chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Sept 21, 2017 21:40:38 GMT -5
not really sure what's the best place to pose this question, but this seems as good as any - it's an effort to reduce my Comcrap bill. I am the proud owner of a fire stick, soon to be more than one, which will operate largely on a multi-feed Sling subscription. I have also purchased my own cable modem and router, so I don't need to rent a one-piece unit from Comcrap. all of these items have been purchased with Amazon gift cards. woot! here's where I need the help - I have also purchased a huge range indoor/outdoor antenna for local broadcast tv. it's looking like I need to install this thing outside in order to pick up anything beyond 20 miles away. that means both Boston and Providence stations. so, how do I do this and wire the thing in to my house while not either a) disrupting the signal to my cable modem for internet/streaming,b) poking more holes in my house anywhere, or c) electrocuting myself by trying to splice things together somewhere. can the feeds even be spliced together? I have no idea. should I just call an electrician for this? what say you, YM? does anyone else have this sort of setup at home? how did you accomplish your installations?
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justme
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Post by justme on Sept 21, 2017 22:05:49 GMT -5
Coax has no electricity, so if you don't mess with other wires you're fine.
As for whether to get a professional - depends how nice you want it to look. My dad just drilled a hole outside and my cable just goes along the floor. (Partially because my Internet comes in over coax so that was the easy solution) If you only want it to show like a normal one you have to push it probably through the attic and then a wall to where you cut the hole for it. Hardest part would be cutting through to the outside and stringing it throb the wall and not losing it.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Sept 21, 2017 22:20:10 GMT -5
so, I don't have an attic. I have a small Cape with bedrooms upstairs. I know where the wires come in from the street, and I know where the splitter in the basement are - on the opposite side of the house from where I think the antenna is going to get the best signal. so idk how that's going to work. if I can get a line inside, maybe straight into the basement via electrical conduits that were run last summer for exterior security lighting (?) then I could run the coax across the beams at the ceiling in the basement over to the splitter.
I said to a network guy I was bouncing other questions off this morning - I know enough to be dangerous. lol... anyway, can I stack a splitter onto a splitter without degrading the signals? like, I was able to figure out from that other guy that I could just pull the Comcrap line from the street and plug in the antenna, until we realized I still need it for the internet signal. so, say I took a 2x1 for the two incoming feeds, then took the single output from splitter A and put it into the splitter for wiring the house to the various outlets. does that fly?
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justme
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Post by justme on Sept 21, 2017 22:29:48 GMT -5
Ah, it might be basements in non Florida places!
Don't quote me but I don't think you can have two sources on coax. You can split a coax to have your internet go to two rooms, but you can't have internet from cable company and tv from antenna on same coax. Most of that was wanting to put antenna in my bedroom and my dad said I could split it but I'd need to cut some holes in the wall cuz the current installed coax is being used by my internet.
If you don't touch anything but coax you should at least be ok electricity wise...but I might unplug my modem first.
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ken a.k.a OMK
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Post by ken a.k.a OMK on Sept 21, 2017 22:30:20 GMT -5
Every time you go through a splitter the signal strength is cut in half. If you have enough signal to start with it won't matter. I don't understand the part of connecting comcast and the antenna to a splitter. You can't connect 2 different sources to a splitter.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Sept 21, 2017 22:35:47 GMT -5
Every time you go through a splitter the signal strength is cut in half. If you have enough signal to start with it won't matter. I don't understand the part of connecting comcast and the antenna to a splitter. You can't connect 2 different sources to a splitter. YAY! the EE has checked in. THANK YOU!! (no disrespect to justme....) this is pretty much the basis of my confusion, and where the question came from. I have a line coming in from comcrap from the street right now. it feeds into the house and straight to a splitter, which supplies the signal to the jacks around the house, including the one that serves the cable modem. what I want to happen, and I don't know how to accomplish, is this - I have the feed in from the street. it feeds the cable modem and router, that's it. we have fire sticks that work on wifi. I install an outdoor antenna, and I use that signal to provide local broadcast to all of the tvs in the house. how do I make that happen?
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justme
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Post by justme on Sept 21, 2017 23:41:27 GMT -5
I coulda been a contender...
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justme
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Post by justme on Sept 21, 2017 23:45:07 GMT -5
The easiest way would be to add a connection for just the comcrap/modem and plug in the antenna to the establish whole house coax. Ya know, from a lowly not engineer. 😉😂
Assuming the antenna supports multiple tvs (that's beyond my not EE knowledge). 😛
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CCL
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Post by CCL on Sept 21, 2017 23:59:22 GMT -5
We have a splitter on ours. One line goes to the modem, then router. The other goes to the antenna, which is in the attic. We have cable outlets in every room, so I also connected the line from the antenna to the the line that originally went to the room outlets, so now the antenna serves every room in the house except my office which is where the (split) line goes. Hope that all makes sense. Don't give up. You can definitely make it work, just takes a bit to get all the cables run. I still get a great signal even though each line has a couple connections. My antennae came with a signal booster which I'm sure helps and we are less than 25 miles from a large city so several stations locally.
