The difference between RG59 & RG6 coax cables

What is the difference between RG59 and RG6? RG-6 is better.

[videosallnight]

RG6 has lower loss but is very rigid and hard to bend. It is best for the long runs(through the wall, and antenna up the side of the house). RG59 is more flexible, especially the foam core, and is best for jumpers (from the wall jack to the TV/Cablebox, or from the cable box to the TV).

[gruglet]

thanks for that bit of info mate :) it explained a lot as to why my 3 tvs get different reception. I simply swapped over the cables to rg6 and its groovy as. Have a beer and realise that you've made a difference in someone's life :)

[timhanson]

i"ve been an Electrician for 35 years now and one day was at my rental house when "the local Cable TV monster company" was there turning on service for my new tenants. i said nothing about what i do for work and when he was the house was roughed in RG-6 he said "59's a better cable" ... when asked why he said "it's more common, and carry's the signal better" ... when i finally let him in on my profession he stammered "well 59's more then adequate for residential use, (not to mention cheaper for his company to use, i.e. barrel's, splitters, etc) .... christ... dont they teach them anything ? sure back when only a picture went thru it was enough. but now with TV, Data, some Alarms, and CCTV systems all sharing, i want the bigger piece of "Copper Core" i can get there are some that are quite knowledgeable, they're just

[crazytexanhacker]

I'm just watching all your videos until you quit using the word mesh and start using the word shielding. Very good, very informative and very clear videos.

[maxkelter]

That answered all my questions about end fittings on coax. Very good!

[AlejandroPuenteMX]

Finally I understand the difference!! Very clear and nice explanation. Thanks for this video. 

[JuseJamez]

Some equipment specifically ask for rg59 because of lower frequencies being used.  Always check the equipment specifications. Pretty solid answer though. Thank you. Informative.

[RC-nqmg]

Difference between RG-6 and RG-59. Both are 75Ohm nominal impedance, RG-6 has a much higher bandwidth. DC to between 2.4 and 3GHz depending on manufacturer. The larger gauge of the center conductor is the main reason for the higher bandwidth. RG-59 on the other hand is good to around the 900MHz range of spectrum before the attenuation of the cable begins to cause severe signal degradation. Remember the a difference in 3db of signal strength is 1/2 the power. RG-6 has a much lower loss per foot on a given frequency than RG-59, and is also shielded significantly better. A good quality RG-6 can have a 98% quad shield, where RG-59 is lucky to have anything more than about 48% thus the RG-6 will have less signal leakage and less induced interference. Velocity factors of both cables are roughly the same, around 0.66%. Honestly I have no idea why RG-59 is even still made, it is garbage, lossy and much more susceptible to outside interference. If you look at the specs of RG-6 compared to 59, even if some manufacturer is recommending 59 (the only reason they recommend it is they never tested the equipment on RG-6 and cant be bothered to read a datasheet) that RG-6 will do anything RG-59 can and better. Only shitty thing about RG-6 is the shield cannot be soldered as it is aluminum, where most flavors of RG-59 have a copper or tinned copper braid.

[turmat]

The old owner has passed a LONG RG59 cable in the wall and it is used to plug in my modem. My connection is very unstable. I'm rewiring the place right now, passing a much shorter RG6 cable. I hope this fixes my issues.

[jrockafellow]

3/10/22. I'm asking this Q eight years after the video, but I'm adding a TV to our system and need to tap into existing RG-59 coaxial cable, and my question is whether the FEMALE side of RG-59, where the copper wire fits into, is the same size for RG-6 as for RG-59? It appears from your video that the two copper wires are different diameters. So thanks to anyone who might be able to reply.

[thaddeusmcgrath]

Wow, thanks for this. I just built a bow tie outdoor HDTV antenna in the process of mounting about 25 FT off the ground. I was going to buy RG59 but got a good deal on RG6 at a yard sale but not sure of the difference.

[grandeballroom]

Thanks for the info; two more question marks eliminated within my gray matter; a billion more to go. Also, you made it plain and simple to fully understand, and plain and simple is what I like.

[JadeB]

obviously, the RG6 is a far better cable. but if you're using it for CCTV camera they're harder to use due to its flexibility in corners.
most people use the RG59 for CCTV camera's (which has become a really demanding product.)
I "m about to do a new installation of CCTV cameras in a really hot weather area NV. would you recommend using an RG6 and a separate power cable for CCTV cameras?

[johnriley]

Good, simple video explanation...thanks friend.

[Bushwack]

For the purpose of identifying which existing cable you may have to deal with, it would be good to know the actual diameters of the 2 different cables. I have one running above my suspended ceiling, I need to replace its connector, but I don't have a way of knowing whether I'm looking at an RG59 or an RG6 up there, and don't want to have to make 2 trips to Radio Shack if I don't have to.

[fulford]

59 was made for RF aplplications, video came along much later. Not really inferior, just the wrong cable.

[larryl]

Interesting video, thanks.

I have an RG6 question, A satellite technician came by the other day, and was suggesting that my problem was due to my RG6 cable was not rated for a high enough bandwidth. 

My problem was something else, but it raises the question:

What are the bandwidth  performance characteristics of RG6, and are the quality differences between brands important for the home user?

[redhunteroh]

Thanks!  Exactly what I needed to know.

[chrisbow]

what cable would you advise i use to make a home-made subwoofer RCA  cable ?.  don't fancy spending a big chunk of money on a decent pre-made subwoofer cable, so figured i would buy a length of cable and some connectors and make one. i am no electrical expert, so need advice on whether or not RG59 or  RG6 is best used for such an application ?. any advise would be much appreciated. i do have an old sub cable that is RG59, but doing research tells me a thicker copper core, plus the more shielding it has is better, so i am figuring RG6 will be best

[marvin]

Cables are rated by the shielding they have. rg59 is typical in cctv systems