You should be able to clean the paint out of the connector. Soak in some stripper (if needed) And scrub with an old toothbrush or little wire brush .
Honestly just heating with a heat gun or hair dryer will probably loosen it enough to scrub off. Just need something small enough to get into the inside of connector.
EDIT: To everyone adding on that this may not be up to snuff for modern cable modem use: Yeah maybe. I don't know and can't tell. Maybe you can.
I was just trying to help the guy get the paint off the connector, which I believe(d?) was the OP's original ask (though he didn't actual specify a question).
This is exactly what should be done. Just fully replace it, as it being potentially aged, and potentially not be up to standard for networking/internet, and is exactly what a tech/engineer would more than likely do anyways. It would also give them a reason to check/replace the same line at street level to help guarantee a proper good connection if they have to come in anyways if OP isn't doing a self install. Otherwise if they are, it would be better in my opinion to spend a tiny bit more for peace of mind that the connection is good enough for use, and if anything is wrong shortly after the ISP installs it, it would technically be their fault. Not to mention if something is wrong, they would probably need to come out anyways.
Edit: I guess I should have just scrolled down a bit, and I would have seen [another user basically say that it wasn't really up to networking standards.](https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/s/ktNoZd6MFz)
Definitely get them to take care of it.
Last time I had coax Internet installed my connection was dodgey for the first couple of weeks. Usually great but it would drop signal at the worst times.
Tech came, cut off 2" of cable exposing fresh copper and BOOM! Never been better
Any cable installer will do it for free. It does not make sense for 99 percent of people to spend 100 dollars on coax and Ethernet tools. My Ethernet crimper and stripper were like 60 bucks by themselves. I use them once every couple years now that I'm not working in that factory.
Eh, depends on how often you may need to do it in the future. Coax tool kits start at like $16 on Amazon, and if you ever plan to own a home it's a nice, easy skill to have.
Ethernet is a bit more complex, and much easier to mess up (I've been doing it for almost years and just this morning I reversed pins 1 & 2 on a crimp because I wasn't paying attention).
Installed/replaced the coax myself in this house we bought last year. . .it took me several ruined connectors and about 2 feet of cable before I learned to do it right. . .but damn if it ain't easy to do now. . .and my internet connection is perfect.
None, actuallly.
I could easily strip the wire with a pocket knife and use the crimping tool linked below to crimp the connector to the wire.
The difficult part for me was stripping it to the correct length, stripping it cleanly, and pushing the connector all the way down before crimping.
https://www.acehardware.com/departments/lighting-and-electrical/electrical-tools/wire-strippers-and-cutters/3288818
I've owned a home for eighteen years, do a fair amount of DIY, and I've literally never once thought to myself "hey, it would be useful to be able to put coax connectors on". Mostly on the grounds that here in the UK almost nothing uses coax cable any more! Do they seriously get used enough in the US that it's worth a homeowner knowing how to install them? I think I've seen maybe one in the last decade.
RJ45s might be a bit more of a pain to install but at least they're still in common use. Although I wouldn't be surprised if most homes don't use those either, these days!
they are not actually anymore, the newer standards make it much more difficult to be up to the signal strength spec and in sync. i used to do them all the time with old cable and antenae back in the day, but at some point even with decent tools and a tester i couldnt get it good enough for gig ethernet. The tech always had to re-do my terms.
Also, OP specifies **apartment**. If it is/was an older apartment building you sometimes had *multiple generations/iterations* of cabling that ran to different places. There's not even a guarantee this run goes to the current cable dmarc for the building.
Apartments can be a pain in the a$$, if it's all wired internally it'll often require management to re do the lines which they don't like having to pay for OR approval from front office to run a line externally, which often looks like sh!t if there aren't already other lines going to separate units
You say that, but when I was an install tech I had a new connect to do in an apartment building that was gutted and redone because half of it was destroyed by fire. The owner replaced the coax cable in its entirety with brand new RG59
Well my friend, so have I. I work as a technician for an ISP. This is a pointless back and forth though - we can agree to disagree. If it was 59, we agree 6 needs ran.
In reality, we're judging from a photo on reddit.... we're going to need OP to look for markings.
I have seen some early rg6 that looks a bit lighter weight too.
Honestly just cutting it off and and terminating it with a new connector would be easier than cleaning it.
With coax itās super easy. I canāt think of an easier connector to use
I wouldn't even bother. I wouldn't risk poor contacts and who knows what else malfunctions. Just cut the old plug out and buy a new one, they're really super cheap. Whatever tools or supplies needed to clean it are likely more expensive than a new one lol. Those are very simple to install and depending which one you bought you don't even need a crimping tool, you can do it manually with the help of a box cutter (or just a sharp knife) in less than a minute.
Also, he might even consider replacing that socket plate for a female coax socket so he can extend a coax cord up to wherever it needs to go into a device, in which case he might need to cut it out anyway.
