Grasshopper Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 (edited) The cable outlet for our cable internet has sufficient strength for internet purposes, but I tried once to put a splitter on it and hook up a TV. I lost the net. Prolly not a good idea anyway...Someday, I'd like to go the TV on computer route with a tuner card. Will signal strength decay like I tried with the splitter or is it just like being on the internet? Like streaming?Also, what tuner card for a budget do y'all recommend? Edited April 10, 2007 by tbird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybormoron Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 don't know about tuner cards but perhaps a cable signal amplifier might help with the splitter problem. i have 4 splitters in my line and the tv and computer at the end were really weak. tv picture was fuzzy and ghosted. web pages wouldn't load on the computer. i called comcast cable out to look at it and the guy "unofficially" recommended a signal amplifier. haven't had a problem since. computer actually seems faster. cost about 30 dollars US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted April 11, 2007 Author Share Posted April 11, 2007 Thanks for the info, although I'm not gonna go that route. We already have our computer room set up and there is no place for a TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeber Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 From the pole, my cable enters the under-house crawlspace where it's split to every room above. Two splitters later it connects to my 5 year old Hauppage TV card. I've never had a problem with the image, even on my original Gateway 500 PC. I'm not familiar with the newer cards on the market, since my old card has worked just fine since the day I first installed it. Signal boosters can help, and as cybermoron noted, are not all that expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneWolfMage Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 Greetings~Just thought id add a bit from my experince with a similar problem i have had on a couple of occasions as far as what you are experincing. From what I was told from the Cable Tech that I had 2 scenarios1) Line is Split AFTER it initially enters the house BUT Before it goes to the Modem and then Split again and continues to BOTH the modem AND a TV it WILL degarde the signal... IDEALLY the Cable Modem SHOULD be on its own independant Branch from a Splitter..with another Splitter on line that will ONLY go to televisions.Examples:(in case that seemed confusing)---> Line to house ===Splitter ===One Line Going from splitter to Modem and second line goin to standard TV(s) IS correct/recommended ----> Line to house === Splitter=== One line Going to Modem then SPLIT again with another Going to a Modem and standard TV(s) is not correct/recommended2) if line IS split correctly the Splitter sitelf MIGHT be faulty .. or may be "downgrading" the signal going to the modem .. the NEWER stype of splitters ( or ones you can get from the Cable company or a knowlegeable technichian should they come to your residence) will be able to supply you with the correct "type" of splitter to give the proper type of signal.If im not mistaken the Signal has to travel in or around a certain Mhz or Ohm rating to be strong enough to be recieved correctly .. and some splitters will "filter" the signal and cause it to be weaker than needed for the Modem to revice correctly.Not too sure as far as Tuner Cards for computer systems(as far as which ones quality wise) but , I would assume it would be the same Theory as far as splitting the cable is concerned .. just replacing the Conventional TV with the TV TUner card where appropriateHope that helped .. I know it seems slightly confusing .. and BELIEVE ME when I tell you it was fun trying to type it out with out myself getting confused LOL .Good luckLoneWolf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted April 12, 2007 Author Share Posted April 12, 2007 ...my 5 year old Hauppage TV card. I've never had a problem with the image, even on my original Gateway 500 PC. I'm not familiar with the newer cards on the market, since my old card has worked just fine since the day I first installed it.I've also heard good things about the Hauppage cards but something weird is going on at Newegg with those. On some of the feedback, they are swapping cards upon shipment. Thinking your getting one model but get another....weird...Thanks everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewmur Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 (edited) Greetings~Just thought id add a bit from my experince with a similar problem i have had on a couple of occasions as far as what you are experincing. From what I was told from the Cable Tech that I had 2 scenarios1) Line is Split AFTER it initially enters the house BUT Before it goes to the Modem and then Split again and continues to BOTH the modem AND a TV it WILL degarde the signal... IDEALLY the Cable Modem SHOULD be on its own independant Branch from a Splitter..with another Splitter on line that will ONLY go to televisions.Examples:(in case that seemed confusing)---> Line to house ===Splitter ===One Line Going from splitter to Modem and second line goin to standard TV(s) IS correct/recommended ----> Line to house === Splitter=== One line Going to Modem then SPLIT again with another Going to a Modem and standard TV(s) is not correct/recommended2) if line IS split correctly the Splitter sitelf MIGHT be faulty .. or may be "downgrading" the signal going to the modem .. the NEWER stype of splitters ( or ones you can get from the Cable company or a knowlegeable technichian should they come to your residence) will be able to supply you with the correct "type" of splitter to give the proper type of signal.If im not mistaken the Signal has to travel in or around a certain Mhz or Ohm rating to be strong enough to be recieved correctly .. and some splitters will "filter" the signal and cause it to be weaker than needed for the Modem to revice correctly.Not too sure as far as Tuner Cards for computer systems(as far as which ones quality wise) but , I would assume it would be the same Theory as far as splitting the cable is concerned .. just replacing the Conventional TV with the TV TUner card where appropriateHope that helped .. I know it seems slightly confusing .. and BELIEVE ME when I tell you it was fun trying to type it out with out myself getting confused LOL .Good luckLoneWolfHis problem appears to me to be that he simply doesn't have enough signal strength straight off the pole. If he is paying for both T.V. and cable DSL, this is the provider's problem. Any time you "split" the signal you cut its strength by that amount. IOW, if you use a two-way splitter you cut it in half and a three-way gives only one third on each branch. So, if the signal off the pole is barely enough for either the T.V. *or* the modem, when you put in the splitter, neither will work. If you are paying for both, the provider has to give you a strong enough signal to handle both. Putting in a bi-directional amplifier (not all over-the-counter amps are bi-directional) would solve his problem but why should he pay for it when it's the provider's job?Might want to check this out instead of a T.V. card:USB tuner Edited April 12, 2007 by lewmur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patio Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 Good info Lone Wolf...Thanx ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete! Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 LoneWolfMage is correct:The cable modem should be on the first "split" and be the only thing on that branch.TVs, VCR's & etc should be on the other branch, (with as many additional splits as you want, up to the limit of what the signal strength will support). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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