Just realized how many homes still use coax from the 90s

I was swapping out a drop on a house built in 1999 yesterday and found the original RG59 still running from the pole. No joke, the jacket was cracked and the copper was green. I looked up some old spec sheets and apparently that stuff was rated for 15 years tops. Every third house I hit feels like it's still running on that ancient wire. Anyone else pulling out old cabling that should've been replaced a decade ago?

3 comments

3 Comments

karenh563d ago

Those green connectors are always a joy to find.

jessica1302d ago

Right, because ancient corroded coax is known for its stellar performance.

stellaperry3d ago

and the thing is RG59 was barely good enough for analog cable back then, let alone modern DOCSIS 3.1 speeds. I've seen houses where the shield is basically gone and the signal just leaks out like a sieve. The real kicker is when you find that old splitters inline with like 10dB loss, and then people wonder why their internet drops out every time it rains.