Skip to main content

Modernizing old house network wiring - Part 8 - Removing Some Ugly Outdoor Cabling

After several days of work, I have Ethernet lines in many areas of the house and I understand all of my Cable TV wiring.  All of it is "dark" (not hooked up to anything at either end):

Here is the Master List of Dark Cables:
  • Bedroom 1: Ethernet to the attic, and Cable TV (shorted) to the basement
  • Bedroom 2: Cable TV, strung outside the building to the basement telecom panel
  • Bedroom 3: Ethernet to the attic, and Cable TV, strung outside the building to the basement telecom panel
  • Den: Three Ethernet and Cable TV runs to the basement telecom panel.
  • Kitchen: One Ethernet (broken) and Cable TV to the basement telecom panel
  • Living Room: Cable TV to the basement telecom panel
  • Basement (finished part): Ethernet and Cable TV to the basement telecom panel
  • Other: One Ethernet from attic to basement telecom panel
That's a lot of cable.

But wait!  There is lots more cable near the basement telecom panel:
  • There is a bunch of very old and/or hacked telephone wiring that once ran to some rooms
  • There is a bunch of new and ancient telephone wiring that comes in from the outside.
  • There is some (maybe) alarm system wiring
I'll get to that stuff later.  Because today is when I get rid of stuff I understand, but I know I don't want.

Bye bye, sloppy cable

Looking closely at my Master List, there is a lot of Cable TV wiring.  The worst part is the three Cable TV runs on the outside of the building, amounting to roughly 100 feet of Coax cable stapled up.  I'm going to remove these three ugly outdoor coax cable runs.

That means I'm going to lose my Cable TV capabilities in the Living Room and in two of the three bedrooms.  That's OK, if I need Cable in those rooms in the future, I'll reinstall the cable from the attic above or the basement below.  But that's very unlikely: Cable TV wiring is definitely on its way out.

Analysis

There have been a few units of work performed on the side of the house.
  1. An AC unit, along with its plumbing and wiring, circa 1998
  2. Another AC unit, along with its plumbing and wiring, circa 2001
  3. The telephone line from the street, circa 1940, which has been abandoned
  4. A more modern working telephone line from the street, circa 1975
  5. A 1990's vintage network interface box, from the telephone company
  6. A 4-pair line leading to the network interface box, but abandoned.  Circa 1990's.
  7. A Cat5e cable, for the building phones, using a single pair and sloppily run.
  8. A Cable TV company feed, likely installed around 1990.
  9. Three cable TV cables leading to various rooms, likely installed around 2001.
  10. One cable TV cable that goes nowhere
  11. One motion detection security lamp, sloppily installed and non-functional, circa 2010.
That's at least eleven units of work, not including any repairs or modifications.   It likely looked great at one time, but over the years it has gotten ugly, to the point where now it's just an unholy mess.

Eventually I'll move the AC unit away, but the goal now is removing the abandoned and the ugly.

First Stop: Telephone.

This was easy.  I opened the Network Interface Box and looked in.  The box is very broken, and when I opened it it was clear that it lost the plastic between "company" and "customer" sides.  Whatever.

There were two cables going into the "customer" side of the box - a Cat5e cable and a 2-pair POTS cable.  The 2-pair cable was disconnected, so I pulled it back to the wall of the building and snipped it off, leaving a driplet in place until I could properly dress the hole I'd be leaving behind.

The Cat5e cable was still connected to one line.  I removed the Cat5e from the box, and then closed the box up.  From there, I drew the cable back into the house.  I'll need to fill the hole that's remaining.

There is one more telephone line left - the line from the 1940.  It strings around the building a bit, so  I'll need to get that when I move to working on a ladder.

Second Stop: Cable TV.

Happily, there were some F-connectors on the outside of the building, so I just unscrewed them, clipped off the cable, and then stuffed the old cables inside the building.  I also pulled out the "cable to nowhere".

I wasn't prepared to get up on a ladder today, so that's all I did on the outside of the building.

Next time

Next time I'll pull off everything else that should go.  But this requires work on a ladder, so I'll need to be more prepared.

The effort will include the following:

1. Remove 1940's telephone line
2. Remove remaining old Cable TV
3. Remove old security light
4. Remove any unused hangers
5. Fill holes as appropriate







Popular posts from this blog

Fixing a SodaStream Jet, part 1: Disassembly Guide

I've had my SodaStream Jet for years, and once in a while something has gone wrong. Disassembly is the first step to repair.  Start with this article to see how to disassemble the SodaStream, and then once you have that down, scroll through my other articles to see how I repaired specfic SodaStream problems. SodaStream Jet Disassembly Guide Tools Required Flat head screwdriver Phillips head screwdriver 1. Remove the Carbonator.  Duh. 2. Remove the black panel lever The front big black tilt lever needs to be removed first. Removing this panel is tricky, but it isn't impossible. Looking up at the bottom of the black panel, there are two tabs, one on the left and one on the right. These tabs fully secure the panel in place. The trick is to use a flat-head screwdriver under the plastic to gently lever the tabs out of the way.  Note in the pictures how I approach these tabs with my screwdriver.  I usually release the left side first, and then I release ...
Read more