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CCL
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Post by CCL on Sept 22, 2017 0:05:51 GMT -5
As long as your signal is strong you should be able to use a splitter to separate the incoming line. Run one to the antenna, then from antennae to the line that feeds the tvs. The second line from the splitter connects to your modem, then wireless router. Then you set up the fire stick on your network, enter passwords, etc. and you should be ll set. We have a better tv signal now than we ever did with Comcrap.
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CCL
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Post by CCL on Sept 22, 2017 0:07:57 GMT -5
Every time you go through a splitter the signal strength is cut in half. If you have enough signal to start with it won't matter. I don't understand the part of connecting comcast and the antenna to a splitter. You can't connect 2 different sources to a splitter. I think she means one source in, 2 lines out.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Sept 22, 2017 7:47:20 GMT -5
I coulda been a contender... sorry....that came across way more bitchy than intended
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Sept 22, 2017 7:48:35 GMT -5
Every time you go through a splitter the signal strength is cut in half. If you have enough signal to start with it won't matter. I don't understand the part of connecting comcast and the antenna to a splitter. You can't connect 2 different sources to a splitter. I think she means one source in, 2 lines out. no, I meant two sources in. wasn't sure if that would work. sounds like no.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Sept 22, 2017 7:49:58 GMT -5
We have a splitter on ours. One line goes to the modem, then router. The other goes to the antenna, which is in the attic. We have cable outlets in every room, so I also connected the line from the antenna to the the line that originally went to the room outlets, so now the antenna serves every room in the house except my office which is where the (split) line goes. Hope that all makes sense. Don't give up. You can definitely make it work, just takes a bit to get all the cables run. I still get a great signal even though each line has a couple connections. My antennae came with a signal booster which I'm sure helps and we are less than 25 miles from a large city so several stations locally. so where is your splitter? what's coming into your house, and where does the antenna fit in? just trying to picture the signal paths
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Sept 22, 2017 7:52:34 GMT -5
As long as your signal is strong you should be able to use a splitter to separate the incoming line. Run one to the antenna, then from antennae to the line that feeds the tvs. The second line from the splitter connects to your modem, then wireless router. Then you set up the fire stick on your network, enter passwords, etc. and you should be ll set. We have a better tv signal now than we ever did with Comcrap. this confused me. my installation instructions for the antenna say coax goes from the antenna to the amplifier and from the amplifier to the tv. I would imagine I could take the line from the amplifier and feed the whole house <somehow> but I can't mess with the line coming in from the street because internet.
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justme
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Post by justme on Sept 22, 2017 7:59:54 GMT -5
I coulda been a contender... sorry....that came across way more bitchy than intended You're fine! That was totally a joking response back. Just don't ask me which movie the phrase came from cuz I can't remember.
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Sept 22, 2017 8:12:30 GMT -5
sorry....that came across way more bitchy than intended You're fine! That was totally a joking response back. Just don't ask me which movie the phrase came from cuz I can't remember. On the Waterfront ! Geez Louise...
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justme
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Post by justme on Sept 22, 2017 8:18:47 GMT -5
You're fine! That was totally a joking response back. Just don't ask me which movie the phrase came from cuz I can't remember. On the Waterfront ! Geez Louise... Now that one was bitchy 😝😂😉
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ken a.k.a OMK
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Post by ken a.k.a OMK on Sept 22, 2017 8:36:10 GMT -5
If you have 2 sources you need to switch between them. Can't connect them together. A splitter isn't a switch or isolater.
You are correct about leaving the incoming line alone. It caries tv, internet and phone signals which are separated in the modem (their box). Some modems have the router for internet built in. There should be a coax connector for tv. That's where you can split it to many tv's.
