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  #1  
Old 12-31-2008, 07:05 PM
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mistergq mistergq is offline
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Coax Splitter: need recommendations

I have Verizon FIOS. When it was hooked up, I was told to never use a booster because the signal is coming in hot. (No idea if the Verizon tech knew what he was talking about).

Right now, I have an OTA for an HD Homerun. I am eliminating the OTA and start recording QAM from FIOS. I have a second HD Homerun I have not hooked up because I am debating what to do.

For FIOS, I have a 4 way splitter right now. 3 of the ports are actually used (two for STBs for STV and 1 for a TV). The 4th port goes to an outlet we no longer use and don't plan to use.

Question 1) Should I get an 8 way splitter?

Question 2) should I unhook the 1 connection that I am no longer using and plug in a 4 way splitter to that for HD Homeruns?
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Media Extenders: HD-200 x 3, HD-200 x 2
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  #2  
Old 01-01-2009, 12:38 AM
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Personally, I believe adding a 4 way splitter to the empty port will still drop the quality of the other lines so it would be no different than adding a 8x splitter.

What I would do is get a powered (amp) splitter, one that amplifies and splits the signal - a 4 port version... then connect your current 4 way to one of the ports for the HDHRs)

With the QAM since it's a digital signal you might be fine as a "weak" digital signal will work until it doesn't Unlike analog where it becomes snowy.
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Intel Core2Duo E6600 2.4GHz - Win7 64bit
Antenna: Homemade Gray-Hoverman DBGH, Channel Master 7777 pre-amp, Mid-60s CM Rotor
Tuners: HDHomeRun v1, Hauppauge HVR1600
Video: BenQ W5000 1080p, ASUS ATI 6670
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  #3  
Old 01-01-2009, 12:30 PM
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Couple of questions:

Do you use the cable for your internet connectivity?
How are your cable runs currently laid out and terminated?
Do you have easy access to the tap?
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  #4  
Old 01-01-2009, 01:18 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sjrx0213 View Post
Couple of questions:

Do you use the cable for your internet connectivity?
How are your cable runs currently laid out and terminated?
Do you have easy access to the tap?
Because its FIOS, its all new run. The present 4 coax splitter is the first and only splitter for this run.

There is a FIOS Internet Modem that has its own line from that point. The loss of signal strength is part of the concern I have about doing this split, whether 8 or 4.

The other three are run to three STBs on the same floor as the splitter.

I was told by the tech that installed the system to never use an amplifier because the signal is running "hot".
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Client: Windows 10 Pro

Media Extenders: HD-200 x 3, HD-200 x 2
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  #5  
Old 01-01-2009, 01:46 PM
Fastrack Fastrack is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mistergq View Post
Because its FIOS, its all new run. The present 4 coax splitter is the first and only splitter for this run.

There is a FIOS Internet Modem that has its own line from that point. The loss of signal strength is part of the concern I have about doing this split, whether 8 or 4.

The other three are run to three STBs on the same floor as the splitter.

I was told by the tech that installed the system to never use an amplifier because the signal is running "hot".

Did some reading on Google...
http://www.broadbandreports.com/foru...Splitters-Amps

Looks like because of the nature of FIOS (Fiber-Optic Television)... It sounds like the signal is SUPER strong coming into your house as the person above talked about needing to attenuation in some cases. So it looks like you should be fine with just splitting it 8 times - But I don't think it'll matter if you just connect another 4 splitter to the unused port vs a 8x splitter.
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Intel Core2Duo E6600 2.4GHz - Win7 64bit
Antenna: Homemade Gray-Hoverman DBGH, Channel Master 7777 pre-amp, Mid-60s CM Rotor
Tuners: HDHomeRun v1, Hauppauge HVR1600
Video: BenQ W5000 1080p, ASUS ATI 6670
Storage (10TB): Seagate 2TB, Hitachi Coolspin 2TB x 4 Data Drives + 2TB x 2 Parity Drives using FlexRaid 2.0 (RAID6 T2+)
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  #6  
Old 01-01-2009, 02:02 PM
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GKusnick GKusnick is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fastrack View Post
But I don't think it'll matter if you just connect another 4 splitter to the unused port vs a 8x splitter.
I have no experience with FIOS, but the general rule is that with a four-way splitter, each output gets 1/4 the signal strength. Put another four-way splitter on one of those outputs and you're down to 1/16. Whereas a single eight-way splitter would give you 1/8 on each of the outputs.

Generally it's better to have fewer splitters with more outputs per splitter than to cascade splitters with fewer outputs.
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  #7  
Old 01-01-2009, 04:53 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GKusnick View Post
I have no experience with FIOS, but the general rule is that with a four-way splitter, each output gets 1/4 the signal strength. Put another four-way splitter on one of those outputs and you're down to 1/16. Whereas a single eight-way splitter would give you 1/8 on each of the outputs.

Generally it's better to have fewer splitters with more outputs per splitter than to cascade splitters with fewer outputs.
Yeah I agree, no question there. However this FIOS sounds like it has some crazy signal quality. So I'm not entirely sure if it would matter in this case. Unless the 8x was 3 times the cost I would probably go with the 8x myself. Also considering the QAM in the picture instead of an analog as well.

With my crappy Rogers Cable connection I had a passive 4x splitter and the quality was trash so I had to use a Powered 4x splitter, perfect picture now. I don't have digital/qam so that wasn't a factory for me.
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Ben
Intel Core2Duo E6600 2.4GHz - Win7 64bit
Antenna: Homemade Gray-Hoverman DBGH, Channel Master 7777 pre-amp, Mid-60s CM Rotor
Tuners: HDHomeRun v1, Hauppauge HVR1600
Video: BenQ W5000 1080p, ASUS ATI 6670
Storage (10TB): Seagate 2TB, Hitachi Coolspin 2TB x 4 Data Drives + 2TB x 2 Parity Drives using FlexRaid 2.0 (RAID6 T2+)
SageTV: 7.1.9 Final ?
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  #8  
Old 01-01-2009, 07:13 PM
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I think I am going to try a 4 way on the open port and will report back.

Thanks for looking into this!
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Media Server: Win 7 Home (32 bit), GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard, Intel Core 2 Quad Q9505 Yorkfield 2.83GHz, 4 GB Ram, Geforce 9600 GT PCI-E, 1x HD PVR, HD homerun (2x for OTA, 1x for FIOS QAM), 1 x HD Homerun Prime with cablecard from FIOS.

Client: Windows 10 Pro

Media Extenders: HD-200 x 3, HD-200 x 2
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