In wall drop install question

[rugerx]

Hi all I had a install scheduled for this weekend.

My setup-

recievers in 3 rooms. 2 rooms are prewired and connect back to a cabinet in a closet.

1 room is not wired and needs to be fished down the wall and a jack installed, with other end run back to network closet.

When I ordered D* I made certain with the CSR that the install of the 3rd room would be included. She said YES, and I confirmed no cost.

Installer shows up. He says a drop in 3rd room will cost $100.

I inform him that D* told me is would be included.

He says, "it dont work like that". He was a contractor. I had asked D* to send an actual employee installer not a contractor.

He informs me that the only drop that is included is one that runs from the dish outside the house to an exterior wall, and thats only 125 feet included. So essentially an in attic/fish drop or longer outside run than 125 ft will cost me.

I said, thats not what they told me, he called his supervisor, no resolution, so I told him to go ahead and leave, I will call D*.
He gives me a pleasant look and leaves.

I wait on the phone with D* for 2 hours, finally get a supervisor.

She is not very pleasant to say the least. Sounds like she just woke up.
I tell her the scenario, she says she is sorry the CSR lied to me, and will look into it, but regardless, if i want the 3rd room done, I will have to pay for it, end of conversation.

So essentially D* just wasted 4 hours of my day, and I still get to pay for a drop?

I am looking for advice. Does this sound right ? Is it normal to charge for drops that require fishing in the walls ?

I am starting to think D* is no better than Dish Network, and my gut feeling is to cancel the rescheduled install and return to Dish (they charged Zero to install my setup) or goto comcast.

Thoughts?

[rightcoaster]

Even if you pay them to do it, you will hate the method and quality of the work. They just dangle crap down the side of your house and drill a big hole through the side of your house. Nothing is every fished or concealed.

I would pay a quality video contractor to fish and run concealed wiring back to a common location for D* to connect to. Current wisdom says bring 3 RG-6 runs, 1 phone jack and one cat6 ethernet connection to each location.

It will cost a lot more and you'll be glad you did it. Letting them vandalize your home is no bargain.

[TomLewandowski]

I've never heard of D* fishing cable through walls during an installation. I would think that's definitely something the homeowner is responsible for; if you don't do it yourself, hiring someone that will - at a cost. It's certainly not a "standard" installation.

[WestDC]

Buy Two rolls of RG6 And Some Cat 5 Cable at Lowes or Homedepot and tell them you want someone to install it. They will give you a list of Electricians they use. Let them (Fish the wall and run the cable) When That's done call D* and resched appoint to add your Stuff.

Or just put the ends on yourself connect it to the ZImwell and turn on your (NEW) box with D*.

[mrtou53]

Originally Posted by rugerx

Hi all I had a install scheduled for this weekend.

My setup-

recievers in 3 rooms. 2 rooms are prewired and connect back to a cabinet in a closet.

1 room is not wired and needs to be fished down the wall and a jack installed, with other end run back to network closet.

When I ordered D* I made certain with the CSR that the install of the 3rd room would be included. She said YES, and I confirmed no cost.

Installer shows up. He says a drop in 3rd room will cost $100.

I inform him that D* told me is would be included.

He says, "it dont work like that". He was a contractor. I had asked D* to send an actual employee installer not a contractor.

He informs me that the only drop that is included is one that runs from the dish outside the house to an exterior wall, and thats only 125 feet included. So essentially an in attic/fish drop or longer outside run than 125 ft will cost me.

I said, thats not what they told me, he called his supervisor, no resolution, so I told him to go ahead and leave, I will call D*.
He gives me a pleasant look and leaves.

I wait on the phone with D* for 2 hours, finally get a supervisor.

She is not very pleasant to say the least. Sounds like she just woke up.
I tell her the scenario, she says she is sorry the CSR lied to me, and will look into it, but regardless, if i want the 3rd room done, I will have to pay for it, end of conversation.

So essentially D* just wasted 4 hours of my day, and I still get to pay for a drop?

I am looking for advice. Does this sound right ? Is it normal to charge for drops that require fishing in the walls ?

I am starting to think D* is no better than Dish Network, and my gut feeling is to cancel the rescheduled install and return to Dish (they charged Zero to install my setup) or goto comcast.

Thoughts?

I was told the same thing when the installer showed up. I paid the installer $50 bucks on the side to drop a new line he did a good job. Everything is working fine.

[fullcourt]

To DirecTV, "installing in the 3rd room" means that the installer will hook up the receiver or DVR to existing cable. That is what they consider a "standard installation".

[chirshey]

Originally Posted by rugerx

Hi all I had a install scheduled for this weekend.

