Need Advice on Splitting Coax at Router

[Gronnie]

In my office I have a 2-way splitter, one out going to a Motorola SB6120 SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 eXtreme Broadband Cable Modem and the other out going to an Actiontec MOCA adapter.

I would like to add a TV in the office. What will be the best way to split the outlet coming into the office three ways and lose the least amount of cable internet speed and MOCA connection speed?

[CaptainSTX]

All you should have to do is replace the two way splitter with a three way splitter.

Buy a decent quality splitter for CATV rated 5 - 1000Mhz. It will have three output ports two of them will probably be 3.5 Db loss and the third 7 Db loss. Hook the MoCa and the cable modem to the 3.5 Db ports and the TV to the other.

Use RG6 cable, quad braid is best, to connect from the splitter to the TV. Make sure you use the correct compression fittings for the type of RG6 you select. Crimp fittings are no longer satisfactory.

Resist the temptation to use an amplified splitter. In many cases if you have a bad connection with lots of noise all the amplifier accomplishes to to amplify both the signal and the noise. Also don't stack splitters as the loss is additive. Buy a three way splitter instead of trying to link two two way splitters.

If your TV is within one hundred feet of the splitter and you use good RG6 with the right connectors correctly installed you should have no problems.

[devnull]

Originally Posted by CaptainSTX

All you should have to do is replace the two way splitter with a three way splitter.

Buy a decent quality splitter for CATV rated 5 - 1000Mhz. It will have three output ports two of them will probably be 3.5 Db loss and the third 7 Db loss. Hook the MoCa and the cable modem to the 3.5 Db ports and the TV to the other.

MOCA utilizes frequencies up to 1550 MHz. Do 1000 MHz splitters usually pass higher frequencies?

[CaptainSTX]

Originally Posted by devnull

MOCA utilizes frequencies up to 1550 MHz. Do 1000 MHz splitters usually pass higher frequencies?

Look at the specs on your current splitter. If necessary use a splitter designed for satellite TV. They are rated from 5 - 2300 Mhz.

Actually the more I think about it I don't know why the additional bandwidth to pass 1550 Mhz would be needed. CATV is normally between 500 - 900 Mhz so if the signal is sourced from the cable company and then split why would the splitter need to pass more than 900Mhz?

However, I guess without knowing the OP's application I could not rule out using a splitter that can pass more than 1000 Mhz.

[devnull]

Well if the Actiontec adapter supports MOCA C channels, then frequencies above 1GHz aren't needed. Actiontec MI424WR's don't support MOCA C channels on the LAN, but that may be because they were designed for FIOS. The MI424WR uses a MOCA C channel to connect to the optical terminal.

The admin web page on the MOCA adapter would tell for certain which frequencies were already in use, and possibly others that are available.

Documentation for some Actiontec adapters says 1125 - 1525 MHz.

[Gronnie]

I was mostly just wondering if I was going to need an amplified splitter or not. I actually set everything up today and used the splitter built into the Actiontec unit to connect to the TV and everything appears to be working fine, but that is without using a STB. I am planning on adding a STB soon, so at that point will need to use a splitter.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a good 3-way splitter to use?

[Gronnie]

Also, it looks like it is a huge pain in the rear to get to the admin page. Have to install a special program, change a setting on the Actiontec unit, and be connected directly to the unit via ethernet to get to it. Would rather just buy a high frequency splitter and not have to worry about it. All the two way splitters I have setup at each of my 4 adapters right now are high frequency and everything is working great.

[stevech]

The MoCA devices have a pair of Coax connectors and loop-through the RF.
So a splitter tap for the MoCA device isn't needed.

[Gronnie]

Originally Posted by stevech

The MoCA devices have a pair of Coax connectors and loop-through the RF.
So a splitter tap for the MoCA device isn't needed.

If you put the STB on the far side of the MoCa device, then the STB does not receive any program guide info.

[stevech]

makes no sense... the RF connectors on the MoCA are just an RF pass-through. Maybe the signal is too weak, and the 2dB or so loss in the MoCA box pass-through make the difference?