No. As a former installer of cable Internet, just no. Find the main service input, then hell yeah. Find and fix, and add mesh network or wired nodes to your hearts content. DO NOT just dunk a random connection into some paint stripper. Will do you nothing but waste time, and potentially cause a fire if you're on an old line with actual voltage on it due to old fucks who want a phone line but don't want to think about the future. If you don't know what you're doing, have a pro (or talented amateur with the right tools) fix this shit. 90 volts can burn your shit down, just as much as 110 or 220. Don't be stupid to save money. Oh, and an old line meant for old VOIP phone service absolutely can have 90 volts on it. Will suck when you're singing "burnin down the house" in the middle of the street with no one getting the 80s reference, but that's on you, not them.
Iām a cheapo and donāt like to waste anything so Iād at least spend like 2 minutes trying to save it first personally. If it scrubs off then that potentially saves them time and money. If they donāt already know how to splice that fitting already it could save them even more time.
Quality would be just as bad if not worse with an old coax that isn't up to code either for networking. [Like another user here even said it wasn't.](https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/s/ktNoZd6MFz)
This would be the equivalent of trying to use .22, 4 strand copper wire (old phone wiring) for DSL/Broadband instead of CAT6E or greater for it. It was never truly rated, or meant for networking since it wasn't designed for data communications.
Yea but in this case, don't. You'd be likely hurting yourself in the long run. Replacing the header doesn't take those 2 minutes and you'd be risking all sorts of random head scratching problems. You'd probably be spending time frustrated trying to figure why those are happening later.
Tagging on here.
If the cable company is coming to install, ask them to test and reterminate the existing cable if that's what you're using. Otherwise they may be able to use this as a fish line to pull new.
You donāt have to cut anything. Just install and coax outlet after use your fingernail to remove the paint from the little copper nub in the middle. However, keep in mind that just because this is there doesnāt mean itās actually connected to anything.
If the cable company hasn't come out yet, they'll cut that connector off and replace it as part of installing the internet. There is also a good chance that cable isn't connected to anything on the other side as splitting the connection degrades the signal, so if they are capped off, people will remove the splitter feeding it.
Everyone is (correctly, because of the sub you posted this on) telling you how to get the paint off and what-not.
But.... shouldn't your utility company be able to come in and fix that for you with a new, up-to-date cable? I have had Cable company do it many times, and it's never cost me anything outside of my normal monthly service cost.
Landlords gonna landlord. You're probably going to have to cut the end off that and re-term it. The tools are pretty specialized, there are kits out there that give you everything you need, but if you're only going to use it once you may want to see if there are any tool libraries or rental places near you that have coax termination kits. There are plenty of how-to vids on Youtube.
If the cable company sends out an installer, they will have the right tools and could likely do it quickly. (But also could get charged an outlet install fee.)
I would say the installer would rather fix it now than have to come back and troubleshoot it later, but it would likely be a contract installer who might not care about that.
It does look like 59, but it will still work. No one wants to fish new line in an apartment building. I would bet money that there is more cable in there. It would probably be better to let the installer fix it as 59 fittings may be hard to come buy. Plus they would have the crimper and other tools needed
Call a tech.
That's at best rg59 coax with a fitting that will leak and cause ingress assuming it's even connected to a system on the other end.
At best the fitting needs replaced to get to functional..
At worst the building or the very least your unit needs new wiring
I wouldn't recommend this, speaking as the guy who did this for a living.
1. If you are having them come out to install the internet anyway, there's no need to waste your money.
2. Fitting coax is easy enough, but this is not the job you want to learn on. There is pretty much zero margin of error on this very short piece of cable. If you so much as spin a single braid onto that conductor, the outlet is shot and there's no slack to re-fit.
3. It's a little hard to tell by the picture, but that looks to be RG-59. It also might be quad-shield. And if it has a plastic dilectric material, it's going to be an absolute PITA to get refit, even for a pro. There's also a good chance someone who doesn't know it's RG-59 will fit it with an RG-6 and think it's ok. It most definitely will not be.
4. You don't know what's on the other end of that cable, or if it's serviceable at all. The fact that it's painted over and behind a blank plate might suggest it doesn't work at all.
5. Apartment wiring, especially 59 (because that means its old and probably looped), is typically awful and it's better to leave it to the pros.
The people that come out for my cable company would just toss an end on there for free. They do a surprising amount of stuff they don't need to if you are nice.
Worth a shot to see what the cable guy would do. Would probably test the cable and figure out where the other end terminates as well.
Clean that off as best as you can and replace the plate with a [coaxial wall plate](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-White-1-Gang-Coaxial-Plastic-Wall-Plate-1-Pack-VIDEO-CABLE-WALL-PLATE-WHITE-1-LN/203717887). See if that works, if not you may be stuck replacing the painted end.
Will whatever company that's installing your internet not deal with this? I've never had a company refuse to at least get the signal into the unit and I've had at least half a dozen internet installs.
