Technical > Cable & Satellite TV > [COMCAST] Do Amplifiers really work?

[COMCAST] Do Amplifiers really work?

Of course they work, when they're needed. You don't just hook up an amplifier for the hell of it.

reply to marat650
If you are splitting your signal more that 3 ways then they might help slightly. Otherwise I don't think they help that much. If you are getting digital cable and splitting the signal 3 ways or less you should not need an amplifier.

reply to marat650
1) Yes, they work. I need one to feed my 5 sets after my modem.

2) After the modem split. He will want the drop to hit a two way, with one leg going to the modem and the other leg to the input of the amp, then out of the amp to your final splitter.

3) Sure, the one that the cable company provides. It will probably be either a Viewsonics or an Electroline, both are excellent.

reply to marat650
I have a total of 6 splits and am close to adding a 7th. It helped bring back the signal to where it needed to be for the HD box to pick up things like the music channels that I never watch/listen to. There are different kinds also. We have the digital phone service so it had to be some two way amp that would let the phone service go through in both directions or something like that.

reply to marat650
If you get a competent tech, you really should have no say on whether you get an amp or not.

reply to marat650
I will be using ONE 5 way splitter, then i'll run induvidual cables to all of my 3 digital cable boxes, one cable for high speed and one for regular tv cable [non digital]

I don't know if Comcast will provide me with a 5 way aplitter but i hear that the less splitters you have the better the signal is, true?

Also, i had RCN while back and they gave me a Viewsonics Amp, can i use it with Comcast?

When we come out and do an install our network is designed to support up to 4 total outlets without an amplifier (In most cases). So by your having a total of five it would depend on how your picture looks after the install but keep in mind Comcast charges for amplifiers. In Dallas an amplifier costs approx. $32 each.

kcharg
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kcharghttp://home.attbi.com/~kcharg/

When I got mine, they never charged us for it. Is that because of the $2.95 a month in home wiring maintenance thing?

reply to kcharg
I didn't have any in home wiring maintenance plan and they gave me an amp free of charge, my HSI service wouldn't work if I didn't have it so I'm guessing they provide it for free if absolutely needed.

reply to marat650
If you are going to wire them yourself homerun them all, i think you got that already. they dont have 5 ways around here its 4 or 6. in either case you should wire like IMRF did main cable to a 2 way splitter one side to your modem other side to amp if needed then to a 4 way splitter then to your sets. also if your fishing them down from the attic drill your holes in the top plate big enough that later if you wanted to run something else to those location you wont need to drag drill and all to the attic. i use like a 7/8 auger bit. later if you want to add a telephone or ethernet to one of those rooms you could drop it in the same bay as the cable jack. just a thought. and of course use RG6 wire if you dont have good tools for compression fittings just run all the wires and the cableguy can put on the fittings. viewsonics are good amps as well as electroline.

So what if i use a 3 way splitter AND a 2 way, will the two lines going from the 3 way show better picture then the two going from the 2 way?

brian, why can't i just put the amp before it hits any splitters, doesn't amp improve HSI as well?

your not supposed to run the modem thru the amp it wont help anthing it will just possibly cause problems so i never do. the less splitters ,amps, devices, whatever ou have before the modem the better. if you have new cable with good signal coming to the house you may not even need one at all. so you have a modem and 3 tvs ??? if that were the case I would just try 1 4 way splitter and see how that works.

i actually have 1 high speed modem and 4 TV's, 3 have digital boxes, 1 regular cable, total lines = 5

so what if i use a 2 way splitter, one way to modem and one way to another splitter [4 way] for all of my tv sets

said by marat650:

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so what if i use a 2 way splitter, one way to modem and one way to another splitter [4 way] for all of my tv sets

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Thanks for your help.

One mroe question thought, what if instead of that 2 way i put a 3 way, one line to HSI and other to one of the digital boxes, will that digital box get better signal then the 2 other ones that will be on the second splitter?

Yes, that would work too. Just put the modem on the 3.5db leg of the 3-way.

reply to marat650
My internet connection has been up and down and my tv picture has always looked bad especially analog channles, only have 4 tv's hooked up and the cable modem split on one for the last few years, they are coming tomorrow to look at the lines, i assume they will put an amp on?

We have 5 tvs and a cable modem hooked up. We definately had to get an amplifier. Made a huge difference with picture quality. We bought a motorola signal booster and it works great.

Damn, this might not work, my box outside that the splitters are in is too small.

And why will i need to put the modem on the 3.5db, isn't 7db makes it faster?

I thought that the AMP's sopouse to boost the HSI speed as well as make the picture look better on TV's?