_dixon•1d ago

Tried running cable through a ceiling without a glow rod and honestly it saved me like 30 minutes

I used a wire coat hanger and electrical tape to pull a coax through a drop ceiling in a church basement near Philly and it worked way better than digging out my actual glow rod - has anyone else found a random household item that does the job just as well?

2

sandra_anderson2•2d ago

Appreciation post: that time a basement job in St. Louis made me switch my whole crimping setup

I was doing a rewire in a 1920s house near Forest Park last month, and the crawlspace was tight enough that I could barely get my crimper in there. After 3 hours of fighting with my old Klein ratcheting tool, I borrowed a Coax Pro from a buddy and finished the rest of the drops in under an hour. Now I'm kicking myself for not making the switch sooner. Anyone else have a specific job that made you totally change your tools?

18

haydenbutler•3d ago

Unpopular opinion: fiber fusion splices beat mechanical connectors 9 times out of 10

I did a 48-strand termination job last Tuesday in an office building downtown, used mechanical connectors on half and fusion spliced the other half. The mechanicals had three failures from day one, while the fusion splices all passed with 0.1dB loss or less. Has anyone else switched over entirely or am I just unlucky with those push-click connectors?

25

black.pat•4d ago

Can we talk about that moment when a customer's dog decides your drop line is an enemy?

I was running a new line for a customer near Austin last Tuesday, and their golden retriever grabbed the fiber right out of my hand and took off down the street... Had to chase it three blocks and splice a new end on, ever had a job turn into a dog-walking disaster?

23

william_carter•6d ago

Bought a $200 toner and probe kit off Amazon - couldn't trace a single line with it

That cheap kit gave me false readings on five different cables in a 30-minute window, so I tossed it and went back to my old Fluke gear - has anyone else found a budget tracer that actually works?

8

alice_palmer20•7d ago

Appreciation post for that cheap toner and probe kit I almost passed on

I was skeptical about those $30 toner and probe kits you see on Amazon for a while. My coworker Mike swore by his expensive Fluke one, so I figured the cheap stuff would just waste my time. But last month I had a job at an old apartment complex in Springfield where the labels were all faded. I grabbed a cheap kit on a whim after my third trip back to the truck for a ladder. That little probe found three mystery lines in about twenty minutes, and I actually finished early for once. The tones aren't the strongest through brick walls, but for under fifty bucks it paid for itself on that first job. Has anyone else had good luck with the budget kits or did I just get lucky?

20

simons28•7d ago

That attic job in Phoenix last July changed my whole approach to ladder safety

I was running a triple play drop through a 115 degree attic in Phoenix and slipped coming down my 28 foot extension ladder because I was too tired to set it right. The ladder shifted on the gravel and I took a hard fall, busted my ankle and lost three weeks of work. Now I always take the extra 2 minutes to use ladder stabilizers and levelers no matter how hot or rushed I am. Anyone else have a close call that made you slow down on the basics?

8

milesj70•8d ago

Went back to a house I did 2 years ago and saw how the cables held up in the attic heat

I was in Dallas last month doing a rewire for a new homeowner, and they bought a place I had worked on in 2022. The previous owner had me run about 200 feet of coax through the attic during July, and I remember it being brutal up there. When I popped up this time, the jackets on the cheaper cable were all cracked and brittle, but the nicer stuff I used for the main runs was still flexible and clean. Has anyone else noticed big differences in how long different cable brands last in your local weather conditions?

15

the_zara•11d ago

Old timer told me to always leave a service loop and he was spot on

I was running a new coax drop for a lady in Phoenix last week and remembered what a veteran installer told me years ago. He said always leave at least 3 feet of extra cable coiled up near the entry point. I thought it was a waste of time and material back then. But sure enough, the customer called me 2 days later because she moved her TV to the opposite wall. That service loop saved me from having to run a whole new line. Now I never skip it even on the shortest runs. Anyone else have a habit they picked up from an old timer that turned out to be gold?

19

oliver2•11d ago

Client's cat chewed through my fiber drop right as I was testing it

I was up on a ladder at a house in Oak Park last Tuesday, finishing up a fresh FTTH install. Just as I'm about to do the final light test, I hear this crunching sound and see the homeowner's tabby cat gnawing right through the loose coil I left on the porch. I had to splice in a new pigtail right there on the step, and the cat kept circling my ankles the whole time. Has anybody else had a pet ruin their work mid-job like that?

1

the_morgan•11d ago

Old timer told me to stop running cable so tight and it saved me hours

Been doing residential installs for about 2 years now and I always pulled coax and cat6 as tight as I could. Thought it looked clean. Then this guy Bill who's been in the game since the 90s watched me do a run in a crawlspace last month and just shook his head. He said 'you're gonna break that jacket or crack the inner conductor doing that, leave some slack for the house to breathe.' I felt stupid but I loosened up my next few jobs and honestly it's way faster not fighting to get every inch pulled. Also helps when the customer wants to move the box 2 feet over later. Has anyone else had to unlearn something basic like that?

1

barbara_baker57•12d ago

Can we talk about mesh toner splitters? I was dead wrong about them

For the longest time I swore mesh splitters were just a gimmick. I figured a good solid copper splitter was all you needed for residential drops. Then last spring I had this job in a big old house in Portland where every outlet was dropping signal on the low end. I swapped out their old splitter for a mesh one and bam everything locked in solid. It was a $12 fix that solved a headache I had been chasing for two visits. Still though I wonder if it was just the brand or the design itself. Any of you guys seen mesh splitters actually make a difference on tricky setups or is it just hype?

