What cable, internet and tel distribution set up do I need ?

[oak orchard]

New all season cottage situation in Western NY (bewteen Buffalo/Rochester). We have run (1) a TV cable and (2) a telephone/internt cable to the cottage in the same trench as our underground electrical service conduit.

We hope to have (1) land line telephone, (2) TV with multi-channel service and (3) internet service with wireless routing inside the cottage. I want the land line tel because land line service seems to be more reliable during blackouts whereas cellular service shuts down.

Time-Warner seems to monopolize our area for TV and land lines; Verizon is the best cell provider.

How should we wire the place?

Can one service line work for everything? Can my tel, TV and high speed internet all work off of just one of these cables?

I would like to run zones from a central distribution box to various distributred TV cable connections, plus one to an office space with a router stationed there to supply the intenet for the whole building, and a couple of land line tel jacks (a bedroom and an office).

I can't find any central, servcie entrance/distribution boxes like are typicall used for electrical service.

Advice?

Thanks in advance

[Gary Swart]

Only one cable is required for TV, Internet, and Telephone. This is called, "Bundling" by Charter, likely called something else by different providers, but it's all the same. My suggestion is to discuss your plan with your cable provider. They will advise you on the best way to run the master cable to the house, I'm not sure that burying it is the best plan, but I don't really know for sure, and since it's already done, you may have to live with what you have or abandon it and let the provider start over. The provider will install the cables inside the house. They can put outlets anywhere you want them. I do not think it would be wise for you to do this yourself as if there was a problem with the installation, you would be on the hook to pay for the repair. The installers use the proper cable, connectors, outlets, and etc.. Often you and I try to use Radio Shack or discount house equipment that is not always of the best quality. I believe outlets are usually just electrical boxes with a face plate that the cable outlet connects to. I have a couple of them in my home, and they work just fine. At any rate, I'd start with the service provider.

[cacher_chick]

They re-did the cable system in my parents town, and they now have fiber optic cable coming into the house which is converted to phone and coaxial cable on a small unit the provider installed in the basement. I recommend not buying anything until you know that you have to.

[BobL43]

They re-did the cable system in my parents town, and they now have fiber optic cable coming into the house which is converted to phone and coaxial cable on a small unit the provider installed in the basement. I recommend not buying anything until you know that you have to.

I agree with that for sure. Even if you will need bi-directional amplified splitters for cable TV boxes that need bi-directional signal flow, some services, like Verizon Fios, need their own units. The splitter/amplifier that I was using successfully with Cablevision on Long Island did not work with FIOS when I switched over to them, and I had to use my onwn again when I returned to Cablevision last year. We have competition between those 2 on part of Long Island, NY, and the games they play with their promotional pricing is enticing to switch back and forth. I do not enjoy doing that, but each time I switch, I save at least 30 to 40 dollars a month. Why do I NOT enjoy it? because they send out a crew that traipses through my house each time switching over the cable boxes and "provisioning" (registering their MAC ID addresses), them.

Wait til they have their service tech there, and he can suggest or provide they actual info or items you need.

I too have the bundled "Triple Play" package of TV, Cable and Phone coming in on one line.

As far as reliability with phone service, I have had much better reliablity with Cable or Fiber optic (FIOS) than I ever had with the old copper POTS (plain old telephone service). I guess that is because the Cable and Fiber services are all very new, and my old copper POTS was very old infrastructure with poor splices along the way.
I used to get lots of AC hum and static noise, plus no dial tone problems with my old system.

[DonL]

I think Time-Warner would be the way to go for TV / Internet.

Nice thing about cable it is that you get real TV channels and do not have to stream Video on your internet connection.

You can also use voip for telephone but they may force you to take the 3 in one package, but a voip like majac jack can get you a extra phone line.

Verizon streams everything on a internet connection and Charges much for it. Especially when you reach your data limit on your un-limited data limit. Watching 1 movie can blow a few gigs and slow down your internet speed.

Verizon FIOS is very expensive in this area, and not worth it for normal use.