Coaxial cable carries TV, internet, and radio signals through a shielded copper conductor, and using it correctly comes down to four things: picking the right cable type, attaching the right connector, making clean terminations, and running the cable without damaging it. Most home installations use RG6 cable with F-type connectors, but the specifics depend on what you’re connecting and how far the signal needs to travel.
Choosing the Right Cable Type
Coaxial cables look similar on the outside, but they’re built for different jobs. The designation (RG6, RG59, RG11) tells you about the cable’s thickness, signal-carrying capacity, and how far it can run before the signal degrades. Almost all home audio/video coaxial cables use 75-ohm impedance, which is the standard for TV and broadband. The exception is RG58, which uses 50-ohm impedance and is designed for radio and laboratory equipment.
RG6 is the default choice for most home projects. It carries HDTV, broadband internet, and general audio/video signals effectively and is what your cable or internet provider likely already ran to your house. For every 100 feet of RG6 cable, you lose about 1.5 dB of signal strength at lower frequencies (around 55 MHz) and about 6.5 dB at 1,000 MHz. That matters if you’re running long distances or splitting the signal to multiple rooms.
RG59 is an older, thinner cable that works fine for short runs carrying basic video or CCTV signals, but it can’t handle broadband and performs best only at lower frequencies. If you’re wiring a security camera within the same room or short hallway, RG59 will work. For anything else, use RG6.
RG11 is the thickest common option and is built for long outdoor or buried runs. Its larger conductor carries high-frequency signals over greater distances with less loss. It’s also stiffer and harder to work with, so it’s typically used for the trunk line from a utility pole or antenna to your house, not for runs inside walls.
Matching Connectors to Your Equipment
The connector on the end of your coaxial cable has to match the port on your device. Three types cover the vast majority of uses:
- F-type connectors are the ones you’ll find on TVs, cable boxes, modems, and satellite receivers. They screw on and provide a secure, weather-resistant connection that maintains signal integrity. If you’re doing any home TV or internet wiring, these are what you need. They pair with RG6 and RG59 cables.
- BNC connectors use a quick-twist bayonet lock instead of threads, so they snap on and off rapidly. Professional video production, broadcast equipment, and security camera systems use BNC connectors because they handle high-frequency signals cleanly and are fast to connect and disconnect on set or during installation.
- SMA connectors look similar to F-type but are about 2mm different in size. You’ll find them on Wi-Fi antennas, walkie-talkies, handheld radios, and radio telescopes. They’re smaller and designed for higher-frequency wireless applications.
Tools You’ll Need
Attaching a connector to coaxial cable requires precise stripping, and you can’t do it well with a regular utility knife (though people try). A coaxial cable stripper is the most important tool. These specialized strippers make a two-step cut that removes the outer jacket and the white insulating layer (the dielectric) in the correct lengths without nicking the braided shield underneath. They’re inexpensive and save significant frustration.
You’ll also want a coaxial cable cutter for making clean, flush cuts at the end of the cable before stripping. Regular wire cutters can crush the cable and deform its round cross-section, which makes connectors fit poorly. Precision side cutters are useful for trimming stray strands of the braided shield after stripping. If you’re using compression-style F connectors (the most reliable type for home use), you’ll need a compression tool to lock the connector permanently onto the cable.
Attaching a Compression F Connector
Start by cutting the cable end flush with your cable cutter so you have a clean, round starting point. Insert the cable into your stripping tool and rotate it around the cable several times. When you pull the tool off, it should leave you with about 1/4 inch of the center copper conductor exposed at the tip, and an additional 1/4 inch of the braided shield and foil visible beneath that. The outer jacket should be cleanly cut back, with no stray braid strands touching the center conductor.
Fold back any loose braid strands over the outer jacket. Check that no shield material is touching or close to the center conductor, because contact between the two will short out your signal. Slide the compression connector over the prepared cable end until the center conductor pokes through the connector’s tip. The connector should feel snug against the cable. Place the assembly into your compression tool and squeeze firmly. You’ll feel the connector lock into place with a click or a firm stop. Once compressed, the connector is permanent and weatherproof.
A useful reference when checking your strip: the exposed center conductor and the exposed braid section should each be roughly 1/4 inch long. Some stripping tools have built-in length gauges on the back. If your exposed sections are too short, the connector won’t seat properly. If they’re too long, you’ll have excess conductor poking out or a loose fit.
Running Cable Without Signal Loss
How you physically handle coaxial cable during installation directly affects signal quality. The industry standard minimum bend radius is 10 times the cable’s outer diameter, a rule that hasn’t changed since 1982. For RG6 cable, which is roughly 0.27 inches in diameter, that means never bending it tighter than about a 2.7-inch radius. Sharper bends deform the internal spacing between the center conductor and the shield, which changes the cable’s electrical properties and degrades the signal. Some newer standards allow bends as tight as 6 times the diameter, but sticking with 10x gives you a safety margin.
Avoid running coaxial cable parallel to electrical wiring whenever possible. Power lines act as antennas and can introduce interference into your cable signal. Crossing electrical wires at a 90-degree angle is fine, but running coax alongside them for several feet invites noise. Similarly, keep coax away from fluorescent light ballasts, motors, and other sources of electrical interference.
Every time you split a coaxial signal (using a splitter to send it to multiple TVs, for example), you lose signal strength. A two-way splitter cuts your signal roughly in half (about 3.5 dB loss). A four-way splitter cuts it to roughly a quarter. If you’re splitting to many rooms and experiencing poor picture quality or slow internet, the cumulative loss from splitters and long cable runs may be the culprit.
Grounding Outdoor Installations
Any coaxial cable entering your home from outside needs to be grounded. The National Electrical Code (Article 820) requires that the outer conductive shield of a coaxial cable be bonded or grounded as close as possible to the point where it enters the building. This is done with a grounding block: a small metal fitting that the cable passes through, with a terminal for attaching a grounding wire that runs to your home’s grounding electrode (typically a ground rod or the grounding bus in your electrical panel).
Mount the grounding block near where the cable enters the house and keep the grounding wire as short and straight as practical. This protects your equipment from lightning strikes and static buildup on the cable. Skipping this step doesn’t just violate code; a lightning surge traveling down an ungrounded coaxial cable can destroy your TV, modem, or any connected equipment.
Troubleshooting Weak or Lost Signals
The most common cause of coaxial signal problems is a compromised shield. When the braided shielding has a gap, a kink, or a loose connector, outside signals leak in and your signal leaks out. Loose F connectors are the single most frequent issue. Hand-tightened connectors can vibrate loose over months, especially on exterior fittings exposed to temperature changes. Tighten them with a 7/16-inch wrench, snug but not overtightened.
Moisture inside a connector or cable is another common culprit, especially at outdoor fittings. Water changes the electrical properties of the cable and causes progressive signal degradation. Use compression connectors rather than crimp or push-on types for any outdoor connection, and wrap exterior fittings with weatherproof tape or silicone sealant. If a cable has been kinked or crushed, that section needs to be cut out and replaced, because the internal geometry won’t recover.
Noisy appliances inside your home can also interfere with coaxial signals. Anything with a motor, a dimmer switch, or a faulty power supply can generate electrical noise that couples into nearby coax. If your signal problems come and go, try noting whether they coincide with specific appliances running. Defective electrical insulators on nearby utility poles are another overlooked source of interference that’s worth reporting to your power company if you’ve ruled out everything inside the house.