Technical > Cable & Satellite TV > Cable TV on my PC

Cable TV on my PC

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reply to craiglester
I have a line split going to both my cable modem and my video card on my PC (ATI 7500 All in Wonder).

I don't use any filters - just a standard Radio Shack two way splitter.

It does the job.
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reply to craiglester
What modem cable modem you have? Most modern modems have a signal page at »192.168.100.1 and will tell you your signals.

Starting from there will tell you if adding a splitter will cause any problems. Since a 2 way will drop your signal by 3.5 - 4 db's, if your signals are close to the bad side, then you could have a problem.

You just have to try it to find out.

I have no idea on the filter. Any markings/model/numbers on it? I would guess a high pass filter but most digital boxes have a return path close to that of the modem so a filter would be a problem.
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reply to craiglester
thanks for the response, I can't really justify drilling another hole in the wall though, to take the cable from the tv leg throught the waal to the computer when there's already a cable going throught there for the modem..

Its a Motorola SB4200 i believe - I think the signal was a positive number so should be ok if I just drop 3 or 4 Db's

The filter would only go on the leg that's split off to the TV card so shouldnt affect the modem at all

I may just try it with the modem cable split and see what happens..

if it stops the modem working I'll just undo it

Also keep in mind that if you want to get the higher digital channels, you will need an additional digital box from the cable company. Your tv card will not do it. I had a setup like yours at my place for a while and it worked good.

reply to craiglester
A 3-way splitter would be better but that should work OK too.

Just make sure the splitters are "1000 Mhz" and "120db EMI" and if possible +3db amplified. Use good, new cables with clean connectors too.

The filter on the TV side may or may not be needed. My tech told me to try it with and without and see which way the picture is better.

reply to craiglester
Thanks everyone.. I'm not too worried about the digital tv side of things, as I'm dumping it soon cos basically it sucks

We basically only watch the first 100 channels which with comcast are still analog. (Am I the only person who thinks that's a Con?)

So I'll have a look in the next week or two and report back If I ever get it working!

Radio shack do a Bi directional splitter for $10 ( Can I not just ask comcast to sent me one in the mail? There never seem to be any comcast vans around for me to corner a tech!
I assume I need a bi-directional splitter for the cable modem upstream?

Thanks again and have a nice weekend all!

That "filter" could actually be a reverse pad. If so, it is for padding the reverse signal and not the forward which forces the box to range higher to communicate back into the system.

I think I should clarify the situation a little - when the Cable modem was installed - the tech said the filter he put on the TV line was to stop interference - We had Analog cable then - so I'm assuming its a low pass filter of some kind.

reply to craiglester
Just be aware that cable internet is more expensive if you don't have cable tv. In other words Comcast will jack your internet bill WAY up if you cancel tv. For me here it's the same price to both internet and basic cable as to just have internet because of the way they jack the prices.

As for picture, the analog channels actually look better than most of the digital one because of the lossy compression they use on the digital.

reply to TheChosenOne2
What`s the filter for????

reply to craiglester

Had a similar situation to yours recently. Leave your modem a straight run if you can. If you split your cable box line before the filter and go to the pc, you will probably get all the bonus cable channels. Here they were all on channels less than 100 anyway. I had the problem with the cable reception on the pc as well. I was using the pc to capture children's shows and then making dvd's. Some of it is software related. Update your tuner card software/drivers or try other software compatable with your card. The way I solved all my problems was to go to direct tv with dsl. The pc tv reception was a 10 compared to a 2 with cable and the dsl is understandably a little slower, but most people really can't tell the difference. The tv reception in the rest of the house is also much, much, much improved. All this for less money a month. Lot's to ponder, Good luck

reply to craiglester
I'm of the impression the filter is to stop the cable modem signal from producing interference on the tv

Could be. They have a bunch of different filters out there. This is the way it worked at my place.

reply to craiglester
Heh, on a side note, I just called Comcast to cancel the Digital Cable and go back to Analog.. and get this, although I'M dropping the equipment off at their offices, they were going to charge me a downgrade fee!

I kindly pointed out I was doing the job for them and they agreed to Waive the fee - how gracious of them!

Cheeky buggers

I have never heard of any cable company charging to downgrade service. That`s about as dumb as charging for disconnecting service. I guess the`ll try anything to make a buck!