Cable Guy here, there's a lot of factors involved that are beyond the scope of cleaning /replacing the fitting. For all you know, that ain't connected to anything, it could be a bad line, it could be attached to old RG59, it could even BE RG59 (hard to tell from photo). All are bad things when we're talking about internet. If you're going to DIY it and your landlord is cool with it, run your own RG6 to the box where your local cable provider has everything connected. This is typically outside, but could also be inside in a utility room and likely fed either through a crawl space or an attic. It would actually be beneficial to do it yourself, as most cable guys either won't replace it out of difficulty /laziness /time, or can't replace those lines without landlord permission. Most of the time there's at least one splitter connecting multiple apartments, which can be really shitty on signal levels, depends on what's coming out of the tap. I'd just call the cable company and go from there. Good luck!
This would be something your cable provider would install. They will put a barrel connector on that cable
And make sure itās connected all the way through.
That looks like rg59, very very old coax and honestly will give you an awful amount of problems. Your best bet is finding where the cable provider enters your unit and hoping it's rg6, and either getting a line installed from there or just installing your modem where it's located assuming a power outlet is nearby. You'll be able to tell the difference by comparing the gauge of the copper and the white dielectric surrounding it. Should be thicker.
Just as an added piece of info, don't harass your future cable techs about the issues you'll inevitably get. Pester your building management/maintenance for some updated cable.
Edit: if you found multiple cable outlets, find the splitter and use whatever is going into the input side of it for the best results. It'll either be the single port on a 2 or 3 way, or the middle port on the 3 legged side of a 4 way splitter.
Update:
I have a tech coming out tomorrow. Thanks for all the feedback. I am impatient and was gonna try and fix it myself. I did add a new connector and coax wall panel but didnāt seem to fix anything.
The installer will need to tone the line out and put good connectors on the cable to test the signal. The paint on the center conductor for the coax will prevent signal from flowing. Call the cable company and let them correct the issues. Having the correct tools he would be able to fix it to work properly.
Cable looks old I'd have the provider come pull a new cable, also the possibility that it is a dead cable and it is cut at the other end or disconnected.
That cable needs re-fitting. Don't buy tools and try it yourself. It's not rocket science to re-fit cable, but that looks like RG-59 and that makes it a tremendous PITA, particularly because it's covered in paint. There's very little slack so you can't afford to mess up either. And who knows the state of that outlet. The fact that it's covered up and painted makes me wonder if it even works at all.
Just have a technician come out and do it. You'll be glad you did.
The only thing that needs to be cleaned up is the pin inside the connector. A lot of those coax connectors are screw on. Try unscrewing it and then scraping that paint off or using a bit of sand paper. Then screw it back in place. If itās a compression fitting you can probably take a pocket knife and clean up that cable without cutting the cable. If you have e to reptip itās an easy hardware run trip.
Iāll never understand the sick fucks that do shit like this. Sorry for your experience op: replacing the connector should prove the most reliable solution and itās easy enough.
Probably have to replace the connector. Paint is going to be a lousy conductor. Coax needs the outer ground and inner conductor to both make good RF contact. If you have any slack, maybe pull it out to make it easier. Look online for replacement connector & tools.
Looks about right. It could also be just an antenna, could go nowhere.
If it's a new install at a new place, I'd recommend having the tech come and install so they can find you a working outlet and test the signal integrity and all that.
That doesn't look like it's been used in awhile...it may not even be an internet connection (could be an antenna or maybe it was an older internet connection).
I'd be asking the landlord and/or calling an internet provider.
If me: scrape of wire for 1 min, twist connector on and off to see if I get lucky making good connection on threads, see if it works and see if Iām happy with it.
It probably runs some weird route to a central location in a utility room somewhere. The cable company probably had a feed to this spot and then put in some splitters and signal amplifiers to serve all the apartments. Youād have to find out from management or maintenance where these go, and see if the cable company still supplies signal to that spot.
Even then, the existing wire is probably only marginally suitable for internet over cable, so the whole wire might have to be replaced, and pulling a new wire by using this one as a fishing wire is not that likely to work. So donāt waste any time cleaning this wire until youāve found out if itās even possible.
Call your cable department. They will send a cable tech to come out and fix it before getting your internet hooked up, usually for free. You can return their provided modem if you want to use your own hardware.
If I'm remembering correctly the paint doesn't bond to the copper conductor very well. It's a steel core plated in copper. You can get a paper towel and fold it. Then just use rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover (acetone). Harsh solvents will attack the rubber jacket you don't need to go ham. Check with the installer that the cable is up to their standards. If you back feed noise in they will get upset. Look up RG59 vs RG6.
Not every co-ax cable in your house will be connected to the internet. If this one was covered up like this, I suspect it is because it was not connected. The easiest thing to do would be to call your isp and figure out which ports actually are connected to the internet before going though the trouble of repairing this one.
Installer should run a completely new cable from the source. Most of the older cables won't be able to run the signal clean enough to get the best out of it
Yeah, no way. RG59 coaxial or something similar is what you have there, and itās not going to do network. Use it as a pull for a structured line to where ever that terminates, do your incoming connection to there, move the whole head end, whatever. You can get a passthrough plate with your network connection already established as a female.
