c/cable-installers

A customer in a tiny attic changed how I see my job

I was running a new drop in this old house in Tacoma, squeezing through a crawl space. The homeowner, an older guy, followed me up and said, 'You know, you're the first person to actually see this place in ten years.' He showed me a model train setup he'd built up there, covered in dust. That stuck with me. It wasn't just about the cable, it was about getting into people's lives for a minute. Ever have a simple install turn into something you remember?

Remember when you had to carry a separate tool just to find a tone?

Back in 2010, my truck kit had a dedicated toner and probe set that was bigger than my hand. Now, my Klein Tools VDV500-820 does it all and fits in my pocket. The change came from everything going digital and the parts getting way smaller. It used to take me a full minute just to hook up the toner to a line. Now I can trace a cable in under ten seconds from start to finish. What other old-school tools have you guys completely stopped carrying?

Pro tip: a drop of dish soap on the fish tape changed my whole crawl space game

I was pulling a new RG-6 through a tight, dusty crawl in an old house in Tacoma and the tape kept getting stuck. Out of ideas, I put a tiny bit of Dawn on the first foot of the tape. It slid through like butter and I saved myself at least 20 minutes of fighting it. Has anyone else tried a different kind of lube for tough pulls?

Serious question, what do you do when a crawl space is full of bees?

Had a job in Phoenix last week where the drop was under a house, and I opened the access panel to a nest the size of a basketball. I just closed it up, called the homeowner, and told them they needed an exterminator before I could touch anything. Ever had to walk away from a job like that?

Shoutout to the tech in Springfield who showed me his new coax tester

I was on a job with him last month and he had this new Klein Tools VDV512-100. We tested the same line, first with my old punch-down tester and then with his. The old one showed a clean signal, but his unit flagged a 12 dB drop at 750 MHz that we couldn't see before. We traced it back to a bad connector under some insulation in the attic. Took us maybe 20 extra minutes to fix it, but saved a callback for sure. What other tools have you guys picked up lately that caught problems you'd normally miss?

Heard a new guy at the supply house say 'a drop is a drop' and it made me think about all the shortcuts I've seen.

Honestly, after seeing a botched aerial job in Denver last month where they used the wrong messenger strand, I'm convinced that attitude is why we get so many callbacks.

Vent: A homeowner in Cedar Rapids argued with me about using a 3/8 inch drill bit for wall plates

I was doing a rewire in a 1920s house last month, and the owner, a guy named Mark, stood over my shoulder the whole time. He kept saying, 'My last guy used a 1/2 inch bit, it's cleaner.' I explained that for the old plaster, a smaller bit gives you more control and less chance of a blowout. He wouldn't drop it, even after I showed him the clean finish on the first outlet. Has anyone else had to defend a basic tool choice like that?

I finally had a talk with my kid's teacher that changed my mind about cable runs

She said 'you guys are the reason our school can have a science fair video call with a museum.' I've always grumbled about pulling lines in old buildings, thinking it's just TV. But she pointed out the fiber line I put in last year let a whole class talk to a scientist in real time. That hit different because I was just focused on the job, not what it actually does for people. Now I look at every crawl space a bit differently. Anyone else have a moment where you saw the real impact of a routine install?

Finally got through a full attic run in under an hour

Had a job in a 1920s house in Tacoma yesterday with the worst crawl space I've seen. The homeowner needed a line from the basement to the second floor office, and the only path was through a tight, insulated attic. I used my Klein fish tape and a new fiberglass push rod I got last week, and it went straight through on the first try. Has anyone else found a tool that really speeds up those tough old-house runs?

Read that a single bad splice in a main line can cause signal issues for over 300 homes. Found it in an old NCTI textbook.

Spent $80 on a good coax stripper and it cut my prep time in half.

Unpopular opinion: I used to think a $15 coax stripper was fine, but after a squirrel chewed through my line in Denver and I had to do a perfect splice in the rain, I upgraded to a Klein VDV512-200.

Now I can strip and prep a line in under 30 seconds, even with cold hands, so what's the one tool you splurged on that actually saved your butt?

Update: The attic crawl space debate from a job in Cincinnati

Last week in Cincinnati, I had a job where the only path for the cable was through a 12-inch high attic crawl space over a garage. My partner wanted to just push the cable through with a fish tape and hope for the best. I argued we should pull up a few boards to make a real path, which added an hour. He said we were losing money, I said we were avoiding a callback. What's the line for you guys between a quick fix and doing it right when the space is that tight?

