ᐅ Making Sensible Improvements to Existing Satellite/Cable Installations

This is the situation I found:

The old cable connection is no longer in use. The wiring ran from the main distribution point (MDP) up to the attic and from there, through a splitter, down to several rooms. The cables and outlets still mostly exist but are no longer connected.

Then a satellite system (quad LNB) was installed, and new cables were run. These cables are embedded in the walls without outlets in the rooms; they just protrude from the walls.

I am currently renovating and want to optimize this setup. I want to keep the satellite connection for now but also keep the option open to switch to cable TV later. Since it’s not easy to lead the satellite cables up to the attic and redistribute them from there (which would probably have been the best solution from the start, I guess), and the new satellite cables are already partially installed at low cost, I would simply install drop outlets (?) there. So far, so good. Or are there good reasons not to install any outlets at all?

If I have 1-2 free connections on the LNB and the cable runs close to the old distribution, I could connect a device to one of the old cable outlets by running a cable via some kind of outlet up to the attic, right? Would I need to modify the outlets in any way, or would that just work?
Can I also route the satellite cable in a room (where it’s not really needed) via a pass-through outlet (?) up to the attic and then star-connect 1-2 more outlets so that only one of them is used at a time? So only one device would ever be plugged in? Or is the mere presence of splitters/pass-through outlets without devices an issue?
Can I even use the same type of distribution for satellite and cable TV? (I understand that cable TV allows multiple devices to operate on a star splitter, while a star wiring with a quad LNB only allows one device to be used at a time.)

I hope it’s clear what I want? I’ll try to describe it differently. I imagine connecting a cable from the LNB to an outlet (pass-through?), and from there another cable running up to the attic (where the cable signal originally came from). The cable upstairs is currently not connected. I would like to connect this to another former cable outlet to be able to use either one or the other outlet.
Also, I still have the option to unplug the LNB and switch back to cable from the other side. Then the cable would probably have to be disconnected directly at the outlet or a terminating resistor would need to be added at the LNB? That’s okay… At this stage, I mainly want to arrange the outlets and cables so that I can easily feed one of the old outlets with one of the remaining LNB channels. Switching upstairs in the attic is not a problem, but of course, it would be nicer if it could work without that.

If you are already renovating, make sure to plan for properly installed network outlets.

hanse987 schrieb:

If you’re already renovating, make sure to plan proper network outlets.

Thanks for the tip. That’s definitely true. Unfortunately, there are hardly any empty conduits available. I only want to install the absolute minimum of new cables to avoid having to completely revert to the shell construction stage. Ideally, I would like to have new CAT cables in all (important) rooms, but the effort for that is just too great for me.

Then at least try to establish basic wiring for properly positioned access points.

If I had to choose between satellite cable and LAN cable today, I would go with LAN.

I would agree with that as well.

The point is that the coaxial cables are already installed, and I want to make the best possible use of them.

Network cables would be ideal, but it seems like a poor cost-benefit ratio given how much effort it would take to open up walls. I’m currently looking into how far I can get with the existing cables and where I might be able to add something with manageable effort.

Can anyone share some insights about the coaxial wiring and the sockets?

I only have a very basic understanding of satellite and cable TV. But as far as I know, the requirements for a satellite cable are generally higher than for an old cable TV cable, because the frequencies are higher. It could be that the way you are wiring the system causes too much signal loss, making reception impossible in the end.

Perhaps it will just have to be tested.

There must have been a reason why the old cable distribution was replaced with a new satellite wiring system.