I have all my own equipment, tools, meters, insurances, and experience. I have installed cable and satellites, have a SBCA Cert, and do maintenance on Cable lines (Sweep,Ingress).
It has become increasingly difficult to make money in this industry. In the beginning, I worked for Time Warner, doing installs and service, installing modems, and the drops they needed. It was an easy $2400/wk, until the prime caught wind of my income, and slashed the prices in half. Then the jobs dropped off, and it all started to suck. So, I moved out of there, and started contracting for Dish and Directv. The custom money was good, and the pay as well. Then they started this "you can't charge the customer for custom labor" stuff. This means that they want you to do custom work for free. No thanks. Now they insist that you put a "free" phone line on each receiver. I bet if they were the ones installing the equipment, this would not be free, nor would any of the custom work. So, you went from making $2400- $3000/wk down to making maybe $1200/week doing the same work. So, I started doing maintenance and construction on cable lines, which went well for a while, but now the pay has dropped, and the work is no easier. The jobs don't last that long in one area, so you are constantly travelling. The insurance requirements continue to rise, and the specs get harder to achieve, now we are sweeping to 1 gig for less than you used to make per foot on a 750 mhz line. I have been in 5 cities in the past two years, and will be moving again very soon, as the job I am on now is ending.
You might not make the big bucks in house, but if you aren't losing that much income, but getting all your insurances, gas, not having to travel constantly, and you don't want to travel constantly and stress about where you are going next, then you may want to stay put. Your income may be more that that of a contractor after all the deductions that a contractor takes due to expenses that a company would cover for you.
Re: cable to satellite
Member #: 63723
Registered: 12/2/2008
Posted:
43
Name:
Work Hard -- Get Paid
Company:
Self
Occupation:
Sweep, Ingress, Install, Service, Satellite=SBCA.
Location:
USA
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