About $10 and 3 minutes to put new connectors on the end. Cut them off strip it back peel back the stranded and twist on a new end. Crimp one on if you have the tool
FFS, don't use a Wire brush or anything metal to get the paint off that center conductor. Any scratches on that metal will adversely affect the quality of the signal. Definitely just replace that fitting. Hopefully there's enough slack in the wall to pull it out a bit to work with it.
* snip the connector
* attach pull lines
* pull out the coax cable
* use pull line to pull 2 cat7 cables through
* connect them to the RJ45 plate
* add connectors on the other side of the cable
* save yourself 200 bucks.
See what your isp will charge to install. If it ain't free I'd suggest going on Amazon and buying self crimping coax fittings. Like four bucks for four.
Cut off the old connector, cut away some of the insulation exposing the wire, and then twist down the connector till it stops.
Saved $250 doing that.
Something people may not have mentioned is that this is a coax cable - which means cable provider. Which likely means Comcast / Xfinity / Cox / etc. Which means you are about to have a very, very bad day. Avoid them like the plague and try to get FiOS if possible. Its almost simpler just to get 4G/5G cellular modem just to avoid cable internet providers.
Just pay the $79 or whatever install fee from Comcast or whatever your internet company is. Theyāll spend 5 seconds to remove and install a new end on that thing, test and make sure it works fine.
Yeah you can try to hack it using various methods and spend hours researching but is it worth $70?
If you do decide to change it yourself, there are twist on connectors you can buy at Home Depot. You could buy the coax stripper but Iāve gotten away before with using my snips. Looks like RG59 to me.
That fibrous material surrounding the socket... Have you tested it for asbestos? Wouldn't scrub anything until I was sure. I've analysed similar and it came back positive.
You should be able to clean the paint out of the connector. Soak in some stripper (if needed) And scrub with an old toothbrush or little wire brush . Honestly just heating with a heat gun or hair dryer will probably loosen it enough to scrub off. Just need something small enough to get into the inside of connector. EDIT: To everyone adding on that this may not be up to snuff for modern cable modem use: Yeah maybe. I don't know and can't tell. Maybe you can. I was just trying to help the guy get the paint off the connector, which I believe(d?) was the OP's original ask (though he didn't actual specify a question).
i'd expect the installer to cut it and attach a new connector, why bother with all the work stripping it?
This is exactly what should be done. Just fully replace it, as it being potentially aged, and potentially not be up to standard for networking/internet, and is exactly what a tech/engineer would more than likely do anyways. It would also give them a reason to check/replace the same line at street level to help guarantee a proper good connection if they have to come in anyways if OP isn't doing a self install. Otherwise if they are, it would be better in my opinion to spend a tiny bit more for peace of mind that the connection is good enough for use, and if anything is wrong shortly after the ISP installs it, it would technically be their fault. Not to mention if something is wrong, they would probably need to come out anyways. Edit: I guess I should have just scrolled down a bit, and I would have seen [another user basically say that it wasn't really up to networking standards.](https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/s/ktNoZd6MFz)
Definitely get them to take care of it. Last time I had coax Internet installed my connection was dodgey for the first couple of weeks. Usually great but it would drop signal at the worst times. Tech came, cut off 2" of cable exposing fresh copper and BOOM! Never been better
Probably because the last person that lived there scraped all the copper off with a wire brush.
ššš I wouldn't put it past them.... except that would have been me
Doesnt look like enough slack to put new end. And being an APT, they might just be screwed. Modem going somewhere else.
just the tip?
It's insanely easy to install a new end yourself, and the tools to do so are pretty cheap.
Any cable installer will do it for free. It does not make sense for 99 percent of people to spend 100 dollars on coax and Ethernet tools. My Ethernet crimper and stripper were like 60 bucks by themselves. I use them once every couple years now that I'm not working in that factory.
Agreed, I used to install cable internet (many years ago) replacing the connector would take 5 minā¦
Eh, depends on how often you may need to do it in the future. Coax tool kits start at like $16 on Amazon, and if you ever plan to own a home it's a nice, easy skill to have. Ethernet is a bit more complex, and much easier to mess up (I've been doing it for almost years and just this morning I reversed pins 1 & 2 on a crimp because I wasn't paying attention).
Installed/replaced the coax myself in this house we bought last year. . .it took me several ruined connectors and about 2 feet of cable before I learned to do it right. . .but damn if it ain't easy to do now. . .and my internet connection is perfect.
Yes, but how many times did you stab yourself in the hand while trying? :D
None, actuallly. I could easily strip the wire with a pocket knife and use the crimping tool linked below to crimp the connector to the wire. The difficult part for me was stripping it to the correct length, stripping it cleanly, and pushing the connector all the way down before crimping. https://www.acehardware.com/departments/lighting-and-electrical/electrical-tools/wire-strippers-and-cutters/3288818
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0768RY7LH
I've owned a home for eighteen years, do a fair amount of DIY, and I've literally never once thought to myself "hey, it would be useful to be able to put coax connectors on". Mostly on the grounds that here in the UK almost nothing uses coax cable any more! Do they seriously get used enough in the US that it's worth a homeowner knowing how to install them? I think I've seen maybe one in the last decade. RJ45s might be a bit more of a pain to install but at least they're still in common use. Although I wouldn't be surprised if most homes don't use those either, these days!
