Question about splitting a cable line and signal strength
05-05-06, 12:21 PM
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Question about splitting a cable line and signal strength
Not sure if this is the right forum for this, but here goes. I'm not that tech savvy... 
I've lived in an apt for a few years now. It's a regular house, not a complex or anything. My landlord gave me a coax line through my ceiling (his floor) for my TV. I'm assuming he used a splitter to do this.
I recently bought a computer and asked them if I could get high-speed internet for it. They said no problem, they had to order it since the cable is in their name. So they get the box from the cable company and give it to me and I install it myself in my apt. Not sure if it matters, but they have no computer.
I split the one coax I have and hooked up the cable modem. However, the signal strength was weak (web pages were loading very slowly). So instead of splitting the coax, I just put it directly into the modem. That made a world of difference as now I have true high-speed Cable internet. I guess it's possible to split a line too many times?
So now the issue is would I need a 2nd coax line split into my apt just for my TV/DVD/VCR setup, since I want to leave the original coax cable plugged into my cable modem?
Would this be relatively easy to do for my landlord?
Sorry for the long read, thanks for any thoughts and opinions...
I've lived in an apt for a few years now. It's a regular house, not a complex or anything. My landlord gave me a coax line through my ceiling (his floor) for my TV. I'm assuming he used a splitter to do this.
I recently bought a computer and asked them if I could get high-speed internet for it. They said no problem, they had to order it since the cable is in their name. So they get the box from the cable company and give it to me and I install it myself in my apt. Not sure if it matters, but they have no computer.
I split the one coax I have and hooked up the cable modem. However, the signal strength was weak (web pages were loading very slowly). So instead of splitting the coax, I just put it directly into the modem. That made a world of difference as now I have true high-speed Cable internet. I guess it's possible to split a line too many times?
So now the issue is would I need a 2nd coax line split into my apt just for my TV/DVD/VCR setup, since I want to leave the original coax cable plugged into my cable modem?
Would this be relatively easy to do for my landlord?
Sorry for the long read, thanks for any thoughts and opinions...
05-05-06, 01:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Crazy_Roper
Not sure if this is the right forum for this, but here goes. I'm not that tech savvy...
I've lived in an apt for a few years now. It's a regular house, not a complex or anything. My landlord gave me a coax line through my ceiling (his floor) for my TV. I'm assuming he used a splitter to do this.
I recently bought a computer and asked them if I could get high-speed internet for it. They said no problem, they had to order it since the cable is in their name. So they get the box from the cable company and give it to me and I install it myself in my apt. Not sure if it matters, but they have no computer.
I split the one coax I have and hooked up the cable modem. However, the signal strength was weak (web pages were loading very slowly). So instead of splitting the coax, I just put it directly into the modem. That made a world of difference as now I have true high-speed Cable internet. I guess it's possible to split a line too many times?
So now the issue is would I need a 2nd coax line split into my apt just for my TV/DVD/VCR setup, since I want to leave the original coax cable plugged into my cable modem?
Would this be relatively easy to do for my landlord?
Sorry for the long read, thanks for any thoughts and opinions...
I've lived in an apt for a few years now. It's a regular house, not a complex or anything. My landlord gave me a coax line through my ceiling (his floor) for my TV. I'm assuming he used a splitter to do this.
I recently bought a computer and asked them if I could get high-speed internet for it. They said no problem, they had to order it since the cable is in their name. So they get the box from the cable company and give it to me and I install it myself in my apt. Not sure if it matters, but they have no computer.
I split the one coax I have and hooked up the cable modem. However, the signal strength was weak (web pages were loading very slowly). So instead of splitting the coax, I just put it directly into the modem. That made a world of difference as now I have true high-speed Cable internet. I guess it's possible to split a line too many times?
So now the issue is would I need a 2nd coax line split into my apt just for my TV/DVD/VCR setup, since I want to leave the original coax cable plugged into my cable modem?
Would this be relatively easy to do for my landlord?
Sorry for the long read, thanks for any thoughts and opinions...
Last edited by BobDole42; 05-05-06 at 03:01 PM.
05-05-06, 02:51 PM
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Uh, if you want your theft of service to continue, you should probably move the computer up to the landlord's apt first. Then fix the wires appropriately after the cable guy leaves. Or maybe tip the cable guy a steak dinner.
05-05-06, 03:01 PM
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Originally Posted by Spiky
Uh, if you want your theft of service to continue, you should probably move the computer up to the landlord's apt first. Then fix the wires appropriately after the cable guy leaves. Or maybe tip the cable guy a steak dinner.
05-05-06, 04:14 PM
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The cable company gives out these little adapters that fit onto splitters to help cable tv / cable internet from eating up each other's signals. Of course, they only give them to paying customers, so...
05-05-06, 04:15 PM
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Originally Posted by dogmatica
The cable company gives out these little adapters that fit onto splitters to help cable tv / cable internet from eating up each other's signals. Of course, they only give them to paying customers, so...
05-08-06, 09:14 AM
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Well, he did say it was a regular house that I'm assuming he shares with the landlord, and it sounds like he is legitimately paying for the Internet service, so I wouldn't be so quick to cry illegal. Maybe it is, I don't know.
05-08-06, 04:00 PM
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Goto lowes and pick up a coax signal booster ($20), put it inline before your splitter or in line on you internet side (they have a 12db booster). Or, you could see what splitter your landlord is using and make sure it is one with minimal signal loss (3db or so..should be stated at each "out" on the splitter). Same goes for the splitter that you will be using.
05-08-06, 04:07 PM
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Originally Posted by taa455
Well, he did say it was a regular house that I'm assuming he shares with the landlord, and it sounds like he is legitimately paying for the Internet service, so I wouldn't be so quick to cry illegal. Maybe it is, I don't know.
05-10-06, 10:52 AM
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It looks like the OP is renting a room. There is no reason for him to pay extra just because he gets cable in his room. After all, you don't have a separate account for your bedroom, family room, and theatre room, do you?
If he's in a two-unit property (OP has his own kitchen, address) then he is stealing cable and costing other paying subscribers money.
That being said, your best bet is to contact the cable company as they will know what equipment is going to work best. You need to have a very specific splitter, otherwise your signal quality and internet are going to suffer.
If he's in a two-unit property (OP has his own kitchen, address) then he is stealing cable and costing other paying subscribers money.
That being said, your best bet is to contact the cable company as they will know what equipment is going to work best. You need to have a very specific splitter, otherwise your signal quality and internet are going to suffer.
