Squirrels vs. cable

[jpeter1093]

Every few years; I lose some of my channels. A call to TW indicates I'm showing a 'low signal' and a service call is scheduled. Each time the technician has replaced the line from the pole to my house. The last couple of times, he said the squirrels chew on it, letting moisture in.

So, a couple of questions:
Are the lines from the pole to the house tastier than the main trunk lines? How come entire neighborhoods aren't affected by this issue?

Since the last pole to house line replacement; we've had our house re-sided. The siding installers did us a 'favor' and buried the cable lines running from our house connection into the house. In other words, the first splitter from the cable connection is now buried in styrofoam insulation and vinyl siding. My question is, can the technician cut the line and put a connection on the line just before it enters the vinyl siding? I really don't want to pull out siding just to replace cable. And if he runs a new line into the house; then the aethestics of hiding the cable under the siding is defeated.

Thanks!

[allbenny]

The line going from the pole to your house is has a lot softer jacket, it needs to be flexible and bend, go in and out of holes and whatever, the main line has a much harder jacket, and basically just goes straight from pole to pole.

As far as the siding, it looks nicer, but if there is a splitter behind it and goes bad, or the line got hit by a nail, or just eventually goes bad,or a fitting behind it get corroded or something... the cable guys probably aren't going to hang around and wait while you remove all the siding so they can get to area that needs replacing.

[jpeter1093]

Thanks for the info.

Any idea on my other question: "can the technician cut the line and put a connection on the line just before it enters the vinyl siding?"

[hurnik]

They technically can do this, but usually requires special "outside" connectors to attempt to "weather proof" them. Plus I think they also have to be grounded at that point if they're outside, but not 100% sure on that last bit. I know with all the rain we get here they tend to rust up and then you have lots of fun with your signal.