Cable Modem/Splitter Question

tjm80 · 03-30-2008, 05:15 PM

Hi guys, I have 4 rooms in my house, each with a cable outlet. Originally, I had 1 HDTV, 2 SDTVs, and a wireless modem/router connected to the 4th. Yesterday I put a TV in the last room, and put a 2 way splitter on the outlet (obviosuly, for the cable tv, and the cable modem). The TV worked fine, and the splitter is not bad. Its the splitter given to me by another cable company for the same router I'm using now. (I'm currently with Comcast). Anyway, the modem will not connect through the splitter and its driving me nuts. The splitter is 5-1000 MHz / EMI -130dB if that helps. Thanks in advance for your help!

**johnwill** · 03-30-2008, 06:51 PM

Well, it's not uncommon for a modem to require more signal strength than a TV. Since you have at least two splitters in the path of that modem, you're probably simply losing too much signal on the way to the room.

I always recommend a straight connection from the initial 2:1 splitter at the service entrance direct to the cable modem. I also recommend high quality coax, such as RG-6U low loss cable. The standard RG-59U that many houses are wired with is way too lossy for a good connection ESPECIALLY after running through multiple splitters!

03-30-2008, 05:15 PM	#1 (permalink)
tjm80 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 1 OS: Windows XP	Cable Modem/Splitter Question Hi guys, I have 4 rooms in my house, each with a cable outlet. Originally, I had 1 HDTV, 2 SDTVs, and a wireless modem/router connected to the 4th. Yesterday I put a TV in the last room, and put a 2 way splitter on the outlet (obviosuly, for the cable tv, and the cable modem). The TV worked fine, and the splitter is not bad. Its the splitter given to me by another cable company for the same router I'm using now. (I'm currently with Comcast). Anyway, the modem will not connect through the splitter and its driving me nuts. The splitter is 5-1000 MHz / EMI -130dB if that helps. Thanks in advance for your help!

03-30-2008, 06:51 PM	#2 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,832 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	Re: Cable Modem/Splitter Question Well, it's not uncommon for a modem to require more signal strength than a TV. Since you have at least two splitters in the path of that modem, you're probably simply losing too much signal on the way to the room. I always recommend a straight connection from the initial 2:1 splitter at the service entrance direct to the cable modem. I also recommend high quality coax, such as RG-6U low loss cable. The standard RG-59U that many houses are wired with is way too lossy for a good connection ESPECIALLY after running through multiple splitters! __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience