Coax, splitters, & cable modems

[aunsafe2015]

I'm moving into a house that currently has an 8-way coax splitter in the telephone/data/video closet. See attached picture.

It has a white cable going into a splitter port named "input." I assume that is the main cable line into the house from the cable box at the street.

It then has a black cable coming out of the top of the splitter from a port named "power," and it loops around and plugs into a black power brick.

It then has 8 black coax cables coming out of the bottom of the splitter. I assume those are the coax runs that go to each room of the house.

My question is this: To get the cable signal boosted so that it could be split with a 8-port splitter, did the cable company have to amplify or otherwise modify the main cable signal into the house? And do I need to have the cable company "un-do" that if I want to get rid of the splitter?

I am planning to get rid of the splitter because I don't need 8 cable runs, and I was just going to plug the main white cable line straight into my cable modem. I want the cleanest, fastest signal possible, and getting rid of the splitter seems like a good idea. But I am wondering if I need to tell the cable company to "un-do" whatever they did (if anything) to the main cable signal to make the 6-way splitter work properly.

Thanks for any feedback anybody can provide.

 

[jhermann]

That's an amplified splitter, it's increasing the signal for the 8 outputs. Just plug the white cable into your cable modem and you'll be fine. The cable company supplies the same signal level to everyone.

 

[aunsafe2015]

That's an amplified splitter, it's increasing the signal for the 8 outputs. Just plug the white cable into your cable modem and you'll be fine. The cable company supplies the same signal level to everyone.

Excellent, thanks for the info!

 

[tyme2par4]

That's an amplified splitter, it's increasing the signal for the 8 outputs. Just plug the white cable into your cable modem and you'll be fine. The cable company supplies the same signal level to everyone.

You can also unplug the power brick so it's not wasting power for no reason.
These splitters are common with antenna systems where the signal is already weak.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

That's an amplified splitter, it's increasing the signal for the 8 outputs. Just plug the white cable into your cable modem and you'll be fine. The cable company supplies the same signal level to everyone.

And many cable modems have a gui with signal levels.

One could log into the modem and check the signal level then cross reference it.

 

[ttpete]

That looks like an amplified antenna system. See if you have continuity between the white cable and the cable that's at the outside cable box.

Cable co-ax is RG6 and antenna co-ax is RG59.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

That looks like an amplified antenna system. See if you have continuity between the white cable and the cable that's at the outside cable box.

Cable co-ax is RG6 and antenna co-ax is RG59.

Not necessarily true.

Ive seen newer antenna installs that used RG6

RG59 is old. Most has been ripped put and replaced by RG6

 

[grantw]

My last data install required a 20db attenuation at the cable modem. Otherwise the data signal from the system was too hot. think of a plateaued sine wave form rather than a nice round sine.

When it came to DATA + TV, I have always used a 2 way to attach the cable, then as little ways as possible to hook up everything else. If you don't have 8 TVs, you don't need a 8 way splitter. But as it's a powered split / amp, it might not make a difference?

 

[jeffmoss26]

What the others have said...just disconnect the splitter and connect the feed directly to your modem. I have seen cases where they have to pad the signal like grantw said.

 

[reader2580]

I can pretty much guarantee you that is a cable splitter because it amplifies in both directions. The more times a cable signal is split the weaker the signal gets if not amplified. This was especially true with analog cable.

 

[theoldwizard1]

It has a white cable going into a splitter port named "input." I assume that is the main cable line into the house from the cable box at the street.

It then has a black cable coming out of the top of the splitter from a port named "power," and it loops around and plugs into a black power brick.

I am planning to get rid of the splitter because I don't need 8 cable runs, and I was just going to plug the main white cable line straight into my cable modem.

Just did the same thing. Get a "splice" and connect the white cable directly to the cable going to the modem.

Leave the rest in place in case you want to install an OTA antenna, then all of those rooms would be be feed with the signal.

 

[gbrett]

That is a splitter amplifier combo. The 8 way loses 11db and that particular amp gains 4db forward and 0db return.