ReUsing Old Coax

[hk11691]

I just had FIOS installed yesterday, I previously had TWC.

The tech said it would be OK for him to re-use the outside (around the house) coax that TWC originally installed.

However, when I went to return the boxes to TW they told me that they would be coming out to remove any wires they ran outside the house (not talking about from the pole to the house but the coax that was run from the front of the house to the back).

Have any of you had this experience?

Should the VZ guy have used the outside coax? Should I call VZ and ask them as a Repair to send someone out to replace the outside TW wires? If so, any suggestions as to a number or if Live Chat is better. Frankly, I've already run into one or two nightmares trying to contact Verizon and would like the most expedient method possible.

Thanks for any info.

HK

[lasagna]

I'd tell TWC, politely, to stay off your property.  

I'd urge you to read any TOS agreement you may have signed with them, but that doesn't sound right.  They have a right to remove cable that may run from the street to exterior entry point (usually a point near where the cable initially terminates to the house ground -- typically at or about the same location as where you fiber connection enters your house) and to insure that their cable has been disconnected from your house wiring (to prevent someone from reinjecting signal back into their network because of a bad wiring job), and to reclaim any equipment which they may have installed (line amplifiers or maybe even splitters -- although that ends up costing them more for a truck roll than leaving it behind -- and the return requirement usually only applies to "active" devices, not "passive" ones),  but endpoint connections installed inside or run around the outside but then terminating on an inside recepticle is typically "homeowner" property regardless of who installed them.

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[hk11691]

That actually was my sense, it's now MY property, although of course they will need access sufficient to remove the aerial line (that's OK).

The only reason I even bring it up is because a neighbor insists that's what TWC did to her about a year ago, but you know how memories have a way of distorting the facts and people like to embellish to make their point seem more important. Not saying that's necessarily what happened here, though, just one possibility.

It's just that, rightly or wrongly, if that cable gets cut I'm without Internet/TV/Phone and we all know how quickly VZ will rush to do a rewire. 🙂

Thanks for the info.

[lasagna]

I'd urge you to check the outside wiring and if there is a point (at ground level, usually near where your other utility lines enter the house) where the coax is grounded to the house ground and the overhead cable run terminates (usually a splitter or something).

Anything "street side" from that splitter is TWC.  Anything "house side" is yours.

Disconnect their cable at that point from your "house side" (actually I suspect the Verizon installer already did that and connected the Verizon ONT cable to the "street side" of that connection and the TWC street feed is just dangling there) and tell them it's already been disconnected.

If they insist otherwise, I ask to see the signed agreement which indicates they own any of the house-side installed cable.