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Cable Signal Booster

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Basie

n00b
Joined
Jun 12, 2004
Messages
4
Would installing a Motorola Cable Signal Booster for TV / Cable Modem / Digital Radio - 484095-001-00 in the place of the splitter provide me by Times Warner Cable improving the reception on my Samsung HDTV? My son in law has Direct TV and a very similar TV and his reception seems to be much better. I only split between the TV and Modem for Internet and Phone. When I play DvD's the picture is fine.:confused:
 
You're trying to improve the picture quality of your cable?

It might help -- but it might hurt. There is a sweet spot for all the different aspects of your cable signal -- power, signal to noise ratio, etc. If they're too high, you get a bad picture -- if they're too low, you get a bad picture.

I would think that, with only one split in your cable line, you're probably getting too much noise in it. You should be able to split a cable line with a quality splitter without decreasing the quality of your picture.

It sounds like you've actually got it split 3 ways -- tv, internet, phone. You still should be fine with that. Without measuring the signal on your line, I don't think anyone can give you a anything other than a guess.

The folks over in the forums at DSLReports.com might be able to help you out a little more if you don't get something more concrete here.
 
This is digital and not analog correct? A bad signal would cause pixelation and choppiness, not PQ issues. Depending on the channel you're watching and the provider, they may have tried to compress/use a lower bitrate to fit more channels on a particular frequency. For example, on a 6 mhz channel, you could fit 2 HD channels with ease, but a third would require reducing the available bandwidth for the other two channels.

Your best bet is to post in DSLReports, and be sure to mention the channel that you were comparing, and they can probably tell you about the bitrates.
 
I had one installed because I was getting laggy picture when using Time Warner, I had 2 boxes and road runner up and running. When I unhooked one of the boxes I suddenly started getting laggy picture on the other box and road runner started losing connection. Turns out it was amped too much for just one box and RR. If you have access to one put it in and see if the image is better. Time Warner will come to your house and read your signals right from your box if you tell them you are having issues, they have always been great when fixing my problems.
 
Thanks for all your replies. I think I will call Times Warner and have then come out and look at it. It seemed to be much better when it was first hooked up about 1 year ago. When it's a gradual loss of quality I only realize it when I see another comparable TV. Anyway, Happy New Year.
 
i ran into the same issues years ago. first things first. if your cable signal is strong enough you dont need a booster, and if its already within the good range, the booster will make it worse. and you do not boost your modem line. i have my main cable line...split to cable modem and 2 tv lines. i used the high-end triple splitter from the cable company and also had the guy run the cables to both the tvs and the modem. splitters and cable sold at home depot are NOT the same.

you do not need a booster unless....
1. you are splitting more than 4 times.
2. length of any one of your cables is 50ft or more.


if you think your cable signal is bad i would call your cable company and tell them youre having issues. theyll send a guy out and you can ask him what the numbers are. your issues could also be the tv, the cable box, or the fact that they have added more people to your node. in the end the numbers are what matters so make sure you get him to tell you what your numbers are and what the best possible number is on their scale. they usually have an "acceptable" cut off, kind of like when the cable company compresses alot of your HD programming even though you pay for full 1080p.
 
Rogue, you were slightly off on the 2nd part of if you need an amp. Runs of 50 ft are fine. In fact, the average run from dmark to outlet is 100-120 feet. The 4 outlet rule is somewhat correct, but not always. The reason they say more than 4 outlets you need an amp is because a 4way split is usually the highest count splitter that cable companies use, any more than that and you have to split and split again. However, use of a DC (directional coupler) can make this possible. A DC6 splits the signal in two ways, a high loss with a loss of 6 dBmV and a low loss of 2.7 dBmV. In comparison, a 2 way splitter splits the signal evenly with 3.5 dBmV loss. So you gain back .8 dBmv on one side with 2.5 dBmV loss on the other. Using this you can go 6 db loss on one outlet and 9.7 loss on 4 (2.7 db plus 7 db loss on a 4 way splitter). Depending on how hot your signal is comming in, this could be more than enough without the use of an amp.

Basie, are you using a set top box from Time Warner? If so, then you are not having any signal issues. A set top box uses the digital spectrum, not the analog. Therefore the picture clarity is not affected by signal loss or noise on the line. You will either get a full picture, tiling, or no picture. If you are not using a set top box, are the channels that seem fuzzy on the analog, or the HD your tv is able to pick up?
 
you should not put an amplifier before a cable modem. if you need to use one for a TV signal, make sure it is either at least parallel to, or behind the cable modem.

go to radioshack and get a good quality cable splitter. a good splitter will have a number (like -3.5 or -7) on each branch. this tells you how much signal gets attenuated (the opposite of amplified; so lower is better) by plugging the cable into that branch of the connector. crappy $2 no-name splitters have a lot of attenuation.
 
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