c/cable-installers

I thought fish tape was just for pulling wire until a job in Cincinnati

Got stuck on a run with a tight 90 degree bend, and an old timer on site told me to use the fish tape to push a string through first. I was sure it would kink, but it worked perfectly and saved me an hour of fighting the pull. What other old school tricks have you guys picked up that actually work?

Warning: I tried using a cheap knockoff compression tool on a job in Tempe last week.

The crimp failed after two days and the customer called back with a full signal drop. Switched back to my Klein CT100 and haven't had a single issue since. What's the one tool you guys absolutely won't cheap out on?

This guy in a Denver attic told me I was 'just a cable guy'

I was up there in July, maybe 110 degrees, running a new line for his home office. He stood at the hatch and said, 'Hurry up, you're just a cable guy, it's not brain surgery.' I had just spent twenty minutes explaining the signal loss from his old splitter. It really got under my skin. Anyone else get that kind of talk when you're just trying to do a good job?

Just realized I was over-tightening coax fittings after a customer complaint

A homeowner in Tempe told me their internet kept dropping, and when I checked, the connector was pinched from my wrench. I switched to a torque wrench set to 30 inch-pounds, and the signal stability improved immediately. Anyone else have a specific torque they swear by for different fittings?

My old foreman in Tampa told me to always use a torque wrench on F-connectors, and I finally get why.

He said 'a stripped port costs us $150 and a callback,' which never clicked until I had to replace a whole wall plate last week. Anyone else have a rule they ignored at first but now swear by?

TIL a mouse chewed through a line in an attic crawlspace

Got a call for no signal in a house built in the 70s. Checked everything outside, all good. Took me 4 hours to finally trace it to a gnawed cable in a tight attic corner above the garage. Had to replace about 15 feet of line. Anyone else deal with rodent damage in weird spots?

My fish tape snapped inside a conduit run yesterday

Was pulling some Cat6 through a tight bend in an old office building and heard a loud pop. Had to cut the cable and start over, which wasted about 45 minutes. Anyone got a trick for getting a broken tape out without having to re-pull everything?

Finally got that signal through a 100-year-old plaster wall in Boston...

Took me nearly four hours to find a clear path for the line without wrecking the place. Anyone have a better method for those old lath and plaster monsters?

Serious question, what's your go-to trick for fishing cable through a finished ceiling?

I was working on a job in a 1950s house in Bellingham last week, attic access was a nightmare with blown-in insulation everywhere. Instead of my usual fiberglass rod, I grabbed a cheap plastic glow rod from the truck, taped a small magnet to the end, and dropped a steel nut on a string from the hole below. The magnet grabbed it first try, saved me at least an hour of fighting that mess. Anyone have a better method for those tight spots with zero visibility?

I finally stopped fighting with old coax splitters in tight crawl spaces

For years I'd just muscle them off with pliers, which took forever and sometimes broke the line. Last month in a 1970s house in Tacoma, a homeowner showed me his trick: a drop of penetrating oil on the threads and a 7/16 wrench. Came off in seconds. Now I keep a small bottle in my kit. What's your go-to method for stuck fittings?

Vent: I dropped $200 on a fancy fish tape with a built-in level and it snapped on the first tough pull in a crawl space.

What's the best heavy-duty fish tape you guys actually trust for real jobs?

A chat with a phone guy made me stop hating on fiber installs

I was at a supply house in Phoenix and this older tech from the phone company was picking up some tools. We got talking and he said, 'You know, I fought fiber for a decade, called it a fad. Then I did a 3-day class and realized it's just a different kind of string to pull.' He showed me his basic fusion splicer and said most of his jobs now are just swapping a copper box for an ONT. It hit different because he wasn't some young hype guy, he was a grumpy old timer like me. Now I'm actually looking into getting certified. Anyone here made the switch recently and have tips on which splicer to start with?

