TV Antenna and Comcast Internet
 

We just bought a ranch in The Villages and i want an antenna for local stations and then stream everything else over the internet connection. The prior owners of my ranch had satellite TV and centurylink DSL for internet.

Supposedly I can get Comcast for the internet (faster connection than DSL so I prefer that) but don’t want to pay monthly for cable TV particularly since I will be a snowbird at least for a few years.

The problem is both the antenna connection and Comcast need to go over the coax cable system in the house. I had intended to just replace the satellite dish with the antenna which already connects into the cable system outside my garage. I presume the Comcast cable would also connect to the house coax system near the same point.

Does anyone have experience having Comcast run coax inside their home? There is a shallow attic area and I would think they would have to run the coax through that above the garage. Will they do that? I only need the Comcast coax to one point inside the house for the modem and will use the coax system for the antenna. Is there some better way to accomplish this? Thanks in advance for your input

It sounds like you already have sufficient coax cables in your house to accomodate the Comcast connection. Typically, Comcast doesn't run new cabling inside your house. You may want to call Tom at Villages AV, 352-388-1677. He can help with any antenna installation or antenna cables, or hook it up to existing cables.

Can't you connect your antenna to where the Dish (or whatever brand) connection is on the outside of our house???



We did that for a number of years. A $100 outdoor antenna connected to where the cable access enters the house.

Thanks for the reply. Yes attaching the antenna where the satellite connection is currently is my intention. The real problem, or at least what I think is the problem, is that both the antenna TV connection and the Comcast internet connection will want to use the house coax system.

An option. In your garage, where all the cables come together to connect to Comcast, disconnect the one cable going to the TV location and connect the antenna.


Without too much information...................connect the Comcast cable coming into your house to the single cable going to your modem / router. The connect your antenna cable coming from outside to a splitter so you can have multiple TV outlets.


Or call Tom the AV guy.

I did something similar except I found they came together in the attic above the garage and not far from my attic steps that I had Tim Miller install. I have Directv in the LR and M/BR but decided to use an antenna for the guest BR.

Where the cables come together in the attic, two went out to the eve and up on the roof to the satellite dish. The third I connected to an antenna that I bought on Amazon for $27 and mounted on the rafters. It picks up about 50 stations, about 20 are in Spanish, about 10 are religious and rest are network or rerun channels. So when I workout in the guest BR I have that TV to watch. If I had to live by what was available on OTA only, I would get rid of my TV, it's slim pickings.

On Directv we watch ID Channel (Investigation Discovery) HGTV, ESPN, ESPN 2, FS1, NHL, Sunshine Sports, etc. The only time we watch the networks is for live sports, I don't care for much for TV shows, sitcoms, or anything they have to offer.

If you're a snowbird, did you know you can "rest" Comcast while you're away?

No I didn’t Thanks

Why not just stream the local channels too? I do. I also had Century Link bring a fiber optic line into the house to replace the old DSL which wasn't fast enough. Took out landline at the same time (was always unplugged anyway) and the monthly bill went down. Pay $45 total a month for life. :ho:

My question is why do you want to use an antenna for local stations and pay for cable? You sound like a savvy person so I'll suggest you go with an internet connection, get an app like YouTubeTV, and you're good to go. Internet TV is better and cheaper than paying a cable company. Plus when you go back and forth as a snowbird, you just take your ROKU, or whatever device, with you and use it in both places. We have CenturyLink internet access and YouTubeTV for under $100/month, and have everything cable can give us at less cost. We also have HULU at $11/month, and free Amazon Prime app since we subscribe to Amazon Prime shipping. Something to think about...

use a splitter

You tube tv is the way to go! We also have Netflix as well!

Having an antenna has been real beneficial. We do use a Roku device and bounce around from hulu, netflix, sling, youtube, amazon prime, etc when they have programs we like. But it's hard to stay with any of the services long term as in time we get tired of the selections. Sometimes it's nice to have the antenna as a backup to just watch the local channels and not always be tied to a tv subscription.

