Cable TV question

[OB3]

Hello All

I curently lease one HD box from my local cable provider and only have one tv hooked up to it, my sony 1080p lcd

The cable comes into the house, then it splits, one to the TV to the HD box, the other to the cable modem for internet service.

My question is, can i use another splitter to run a cable to another tv (possibly 2) in my house without degredating the picture quality of the HD set ? If i take the split feed that is going to the HD box, and split that, one to the HD box and the other to a TV that is cable ready, will that in theory work ?
I am not looking to have HD signal to the second TV, it will either be the tvin the toy room or our bedroom, and i understand that i will only get the basic channel. I am only looking for clear reception, not all 200 + chanells

thanks

[jay]

I'm not a cable guy and don't play one on TV, but can tell you that my cable is split 4 ways at the junction box on the outside of the house. One run goes to a downstairs HD TV, and is split inside the house to a cable modem. The others are unsplit runs to other TVs. One has a TiVo driving it, and the other's just analog cable like you want to do.

Theoretically what you want to do is fine. The only thing I don't know enough about is the different splitters and how you'd go about figuring out the correct ones to use.

[OB3]

thanks J, this is good to hear.
i purchased a decent splitter on the reccomendation of a fellow tv nut here at my office when i added high speed internet access, he said this would be good if i ever wanted to split the tv signal too.

I just wanted to make sure others have done it, i dont want to go for the extra 10 bucks a month per box just to watch 30 minutes of news at night in bed

[N_Jay]

Generally you can split the signal; a few ways (2 to 4) without issue, but if the signal is marginal there can be problems.

If problems arise you will need to call the cable company to install the proper amp, or you can try doing it yourself, but the pats can be system specific.

Use a GOOD quality splitter rated for a Bi-Directional system up to 1 GHz.

You could just replace the current 2 way splitter with a four way splitter and have 2 extra ports. That would be best. Catch a cable truck on the street and the guy might give you the splitter.

[Medic721]

What I have done is use a 2-way splitter on hte wire coming into the house.
One leg goes to the cable modem and the other goes to the 6-way video splitter. I use a levitton 2Ghz one. It was pricey but no problems with signal on any tv in the house.

-Mike.

[OB3]

thanks everyone
No alls i have to do is get my fat a$$ into the crawl spaces and route the cables to the second floor

ugh

[larryziegler]

Originally posted by OB3
Hello All

I curently lease one HD box from my local cable provider and only have one tv hooked up to it, my sony 1080p lcd

The cable comes into the house, then it splits, one to the TV to the HD box, the other to the cable modem for internet service.

My question is, can i use another splitter to run a cable to another tv (possibly 2) in my house without degredating the picture quality of the HD set ? If i take the split feed that is going to the HD box, and split that, one to the HD box and the other to a TV that is cable ready, will that in theory work ?
I am not looking to have HD signal to the second TV, it will either be the tvin the toy room or our bedroom, and i understand that i will only get the basic channel. I am only looking for clear reception, not all 200 + chanells

thanks

Have you contacted the cable company to check on their cost for installation? Sometimes it's cheaper to let them do it than you doing it yourself.

Secondly, do you have to pay for additional tv's to hook up, even if you don't use the cable box? If so, you might want to check your state laws regarding theft of utility services. In Calif, it is a felony to steal utility services (phone, cable, gas/electricity). At the same time the law was changed, they also ruled it illegal for the cable company to charge for multiple television hook-ups, if no other cable equipment is used to hook up 2nd/3rd/4th tv's, so you might be ok with your plan. Our bill reflects a chanrge for household cable service, then monthly rental fees for each cable box and remote that is utilized. When I added additional tv's to my cable service in our previous home, I had to buy a power booster, as the signal did degrade by splitting it.

[krygny]

The cable modem is the most critical should always be on the output first splitter in the house, preferably a 2-way, not more. If you have a splitter outside, eliminate it so that the cable modem always comes off the first splitter. You'll get noticeably better up/down speeds.

Check your speed: http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

Beyond that first splitter, you can usually split the signals to the TVs one or two more times, but it all depend on the strength of the signal, the length/quality of the cables, distance from the pole, etc. and it's all empirical. If you don't notice a degraded signal, no problem.

