NTL/UPC Multiroom & Cable Modem

Kromu

Hi everyone,

quick question.

I have an appartment where two NTL sockets are installed. All installed by NTL.
One is currently used by TV/Cable Modem. NTL/UPC Product I have is Digital.

When I try to take off the cable modem and connect it in the second room, to the NTL socket, there is no connection (with or without TV being connected in the first room).

Does anyone has an Idea how to activate that second socket while the
TV still works in the first room? I understand I need to do some thing physically?

NTL said they need to send a person to do so and that would cost 50 EUR

Thanks.

watty

It musn't be connected back at the main apartment distribution panel. They will have to come and connect it.

The fact of having TV (digital or not) isn't relevent.

You can fit a quality F- connector 5..900MHz splitter and feed the TV and Modem from the one socket of course.

Kromu

Thanks watty,

I'm curious though - if there was multiroom at some stage in this apt. why would they disconnect the cables back? I mean when you cancel the contract no one comes to collect the hardware and disconnect the cables. Weird.

I took a look at the distribution panel. It has a weird lock on it, otherwise I would do it myself. I guess all I would have to do would be to just connect the cable to the T connecter (which I guess is not in place anymore). Would that be sufficient?

watty

That would be trespass and theft.

Kromu

Thanks Watty, make sense of course.

Dublin_Gunner

IN my apartment there is one cable that comes from the main distribution panel (in the underground car park) to my apartment, and into a amplifier / splitter box on the wall in my hall.

TV would work in one room (living room) but not in the other (bedroom). I simply opened the box in my hall, and low and behold only one of the cables was connected to the splitter. Simply connected it and hey presto worked.

When NTL/UPC engineer was out to fix something, I told him I did that to get analogue in the bedroom, he said it was fine, saved him having to do it lol

So that would be my first port of call, check to see if there is a splitter box in your apartment.

Kromu

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

IN my apartment there is one cable that comes from the main distribution panel (in the underground car park) to my apartment, and into a amplifier / splitter box on the wall in my hall.

TV would work in one room (living room) but not in the other (bedroom). I simply opened the box in my hall, and low and behold only one of the cables was connected to the splitter. Simply connected it and hey presto worked.

When NTL/UPC engineer was out to fix something, I told him I did that to get analogue in the bedroom, he said it was fine, saved him having to do it lol

So that would be my first port of call, check to see if there is a splitter box in your apartment.

Thanks, very valuable info.
Can you please be more precise with how the splittle box should look like? I have two wall mounted NTL branded boxes. In the room where there is the TV & Modem in that NTL box there are two more cables, one is black and looks like it has been cut off. But nothing except one cable in the room where there is no connection. Thanks.

Dublin_Gunner

Kromu wrote: »

Thanks, very valuable info.
Can you please be more precise with how the splittle box should look like? I have two wall mounted NTL branded boxes. In the room where there is the TV & Modem in that NTL box there are two more cables, one is black and looks like it has been cut off. But nothing except one cable in the room where there is no connection. Thanks.

Well it may be different in your place, but in my apartment it was a white box, high up on the wall with 2 screws holding the cover in place. About the size of a pack of cigarettes I suppose.

Inside was a thick black cable,and a splitter. The black cable brings the main signal in, and the splitter directs it to your UPC boxes in each room.

Ensure both are connected to the splitter.

I'm wondering if for some reason the signal in the other room is coming (or meant to) come from the box in your living room? Hence the cable there that is split.

Is there any way you can test if the 'cut' cable is the same cable that terminates in the box in the second room (room with no signal)?

Seems like a silly way to do it but I wouldn't be surprised.

vibe666

UPC charge for multi-room viewing, so you connecting the second cable amounts to theft of service, i.e. you are getting something that is chargeable without paying for it and suggesting it to people on the forums here is likely to get you into trouble.

not having a go, just saying that you have to be careful what you say on a public forum as they can be held accountable and they don't like to be condoning what is technically theft.

I've been there done the same thing myself in my younger days when i had an apartment in dublin, so I'm hardly one to talk.

Dublin_Gunner

vibe666 wrote: »

UPC charge for multi-room viewing, so you connecting the second cable amounts to theft of service, i.e. you are getting something that is chargeable without paying for it and suggesting it to people on the forums here is likely to get you into trouble.

not having a go, just saying that you have to be careful what you say on a public forum as they can be held accountable and they don't like to be condoning what is technically theft.

I've been there done the same thing myself in my younger days when i had an apartment in dublin, so I'm hardly one to talk.

For digital.

Kromu

But thats for Multi viewing of TV. All I want is to have my cable modem in one room and TV in the other No intent to steal or anything of that kind. Further more installing a wireless repeater would be theft of possible service too then. We are not in stone age.

Dublin_Gunner

Kromu wrote: »

But thats for Multi viewing of TV. All I want is to have my cable modem in one room and TV in the other No intent to steal or anything of that kind. Further more installing a wireless repeater would be theft of possible service too then. We are not in stone age.