9

alicesingh•12d ago

Pro tip: One wrap of electrical tape on your coax connector before you crimp it

I've been installing cable for about 8 years now and always had issues with signal loss on outdoor runs. A old timer taught me to put one single wrap of electrical tape around the connector before crimping the F connector on. I tried it on 15 jobs last month and my signal readings stayed above -5 dBmV even after a rainstorm. But I've also heard guys say the tape traps moisture and causes corrosion down the line. Has anyone else tried this or have a different trick for keeping water out of outdoor connections?

22

king.derek•13d ago

Overheard a rookie bragging about never labeling cables and it gave me anxiety

Was at a supply house in Phoenix last Tuesday and this kid was telling his buddy he just runs the same color cable everywhere and "figures it out later." I get wanting to move fast but I spent two hours on a redo last month because someone pulled 20 runs of white coax with zero markings. You guys label on site or do it in the shop before heading out?

20

the_thomas•13d ago

Found a cheap way to fix those loose wall plates that never stay tight

I was on a job over on Elm Street last month and the homeowner was complaining about a coax wall plate that kept falling off. I figured it was just a worn out anchor or something, but when I pulled it off the drywall hole was totally stripped out. I tried the old toothpick trick with a screw, but that only held for about a day. Then I remembered I had a pack of 3/8 inch toggle bolts in my van from a previous install. Drilled the hole out a bit, popped that toggle in, and the plate has been rock solid for three weeks now. I used to buy those fancy drywall anchors from the hardware store, but toggles are like 2 bucks for a ten pack. Has anyone else found a weird fix like this that works better than the standard stuff?

13

the_joseph•18d ago

Hit 500 clean attic installs without a single callback

Was grabbing lunch at this diner in Akron and heard two guys complaining about a job that kept getting service calls for bad splices. Made me think about how I track my own work. I just hit 500 attic installs where I never had to go back for a fix. You guys keep a log of your clean installs or just go by gut?

21

alicesingh•19d ago

Just hit 500 second-story installs and I'm split on the ladders I use

I counted up my jobs from the past 3 years and realized I've done over 500 cable runs on second-story houses... that's a lot of ladder time. Some guys swear by extension ladders for stability, but I get faster results with a telescoping ladder since it's lighter. But then I dropped a spool last month because I was off-balance on the telescoping one. Which do you guys prefer for taller houses, or do you just use a bucket truck for everything like me?

8

oliver2•20d ago

Three years in this trade and I finally ditched my crimpers for fusion splices

I started out splicing fiber on a crew in Charlotte back in 2021. Back then my supervisor swore by mechanical crimps and told me fusion splicers were overkill for residential drops. Last month I finally borrowed a Sumitomo from a buddy and ran a 48-strand trunk in a new apartment complex near the university. The time savings were insane. I did in four hours what would have taken me two full days with crimps. Plus my loss numbers dropped from around 0.5 dB to nearly nothing. Has anyone else made the switch and found it changed how they bid jobs?

1

ben_nguyen•20d ago

Switched from coax to fiber on a big job last month

Switched from coax to fiber on a big job last month. I was dead set on sticking with RG6 for this 12-unit apartment complex in Denver because that's what I know, but the lead guy insisted we try fiber since the customer wanted gig speeds. After running the first unit and seeing how clean the termination was with no signal loss, I'm fully converted now. Has anyone else had a project where changing your usual setup actually made things easier?

7

joseph_adams66•21d ago

Showerthought: That drywall dust collector I laughed at actually works

I spent years just letting drywall dust fly everywhere whenever I cut a box out. Then a guy I worked with in Phoenix brought out this cheap Dust Buster bag for $25 and I made fun of him. After watching him finish a whole office job with almost zero cleanup, I grabbed one for myself last week. Has anyone else found a tool they thought was gimmicky that turned out to save real time?

22

lee72•21d ago

Learned the hard way about cheap grounding blocks

Bought a box of 20 grounding blocks off Amazon for $30 and half of them had bad threads right out of the package. Spent an extra 45 minutes on a job in Toledo last week fighting with one that wouldn't tighten. Anyone else had luck with a specific brand that actually holds up?

21

simon_coleman•21d ago

TIL those cheap cable toner probes on Amazon actually work better than I thought

I bought a $15 toner probe kit off Amazon last month for a side job in Austin, fully expecting it to crap out after one use, but it traced a buried line through three inches of concrete and a dog fence without flaking out, so now I'm wondering if I've been wasting money on the expensive Fluke stuff for the last 5 years.

8

dakota_nelson43•22d ago

A customer told me my wall plates were crooked three jobs in a row

Last month I had three different customers point out that my coax wall plates weren't level. I always just eyeballed them and thought it was fine. After the third guy pulled out a level and showed me it was off by almost a quarter inch, I started carrying a small torpedo level in my pouch. Has anyone else had customers call them out on small stuff like this that totally changed how you work?

4

pat_schmidt60•23d ago

Bought a $200 Klein fishtape and it paid off on one job alone

I finally got sick of wrestling with my old steel fishtape that kept kinking mid-pull. Picked up a Klein fiberglass fishtape from the supply house for about $200. On a huge office run yesterday, I pulled 6 cat6 cables through a 90 foot conduit in like 15 minutes. Has anyone else switched to fiberglass and seen a big difference?

4

haydenbutler•25d ago

Structured cabling trays over zip ties any day for large jobs

I keep seeing guys on here raving about using zip ties for bundling cables. I tried that method for years. Did a 500 drop job at a hospital in Phoenix last year. Zip ties looked clean at first. Then we had to add a new run six months later. We had to cut every single zip tie to trace the bundle. It was a nightmare. Velcro wraps and cable trays cost more upfront but they save so much time on changes. Has anyone else switched to trays and never looked back?