Has anyone had any experience of had estimates done on getting cable run where it doesn't exist. I didn't check about this at first cause who buys a house based on cable internet availability but the neighborhood was only ever run for phone and power. I would need the cable company to run a 1/4-1/3 mile run underground to by house from the main road since the neighborhood road is a private drive. My fear is that this is going to be very costly but I really don't want to have DirecTV or DSL as the fastest DSL available for my address is listed at 6MB. I currently have 100MB cable connection.

 

Cable would obviously be cheaper, a fiber run is def going to cost you

 

Yeah I personally don't care I am open to which ever company gives me the best deal at the end of the day. I mean I would be willing to spend like $2500 or so to have it done but some research seems to show it will cost me much more than that.

 

It all depends on the amount of time but i am going to assume $8-12,000. That's my best guess.

 

I've heard 10K for a fiber run

 

Find out what "code" is and do it yourself?

1000ft spool of Coax - $150
Rent a 18" ditcher @ HD - $100/day
PVC conduit plus joint glue - $0.60/ft for the conduit, plus joiners (every 10 feet) and glue.

Might take a weekend but would save thousands of dollars...

 

I unfortunately have to go through my neighbors property to get to my house. I am not the first house on the street and the entire neighborhood street is a private drive. Now if they would be ok with me doing it then that would be awesome.

I did some research over my lunch break though. The house across the intersection from the street my house is on is available for cable service so the line is already run down that road. From the start of my street to like 15ft past my driveway is only 0.1 miles so I very much over estimated the distance. Now that it is shorter I am going to call the cable company for an estimate.

 

 

Sounds like a plan.

OTOH, you coul dgo "halfsies" with your neighbor that you need to trench through and run TWO conduits, one for him and one for you. Plus, being neighborly and all that jazz.

OK, I just want to run a trencher. Vicariously through you is OK, too. There I said it.

 

This. Do it in the fall or winter (definitely not August) and don't drink a case of Keystone the night before. I had to learn from experience.



Serious question though: Why would you need two conduit to go halfsies? Wouldn't a junction box be just fine?

 

running a trencher does sound really fun. I would be scared though since this is a private drive the water service is so stupid. The city water valves are at the end of the street of the public road. Then each house has its own pipe that runs underground down the side of the private drive to each house. Lots of things to accidentally hit including gas lines too. I think I will leave that chance up to someone else. Sorry to ruin your chance to live through me on that one.

 

gas lines have a copper tracer wire attached to it!!!
and you can prod the ground with a rod to find the water pipes!

 

^Justin knows all about probing the ground :gheylaugh:

 

Does your state not have an 811 "call before you dig" service? If not, just call the utility companies that have lines in the area and they will come out and mark their lines for you.

In ND, they rarely trench. It's all usually bored.

 

^ This.

Find where existing lines are and get plans from the city for where utility easements are at. There's no difference between the cable company running lines vs you running lines if there's an easement but you can always offer to go halfsies run an extra line for your neighbor when you go through their yard.

Don't need two conduits, just one big enough for all the cabling.

Fiber isn't more expensive for the actual labor of running it, it's more expensive in materials and if there isn't a fiber connection at the end of your street, it won't do jack.

 

I called 811 and it was free, they came out and marked everything, water, sewage, gas, everything

 

This here is why I started this thread. Thanks guys. Learning new things.

Yes most things I see done around here are bored as well now.

 

If you wind up hiring it done, then don't worry about calling 811. The contractor will take care of that. They face hefty fines if they take out a line without calling 811.

You could hire Crabman to bore for you, but at only 4 inches at a time it would take years

 

You're being very nice



OP you have to consider amplifiers too probably for that long of a run. When I had cable for the first time at my parents' house, TWC had to do a run from the pole at the street to the house (but that was free).


Have you asked them? Or is this a case of "we don't service your area" type of thing?

 

NC does have an 811 service so just give them a buzz and they will come out and mark. We've had to do it for a few projects and they usually come out within a few days of calling. I believe they have a website you can use to schedule as well...

 

Crabman wouldn't have 4 inches if you measured from his stomach

 

oh you guise, you are too generous.

 

If you call 811 it's free, if the contractor calls, he has to pay for it.

 

FYI... Underground Utility Locating - North Carolina 811

 

It cost us ~10K to have electricity run a little less than 1/4 mi. in a deep trench.

However, Verizon ran FiOS even a bit further for free. It's very shallowly buried, and was very quick. It took a couple of months to make it happen because Verizon is one of the crappiest companies ever, but it did eventually happen after much harassment.

 

There are often utility easements for these kinds of things, so you may not need your neighbors' permission.

 

funny how the communication companies are the worst ones to communicate with..

 

If you ran fiber yourself you'd still have to have someone terminate it for you. Fiber require special training and tools to terminate. Are you sure that the cable company will connect your cable to their network after it's run?

 

So apparently it just took getting someone who wasn't lazy and actually knew what they were talking about on the phone. Unfortunately this took three separate calls to make happen but I finally have someone coming out from the cable company next Wednesday to tell me if they will even do it and if so how much it will cost to run the cable down the street and into the house.

 

I am finding this out exactly. Seems so silly how hard it is sometimes to deal with these places we end up paying a fortune for for service.