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justme
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Post by justme on Sept 22, 2017 8:48:18 GMT -5
If you have 2 sources you need to switch between them. Can't connect them together. A splitter isn't a switch or isolater. You are correct about leaving the incoming line alone. It caries tv, internet and phone signals which are separated in the modem (their box). Some modems have the router for internet built in. There should be a coax connector for tv. That's where you can split it to many tv's. Her problem is she's only using the cable company for Internet. She'll stream (WiFi) and use an antenna (coax) to watch TV and wants the antenna to go to multiple rooms. So that's why I said plug the antenna info the existing coax that the cable company is currently using so it goes whole house and create a new place for the cable/Internet to come into the house because she just needs to get the Internet into the house in one spot to hook up a router.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Sept 22, 2017 9:06:13 GMT -5
If you have 2 sources you need to switch between them. Can't connect them together. A splitter isn't a switch or isolater. You are correct about leaving the incoming line alone. It caries tv, internet and phone signals which are separated in the modem (their box). Some modems have the router for internet built in. There should be a coax connector for tv. That's where you can split it to many tv's. yeah, the modem is now my own. basically, the goal is to only require comcrap to provide internet signal. unfortunately they are my only option where I live, so I have to use them. but I don't have to use them for anything else. so if I'm reading what justme says below your post correctly, if I leave the existing wiring alone and sub in the antenna line for the incoming comcrap line, then do a clean install of an incoming comcrap line, that should do what I want. now that is something I would want to hire a professional to do.
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Sept 22, 2017 9:06:47 GMT -5
On the Waterfront ! Geez Louise... Now that one was bitchy 😝😂😉 🤣🤣🤣🤣
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Sept 22, 2017 9:06:53 GMT -5
sorry....that came across way more bitchy than intended You're fine! That was totally a joking response back. Just don't ask me which movie the phrase came from cuz I can't remember. ahh.... I am not a movie fan. completely missed the reference. but last night I was tired and buzzed. not a good combination. lol!!
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Sept 22, 2017 9:14:20 GMT -5
I'll have to double check our set up when i get home, but we just have an indoor/outdoor antenna (don't know specifically what one hubs bought) on our third floor and it's plugged into an amplifier. We have Fios for our internet and just the Ethernet line is plugged into our router (Fios box is in our basement). We have nothing else plugged into our tvs, aside from the old Roku plugged into our older tv in the video game/extra tv room. Our tv in the living room is a Roku tv so all our streaming apps are loaded already.
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ken a.k.a OMK
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Post by ken a.k.a OMK on Sept 22, 2017 9:34:18 GMT -5
It's clearer now. Yes removing the comcast tv source from your house setup and replacing it with the antenna as a source will work.
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justme
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Post by justme on Sept 22, 2017 10:51:37 GMT -5
I'll have to double check our set up when i get home, but we just have an indoor/outdoor antenna (don't know specifically what one hubs bought) on our third floor and it's plugged into an amplifier. We have Fios for our internet and just the Ethernet line is plugged into our router (Fios box is in our basement). We have nothing else plugged into our tvs, aside from the old Roku plugged into our older tv in the video game/extra tv room. Our tv in the living room is a Roku tv so all our streaming apps are loaded already. Fios doesn't use coax so that's prob why you don't have issues. Well, if they've come by recently...I think they used to convert it to coax? All I know is the updated something at my bros so his Internet doesn't come through the coax anymore so he can get the free hoa cable TV through the coax now.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Sept 22, 2017 10:56:07 GMT -5
yes, fios used to use the existing coax, if there was any. that's what I had in my last place.
ETA: installed mid-2011.
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Sept 22, 2017 11:11:55 GMT -5
I'll have to double check our set up when i get home, but we just have an indoor/outdoor antenna (don't know specifically what one hubs bought) on our third floor and it's plugged into an amplifier. We have Fios for our internet and just the Ethernet line is plugged into our router (Fios box is in our basement). We have nothing else plugged into our tvs, aside from the old Roku plugged into our older tv in the video game/extra tv room. Our tv in the living room is a Roku tv so all our streaming apps are loaded already. Fios doesn't use coax so that's prob why you don't have issues. Well, if they've come by recently...I think they used to convert it to coax? All I know is the updated something at my bros so his Internet doesn't come through the coax anymore so he can get the free hoa cable TV through the coax now. Yeah, I realize that I have it easy. 😁 Phew! 💡! Because now I remember that before we moved and our fios line was updated in our house, we did have an indoor antenna plugged into the amplifier and the amplifier was plugged into the tv.
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engineerdoe
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Post by engineerdoe on Sept 22, 2017 12:59:10 GMT -5
I'm in the same situation although I haven't purchased my antenna yet (which one did you get?). In my house I seem to have two coax lines as one company won't use the old companies lines. I still need to verify that. I agree with justme that it makes sense to use the linked cable lines inside the house to the antenna and have a single place where the comcrap internet comes in. There should be a splitter in one of the cable hookups that you can remove to ensure that hook up is only comcrap and then use that same splitter to attach the other outlets to the antenna. Where are you attaching the antenna?
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Sept 22, 2017 13:51:33 GMT -5
I got this one - linkthe brand was highly recommended by a few friends whose technical opinions I trust, but they were all in the 25 mile range of products. I'm farther out. this one had great reviews as well. I'll be installing it outside on a lot point on the back roof. the house faces south, so that should aim the antenna north toward Boston. we'll see how it goes this weekend, I guess.
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