How to effectively split cable TV and cable Internet from one connection while still keeping 95%(+) data throughput?

[joshg]

Is there any way to split the wall connection so that I get little to no internet service data loss while still being able to watch cable television?

Do I just need to get some sort of amplified splitter, etc.?

I've tried a simple Y spliter before... The way it seems to work is that it transfers data in an alternating power: TV,Internet,TV,Internet... at pretty low intervals, giving me huge timeouts and extremely poor (worse than old-school modem) internet data throughput.

Any help on this issue would be GREATLY appreciated! Right now my wife and I can only do computer OR TV at one time (I.E. what if she wants to watch TV and I want to check AT or something? ). We are stuck in a role of switching the cable based on what we want to do...

 

[Glitchny]

hmm i dont have an answer for you but i know that there are 4 computers and 2 tvs in my house all using the digital cable connection with no problems. the comps are all wired from a router and the tv is on its own wall input, that may be the problem. is there another walljack for the cable that u can plug the modem into? not sure if it will work but its something

 

[Need4Speed]

Originally posted by: joshg
Is there any way to split the wall connection so that I get little to no internet service data loss while still being able to watch cable television?

Do I just need to get some sort of amplified splitter, etc.?

I've tried a simple Y spliter before... The way it seems to work is that it transfers data in an alternating power: TV,Internet,TV,Internet... at pretty low intervals, giving me huge timeouts and extremely poor (worse than old-school modem) internet data throughput.

Any help on this issue would be GREATLY appreciated! Right now my wife and I can only do computer OR TV at one time (I.E. what if she wants to watch TV and I want to check AT or something? ). We are stuck in a role of switching the cable based on what we want to do...

if this is the case, then you have other problems. I have several TVs and a cable modem, I could have all the tvs on and would see no diff in latency or speed.

The signals do not alternate as you say...they operate on different frequencies.

Have a read here to enlighten yourself.

-P

 

[joshg]

I think it might work to have the cable modem going directly to its own connection separate of the TV connection.

However, as stated the problem in my original post is that we only have one available connection! So this won't work for us, I need to find a way to split the cable to effectively get good data stream while still being able to watch TV...

 

[joshg]

Need4Speed - thanks for the link, it was an interesting and informative read

Also notice in my post that I said it "seems" to work in the way I suggested - I in no way tested my theory or anything, I was just reporting a quick albeit hasty observation that I made. Thank you for clearing that part of it up for me

However, that leads me to a different question... Could it be that the cheap Y splitter that I am using (~$2 Philips from Wal-Mart) only allows for the dataput of a window of approximately 6 MHz, meaning that the additional 2 MHz as suggested by the article for the upstream becomes lost (or, if this is the case, it alternates between upstream and downstream?).

I'm still not entirely understanding the logic of why this simple splitter would not be able to hold the data for both internet up/downstreams as well as television (ESPECIALLY after reading that article, which suggests that it takes even less cable bandwidth than I had imagined initially).

Also is there anything that could solve my problem? (I.E. a specific brand/type of splitter? )

Thanks again for the help!

 

[Beaner]

A good quality splitter will be rated to at least 1 Ghz .

This one from the RatShack is rated at 1.1 Ghz.

 

[Need4Speed]

Originally posted by: joshg
Need4Speed - thanks for the link, it was an interesting and informative read

Also notice in my post that I said it "seems" to work in the way I suggested - I in no way tested my theory or anything, I was just reporting a quick albeit hasty observation that I made. Thank you for clearing that part of it up for me

However, that leads me to a different question... Could it be that the cheap Y splitter that I am using (~$2 Philips from Wal-Mart) only allows for the dataput of a window of approximately 6 MHz, meaning that the additional 2 MHz as suggested by the article for the upstream becomes lost (or, if this is the case, it alternates between upstream and downstream?).

I'm still not entirely understanding the logic of why this simple splitter would not be able to hold the data for both internet up/downstreams as well as television (ESPECIALLY after reading that article, which suggests that it takes even less cable bandwidth than I had imagined initially).

Also is there anything that could solve my problem? (I.E. a specific brand/type of splitter? )

Thanks again for the help!

no problem

My suggestion would also be to buy a good quality splitter and good quality cable. Radio Shack coax is Sh!t. Ask your cable company to give you a properly terminated cable for the split. Cable co. uses much higher quality cable and terminators. The result is less signal leakage.

 

[RayEarth]

when you use that single just for the internet, are the speeds fine with no problem?
now when you use that same line just for cable tv, is the picture fine for most channels?
now when you connect the main line to the splitter, and then have two other lines, one to the modem and the other to the tv, is this when the problem starts?
really cheap splitters can cause large signal lost, the 2-way splitter at radio shack that cost $9 has a 3.5db signal lost on each output. your $2 splitter probably caused a 7db loss which can cause a major degree in tv quality.
What will benefit you the most is probably a cable amplifier, some people wouldn't recommend an amplifier as it increases the signal but also increases the snr(signal to noise) ratio thus you might bring one thing in range while knocking another thing out of spec but amplifiers do work in some situations. In your case, if you have a good connection and tv quality when using the original line but not when it's splitted then a amplifier will most likely be a major benefit. If you're willing to spend $48 bucks on an amplifier, this can be used as a splitter. go to ebay and type cable amplifier look for a guy name LotsaSpotz, click on his 2 port amplifier and in that page there's a link that says "click here" for more info under descriptions. Read that whole page and you will be well informed and should be able to decide if it's right for you. goto dslreports and search for cable amplifier/splitter topics and read those to help, but I think the info this ebay seller has should be enough for you.

 

[BmXStuD]

HMm i got a reg splitter with 1 digital cable box 1 reg cable coming off that line and one more tv coming off that line. Than i have another splitter that hooks onto that spiltter and it has only 1 cord going str8 to my cable modem. And my dl speeds are 212KB and upload good so i have no problems w/ this.

 

[TourGuide]

A good quality splitter as in 1Ghz or higher does the trick fine. It is hard to believe that saving a couple of bucks on this simple part could cause so much trouble, but it does.

 

[Need4Speed]

as does the cable. for instance, I was having some reception problems with my tv, so i decided to rewire the house with higher quality cable. When i took the old cable of the tv, with the tv still on, one would expect that all I would get is 'snow'. not so. the cable was leaking so badly that you could still watch tv with it disconnected.

moral of the story: dont be cheap on cables, terms, and splitters.