My setup-

recievers in 3 rooms. 2 rooms are prewired and connect back to a cabinet in a closet.

1 room is not wired and needs to be fished down the wall and a jack installed, with other end run back to network closet.

When I ordered D* I made certain with the CSR that the install of the 3rd room would be included. She said YES, and I confirmed no cost.

Installer shows up. He says a drop in 3rd room will cost $100.

I inform him that D* told me is would be included.

He says, "it dont work like that". He was a contractor. I had asked D* to send an actual employee installer not a contractor.

He informs me that the only drop that is included is one that runs from the dish outside the house to an exterior wall, and thats only 125 feet included. So essentially an in attic/fish drop or longer outside run than 125 ft will cost me.

I said, thats not what they told me, he called his supervisor, no resolution, so I told him to go ahead and leave, I will call D*.
He gives me a pleasant look and leaves.

I wait on the phone with D* for 2 hours, finally get a supervisor.

She is not very pleasant to say the least. Sounds like she just woke up.
I tell her the scenario, she says she is sorry the CSR lied to me, and will look into it, but regardless, if i want the 3rd room done, I will have to pay for it, end of conversation.

So essentially D* just wasted 4 hours of my day, and I still get to pay for a drop?

I am looking for advice. Does this sound right ? Is it normal to charge for drops that require fishing in the walls ?

I am starting to think D* is no better than Dish Network, and my gut feeling is to cancel the rescheduled install and return to Dish (they charged Zero to install my setup) or goto comcast.

Thoughts?

Since D* is not going to provide you with the free lunch, stay where you're at or go to Comcast. That will show them.......

[montybush]

Hi all,
This is something along the same lines as the post from rugerx. I need to run a cable from my attic down through the ceiling to attach to a bedroom TV. The old one in the wall is damaged and the contracted installer from D* wouldn't replace it even with an offer of $$$$. I have a question. Is there a limit on the length of RG 6 cable that I can run without loss of signal? Also - is it OK to hook a 50 FT and a 100Ft length of cable together if I need the extra length? I will be attaching the attic end of this cable to a cable coming from the new D* dish antenna - installed two weeks ago. It has quite a distance to run before hook up to a bedroom TV. Thank you. mb

[tahoeone]

Free install does not include any wall fishing or other "custom" work. They are basically there to run it through a wall from the outside etc. otherwise people would expect lots more than they are paying for(free). You want it done your way, then pay up.

[WestDC]

Originally Posted by montybush

Hi all,
This is something along the same lines as the post from rugerx. I need to run a cable from my attic down through the ceiling to attach to a bedroom TV. The old one in the wall is damaged and the contracted installer from D* wouldn't replace it even with an offer of $$$$. I have a question. Is there a limit on the length of RG 6 cable that I can run without loss of signal? Also - is it OK to hook a 50 FT and a 100Ft length of cable together if I need the extra length? I will be attaching the attic end of this cable to a cable coming from the new D* dish antenna - installed two weeks ago. It has quite a distance to run before hook up to a bedroom TV. Thank you. mb

Yes, before you run it hook it up and test it (D*TV recommends 125' max) but it should work for you.

[Jaggles]

Along similar lines, I recently upgraded to an HD DVR from an HD receiver. The installer wanted $50 to run a second line. I refused and am dealing with D* as well. Do I need a second line or can I just get a splitter?

[WestDC]

Originally Posted by Jaggles

Along similar lines, I recently upgraded to an HD DVR from an HD receiver. The installer wanted $50 to run a second line. I refused and am dealing with D* as well. Do I need a second line or can I just get a splitter?

You need a second RG6 from a Zimwell (located on your dish or network room) so yu can view one and record another

[montybush]

Thank you, WestDC, for your answer to my question. mb

[starsky]

When I recently had my HD equipment replaced with the new MPEG4 stuff, my son's room needed an extra line for his DVR (there was only 1 existing line). The installer told me it would cost $70 if he had to do any wall fishing, but what he did do for me is rout the extra cable to the location in the attic. All I had to do was fish it through the wall, which was easy to do because there was an existing hole in the attic for the existing rg6.

[rightcoaster]

Originally Posted by starsky

When I recently had my HD equipment replaced with the new MPEG4 stuff, my son's room needed an extra line for his DVR (there was only 1 existing line). The installer told me it would cost $70 if he had to do any wall fishing, but what he did do for me is rout the extra cable to the location in the attic. All I had to do was fish it through the wall, which was easy to do because there was an existing hole in the attic for the existing rg6.

Another good trick is to attach a heavy twine or fish tape to the existing wire, pull it back to the attic, tape the two RG6 together, use the twine to pull them both back down. Particularly helpful if you have trouble dropping the second RG6 near the wall opening.