Broadband Applications & Construction Manual - Public - CommScope

9.1 Residential Interior Cabling
Overview
Overview
By now, the drop has been run to the residence, attached and grounded at either the ground block or the NIU.
How and where you enter the residence depends on the types of service that are going to be provided. If there is
no NIU, you need to proceed from the ground block to the various locations around the residence, splitting the
connections as you go. It may be to your advantage to use a ground block with a splitter so that two coax cables
may be run in different directions. With an NIU, multiple and different cabling types may be used on the output
side. A general rule is that CATV coax may be split, but phone and computer UTP should be home run to the
NIU. Cable modems should be placed at the first split.
Article 830 Considerations
Powered broadband cable MUST be terminated to a grounded location at an NIU (see Section 8/Attaching to
the NIU per NEC 830 for details). Except within the wall or in a conduit like commercial electrical cable, NEC
830 cable may not extend any further than 50 ft (15.2 meters) within a residence.
Use the Crawlspace, Basement or Attic to Run Cable
For the ground floor, plan your installation so that the cable runs through the crawlspace or basement and then
up through the floor or an interior wall to the outlets. For the upper floor, run up to and through the attic and
then down through the walls to outlets.
If the crawlspace or basement present problems,
another option is to run the cable around the outside
of the residence. Be sure to use an outdoorrated
cable. Try to follow the architectural lines of
the house and run the cable in places where the
foundation meets the bottom of the exterior walls,
or vertically along the corner trim, or under the
soffit. You can bury cable next to the foundation
(keeping in mind the burial depth per NEC 820).
Avoid placing cable in direct sunlight, as that will
accelerate cable aging. Consider a non-metallic
raceway to hide and protect the exterior cable.