Direct TV (wiring/prewire) in your new construction home

qwerty

qwerty

Well-known member
Since there are a lot of new construction home buyers on this board wanted to see how some of you (if any) have addressed your Direct TV situation.  Currently we rent and I have direct tv and they had two run cable to every room with a receiver (currently we have 3) so they had to drill through the wall, run the cable, etc.  In a newly constructed home i know they have that box in the master closet that houses all of the cables for regular cable.  Is it possible for the direct tv installer to just go from outside the house into the master bedroom closet and hook up into that box vs drilling and running cables to every location we would want a receiver in?

The only reason i have direct tv now is for the NFL Sunday Ticket, Cox currently offers the RedZone channel so im debating whether to even keep Direct TV (currenlty use Cox for internet/phone) since that would give me my NFL fix if the game i want to watch is not on. Unfortunately Direct TV wont let you get the on-line only version of the Sunday Ticket (you have to be in area where the satellites line of sight would not work to get the service, or your HOA doesnt allow the satellites, etc (maybe i can doctor up the HOA docs?)). Right now we are childless so i can spend me weekends recording and then watching football but hopefully by next football season there will be a little qwerty here or on the way so im guessing my football weekends will be no more anyway, that would minimize my need for direct tv as well. With all this said, im kind of leanging towards dropping direct tv when we move.
 
I've been trying to look into this also, since I'm yearning for sunday ticket to catch more games.  I have a friend who knows all this stuff and will provide you a report later today.
 
i only recall my sales rep telling me that the biggest thing if i go with direct TV is that it will void the warranty of the roof (10 year leak proof warranty)...  :(

also i remember the internet cables prewiring is only cat5 too, so might be crap streaming true 1080p to tv from the computer if going that alternative route (think cat5 bandwidth is limited to 720p)... :(
 
i know KB homes in lake forest was offering a satellite prewire package for about 500 to allow them to hook up into the master closet, but i dont know of any other home builder offering this option.
 
world chaos said:
i only recall my sales rep telling me that the biggest thing if i go with direct TV is that it will void the warranty of the roof (10 year leak proof warranty)...  :(
Click to expand...

you should have called BS on this man - they dont even climb on the roof - they attach the satellite to the eave (or whatever you call that) with a bracket, not sure how that would void the warranty.
 
im not too knowledgeable on the dish technology D: ... lol, but its ok... i think im going to go with cox (im sufficiently more dependant on the internet then a tv)
 
I had DTV installed at my home (1999 built date) and they attached it to the eave on the side of the home and ran the wiring through the attic.  I just told them which rooms I wanted the receivers in and they took care of it.  It was a pretty easy install so I'm guessing on a newer home it'll be easy as well.  I don't have an HOA so I didn't need to get any kind of approval to throw the dish up there but you might have to (check with the HOA).
 
USCTrojanCPA said:
I had DTV installed at my home (1999 built date) and they attached it to the eave on the side of the home and ran the wiring through the attic.
Click to expand...

in each room you got the receiver in, did they drop the line from the attic through the walls and come out through your existing bracket where your regular cable was?
 
qwerty said:
Is it possible for the direct tv installer to just go from outside the house into the master bedroom closet and hook up into that box vs drilling and running cables to every location we would want a receiver in?
Click to expand...

This can be done easily in the new homes. For sure in Stone Gate or any other built by IP. I am not so sure about other places but I think this is like a standard thing now. There is a cable outlet on one side of your home. Usually along with all other utility outlets/meters. This is where COX or other cable companies run the cable upto from the street. Then they connect the cable (from the street) to the one that goes to your MBR closet. You can put the splitters as required on both sides. The builder usually installs a cable splitter in the MBR closet so that you can get internet and as well as TV.

Builder usually runs two cables between the MBR closet and this cable outlet place (one as a backup). You can use that backup cable to hook up the Direct TV cable. You can put the satellite dishes (Direct TV/Dish Network) on the side of the home and run the co-ax cable to this cable outlet place. You can then put a co-ax splitter in the MBR closet and hook up all the bedroom cables to the splitter. All the cables (co-ax or cable receiver, ethernet and phone (which also is ethernet on the backend)) from bedrooms and living room are home run to the MBR closet. You don't need DirectTV to poke holes or run any new cables inside the home.

Hope this helps. I think a diagram can explain this much better. I will make one when I get some time.

 
qwerty said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
I had DTV installed at my home (1999 built date) and they attached it to the eave on the side of the home and ran the wiring through the attic.
Click to expand...

in each room you got the receiver in, did they drop the line from the attic through the walls and come out through your existing bracket where your regular cable was?
Click to expand...
I think they connected it to some main hub and then pre-wired jacks worked (in the living room and in the master bedroom).  I know for sure they didn't run the line down to the living room because there was no way to get to it from the attic.
 