Fixing a SodaStream Jet, Repair #2 - Broken Fill Button

My Soda Stream Jet's fill button broke, which means I can not longer carbonate water by pressing the pushbutton. This caused all sorts of grief in my household. Here is how I managed to repair my Jet to give it another 10 years of life (hopefully). First, a look at the button The fill button on the top of the SodaStream is actually a simple lever. Pressing down on the button moves a pin that does the actual work of pressing open the Carbonator's valve. Unfortunately, the axis point is fairly thin and can see a lot of stress. That's where my Soda Stream button cracked. [ I think the usage tip here is "don't over-press the button like a gorilla, it doesn't do anything but put high stress on the button."] Cracked levering point of the button The Pesky Lever Retaining Pin The Fix It was pretty easy for me to replace the button: Take off the back of the Soda Stream and remove the carbonator. Push out the the button lever's steel retaining pin. This takes qu...
Read more

Sodastream Carbonator Leakage, Usage, and Weight

SodaStream 60L "Carbonator" CO2 cylinders have a specific weight when empty, plus about 410 or so grams for the CO2 they should have when they're "full".  A little while ago I went to buy a replacement Carbonator from my local hardware store. The dealer pulled a new Carbonator out of the box and sensed it was lighter than usual.  He put the "light" Carbonator in the "empty" pile and sold me a different one.  At that moment I concluded that it would be smart of me to weigh both new and empty SodaStream carbonators.  Here are the results. Weighing a SodaStream Carbonator - for both Science and Consumer Protection.       The dealer told me that sometimes the carbonators leak after they leave the SodaStream filling facility.  That means there could be an opportunity for customers like me to get ripped off! The SodaStream cylinders I buy claim to have a net product weight of 410 grams - and that means that a full Soda Stream Carbonator shou...
Read more

Fixing my Wahl 9918 Groomsman Beard and Mustache Trimmer

Not everyone would bother repairing a $25 beard trimmer, but why not fix something for under $5 instead of spending another $25? My  Wahl 9918 Groomsman Beard and Mustache Trimmer  has admirably performed its beauty duty for many years, but the time came when the battery just wasn't holding a charge any more.  Most people would just put the trimmer in the trash and buy a new one, but I figured I could repair my otherwise excellent Wahl and save some money. In fact, even high priced trimmer and rotary shaver brands, like Norelco and Remington, can be easily repaired using a process similar to the one I used to fix my Wahl.  Read on to find out how. I opened up the Wahl by popping off the black plastic faceplate with a tiny flathead screwdriver, which revealed two screws.  By removing the two screws I was able to easily open up the unit, revealing the guts of the device. Backplate off, Revealing the screws The internals are rather simple: a motor, a...
Read more

Robust Installation of an HDHomeRun Networked TV Tuner. 64 OTA channels!

I added an HDHomerun (HDHR) over-the-air (OTA) streaming box to my home network, bringing over-the-air broadcast TV to my computers, phones and tablets.  The HDHR is a big upgrade from my previous setup: using a simple "window mount" antenna directly connected to my TV. A TV-attached antenna is good for watching some TV for free, but the HDHR offers so much more flexibility. Figure 0: HDHomeRun on my basement wall   My original OTA TV setup was haphazard at best. It was finicky, ugly, and hard for other people at home to use. I would actually tape my antenna to a window whenever I wanted to watch OTA TV. Plus, it only worked on my TV and not with my other devices. I wanted a cleaner and more modern OTA setup. After looking at possibilities, I developed two goals: (1) bring my OTA TV into the modern Internet-connected era, and (2) set it up in a reliable and pretty way so that other family members wouldn't have to fool around with the antenna or anything else.  With that,...
Read more

Apple TV HD - The Best Streaming box ever

I purchased my Apple TV on its release day, in October 2015.  It continues to serve me perfectly, after nearly 10 years of active use. Although it is decidedly not the newest model of Apple TV, it does 100% of the things I want it to do without any issues.  Sure, I'd love a more modern SoC, gigabit Ethernet, Thread support, 4k video support, etc, but honestly I am not missing any of those features, so "upgrading" it today would be a waste of money.  I did sell the original Siri remote in 2023 and upgrade to the 3rd generation (USB-C) Siri remote. The original Siri remote was working great, but I figured after 7.5 years of use, it was time to get a new remote with a new battery.  I will likely upgrade my Apple TV in the future, but I can't predict when that will be.   Due to a quirk of its release strategy, this Apple TV was discontinued in late 2022, and so it is likely to be supported for several more years. A new device would have to be a leap ahead, because m...
Read more

Other Posts

Show more