Internet Dish Wiring

[kcflhrc]

So I'm getting a new roof installed so I had to take my internet dish down. It's one of those line of site dishes that points straight west of my house. The old wiring was just laying across the roof, a CAT 5 and a # 12 ground wire. My question is this. I want to run the new wire through the attic and come up through the roof by the dish. Do you think I can run the wire out through one of the roof vents? Or what would be another solution?

Thanks

 

[Mendonsy]

1) It depends on the type of vent you use, but most likely that would work OK. I would suggest that you get a watertight strain relief cable connector and mount it on the side of the roof vent for the cable to exit. If the cable already has the the RJ45 connector on it you can use a 1/2" conduit size connector and split the rubber bushing to get it over the cable.
2) You can buy "direct burial" CAT5 cable that should hold up better to weather. It has a silicone gel inside the jacket to keep water out.

 

[kcflhrc]

I already have some outdoor rated CAT 5 and I will put the ends on myself. The hole size will be minimal, just enough for the CAT 5 and ground wire to pass through. I think I can just snip one of the vent fins and that will give me enough room. The vent is like this.

 

[k0ua]

I already have some outdoor rated CAT 5 and I will put the ends on myself. The hole size will be minimal, just enough for the CAT 5 and ground wire to pass through. I think I can just snip one of the vent fins and that will give me enough room. The vent is like this.

View attachment 475223

I think that would be fine. Just be sure to put a drip loop in the wire. Water has a hard time running uphill. But if the wire comes in high and goes lower... look out, it will channel water into the house. If in doubt, take a hose up there with you and start spraying water on it.

 

[kcflhrc]

Thanks guys, if I don't have a heat stroke I will get this done this weekend.

 

[bigtiller]

Is putting it on a fence post or decorative post of some sort, a foot or so away from the house, out of the question? The roof mount seams to be standard practice around the country but I have never put anything on my roof. I just don't want to take the chance of problems up there. My FIL put a CB antenna (big stick) on my roof back in the 70's. Four years later the wind blew it over and I was the one who had to get up on the 2 story high roof to remove it. That was the end of our CB days.

 

[joefromga]

Many places need the height of the roof to overcome the curvature of the earth because the sats are almost straight across the horizon.

 

[Redneck in training]

Who is your Internet provider and how much it costs? We have Hughes. It works reasonably well but is expensive. Looking for alternative.

 

[kcflhrc]

Hey guys, per my original post this is a line of sight dish. It gets it's signal from a 300' tower about 3 miles away. So the roof mount is required to clear the tree line. My provider is Pixius out of Wichita Kansas. I'm not sure how many areas they are in. The good thing about Pixius is there is no limit on data like a dish. I pay just under $90 a month for 3 mb unlimited data. I consistently get higher speeds than that though. Usually 5 or 6 meg. I'm open to other suggestions for penetrating the roof, I just don't want that wiring laying across the roof any more.

Thanks

 

[mjw357]

since you are redoing the roof, put in a 2" PVC pipe like you would see for a plumbing vent, with a boot to seal it at the roof. put a couple of elbows on the top to keep the rain out. after you get your wire through, foam the inside of the pipe to keep bugs and critters out.