Currently, our cable modem and router are in a guest bedroom. That bedroom is being converted to a nursery for our second child, so we are going to move the modem and router out.

All the other coax outlets in the house are being used for TV.

Seem like my 2 options are:
1. Have TWC come out and install another coax outlet in the room of my choice (probably living room)
2. Purchase a cable splitter and split the cable from one outlet to the modem AND tv.

Option 2 seems the cheapest and easier, but I'm worried about signal loss. Has anyone done this and is the signal loss enough to see noticeable internet speed loss and/or loss of HD quality?

1/18/2015 9:03:46 PM

i had to do this in an apt i had with my then gf. it was only an apt so i was never far away, but i never noticed and internet hick ups or signal loss.

[Edited on January 18, 2015 at 9:45 PM. Reason : twc actually set the splitter up when they came for the install]

1/18/2015 9:45:23 PM

...a coax splitter is dirt cheap. Go without a coffee for a day and find out.



I did it years ago without a problem, but that's just anecdotal.

[Edited on January 18, 2015 at 10:07 PM. Reason : ]

1/18/2015 10:05:25 PM

I have a splitter and it does just fine.

TWC installed it I believe, or I did. Can't remember. Either way, had a technician out here a while back and he didnt think twice about it when he saw it.

[Edited on January 19, 2015 at 9:39 AM. Reason : .]

1/19/2015 9:39:05 AM

as long as you get a decent full bandwidth splitter i think you should be fine...


I can't remember years ago i had a really old one (were talking like ancient) that wouldn't let the cable modem or cable boxes work.

1/19/2015 1:19:45 PM

by full bandwidth i mean get a 2.4 ghz splitter.

another thing, unless you know how your house was wired, you may likly have a number of splitters in the signal path. you wan't to try to find the one that has the least splits and install it on that one.

Every split is cutting the power in half. You can probably check this out from the cable modem diagnostic page

192.168.100.1 and usually it will show you a signal strenght in DB.

[Edited on January 19, 2015 at 1:35 PM. Reason : dd]

1/19/2015 1:22:02 PM

Thanks.

I installed and so far no problems, that I can tell at least.

My modem says:
36 dB Signal to Noise Ratio
-6 dBmV Power Level Down Stream Power Level

1/19/2015 4:00:51 PM

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/5862

Downstream (Rx) Receive Power Level:
This is the amount of signal received by the modem from the transmitter in the cable company head-end.

For all modems:
-15 dBmV to +15 dBmV maximum.
-12 dBmV to +12 dBmV recommended.

0 dBmV is the "optimal" level.

Upstream (Tx) Transmit Power (a.k.a. Return Signal) level:
This is the amount of signal transmitted by the modem to reach the receiver in the cable company head-end.

+8 dBmV to +58 dBmV maximum for QPSK. (DOCSIS 1.x)
+8 dBmV to +55 dBmV maximum for 8 QAM and 16 QAM. (DOCSIS 1.x)
+8 dBmV to +54 dBmV maximum for 32 QAM and 64 QAM. (A-TDMA DOCSIS 2.0)
+8 dBmV to +53 dBmV maximum for S-CDMA DOCSIS 2.0 modulation rates.

Recommended upstream signal levels are +35 dBmV to +52 dBmV.

A cable modem running a higher upstream modulation rate may downgrade itself to a lower modulation rate (i.e. 64 QAM to 16 QAM or 16 QAM to QPSK) if the upstream transmit level is higher than the maximum signal level allowed for the higher modulation rate and the CMTS is configured to allow such a change. This downgrade can cause slow speed, packet loss, and connection loss issues depending on the condition of the upstream channel.

A house or drop amplifier will NOT fix upstream signal problem because most house amplifiers don't amplify the upstream signals, they only pass the upstream signal through with some loss.

SNR (signal to noise ratio) levels:
This is how clear the signal is at either the modem receiver (downstream SNR) or the receiver in the cable company head-end (upstream SNR).

DOCSIS specifications list minimum CNR (carrier to noise ratio) levels not SNR levels. The SNR levels listed here are based on commonly recommended MER levels for digital cable signals. Not all QAM demodulator chipsets accurately calculate SNR levels that approximate actual MER levels, so these levels may vary depending on which chipset and/or firmware is used in the equipment.

QPSK: 12 dB minimum. 15 dB or higher recommended. (often used in upstream channels)
16 QAM: 18 dB minimum. 21 dB or higher recommended. (often used in upstream channels)
64 QAM: 24 dB minimum. 27 dB or higher recommended. (often used in downstream channels)
256 QAM: 30 dB minimum. 33 dB or higher recommended. (often used in downstream channels)

1/19/2015 4:29:17 PM

OK... so looks like I'm still in the "optimal" range... I don't notice any performance issues anyway.

Thanks!

1/19/2015 5:22:00 PM