Installer protocols

Hello, 

Again I appreciate the feedback on this forum. My AT&T installer did come out today and answered many of my questions. First and foremost I still need a dig crew to come out to run the fiber from it's primary location across the street, up to my house. After that the installer will return to finish hooking us up. He did say I absolutely don't want to stage the router and Wi-Fi mesh equipment under my house because of the blistering heat we have here in the Sacramento valley area. He told me it wouldn't be a problem to run additional cables from the back of the router, back down through the hole where the fiber is coming in, to wherever I'd like additional hardwire connections. Again, thank you for the feedback, it was very much appreciated. 

Jeff  

No

Possibly, each additional line should cost $55 in material plus $99 labor thus running (3) lines would be around $450.

The bigger question is would the tech have time to perform the additional work.

Expectation on average is tech will complete 4 jobs per day in a 10 hour workday which includes all drive time. 
Tje average install is generally 3+ hours to run fiber drop, place NID, fiber inside wiring, activate / test ONT plus gateway. 5 tests need to pass for tech to close job. All jobs started need to be completed same day, cannot come back to finish running lines a different day.

Thus general recommendation is hire a low voltage company to run your desired addition wiring. May cost you more but job will be more professional and likely cleaner than the time could perform under a time crunch, my opinion.

If this is a home you own and plan on living in for next several years, hiring the work out makes more sense. In an apartment that your likely move out less than 5 years why spent the money to improve someone else’s property?

Thank you for that input, very much appreciated!

So here's my plan B, and maybe you can tell me what you think. I was thinking if the installer will only do one point of entry, I was going to wire the other rooms myself. I have two possible ways I thought I might do this. I have a basement/crawl space that you can practically stand up in. My electrical wires all run through the attic, but all phone and previous internet lines run under the house. I have a multi-port gigabit ethernet switch, and was going to ask the installer to maybe plug my fiber connection into the switch placed under the house, and then he can run a cable out of the switch up to wherever he installs the modem/router in the house. Then I would simply run my own lines from the switch to the additional rooms where I want a connection. OR plan C would involve him staging the router under the house, and then I can run my own additional lines directly from the router to my additional rooms. FYI, I do have an electrical outlet under the house for the router or switch to plug into, that is close to where the hardware would be set up. And I guess plan D would be...If the router is in the house (not the basement) I would ask that he leave enough space in the hole he creates in the wall/floor for the primary fiber cable, to be large enough for me to run two additional cables from the back of the router back down through the floor so I can route cables to my two additional rooms where I want a connection. I really appreciate any thought s you might have on this. Thanks.

Plan B does not work, fiber has to go the the gateway location.

Plan C have fiber/gateway equipment in basement is logical but means your Wi-Fi source (gateway) is in the basement. Are your planning on installing a Wi-Fi mesh system for home coverage?

Plan D is there coax cabling going thru the floor to where want the gateway?

Ask your installer for advice, if you’re willing to help and drill the hole(s) pulling cat5e wiring or better provided by the tech. You could start wiring your rooms while the tech is running the drop and installing the NID. 

I have had customers run the inside fiber from the point of entry to the ONT location as our area (Milwaukee market) mainly has basement with all wiring including electrical in the basement. Just need access, no finished basement with drywall ceilings. Suspended ceiling or open floor joist.

I was in fact planning to get the wifi mesh. And yes, I do have old cable that runs to two of the three areas I want a connection. The third location is a bedroom where there is no phone or coax lines, only electrical outlets, and those wires run up the walls into the attic. I was going to ask the installer to put the connection in this bedroom because I don’t have the confidence to drill into the wall and/or floor to do it myself. The other two locations have existing cable under the house, so it would be easy for me to just swap out the wall plates with Ethernet plates and run cable up to them. I can foresee a small hassle if the gateway is in the basement when it comes to rebooting the system, as there is no direct access from inside the house. I also don’t know how well the wifi mesh would work if it’s under the house, which I’m guessing is why you asked about it? Well, I’m certainly willing to assist in the installation in the bedroom where there are no existing cables, if he’s willing to do it! My current internet connection is at the other end of the house, and I’m hoping he won’t insist on putting it there. I guess I’ll take your advice and talk to the installer when he gets here and see what he’s willing to do. Thank you again for taking the time to respond to this. Much appreciated!