Best coax cable splitter brand?

[cubby1223]

Just curious. Seems I'm at the end of the line as far as the cable company is concerned, and the digital cable receivers are very sensitive to the signal loss. It's at the point where I can use a different brand splitter, even with the same rated db loss, and the digital cable breaks down. I've got a mix of monster cable, comcast, and radio shack brand splitters - wondering if there's a best brand to minimize the signal loss.

If I replaced everything, I'd be replacing a 4-way and a few 2-way splitters. And even if there's a good 3-way splitter that has outputs of 3.5db, 7.5db, & 7.5db losses, this would help organize things a whole lot. Comcast gave me a splitter that's supposed to do that, but it's just not true, the 3.5db rating is false, the digital receiver positively confirms this.

I have tried amplified splitters, but they add a lot of interferance into the signal, making the quality worse.

 

[nnnyyy]

channel vision and leviton come to mind.

 

[Number1]

This is what the cable compagnie uses here. They removed all my splitters and use these:

pic1

pic2

pic3

 

[Horus]

Digitap. Best ones.

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: Number1
This is what the cable compagnie uses here. They removed all my splitters and use these:

pic1

pic2

pic3

What does that extra wire do in the 2nd picture? I've always looked at the extra screw and wondered what it was for. Seems like it connects the splitter to a ground?

I haven't found any web pages anywhere that have tested splitters, which seems like it would be fairly easy to do if one has the proper tools. I don't know. I'd just like to have the best quality I can, especially when the cables at the end of my chain are around 20db loss.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: cubby1223
I haven't found any web pages anywhere that have tested splitters, which seems like it would be fairly easy to do if one has the proper tools. I don't know. I'd just like to have the best quality I can, especially when the cables at the end of my chain are around 20db loss.

Your cable is supposed to be properly grounded not just for lightening, but for noise as well.

It's part of the building code. Without proper grounding all sorts of bad stuff can happen.

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: Horus
Digitap. Best ones.

Talking about these?
http://www.rmscommunications.net/10234dwsbc.htm

Wouldn't happen to know where they could be bought by chance? Don't know, Google isn't coming up with much for me.

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: cubby1223
I haven't found any web pages anywhere that have tested splitters, which seems like it would be fairly easy to do if one has the proper tools. I don't know. I'd just like to have the best quality I can, especially when the cables at the end of my chain are around 20db loss.

Your cable is supposed to be properly grounded not just for lightening, but for noise as well.

It's part of the building code. Without proper grounding all sorts of bad stuff can happen.

Learn something new every day.

 

[Number1]

Originally posted by: cubby1223

Originally posted by: Number1
This is what the cable compagnie uses here. They removed all my splitters and use these:

pic1

pic2

pic3

What does that extra wire do in the 2nd picture? I've always looked at the extra screw and wondered what it was for. Seems like it connects the splitter to a ground?

I haven't found any web pages anywhere that have tested splitters, which seems like it would be fairly easy to do if one has the proper tools. I don't know. I'd just like to have the best quality I can, especially when the cables at the end of my chain are around 20db loss.

Ground cable. This is the first splitter comming into the house.

 

[isekii]

on the cable splitters.

what's the diff between the 7.0db and the 3.5db things ? I have a 3 way splitter and i have one going to my cable modem and another to my pc.

which should I use ? the 7.0 or the 3.5 ? ( one is 7.5 and 2 are 3.5)

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: cubby1223
Learn something new every day.

You'd really be surprised how many cable installers don't ground the cabling/entry properly. It happens on computer networks as well. People just don't know or don't follow the code/specs.

Open up your TV or Audio receivers manual. See that picture of grounding that no body pays attention to? It's not just there to look pretty. It's there because you're dealing with very high frequency transmission and without good grounding it is susceptable to EM noise. Without a ground a cable is nothing more than a very big and powerful antenna.

 

[slpaulson]

The 3.5dB lines will have a stronger signal than the 7dB lines.

