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bodosom
Leger de main
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join:2004-03-05
WNY/Niagara
ARRIS SB6183
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X
pfSense SG-2220

bodosom

Premium Member

[TV] How many times can I split my signal?

I'd like to drive three devices (DVR and 2 TAs) downstream of a two-way splitter that feeds my modem. Is that reasonable?

On a somewhat related note -- there are two connectors on the box on my utility pole. I'm using one. Can I get the other one wired to my house?

Shouldn't stuff like this be in the FAQ?

cousintim
join:2004-10-10
Dallas, TX

cousintim

Member

When I had both TV and Internet, I had two lines from the pole to my house. One line led directly to the modem. The other was split in the attic for the TVs.
ke4pym
Premium Member
join:2004-07-24
Charlotte, NC

ke4pym

Premium Member

said by cousintim:

When I had both TV and Internet, I had two lines from the pole to my house. One line led directly to the modem. The other was split in the attic for the TVs.

Ditto. Had one feeding the cable modem and mta and the other feeding the TV's when I had Sig. Home.

You're always best off with home runs back to your demark. But if you can't pull that off splitters can work. TWC may have to crank the juice up at the ped for you. If they can't get enough signal in that way a 2nd drop is no bfd.

DocDrew
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SoCal
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DocDrew to bodosom

Premium Member

to bodosom
The boxes (taps) on the pole are designed with a particular layout.... usually 1 tap port per home. Depending on home density in the area there may be spare ports. They normally won't run another drop to your house, unless it's a spare port and it's a last ditch effort for more signal because more than 1 drop per home needlessly complicates things in a variety of ways for 3.5dB (a 2-way splitter's loss) of signal.

Whether you can drive more devices in your home depends on signal levels. What are the signal levels at your modem? Check »192.168.100.1 and post them here.
bodosom
Leger de main
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join:2004-03-05
WNY/Niagara
ARRIS SB6183
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pfSense SG-2220

bodosom

Premium Member

For much of the time I've had service (a bit over a month) the downstream power has been +- 2 dBmV but recently it's gone up peaking at ~28 and is currently declining.

1 Locked QAM256 6.8 dBmV 38.6 dBmV
2 Locked QAM256 6.1 dBmV 38.5 dBmV
3 Locked QAM256 6.9 dBmV 38.8 dBmV
4 Locked QAM256 7.0 dBmV 39.0 dBmV

1 Locked ATDMA 35.8 dBmV
2 Locked TDMA 35.8 dBmV
3 Locked ATDMA 37.3 dBmV
4 Locked TDMA 38.8 dBmV

DocDrew
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Premium Member
join:2009-01-28
SoCal

DocDrew

Premium Member

Those signals are good enough to add a 4-way (7dB of attenuation) split to.

Downstream would drop to -1 to 0, upstream would increase to around 42 to 46. Both well within limits, some would say better than what you have now.
bodosom
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join:2004-03-05
WNY/Niagara
ARRIS SB6183
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pfSense SG-2220

bodosom to ke4pym

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to ke4pym
said by ke4pym:

You're always best off with home runs back to your demark. But if you can't pull that off splitters can work.

I'm not sure what that means. There's one cable at the demarc from the pole. It terminates at the grounding block. There's one cable from the block into my house. I split that cable with a two-way -- one leg to the modem and the other (now) to a three-way splitter for DVRs. Since there's just one drop from the pole how do you run multiple cables to it?

cielbleu
@videotron.ca

cielbleu

Anon

You would be better to use a 4-way splitter, your signals will be more balanced. You will lose 7 dB on each cable instead of losing 10.5 dB on two dvrs (I suppose you are using a 3-way unbalanced splitter). Anyway, by looking to your cable modem stats, this isn't really an issue in your case. It's just more professional to try to balance the cable signals and minimise the cable loss. Why lose 10.5 dB on a cable outlet when you can lose only 7 dB?!
bodosom
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bodosom

Premium Member

said by cielbleu :

Why lose 10.5 dB on a cable outlet when you can lose only 7 dB?!

My primary goal is reliable network service. Given the instability of the 6141 I recently replaced I'm hesitant to reduce signal to the modem. Hence my question about getting another drop. The reported power values have gone from -4 to +27 and back down to +7. It doesn't really inspire a great deal of confidence.

If the three DVRs work reliably that's sufficient.