[OB3]

Originally posted by krygny
The cable modem is the most critical should always be on the output first splitter in the house, preferably a 2-way, not more. If you have a splitter outside, eliminate it so that the cable modem always comes off the first splitter. You'll get noticeably better up/down speeds.

Check your speed: http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

Beyond that first splitter, you can usually split the signals to the TVs one or two more times, but it all depend on the strength of the signal, the length/quality of the cables, distance from the pole, etc. and it's all empirical. If you don't notice a degraded signal, no problem.

thanks

so, is this good or bad ?
im using time warner cable

Last Result:
Download Speed: 2467 kbps (308.4 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 393 kbps (49.1 KB/sec transfer rate)

[jay]

Originally posted by larryziegler



Have you contacted the cable company to check on their cost for installation? Sometimes it's cheaper to let them do it than you doing it yourself.

Secondly, do you have to pay for additional tv's to hook up, even if you don't use the cable box? If so, you might want to check your state laws regarding theft of utility services. In Calif, it is a felony to steal utility services (phone, cable, gas/electricity). At the same time the law was changed, they also ruled it illegal for the cable company to charge for multiple television hook-ups, if no other cable equipment is used to hook up 2nd/3rd/4th tv's, so you might be ok with your plan. Our bill reflects a chanrge for household cable service, then monthly rental fees for each cable box and remote that is utilized. When I added additional tv's to my cable service in our previous home, I had to buy a power booster, as the signal did degrade by splitting it.

I have Comcast here, and do not pay a per outlet charge. I have one HD flat panel with a Comcast box and the cable modem split off of that run, one with a TiVo and cablecards, and one with just analog.

The last I checked, Comcast charged $30 for a simple outlet install, such as splitting the cable inside the wall and putting an outlet in an adjacent room, or simple runs that didn't involve fishing it through walls.

But after that there is no per outlet charge. I pay for my internet service (my modem), Digital service, an HD uplift on one TV (free box rental) and two HD uplifts and two cablecards for the TiVo. The analog run has no box, etc., so no additional charge.

[larryziegler]

Comcast i our provider too. when it was Continental Cable, they had a per hookup charge, even if you didn't use their boxes.....in fact for a short period I had an illegal box, that would get EVERY channel, including the hard core ones that were only on during the wee hours.....until the cable co shot a bullet in the line that killed all those boxes. With all the movies we watched, we got our $150 worth of programming, that we paid for the box. That was just before the laws were changed making it a felony to steal cable services.

[krygny]

Originally posted by larryziegler
...
Secondly, do you have to pay for additional tv's to hook up, even if you don't use the cable box? If so, you might want to check your state laws regarding theft of utility services. In Calif, it is a felony to steal utility services (phone, cable, gas/electricity).
...

That's not theft of service. FCC regulations allow you to connect as many phones, TVs or computers as you want. You only pay for equipment.

[larryziegler]

Originally posted by krygny

That's not theft of service. FCC regulations allow you to connect as many phones, TVs or computers as you want. You only pay for equipment.

That's not the way it used to be, here in certain parts of Calif at least, when you had to pay for each hookup and you didn't pay for equipment....if you wanted 3 tv's hooked up, you had to pay a nomimal charge for those extra tvs, but you got the box with it.....that crappy old Scientific Atlanta box. It's very likely the FCC had a hand in changing the ways cable companies handle their billing for service now.

[krygny]

Originally posted by larryziegler


That's not the way it used to be, here in certain parts of Calif at least, when you had to pay for each hookup and you didn't pay for equipment....if you wanted 3 tv's hooked up, you had to pay a nomimal charge for those extra tvs, but you got the box with it.....that crappy old Scientific Atlanta box. It's very likely the FCC had a hand in changing the ways cable companies handle their billing for service now.

That's how they get around the regulation - by including the box. If you don't need the box (i.e., no premium/scrambled channels on the other TVs), don't take the box.

The same holds true for internet connections. The cable company will tell you that you need a cable modem for each computer. They won't tell you you can use a router instead and connect as many computers as you want. Most people don't know any better, but it's perfectly legal.

What I find most despicable about that particular practice is not so much their greed, but they keep users ignorant about security. With only a cable modem, the computer has no firewall and will succumb to worms, bots, trojans, etc. and become a zombie in a matter of hours.