All the signals are pumped through the line, its whats at the end decodes it.

If you figure out where the cable in the other room is terminating (like I said earlier) you should be able to plug your Digital box into one room, and the router in the other.

Of course, unless your TV is at one end of Buckingham palace, and your router at the other, you should be pretty much fine with a wireless connection anywhere in a reasonably sized house.

But thats besides the point. There is no reason why you cannot have your router connected to one point in one room, and the box in the other.

Karmafaerie

UPC charge for analoge multi-room also.

The reason that the othe point is enabled would be that you're not paying for it basically.

If you move into an apartment and get a service in two points, when you leave that apartment, UPC will disconnect the service to those points, as if they didn't the next person who moved in would be able to get free analogue tv.

UPC also charge for the instalation of those points, so it's about money really.

It depends on who wired the apt, (just cause they're UPC boxes doesn't mean UPC did it).

vibe666

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

For digital.

and analogue.

although I think it's only €2.50 per room per month or something nominal like that.

even if you only have broadband with them the analogue TV signal is still active as they can't actually stop it once any one of their services is live into your house.

for example, I personally don't have a TV service with UPC at all, just phone and broadband, but I know my analogue TV point is still live even though I'm not paying for it, but I also know that using it without paying for it is technically theft of a paid for service that I'm not paying for.

i don't need it though, I download all my TV anyway.

Kromu

This all sounds too complex for me. Just don't see the point of investing 50 EUR for this "service". Will just stick to the good old Wi-Fi repeater then, which can't keep along with 30MBit/s (so sticking to 15Mbit/s, which is a possbile loss of 120 EUR yearly for NTL in my case), that I wanted to order after installing that Cable Modem in the other room in the first place (because 54G would not be able to give me access to the full 30 Mbit/s due to just 22 MBit/s real speed over 54g). Thanks everyone who replied, especally Dublin_Gunner!

Dublin_Gunner

vibe666 wrote: »

and analogue.

I can't find anything on their site concerning multi-room analogue TV.

Can someone find it? I certainly couldn't.

vibe666

Kromu wrote: »

This all sounds too complex for me. Just don't see the point of investing 50 EUR for this "service". Will just stick to the good old Wi-Fi repeater then, which can't keep along with 30MBit/s (so sticking to 15Mbit/s, which is a possbile loss of 120 EUR yearly for NTL in my case), that I wanted to order after installing that Cable Modem in the other room in the first place (because 54G would not be able to give me access to the full 30 Mbit/s due to just 22 MBit/s real speed over 54g). Thanks everyone who replied, especally Dublin_Gunner!

with a decent 802.11g wireless device and a good strong signal you can get a sustained (real world) data transfer rate of up to 35mbps, more if its one with one of those 'turbo' or 'speedbooster' options that increase wireless G speeds with compatible hardware.

you could also just tell them you have your own router and ask for a modem only install and get your own wireless N broadband router to use with it and make use of the full 30mbps now and will also make much better use of the 100mbps when that comes in august.

you also have to consider that the current 15mbps service will likely either become 30mbps or 60mbps after the 100mbps upgrades next month, so you're going to be stuck in the same position again.

also, don't forget that they'll have to replace the cisco when they do those upgrades anyway and they would have to replace it with a wireless N solution or the upgrades would be pretty much pointless for a good percentage of their customer base.

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

I can't find anything on their site concerning multi-room analogue TV.

Can someone find it? I certainly couldn't.

I don't think it's advertised any more as most customers are digital, but if you ask them on the phone they'll tell you.

Kromu

yeah going for N later on.

I'm just curious - why do you think they will give 30 to current 15 users? Did NTL something like this in the past? Sorry for stupid question - just been 3G user all the time before.

vibe666

when they upgrade the top package they always upgrade each of the lower packages at the same time.

it used to be 3mbps, 10mbps & 20mbps but now it's 5mbps 15mbps and 30mbps. the NTL speeds before that were before my time, but they always tend to upgrade the speeds of all packages at once, just like all the other fixed ISP's (normally) do.

a UPC engineer told me they had been quietly contemplating the idea of making another small jump from 30mbps to 50mbps before going all out for the 100mbps, but i don't think that's for definite yet, although i know there's a few frayed nerves wondering how the network is going to cope with the extra speeds, so i guess we'll see what happens next month.
but if they go for the 30mbps to 100mbps leap, then the 15mbps will most likely settle around the 40-50mbps mark and the 3 would probably jump to around 10mbps or they may start to introduce more packages to fill the gaps like they did in holland, which now has 5, 25, 30, 60, 90 & 120mbps packages on offer to consumers, so who knows.

i was under the impression that the eventual goal was to bring ireland in line with holland at 120mbps (which was originally slated for around may-june this year afaik), so who knows where they're going with it.

Karmafaerie

vibe666 wrote: »

it used to be 3mbps, 10mbps & 20mbps but now it's 5mbps 15mbps and 30mbps. the NTL speeds before that were before my time

1/3/6 and then 1/6/12 before the 3/10/20 for us old timers!;)