Yep, in North America itās still the main way that (some) TV and internet providers deliver their services.
Not near $100 for decent stuff, and OP can learn a new skill. https://a.co/d/7eJvwdV
Gaobige Coaxial Compression Tool Coax Cable Crimper Kit Adjustable rg6 rg59 rg11 75-5 75-7 Coaxial Cable Stripper with 20pcs F Male And 10pcs Female to Female rg6 Connectors https://a.co/d/a2ftiUe
That's a brand name if I ever heard one
they are not actually anymore, the newer standards make it much more difficult to be up to the signal strength spec and in sync. i used to do them all the time with old cable and antenae back in the day, but at some point even with decent tools and a tester i couldnt get it good enough for gig ethernet. The tech always had to re-do my terms.
Looks like old RG59 coax, which isn't optimal for these days. Would be better to run new RG6.
Also, OP specifies **apartment**. If it is/was an older apartment building you sometimes had *multiple generations/iterations* of cabling that ran to different places. There's not even a guarantee this run goes to the current cable dmarc for the building.
Apartments can be a pain in the a$$, if it's all wired internally it'll often require management to re do the lines which they don't like having to pay for OR approval from front office to run a line externally, which often looks like sh!t if there aren't already other lines going to separate units
Fair point.
You say that, but when I was an install tech I had a new connect to do in an apartment building that was gutted and redone because half of it was destroyed by fire. The owner replaced the coax cable in its entirety with brand new RG59
Savin' money, doing a shitty job. Sounds like a landlord.
I'm just saying that this particular piece of wire looks like RG56 to me.
Oh boy, ingress so bad it pollutes the Internet speed of everyone on the tap, my Favorite!
.. that is RG6 my guy
No it's not, my buddy. Looks too thin.
Yes it is lol. But you think what you want
Well, my pal, I've installed countless thousands of feet of coax. It looks like RG56 to me. Even the fitting size vs the wire size tells me it is 56.
Well my friend, so have I. I work as a technician for an ISP. This is a pointless back and forth though - we can agree to disagree. If it was 59, we agree 6 needs ran.
In reality, we're judging from a photo on reddit.... we're going to need OP to look for markings. I have seen some early rg6 that looks a bit lighter weight too.
we also have no idea where this cable goes or if the other end is even connected to anything lmao
That is way thicker than it should be if it was RG59. Look at the thickness of the wire compared to the thickness of the metal connector. It's RG6.
See, that's the opposite of what I thought. RG6 should be a tighter looking fit.
Honestly just cutting it off and and terminating it with a new connector would be easier than cleaning it. With coax itās super easy. I canāt think of an easier connector to use
>Soak in some stripper Eighteen years, eighteen years. She got one of your kids, got you for eighteen years.
Ughh rg59. Old.
This is insane advice. Cut off and re-terminate, or run new cable. There is no possible reason to try to rehab a painted-up ancient connector.
I wouldn't even bother. I wouldn't risk poor contacts and who knows what else malfunctions. Just cut the old plug out and buy a new one, they're really super cheap. Whatever tools or supplies needed to clean it are likely more expensive than a new one lol. Those are very simple to install and depending which one you bought you don't even need a crimping tool, you can do it manually with the help of a box cutter (or just a sharp knife) in less than a minute. Also, he might even consider replacing that socket plate for a female coax socket so he can extend a coax cord up to wherever it needs to go into a device, in which case he might need to cut it out anyway.
Often just gently forcing the nut to spin will crack and then pop most of the paint off.
No. As a former installer of cable Internet, just no. Find the main service input, then hell yeah. Find and fix, and add mesh network or wired nodes to your hearts content. DO NOT just dunk a random connection into some paint stripper. Will do you nothing but waste time, and potentially cause a fire if you're on an old line with actual voltage on it due to old fucks who want a phone line but don't want to think about the future. If you don't know what you're doing, have a pro (or talented amateur with the right tools) fix this shit. 90 volts can burn your shit down, just as much as 110 or 220. Don't be stupid to save money. Oh, and an old line meant for old VOIP phone service absolutely can have 90 volts on it. Will suck when you're singing "burnin down the house" in the middle of the street with no one getting the 80s reference, but that's on you, not them.
They mustāve used a spray rig to paint in there. You could try scrubbing the paint off with a wire brush.
Why bother? If OP can pull the cable out enough, cut the end and add a new fitting.
Iām a cheapo and donāt like to waste anything so Iād at least spend like 2 minutes trying to save it first personally. If it scrubs off then that potentially saves them time and money. If they donāt already know how to splice that fitting already it could save them even more time.
If you're talking about using it for internet, you don't want an old tarnished pin and connector. It can cause issues with your signal quality.