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: isekii
on the cable splitters.

what's the diff between the 7.0db and the 3.5db things ? I have a 3 way splitter and i have one going to my cable modem and another to my pc.

which should I use ? the 7.0 or the 3.5 ? ( one is 7.5 and 2 are 3.5)

You want the cable modem to have the least signal loss, so you want that on the 3.5db output.

 

[Sphexi]

Doesn't make a lick of difference as long as it supports the right frequencies. I have Radioshack ones, they've worked perfectly for years.

 

[jlbenedict]

We have one of these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/PDI-8-PORT-ACTIVE-R...3QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: cubby1223

Originally posted by: isekii
on the cable splitters.

what's the diff between the 7.0db and the 3.5db things ? I have a 3 way splitter and i have one going to my cable modem and another to my pc.

which should I use ? the 7.0 or the 3.5 ? ( one is 7.5 and 2 are 3.5)

You want the cable modem to have the least signal loss, so you want that on the 3.5db output.

good deal. I have both the cable modem on the 3.5 and the pc on the 3.5

 

[BillGates]

Regal makes nice ones too.

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

Originally posted by: isekii
on the cable splitters.

what's the diff between the 7.0db and the 3.5db things ? I have a 3 way splitter and i have one going to my cable modem and another to my pc.

which should I use ? the 7.0 or the 3.5 ? ( one is 7.5 and 2 are 3.5)

Without getting into the details of it, the incoming signal is the reference at 0 dB. If you had an ideal splitter, you could split your incoming signal into 2 signals at -3dB each (-3dB is half the power); real splitters have losses though, somewhere around 1 dB loss is pretty normal.

What you have there is an asymetric splitter, so you have 2 ports that each get a bit less than 1/4 the power of the original, and one port that gets almost half the power. If one of the lines is going to be split again, that should be the 3.5dB line. Otherwise, if you don't have any problems with your signal, it doesn't matter one way or the other.

edit: I just re-read your post, it's impossible that your splitter has one 7.5 dB port and two 3.5 dB ports. That would mean that your total output is higher than your input (which is obviously impossible for a passive device like a splitter).

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: jlbenedict
We have one of these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/PDI-8-PORT-ACTIVE-R...Z1QQcmdZViewItem

And it doesn't put any extra interferrance into the cable? A while back I tried out a Channel Vision 8-way amplified splitter, and it was beyond terrible. Thankfully I was able to return it for a refund, that was a $130 part.


For an unamplified splitter, looks like Digitap might be out, as I can't find them anywhere on Google, guessing they don't make them anymore? So I think I'll give Regal a try, see how they work out. I'm sure they'll be more than adequate.

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: RaynorWolfcastle

Originally posted by: isekii
on the cable splitters.

what's the diff between the 7.0db and the 3.5db things ? I have a 3 way splitter and i have one going to my cable modem and another to my pc.

which should I use ? the 7.0 or the 3.5 ? ( one is 7.5 and 2 are 3.5)

Without getting into the details of it, the incoming signal is the reference at 0 dB. If you had an ideal splitter, you could split your incoming signal into 2 signals at -3dB each (-3dB is half the power); real splitters have losses though, somewhere around 1 dB loss is pretty normal.

What you have there is an asymetric splitter, so you have 2 ports that each get a bit less than 1/4 the power of the original, and one port that gets almost half the power. If one of the lines is going to be split again, that should be the 3.5dB line. Otherwise, if you don't have any problems with your signal, it doesn't matter one way or the other.

edit: I just re-read your post, it's impossible that your splitter has one 7.5 dB port and two 3.5 dB ports. That would mean that your total output is higher than your input (which is obviously impossible for a passive device like a splitter).

Well I dont want to go through the behind the entertainment unit to look but i'm pretty sure that's what i have.
Or it might be the other way around 3.5db x 1 7db x 2. Either way it's working so I'm not gonna complain