Are you prepared for TV/Internet wiring installation?

Malibu East is implementing new five-year communications contracts with USA Wireless Satellite TV and HiPoint Technology Services for bulk DirecTV programming and bulk high-speed Internet service. The cost to each owner will be $22.99 per month (rather than the current $32) for television service (DirecTV’s Choice channel package, the same as in the previous contract) and $24 per month for 100 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload speed on the Internet.

As the TV/Internet wiring project gets under way, there are a number of considerations for each resident to be aware of, such as:

1. You must allow a clear path from your balcony to the exterior wall of the first bedroom immediately west of the living room. Workers will be coring a hole in your balcony floor in that area, then running cables through the hole before sealing the hole and hiding the cables with off-white steel molding affixed to your balcony wall.
2. Approximately 13 feet of the dual bonded coaxial (for television) and Ethernet (for connecting to the Internet) wires dedicated to your unit will be coiled up next to the bottom of the molding on your balcony until USA Wireless arranges with you to bring them into your unit.
3. When USA Wireless makes an appointment to come to your unit, its technician will drill a small hole in the wall of this first bedroom, through which it will fish the wires dedicated to your unit. While USA Wireless will have some flexibility, it will generally run the wires beneath the baseboard heater, if you have one, to a location on the wall adjacent to the living room where the current TV “loop-through” wiring junction box exists.
4. Per the standard installation, USA Wireless will install two boxes on the wall between the first bedroom and the living room, one on the bedroom side and the other on the living room side. One box will have a coaxial connection for the TV, and the other will have both a coax connection and an Ethernet connection. You will have the option of choosing the room in which you want the Ethernet connection, but you must decide by the time the technician comes to your unit. If you are contemplating utilizing DirecTV’s on-demand service, which requires a high-definition (HD) digital video recorder (DVR) receiver, you will likely want to have the Ethernet connection box installed in the same room as the HD DVR receiver is located because the receiver must have a wired connection to high-speed Internet. This Ethernet/Internet connection is not necessary should you choose not to want on-demand content or mobile cell phone access to your equipment.
5. If you currently have an HD DVR receiver (silver box), USA Wireless will replace it with a newer version at no cost to you. However, you will lose any programs you have recorded on the receiver, unless you copy them to a DVD before the exchange of receivers. USA Wireless is not able to transfer the recorded programs for you.
6. If you have an SD receiver and wish to keep using it, you may. If it is also an SD DVR receiver (black), you will retain any programs you have recorded on it.
7. If you have been watching only local stations and a few other select channels without a DirecTV receiver connected to your set, you will no longer have the ability to do this. You will either have to (a) lease a receiver from USA Wireless for the TV set, (b) ask USA Wireless to “mirror” an existing SD receiver in your unit (which means that set will have to be on the same channel as the TV from which it is mirrored) or (c) use an indoor antenna to try to get digital reception of the over-the-air channels.
8. Be sure to read the handouts you’ll be receiving regarding the DirecTV equipment and channel lineup options so that you will have a good idea of what services you’d like when you schedule your appointment for the TV installation through USA Wireless. We plan on having these handouts available well before you need to make decisions.
9. Likewise, you will get a handout regarding your Internet-related equipment that you should read carefully before HiPoint comes to your unit to install your new Ethernet service, so that you know whether you will need additional equipment, such as a wireless router. HiPoint has offered a reduced-cost installation/configuration of a router during the rollout period, and it has offered to schedule a couple of Genius Squad seminars to answer the questions of residents. Several tech-savvy residents are reviewing wireless routers for possible use with our new Internet service, and they may be able to provide some suggestions to residents who are considering the purchase of such a router and would like some assistance.
10. If you are using an Internet service provider (ISP), don’t cancel your existing service before your new HiPoint service is established, and don’t enter into a contract with another ISP that you can’t cancel on short notice.
11. It’s possible that your current email account may be jeopardized by dropping your current ISP. Although most ISPs can make arrangements for you to keep your email address, you should call them to find out what would be required to accomplish this and the cost, if any. If you decide to stop using this email account, set up a new email account (Gmail, Yahoo! mail, etc.) and notify your contacts that you are switching to this new email address.
12. If you use VoIP (Voice-over-Internet Protocol) as your means of telephone voice communication, you must determine whether you will be able to keep it if you cancel your current ISP after your switch to HiPoint. (Note: HiPoint offers an optional VoIP service at an additional cost.) And, if you’re switching VoIP providers and wish to keep your phone number, let the new VoIP carrier handle the conversion so that you don’t lose your number.
13. You may be locked into a contract with an ISP that has not expired, or perhaps you do not have any Internet service and do not wish to have any. If either of these descriptions applies to you, please contact the Management Office and explain that you wish to be exempted from the HiPoint Internet service activation, and indicate the reason why and for how long a period. Please keep in mind that the amount you would be paying for HiPoint’s service is less than what other providers charge for only 5% of the broadband speed HiPoint is offering to us. Should you defer initiating this service, HiPoint may charge you a service call fee for activating its Internet service at a date following the rollout period.