Cheers

You can call Zack at Sky sat 20 813 695 8824. They do custom antennas and wiring. I tried a similar project in my house and finally gave up . The money I spent with Sky Sat was worth it ten times as they hooked up an antenna to all TVs. I now get all my locals for free and can steam also. Ask for the installer Eddie he has 30 years experience hooking up local antennas .

I'm on my third ota antenna installation and have yet to find anything worth watching. I can get one "local" station, Channel 6, other than that it's pathetic. We have youtube tv that has all the tv you need via the internet stream. What do you get with your antenna? Too much old stuff, spanish and religion for me.

OTA antenna
 

I'm also concerned about a lightning strike. With that metal pole sticking up there like an invitation. The summer months can be quite "shocking".

Ohiobuckeye
 

I had an antenna in my attic for over a yr. I found the cable to the room that I was going to have my TV in & I pulled it (cable) up into the attic then took the cable wire to TV & screwed it into a booster box. A booster box will give you a stronger signal, the booster box will have a IN & an OUT. Take short wire from antenna & screw it into the IN then cable from TV screw it into the OUT to TV. Booster Box will be AC, it has to be plug in. I got 50 channels pointing it towards Orlando. Follow directions that you got with antenna, there’s some work, but it’s not hard. Pulling wire to attic is the hardest thing. It’ll take some work! Where we live now our cable & Internet is FREE, can’t beat that. Good Luck!

You don't want Comcast. They raise prices frequently, and charge over $400 to cancel service. Comcast has been a monopoly in TV, and have no qualms charging whatever they feel like charging. Do your homework, get quotes, references......

I live near Savannah center and get all the local stations with an attic antenna but I have a freakishly tall attic. Antenna is about 19' above the ground. If the antenna is only 12' above the ground you probably can't get channel 2 (NBC). Height is key to getting Orlando stations.

I bought a Google Nest system with a main wifi router and 2 extra wifi points. If you were to connect the modem and main router right at the cable inlet you would probably only need 1 extra point to cover the entire house. The advantage of Nest is the SSID is the same for the main and extra point. Then you wouldn't need any of your house cabling for Comcast.

I have a junction box in the garage where the Comcast cable comes in. There are branches to all the other rooms in the house. Not sure how yours is set up but with mine you can connect Comcast to the cable in one room and use the others for TV.

I have a digital antennae that you could try. It pulls in local stations within a 100 miles.

We had Comcast come out and run a line thru exterior wall to our internet modem sitting on a shelf on the other side of the wall. Did not even up charge us but I gave him a nice tip.

No such thing as a digital antenna, all antennas receive an analog wave and the TV strips the digital signal off it. The "old time" antennas of the past would work very well.

To be fair to Comcast, the early termination fee on a 2-year agreement is $230, and it declines by $10 each month. During the 2-year agreement period, you can downgrade your services without being charged, but you cannot cancel all services. Also, the basic fees do not increase, but there are some taxes and other fees, not totally controlled by Comcast, that can be increased during agreement period. These fees are listed in the agreement. It is a good idea to know when your agreement period expires, and to make an appointment to establish a new agreement in person at the store before the old one expires. Otherwise, you will lose all discounts in the agreement and your charges will automatically increase.

This might help others from getting in this situation.
 

With internet using a coax connection to modem it can cause a problem when you use one of the coax leads for your internet connection.

We had that in mind when sitting down with designers on building our house and had an additional coax cable run from the termanal box to the location we will have modem/router setup at.

It was only about $50-$60 to have an extra coax cable installed to the location of our choice. Not sure what after build cost would be but much easier to do in advance. Another tip you might consider if building new is if your planning to have your TV wall mounted in living room pay the extra to have power outlet installed($55) at 5' height so no cables visible.

We had the additional coax cable installed at the 5' height and this eliminates any wires visiable for TV. We kept the low installed Coax cable and will use this for our internet connection.

I know this doesn't solve your problem with need of an additional coax for your internet but might help those considering building and keep from finding themselves in your situation.

We also had the power outlet and coax moved to 5' height in MB to eliminate wires also.

your antenna cable for free broadcast , get plugged into your television. There is no tie in with any cable lines.

how do you get free cable and internet ?