Since dish based TV uses the same coax as cable... it should be easy enough to run the signal through the existing coax network already in the home.

I think the issue here is signal separation because you can't use the same coax for Internet/phone which is why some cases require separate wiring for each room. The other thing I am unsure of is how a dish signal operates in a split signal environment even if the coax is used solely for a dish TV signal (from what I remember we had one cable from a dish per signal box).
 
We have dish network at home. We didn't have any issues. there were 2 or 3 threads that run from attic to the switch box in
our laundry room. These threads allow you to pull 2 or 3 coax between attic & switch box. After that all other wiring inside the house
happens through already wired Coax.  The prewiring also has a return wire from the main TV area back to the switch box to connect
to the 2nd TV etc.

So the installer only has to get dish wire from outside to the attic and they do this through the vents without drilling any holes anywhere.

 
Thanks for all the responses. In areas where i knew i would have a DVR/Receiver (family room, loft, master bedroom) i opted to get the two coaxial line setup to help mitigate any issues. Sounds like i should be fine. 
 
qwerty said:
Thanks for all the responses. In areas where i knew i would have a DVR/Receiver (family room, loft, master bedroom) i opted to get the two coaxial line setup to help mitigate any issues. Sounds like i should be fine.
Click to expand...

Qwerty - Are you having the built ins done too?  Be sure to have them run the wires a little longer as they had mine stuck behind the builts ins with no way to access them... Also, they have another cable wire on the other wall opposite of the french doors... weird place for a cable wire... Are you having your TV over the fireplace?
 
homer_simpson said:
qwerty said:
Thanks for all the responses. In areas where i knew i would have a DVR/Receiver (family room, loft, master bedroom) i opted to get the two coaxial line setup to help mitigate any issues. Sounds like i should be fine.
Click to expand...

Qwerty - Are you having the built ins done too?  Be sure to have them run the wires a little longer as they had mine stuck behind the builts ins with no way to access them... Also, they have another cable wire on the other wall opposite of the french doors... weird place for a cable wire... Are you having your TV over the fireplace?
Click to expand...

Yeah we did get the built ins next to the fireplace. Thx for the heads up, I'll check that before closing. However, Im not a fan of the tv over the fireplace so I put that multimedia outlet on the wall opposite the French doors, that is where I'm putting the tv and with a big sectional so we aren't making the fireplace/tv the centerpiece/focal point of the room.

Did u move in already? Or did you catch the wire thing through some sort of walk through inspection?  Cant remember if u said u were moving in October or November.
 
qwerty said:
homer_simpson said:
qwerty said:
Thanks for all the responses. In areas where i knew i would have a DVR/Receiver (family room, loft, master bedroom) i opted to get the two coaxial line setup to help mitigate any issues. Sounds like i should be fine.
Click to expand...

Qwerty - Are you having the built ins done too?  Be sure to have them run the wires a little longer as they had mine stuck behind the builts ins with no way to access them... Also, they have another cable wire on the other wall opposite of the french doors... weird place for a cable wire... Are you having your TV over the fireplace?
Click to expand...

Yeah we did get the built ins next to the fireplace. Thx for the heads up, I'll check that before closing. However, Im not a fan of the tv over the fireplace so I put that multimedia outlet on the wall opposite the French doors, that is where I'm putting the tv and with a big sectional so we aren't making the fireplace/tv the centerpiece/focal point of the room.

Did u move in already? Or did you catch the wire thing through some sort of walk through inspection?  Cant remember if u said u were moving in October or November.
Click to expand...
I hope I'll be seeing a nice big 60+ inch TV in the family room.  :D
 
For my new home in Lambert Ranch, there was a $300 or so pre-wiring for satellite option that was recommended if you wanted satellite. Minimizes extra wiring and DirecTV hassles later. With my old home (also new) I did DirecTV after the fact and it was indeed a hassle. I don't anticipate those problems this time.
 
i've been searching but still haven't found the answers I've been looking for.  I do have the box on the side of my house and the distribution in the MBR.  But I still see comments on running addition separate wiring from the dish directly to all rooms or something...   

@qwerty..    u looking at the Sharp Quattron 80?    I looked and looked and can't make up my mind.  It was down to $4999 during a labor day sale, but i didnt pull the trigger.    right now I'm leaning towards a Samsung 65
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top