Shoutout to the old guy at the hardware store who changed my mind about coax strippers

I was grabbing some fittings in Springfield last week and got talking to this retired installer, maybe 70 years old. He saw my fancy automatic stripper and said, 'Kid, I've had the same $8 manual stripper in my bag since '92, and it's never failed a drop test.' It hit different because I'd just spent 20 minutes fixing a nick in a line from my own tool slipping. Made me wonder if we overcomplicate simple jobs. Anyone else gone back to a simpler tool after something like that?

A homeowner in Tempe told me my cable runs looked like a spiderweb

He pointed at a bundle of coax and Cat6 I'd just run through his attic and said, 'You know, that's going to be a nightmare for the next guy.' I used to just focus on getting signal and getting out. Now, I spend an extra 15 minutes per job with Velcro ties and a label maker. My service callbacks dropped by half. How do you guys keep things tidy in a tight crawl space?

A crawl space flood in Cincinnati made me rethink my cable routing strategy

I had to re-run 300 feet of RG6 after a pipe burst, and now I'm debating if it's worth the extra time to always use overhead paths. What's your take on routing priority: speed or long-term protection?

Shoutout to the $300 Klein cable toner that saved my butt yesterday

I bought it thinking it was overkill, but it pinpointed a cut line buried in a wall in under five minutes. My buddy says a $50 toner does the same job and I wasted cash. Who's right, are the high-end toners worth it or just shiny toys?

My old compression tool gave out mid-job in the rain last Tuesday

I was finishing up a line to a new build in the suburbs and the handle just snapped clean off. It was a Klein model I've had for maybe five years. I had to run back to the truck for my backup, which set me back an hour on a tight schedule. Anyone have a brand of compression tool that can really take a beating?

Spent 4 hours trying to fish a line through a finished wall in a 1920s house, only to find the entire cavity was packed with old newspaper insulation.

A lady in a big house on Mercer Island told me I was 'just the cable guy' and I've never forgotten it.

She said it while I was crawling through her attic in August heat, running a new line because her old one was chewed by squirrels, and it made me want to explain that this job is about solving puzzles in tight spaces with your hands and your head, not just plugging things in.

I was reading an old telecom manual and found out the first coaxial cable for TV was laid in 1949

I was cleaning out my work van last week and found this old, beat-up manual from the 80s. I flipped through it and there was a small section on the history of the stuff we use. It said the first big coaxial cable run for TV signals was put in the ground in 1949, somewhere in Pennsylvania. I always figured it was way later than that, like the 60s or something. It's wild to think we're still running cable on ideas that old. What's the oldest piece of tech or method you guys still come across on the job?

Hot take: my worst week ever was actually a good thing

I know everyone hates the bad weeks, but let me tell you about one that changed how I work. It was in early March, and I had three jobs in a row in these old brick apartment buildings in St. Louis. Every single wall was solid masonry, and my standard drill bits just snapped. I went through five bits in two days. The third customer, an older guy, watched me struggle for an hour and finally said, 'Son, you need a rotary hammer, not that toy.' I felt like an idiot. I had to rent one for $45 a day and eat the cost. But drilling through those walls went from a 30-minute fight to a 2-minute job. Now I won't even look at an old building without that tool in the truck. Has anyone else had a tool failure that made you completely change your standard kit?

TIL my old method of taping coax connectors was wasting about 2 minutes per drop compared to using a crimp tool.

I timed myself on 20 installs last week and the crimp tool was faster and gave a more reliable connection every time, so has anyone else made a switch like that recently?

A homeowner in Tempe told me my cable runs looked like spaghetti. I started using Velcro ties the next day.

Shoutout to the old coax crimpers I should have tossed years ago

I was finishing a job in a tight attic last month and my old crimper slipped, ruining a connector. I had to climb down, drive to the supply house, and buy a new pack. That little mistake cost me an extra hour and about $15 in parts and gas. I should have replaced that worn-out tool a long time ago. Anyone have a favorite brand for crimpers that last?

Had a 20-year-old underground conduit completely collapse on me yesterday.

It was packed with clay and roots, so I had to run a whole new line. Anyone else run into this lately, or is it just my bad luck?