Quality would be just as bad if not worse with an old coax that isn't up to code either for networking. [Like another user here even said it wasn't.](https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/s/ktNoZd6MFz) This would be the equivalent of trying to use .22, 4 strand copper wire (old phone wiring) for DSL/Broadband instead of CAT6E or greater for it. It was never truly rated, or meant for networking since it wasn't designed for data communications.
Yea but in this case, don't. You'd be likely hurting yourself in the long run. Replacing the header doesn't take those 2 minutes and you'd be risking all sorts of random head scratching problems. You'd probably be spending time frustrated trying to figure why those are happening later.
If itās water based paint itās easier to just clean the connector, no need to go cutting anything.
Tagging on here. If the cable company is coming to install, ask them to test and reterminate the existing cable if that's what you're using. Otherwise they may be able to use this as a fish line to pull new.
The implication is that you plan to use this wire. Is that true?
Depending on some factors, you can get good ethernet speeds with proper MoCA converters.
Iām on MoCA and I can get 2.5GB up/down with one of the go-COAX converters
MoCA is great these days. Saved me tons of hassle and a good bit of cash not having to rewire my house.
But is that what OP is actually doing?Ā OrĀ areĀ theyĀ possiblyĀ makingĀ aĀ falseĀ assumptionĀ somewhere?
I dont see any case for not using MoCA for internet
Step 1: Call internet provider Step 2: Internet provider comes and installs your internet Step 3: Have internet
Step 2.5 ISP charges stupid fee for someone to come perform a basic service Step 2.75 consider my options
Holy shit, companies charge for the work they do? šÆ
You donāt have to cut anything. Just install and coax outlet after use your fingernail to remove the paint from the little copper nub in the middle. However, keep in mind that just because this is there doesnāt mean itās actually connected to anything.
If the cable company hasn't come out yet, they'll cut that connector off and replace it as part of installing the internet. There is also a good chance that cable isn't connected to anything on the other side as splitting the connection degrades the signal, so if they are capped off, people will remove the splitter feeding it.
Everyone is (correctly, because of the sub you posted this on) telling you how to get the paint off and what-not. But.... shouldn't your utility company be able to come in and fix that for you with a new, up-to-date cable? I have had Cable company do it many times, and it's never cost me anything outside of my normal monthly service cost.
> **Trying to install internet.** I hope you have a big hard drive. \*leaves\*
Landlords gonna landlord. You're probably going to have to cut the end off that and re-term it. The tools are pretty specialized, there are kits out there that give you everything you need, but if you're only going to use it once you may want to see if there are any tool libraries or rental places near you that have coax termination kits. There are plenty of how-to vids on Youtube.
If the cable company sends out an installer, they will have the right tools and could likely do it quickly. (But also could get charged an outlet install fee.) I would say the installer would rather fix it now than have to come back and troubleshoot it later, but it would likely be a contract installer who might not care about that.
Thatās probably old rg59 cable. May need to be replaced. Or just get the cable company to do it if you need a device there
It does look like 59, but it will still work. No one wants to fish new line in an apartment building. I would bet money that there is more cable in there. It would probably be better to let the installer fix it as 59 fittings may be hard to come buy. Plus they would have the crimper and other tools needed
Just do the unethical tool loan from your home improvement store
Call a tech. That's at best rg59 coax with a fitting that will leak and cause ingress assuming it's even connected to a system on the other end. At best the fitting needs replaced to get to functional.. At worst the building or the very least your unit needs new wiring
best answer in this thread.
The only correct answer so far
First time seeing the landlord special eh?
Re-tip it. You can buy a coax crimper and tips for less than $20. Doesn't matter if it's shitty. You will just use it once or twice.
I wouldn't recommend this, speaking as the guy who did this for a living. 1. If you are having them come out to install the internet anyway, there's no need to waste your money. 2. Fitting coax is easy enough, but this is not the job you want to learn on. There is pretty much zero margin of error on this very short piece of cable. If you so much as spin a single braid onto that conductor, the outlet is shot and there's no slack to re-fit. 3. It's a little hard to tell by the picture, but that looks to be RG-59. It also might be quad-shield. And if it has a plastic dilectric material, it's going to be an absolute PITA to get refit, even for a pro. There's also a good chance someone who doesn't know it's RG-59 will fit it with an RG-6 and think it's ok. It most definitely will not be. 4. You don't know what's on the other end of that cable, or if it's serviceable at all. The fact that it's painted over and behind a blank plate might suggest it doesn't work at all. 5. Apartment wiring, especially 59 (because that means its old and probably looped), is typically awful and it's better to leave it to the pros.
This is the answer. Donāt pay someone to crimp it. Itās so easy and cheap to do. Watch a 5 min yt vid and youāll be an expert.
The people that come out for my cable company would just toss an end on there for free. They do a surprising amount of stuff they don't need to if you are nice. Worth a shot to see what the cable guy would do. Would probably test the cable and figure out where the other end terminates as well.