Spent 6 hours yesterday trying to fish a line through a finished ceiling because the builder glued the flex conduit shut

Finally tried that new fish tape from Klein versus my old steel one

The fiberglass one is way lighter and doesn't kink, which saved me a ton of time on a crawl space job in Tacoma last Tuesday. Anyone have a good trick for keeping the end from fraying after a few uses?

PSA: I lost a whole day's pay on a bad crimp tool

Bought a cheap crimper for RG6 from a discount tool truck last month, cost me about $30. Used it on a job in Tempe and every single connector failed signal check. Had to redo eight apartment units from scratch with my old tool. That mistake cost me nearly $400 in lost time and a frustrated property manager. The metal jaws were just soft and wouldn't hold the crimp right. What other tools have you guys bought that seemed okay but totally let you down on site?

Cleaned out my truck and counted my old coax connectors

I had a box of old F-connectors from my first few years on the job, back when everything was analog. I finally sorted them and counted over 800. That's just the ones I kept, not the thousands I must have thrown away. It hit me that I haven't used a standard crimp-on connector on a new install in maybe five years. Everything's compression fittings or pre-terminated lines now. Makes you think about how much the little stuff has changed. Anyone else find a weird stash of old parts that dates your time in the field?

My old boss in Phoenix told me to never use zip ties on aerial drops

He said they would cut into the line over time and cause signal issues. I ignored him for years, but last month I had to redo a whole street in Mesa because the zip ties from a job three years back had chewed through the jacket on twelve RG6 lines. What's your go-to for securing drops on poles now?

Had a real mess with a 100-foot coax run in an old Denver apartment building

Honestly, I was sure I could fish it through the existing chase, but the plaster walls had metal mesh inside that shredded the jacket. Tbh, I ended up having to surface-mount a new line along the baseboard, which took an extra two hours. Has anyone else found a better way to deal with those old lath and plaster walls without going external?

Had to pick between a 6-inch and 12-inch drill bit for a tight attic run last week.

Serious question, overheard a guy at the supply house say he never grounds the tap at the pole

He claimed it saves 15 minutes on a standard install, but that just sounds like a major code violation waiting to happen. Anyone ever push back on a shortcut like that?

Warning: I bought a cheap coax stripper that cost me a whole morning

I was trying to save a few bucks last month and grabbed a no-name coax stripper from a discount tool site for like $12. It looked fine online, but the blade was dull right out of the box. I was on a job in a new apartment building, and it kept mashing the braid instead of cutting the jacket clean. I had to re-terminate the same line three times because the signal was junk, and each time I had to re-run the cable from the wall plate. That one cheap tool wasted about 3 hours of my time, which is way more than the $50 I would have spent on a good one. I ended up having to drive to the supply house at lunch to buy a proper Klein stripper anyway. Has anyone else had a tool fail so bad it wrecked your schedule for the day?

Stuck a coax fitting in a tight crawl space with a zip tie trick

Couldn't get my crimper in a corner under a house in Charlotte, so I looped a heavy duty zip tie around the fitting and pulled it tight with pliers. It held long enough to get the line secured and saved me a huge headache. Anyone have a better fix for spots where you can't swing a tool?

Question about using a fish tape for a tricky drop in an old house

I was working on a job in a 1920s bungalow in Portland last month, trying to get a line down from the attic to a first floor outlet. The wall was full of old plaster and blocking I didn't expect. My helper said, 'Just push harder, it'll go.' I tried that for ten minutes and got nowhere. Then I remembered a tip from a guy at a supply house years ago about bending the very end of the tape into a small, tight hook. I did that, gave it a little twist as I pushed, and it slid right past the blockage. That small change saved me probably an hour of frustration and a potential wall repair. It made me realize that sometimes the old tricks are the best ones, even with all the new tools we have. What's your go-to method for dealing with stubborn old walls?

Can we talk about how much cleaner my attic runs look after I started using a 3/4 inch flex bit for the tight spots

I switched from trying to force a standard bit to using a 3/4 inch flex bit for a month, and now my lines are straighter and I'm not fighting the joists as much, so what's your go-to tool for those cramped attic spaces?