Splitting cable modem coaxial cable for computer TV feed?

[ThomasT]

Hi,
I just bought myself the ATI All-in-Wonder Radeon 9700 pro graphics card. It has a built-in tv tuner and I'd like to connect it to my houses cable tv service. In my office, where the computer is, the only coaxial cable present is for the cable modem. I was wondering if I could split the coaxial cable going into my cable modem and use the 2nd, split line, as the cable tv feed. Would doing this affect my cable modem performace i.e., weaken the signal?

Thanks,
Tom

[AllGamer]

YES AND YES YOU CAN

i have the same setup here :D

just Make Sure you get a GOOD high end splitter to conserver signal Quality

:t

[Giraffe }{unter]

It is recommended that there only be 1 split in your cable between the main feed and your PC, all other splits should be made on the TV side of the split.

Keep an eye on your cable signal levels. Each split you make will drop approx 3db - 5db from your signal strength depending on the grade of the splitter.

Some modems have signal meters in them, which you can usually access by going to http://192.168.1.1 as long as you are hooked directly to it and not going through a router. Ideal signal is between +7 and -4 I believe. If you are near the -4 range you are gonna bring up some disconnect issues and data transfer loss.

Some of my friends were successfull in adding 2 splits on their modem line, but myself I cannot even do one :( If you have very high signal strength go for it, and see what happens, but if your connection starts acting flakey it's time to run another cable :(

[ThomasT]

Great info. Thanks!
Do you recommend a certain brand splitter? Will Radio Shack have a high end splitter?

Thanks,
Tom

[AllGamer]

not the Radio Shack ones, well maybe

some cable dudes that help me out they gave me some nice ones, cuz they shaw that Radio Shack **** and they just went :rolleyes: and said "no wonder you had intermittent problem"

LOL :r

i'll need to got home and check on the brands i got from them

but definitely the Decibel levels are very important, that's the first thing i noticed from the ones they gave me vs the ones from Radio Shack or any other generic ones

:t

[cableguy69]

Regal is the best brand of splitters out there. And as long as you have decent signal coming in already, you won't have a problem splitting off of the cable modem line.

[bahama llama]

You could probably also use an inline signal amplifier to boost your signal if necessary. This should be after the splitter. Don.:t

[ThomasT]

I have another question. For testing purposes I split the cable modem line so there are two lines...one going to the cable modem and one is free (unused) which will be connected to by video card once it comes. Right now my cable connection appears fine.

Do I have to actually have the 2nd line connected to it's device (the video card) in order to test whether splitting the line will work or would I notice a problem by simply splitting the cable line?

Thanks,
Tom

[rmanet]

Originally posted by bahama llama
You could probably also use an inline signal amplifier to boost your signal if necessary. This should be after the splitter. Don.:t

I split my incoming cable at the box using a high quality 4 way splitter and a good inline amplifier (some are real **** - it's worth spending a few extra bucks), and have cable running all over the place (one run is about 150 feet) - 3 TVs and 6 computers and all works great.....

yours is a simple setup - I bet you won't even notice the difference using a high quality splitter and (gasp) Radio Shack will have one that'll work fine