Splitting a coaxial broadband cable for TV?

youcancallmeal

Well before I explain I'm almost certain this cannot be done but I'm open to suggestions on what other options there could be

Story is that I have an NTL point in my room for broadband, I'm thinking of getting a tv card for my pc but I'm not really to keen on getting another point installed just for tv.This is what my broadband point looks like, the unused port on the left is listed as radio and the right says 'TV'.

I remember with the old analogue TV you could split the cable using a simple coax cable multi point to get full terrestial tv on two tellies.
So does anyone reckon it would possible to split a cable for Broadband and TV?

seamus

Technically, yes. Your TV and BB travel down the same functional cables, just using different frequencies. When they install BB beside the TV, they just split the TV line and stick one end in the TV and the other in the modem.

Your problem comes from power. The more devices you add to the one cable coming in, the poorer the quality in each device. That is, if you have TV downstairs in two rooms, and also in your parents' bedroom, and then you add another device on the line, everyone's reception could become crap, and you could lose your BB every time someone turns on a TV.

Instead of splitting the actual cable that NTL gave you, go out to B & Q and see if you can get a pre-made split cable, or just buy the bits you need. If it doesn't work or goes tits up, you can just re-insert your original cable.

youcancallmeal

seamus wrote:

Instead of splitting the actual cable that NTL gave you, go out to B & Q and see if you can get a pre-made split cable, or just buy the bits you need. If it doesn't work or goes tits up, you can just re-insert your original cable.

Well that was kind of the plan, I wouldnt trust myself trying to split the cable with blade :eek:
Anyway does anyone actually do this and if so do you have two points beside your pc?


On a side note, do you need a tv license for watching tv on your pc even though technically its not actually a television... or is it?

seamus

Yes, you do need a licence. If you check the regulations, it doesn't mention "Televisions" rather something like "Devices capable of receiving and displaying television signals".

You only need one licence per household though. So if you have no TVs and were hoping to avoid the licence inspector, tough cookies

Gandhi

youcancallme>al wrote:

Well that was kind of the plan, I wouldnt trust myself trying to split the cable with blade :eek:

A friend of mine did that, and actually got it to work. Picture was crap, but it was definitely there. Since then, he has split it properly.

4aces

Yes it can be done. I got it to work there awhile ago.

Add a splitter (called a diplexer) at the end of your coax cable that comes from the 'TV' port on your NTL box. You can now connect a coax cable to your PC TV card and the other goes to your broadband connection. Great picture quality and no need to open the NTL box or go at it with a blade.

The reason the picture might be poor, is due to the TV card itself. I tried a couple before deciding on the WIN PVR 350. This card also has a FM connection on it, so you can run another coax cable from the NTL 'FM' port and listen to FM radio on your PC.

Let me know how you get on.

youcancallmeal

4aces wrote:

Yes it can be done. I got it to work there awhile ago.

Add a splitter (called a diplexer) at the end of your coax cable that comes from the 'TV' port on your NTL box. You can now connect a coax cable to your PC TV card and the other goes to your broadband connection. Great picture quality and no need to open the NTL box or go at it with a blade.

The reason the picture might be poor, is due to the TV card itself. I tried a couple before deciding on the WIN PVR 350. This card also has a FM connection on it, so you can run another coax cable from the NTL 'FM' port and listen to FM radio on your PC.

Let me know how you get on.

That sounds cool, are you sure though that there is no performance drop in your broadband speed? Have tried running this speed test while your tv receiver is on?

Also where would I get one of those 'diplexer's'?
Cheers

JPA

Maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick but why don't you get one of the splitters from NTL?

4aces

No performance drop in my broadband speed. I run speed tests every so often with my PC TV on & its around the 980kbps mark (I'm on the 1MB package). So thats about right.

Yeh give NTL a ring. Ask them for a splitter and cable. Thats where I got mine.

youcancallmeal

4aces wrote:

No performance drop in my broadband speed. I run speed tests every so often with my PC TV on & its around the 980kbps mark (I'm on the 1MB package). So thats about right.

Yeh give NTL a ring. Ask them for a splitter and cable. Thats where I got mine.

I would of thought NTL would be more interested in trying to get you to get another point installed so they can charge the rental fee on it.
I suppose I'll give them a ring and see what they say(Thats if they ever answer their phones, worst customer service ever!)

JPA

youcancallme>al wrote:

I would of thought NTL would be more interested in trying to get you to get another point installed so they can charge the rental fee on it.
I suppose I'll give them a ring and see what they say(Thats if they ever answer their phones, worst customer service ever!)

You don't get charged for having extra points. We have 3 in my house.

jor el

youcancallme>al wrote:

I remember with the old analogue TV you could split the cable using a simple coax cable multi point to get full terrestial tv on two tellies.

So, do you have digital cable then? If so, I don't think the TV card in the computer will do much for you. If it's analogue cable then ignore me.

youcancallmeal

jor el wrote:

So, do you have digital cable then? If so, I don't think the TV card in the computer will do much for you. If it's analogue cable then ignore me.

Uh-oh. Yea we have digital on one of the televisions in my house, surely though if I were to plug a television into my point I use for broadband I could at least get terrestial tv? I wasnt actually looking to get digital on my pc, I heard theres compatibility problems with most if not all tv cards decoding the signal.

youcancallmeal

JPA wrote:

You don't get charged for having extra points. We have 3 in my house.

Hmmm not sure about that. Last bill we had the following item
- Extra TV Points Dublin 2 Mthly €3.94

So its basically €1.97 per month for the extra point which is the one we have the broadband.

seamus

NTL do charge for extra points, but only if they find out about them

Afaik, if you have extra points, they do use boosters to make sure that your signal is crisp.

WexCan

I'm assuming their BB installation people are from a third party company? Gonna be switching to NTL BB and we have cables going every possible direction hehe, don't want to be found out as seamus says.

Tony

Get an F type two way splitter and some f connectors, this will split the cable into two more cables, connect one to your pc card and one to modem. The Pc card should be able to receive the basic NTL analogue service and FM radio. Picture quality will depend on the signal level of the NTl cable which can vary , if its too low you may be able to ask NTL to change the value of the cable tap outside your house.

splitter looks like this http://www.maplin.co.uk/images/Full/29530i0.jpg

youcancallmeal

Tony wrote:

Get an F type two way splitter and some f connectors, this will split the cable into two more cables, connect one to your pc card and one to modem. The Pc card should be able to receive the basic NTL analogue service and FM radio. Picture quality will depend on the signal level of the NTl cable which can vary , if its too low you may be able to ask NTL to change the value of the cable tap outside your house.

splitter looks like this http://www.maplin.co.uk/images/Full/29530i0.jpg

Cheers for that. Now which tv card to get, I hear hauppage do a good job.

MOH

youcancallme>al wrote:

Cheers for that. Now which tv card to get, I hear hauppage do a good job.

I had a Hauppuage USB tuner for a while after I moved house, before I bought a TV (think it was the PVR USB2 model). Quality was good, happy enough with the recording, tuning and stuff. Used it for 6/7 weeks on my 17" monitor, which made my new 32" LCD look massive when I got it.

I had an AverMedia USB one first, but brought it back after a week, quality wasn't great (and it didn't have a remote ).

This was plugged into an NTL analogue connection.

You can get cards for digital TV, and I think you can get hybrids that will do both.

Tony

If you get a multi purpose card with a satellite tuner this would allow you to add a dish later for BBC and ITV channels not currently on analogue cable.