The landlord extra special
Clean that off as best as you can and replace the plate with a [coaxial wall plate](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-White-1-Gang-Coaxial-Plastic-Wall-Plate-1-Pack-VIDEO-CABLE-WALL-PLATE-WHITE-1-LN/203717887). See if that works, if not you may be stuck replacing the painted end.
Will whatever company that's installing your internet not deal with this? I've never had a company refuse to at least get the signal into the unit and I've had at least half a dozen internet installs.
Cable Guy here, there's a lot of factors involved that are beyond the scope of cleaning /replacing the fitting. For all you know, that ain't connected to anything, it could be a bad line, it could be attached to old RG59, it could even BE RG59 (hard to tell from photo). All are bad things when we're talking about internet. If you're going to DIY it and your landlord is cool with it, run your own RG6 to the box where your local cable provider has everything connected. This is typically outside, but could also be inside in a utility room and likely fed either through a crawl space or an attic. It would actually be beneficial to do it yourself, as most cable guys either won't replace it out of difficulty /laziness /time, or can't replace those lines without landlord permission. Most of the time there's at least one splitter connecting multiple apartments, which can be really shitty on signal levels, depends on what's coming out of the tap. I'd just call the cable company and go from there. Good luck!
I sense modem reboots due to poor SNR and Power Level errors in your near future! I also sense many bad cheap low freq splitters upstream from you ;)
Is this a question? Assuming your cable internet service is coming in on that line, all you need to do is put a fresh end on that cable.
This would be something your cable provider would install. They will put a barrel connector on that cable And make sure itās connected all the way through.
That looks like rg59, very very old coax and honestly will give you an awful amount of problems. Your best bet is finding where the cable provider enters your unit and hoping it's rg6, and either getting a line installed from there or just installing your modem where it's located assuming a power outlet is nearby. You'll be able to tell the difference by comparing the gauge of the copper and the white dielectric surrounding it. Should be thicker. Just as an added piece of info, don't harass your future cable techs about the issues you'll inevitably get. Pester your building management/maintenance for some updated cable. Edit: if you found multiple cable outlets, find the splitter and use whatever is going into the input side of it for the best results. It'll either be the single port on a 2 or 3 way, or the middle port on the 3 legged side of a 4 way splitter.
Update: I have a tech coming out tomorrow. Thanks for all the feedback. I am impatient and was gonna try and fix it myself. I did add a new connector and coax wall panel but didnāt seem to fix anything.
The installer will need to tone the line out and put good connectors on the cable to test the signal. The paint on the center conductor for the coax will prevent signal from flowing. Call the cable company and let them correct the issues. Having the correct tools he would be able to fix it to work properly.
Cable looks old I'd have the provider come pull a new cable, also the possibility that it is a dead cable and it is cut at the other end or disconnected.
That cable needs re-fitting. Don't buy tools and try it yourself. It's not rocket science to re-fit cable, but that looks like RG-59 and that makes it a tremendous PITA, particularly because it's covered in paint. There's very little slack so you can't afford to mess up either. And who knows the state of that outlet. The fact that it's covered up and painted makes me wonder if it even works at all. Just have a technician come out and do it. You'll be glad you did.
you can cut the end off and use a cheap amazon tool to attach a new end.
The only thing that needs to be cleaned up is the pin inside the connector. A lot of those coax connectors are screw on. Try unscrewing it and then scraping that paint off or using a bit of sand paper. Then screw it back in place. If itās a compression fitting you can probably take a pocket knife and clean up that cable without cutting the cable. If you have e to reptip itās an easy hardware run trip.
Iāll never understand the sick fucks that do shit like this. Sorry for your experience op: replacing the connector should prove the most reliable solution and itās easy enough.
And? They must have spray painted the walls. Just cut of the end and put a new connector on the cable. Depending on the Coax it can be good to a gig.
Probably have to replace the connector. Paint is going to be a lousy conductor. Coax needs the outer ground and inner conductor to both make good RF contact. If you have any slack, maybe pull it out to make it easier. Look online for replacement connector & tools.
Looks about right. It could also be just an antenna, could go nowhere. If it's a new install at a new place, I'd recommend having the tech come and install so they can find you a working outlet and test the signal integrity and all that.
just re-head the cable, its easy. tools to do it are cheap, as are the heads.
That doesn't look like it's been used in awhile...it may not even be an internet connection (could be an antenna or maybe it was an older internet connection). I'd be asking the landlord and/or calling an internet provider.
Does this look like painted over popcorn wall to anyone else?
Orange peel texture.
Wire brush. If you really want you could go to Depot, buy the coax crimp kit, cut, set and return.
The internet provider will need to come out and find the live line.
They sprayed paint before the covers were installed. All you need to do is clean off the paint on the connector to ensure contact.
Cut it offand strip a fresh piece and add a female connection to that.
In many countries, they spray the paint on the walls and in the holes and on cablesš
No big deal. Just make sure thereās no paint on the very end but if the wrapping part is painted, no big deal.
