Difference between RG6 and regular coax?

[dbronstein]

I recently had to run some cable for my system and I just used regular coax and connectors (I have no idea what the original installer used). Then I found this board and everyone says you have to use RG6 cable. What am I losing out on since I just have the regular coax? Everything seems fine to me - the picture is as clear as it's ever been.

Thanks,
Dennis

[drjake]

I don't know what you meen by regular coax. If you mean RG59, which is one type of coax, you may run into problems if the run is too long. If the run is short enough, RG59 will probably work. RG6 has more bandwith and has less signal loss than RG59.

[dbronstein]

I went to my local Ace Hardware and bought cable that was labled "Video Cable". I have no idea if it is RG59 or whatever.

Dennis

[mnassour]

Is there any writing at ALL on the cable itself, any kind of number? If not, I'd bet it's probably RG59.

[cnsf]

Probably RG59. If it works, great. You may start to see digital static over time and depending on the quality of the RG59, it could last 6 years, could last 6 days.

Keep an eye out for the digital static and if you get it, try RG6, otherwise, don't bother changing it.