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Question about coax distribution

post #1 of 8
1/17/12 at 11:51pm
Thread Starter 
This weekend, I'm planning on running some cable in our house. Its a rent house, and there is almost no coax running into the house. A satellite was installed prior and has one line running in wall to living room from outside, and one line running to my office coming from the outside.

I have cable internet currently, and have the intention of getting cable tv soon, so I want to be prepared. I'll also be running cat5 while I'm at it. I'm planning on 2 coax connections in living room, 1 in the bedroom, and 2 in my office.

There is one underground cable coming from the cable node into the cable box outside. Currently one cable, with no splitter, runs from the cable box to the cable modem in the office. Ill be running the new cables through the attic.

Sorry for the ramblings, but i just want to paint a somewhat accurate picture for my question. Should some sort of coax distribution amplifier be used, such as the one linked below, or would a regular splitter suffice? Thanks!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000WD...an_am_ap_am_us
(Sorry for the mobile link, I'm posting from my phone right now...)
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post #2 of 8
1/18/12 at 12:18am
My experience is, 2 splits OK, 3 splits, marginal, 4 splits = definitely need amp, and you are splitting 5 ways.

Now if you are paying the cable company for set-top boxes, they *may* take care of the splits for you.

No comment/recommendation on what to buy.
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post #3 of 8
1/18/12 at 12:55am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrBobb View Post

My experience is, 2 splits OK, 3 splits, marginal, 4 splits = definitely need amp, and you are splitting 5 ways.

Now if you are paying the cable company for set-top boxes, they *may* take care of the splits for you.

No comment/recommendation on what to buy.

That's what I was thinking. Not planning on a cable box at the moment. Most likely basic cable in each room, as well as an HDHomerun a cable card. Time Warner is my provider, and I definitely don't want them running my cable. They send contractors out for their installations, and not one time in my experience, has the contractor hooked up everything correctly, or not messed something up during the install.
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post #4 of 8
1/18/12 at 8:05pm
What MrBobb said. That is an excellent amp.

I would also recommend running 2 CAT 5e cables to each outlet. If you can do it, a second coax would also be beneficial, but since you're renting, you might not want to go that route.
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post #5 of 8
1/18/12 at 9:14pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by egnlsn View Post

What MrBobb said. That is an excellent amp.

I would also recommend running 2 CAT 5e cables to each outlet. If you can do it, a second coax would also be beneficial, but since you're renting, you might not want to go that route.

Awesome, thanks for the suggestion. Just out of curiosity, why do you recommend running 2 cat 5e cables to each outlet? My main uses for the cat5e are internet distribution, and local windows networking. I'm not running them to a patch panel, but rather just to a switch, hooked into a router in my office. I planned on using my gigabit switches for further distribution to devices if needed.
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post #6 of 8
1/18/12 at 9:42pm
The 2nd one could be used for analog telephone (even if you do have VoIP through your cable provider, you may still want to have phone jacks throughout the house), HD Video distribution, remote control systems, a wide range of possibilities. If you do decide to do HD distribution, 3 of the 4 pairs will be used for the video, leaving the 4th pair for digital audio. If you're going to do analog audio, you'll then need a third CAT5e cable.

Just don't set yourself short for something you may want to do 6 months down the road. Much better to pull in extras and never use them than not pull in enough and wish you had.
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post #7 of 8
1/22/12 at 5:17pm
just wondering where you plan on homerunning your new lines?

I don't think you mentioned that.
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post #8 of 8
1/26/12 at 2:32pm
Do the minimum. You're renting. One CAT-5 per location is plenty. No need for analog voice, as the phones these days can have 8-12 handsets added to them wirelessly.

I'd put a patch panel in just for ease of maintenance and such, but it's not absolutely necessary. They don't cost much.
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