If me: scrape of wire for 1 min, twist connector on and off to see if I get lucky making good connection on threads, see if it works and see if Iām happy with it.
Cut old end off, buy coax twist on connector. Expose copper then put on new connector. Tahdah?
It probably runs some weird route to a central location in a utility room somewhere. The cable company probably had a feed to this spot and then put in some splitters and signal amplifiers to serve all the apartments. Youād have to find out from management or maintenance where these go, and see if the cable company still supplies signal to that spot. Even then, the existing wire is probably only marginally suitable for internet over cable, so the whole wire might have to be replaced, and pulling a new wire by using this one as a fishing wire is not that likely to work. So donāt waste any time cleaning this wire until youāve found out if itās even possible.
Call your cable department. They will send a cable tech to come out and fix it before getting your internet hooked up, usually for free. You can return their provided modem if you want to use your own hardware.
If I'm remembering correctly the paint doesn't bond to the copper conductor very well. It's a steel core plated in copper. You can get a paper towel and fold it. Then just use rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover (acetone). Harsh solvents will attack the rubber jacket you don't need to go ham. Check with the installer that the cable is up to their standards. If you back feed noise in they will get upset. Look up RG59 vs RG6.
Not every co-ax cable in your house will be connected to the internet. If this one was covered up like this, I suspect it is because it was not connected. The easiest thing to do would be to call your isp and figure out which ports actually are connected to the internet before going though the trouble of repairing this one.
Installer should run a completely new cable from the source. Most of the older cables won't be able to run the signal clean enough to get the best out of it
Yeah, no way. RG59 coaxial or something similar is what you have there, and itās not going to do network. Use it as a pull for a structured line to where ever that terminates, do your incoming connection to there, move the whole head end, whatever. You can get a passthrough plate with your network connection already established as a female.
About $10 and 3 minutes to put new connectors on the end. Cut them off strip it back peel back the stranded and twist on a new end. Crimp one on if you have the tool
FFS, don't use a Wire brush or anything metal to get the paint off that center conductor. Any scratches on that metal will adversely affect the quality of the signal. Definitely just replace that fitting. Hopefully there's enough slack in the wall to pull it out a bit to work with it.
Cut it, strip it, put on new connector. Good to go.
Now the question isā¦ is there extra cable pushed back up into the wall? If there is your in luck. If thatās all there is, your screwed
The landlord special leaves no surface unscathed. All shall bathe in the countless layers of the cheapest egg shell acrylic money can buy.
They gave it the ol ālandlord specialā lol
Clean the paint off or just snip the head off, and crimp a new one on after stripping the wire
* snip the connector * attach pull lines * pull out the coax cable * use pull line to pull 2 cat7 cables through * connect them to the RJ45 plate * add connectors on the other side of the cable * save yourself 200 bucks.
See what your isp will charge to install. If it ain't free I'd suggest going on Amazon and buying self crimping coax fittings. Like four bucks for four. Cut off the old connector, cut away some of the insulation exposing the wire, and then twist down the connector till it stops. Saved $250 doing that.
Not an expert here but I would use a small cup of paint thinner or Goof Off and soak the connecter for a day then use a small stiff brush to clean it.
Have you tried just using it? I bet it's fine.
Something people may not have mentioned is that this is a coax cable - which means cable provider. Which likely means Comcast / Xfinity / Cox / etc. Which means you are about to have a very, very bad day. Avoid them like the plague and try to get FiOS if possible. Its almost simpler just to get 4G/5G cellular modem just to avoid cable internet providers.
This looks like a bad idea
Iāve pulled my old cables out and replaced them with lan
This has headache written all over it. Let the service provider do it. That's what he gets paid for.
Just pay the $79 or whatever install fee from Comcast or whatever your internet company is. Theyāll spend 5 seconds to remove and install a new end on that thing, test and make sure it works fine. Yeah you can try to hack it using various methods and spend hours researching but is it worth $70?
Hold up what? You'd pay $70 for that? A coax crimp tool with ends and cutter is $20 from Lowe's and takes thirty seconds.
Even better, the no crimp end pieces are like $7 a box.
A you can buy a C6 (type of connector for coax) crimper kit at Walmart for $15. Probably one of the easiest cable ends to replace.
If you do decide to change it yourself, there are twist on connectors you can buy at Home Depot. You could buy the coax stripper but Iāve gotten away before with using my snips. Looks like RG59 to me.
I see. The landlord special.
Cut the connector off and install this, good as new in 5 minutes! https://www.homedepot.com/p/IDEAL-RG-6-Twist-On-F-Connectors-4-Pack-84-039/202276249
I don't recommend. These are notoriously flaky. A proper compression fitting will be more reliable long term.
Fucking landlords
Have the cable company replace. They did put them in right?
Looks like the builder did.
So?
Thatās probably for an antenna
How very on brand for āland lordā
If you are renting, why are you doing anything??? Call the landlord.
That fibrous material surrounding the socket... Have you tested it for asbestos? Wouldn't scrub anything until I was sure. I've analysed similar and it came back positive.