I have an eight-port Electroline zero-loss return path amplifier as a powered splitter. This is a field-quality unit that is used by many cable plants across the U.S. It takes the incoming signal and gives it a +5 dbmv boost (I think it's +5, have to drag the specs out again to see for sure).
I've had Comcast guys out here from time to time, and they don't like it. Most recently I had a guy come out to terminate a new drop that they had buried in my front yard (without asking, cutting my dog fence and just missing a gas line) and then never hooked up (for a year). Finally I called and asked them why they buried a fat, shiny new coax line in my yard and then left me hooked up to the 20 year-old one? Next day this guy shows up. When he leaves I am on a conf. call and can't talk to him. He doesn't hook up the new cable because he says it is bad and needs to be replaced. He does leave me a note that reads as follows:
"You should take out the amp and replace it with a normal 8-way splitter. You have too much signal going to your cable modem and digital sets."
Ok, fair enough. He should know better than I. But here's the thing: he measured it in the basement, at the output, and at one set I have down there that is right next to the panel. All the rest of the sets in the house have a 30-50 foot cable run through multiple splitters. The cable modem itself has a 60-foot run through one high-quality splitter. If I bring up the diagnostic for the Webstar cable modem it reports the following:
Receive Power Level: -0.78 dBmV
Transmit Power Level: 40.00 dBmV
That's dead on according to my reading of the Docsis specs. Receive should be in the +/- 15 dBmV range. Transmit should be between 30 and 55 dBmV. This is also dead in where the Scientific Atlanta specs say it should be.
So is he just wrong, and not looking at the signal that matters (i.e. where it comes out the other end of a long run), or am I mis-informed and harming the quality of my own network by over-amping? Hey, could be either
.
I've had Comcast guys out here from time to time, and they don't like it. Most recently I had a guy come out to terminate a new drop that they had buried in my front yard (without asking, cutting my dog fence and just missing a gas line) and then never hooked up (for a year). Finally I called and asked them why they buried a fat, shiny new coax line in my yard and then left me hooked up to the 20 year-old one? Next day this guy shows up. When he leaves I am on a conf. call and can't talk to him. He doesn't hook up the new cable because he says it is bad and needs to be replaced. He does leave me a note that reads as follows:
"You should take out the amp and replace it with a normal 8-way splitter. You have too much signal going to your cable modem and digital sets."
Ok, fair enough. He should know better than I. But here's the thing: he measured it in the basement, at the output, and at one set I have down there that is right next to the panel. All the rest of the sets in the house have a 30-50 foot cable run through multiple splitters. The cable modem itself has a 60-foot run through one high-quality splitter. If I bring up the diagnostic for the Webstar cable modem it reports the following:
Receive Power Level: -0.78 dBmV
Transmit Power Level: 40.00 dBmV
That's dead on according to my reading of the Docsis specs. Receive should be in the +/- 15 dBmV range. Transmit should be between 30 and 55 dBmV. This is also dead in where the Scientific Atlanta specs say it should be.
So is he just wrong, and not looking at the signal that matters (i.e. where it comes out the other end of a long run), or am I mis-informed and harming the quality of my own network by over-amping? Hey, could be either
. 
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