Cable TV signal booster?
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 1,385
Likes: 1
From: Mercer County, OH
Cable TV signal booster?
I live in a rural area and I'm pretty close to the end of the cable line. I have five TV's hooked up to cable and sometimes the reception isn't the best. Does anyone here use a signal booster and does it help much?
Postmaster
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 4,004
Likes: 1
From: North of Boston MA
With five TV's hooked up you would have a lousy signal if you were at the beginning of the run. Anytime you split the signal to more than three outputs you should boost the signal. I used to live in a very large house and the booster was the only way to get a decent signal due to the long runs. They do work. You can pick one up at Radio Shack or Lowe's or wherever for short money.
Other things you can do is to buy cables with the connectors installed rather than using the cheap DIY connectors. Also, buy top quality splitters and make sure all the connections are tight. If possible, avoid splitting a signal that has already been split. Usually easier said than done.
Put the signal booster before any splitters so that it boosts all the signals.
Other things you can do is to buy cables with the connectors installed rather than using the cheap DIY connectors. Also, buy top quality splitters and make sure all the connections are tight. If possible, avoid splitting a signal that has already been split. Usually easier said than done.
Put the signal booster before any splitters so that it boosts all the signals.
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 471
Likes: 0
From: Goldsboro, NC
I had the same issue. Cable is split once for TV vs. Broadband, then the TV cable is split under the house 4 ways with one of the legs going upstairs. Once upstairs, it's split 4 ways again. It was terrible quality at first. I tried the DIY boosters from Radio Shack. They were all junk and didn't help at all, don't remember the brands though, maybe just Radio Shack stuff. Had our cable company, Time-Warner, install a booster and it did the trick. You can have too much signal strength also. You'll get diagonal lines on your TV.
Posting Guru
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 1,345
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From: NorCal
Each two way splitter adds 3-5db loss to each output. A 3-way has 1 3-5db loss and 2 6-10 db loss respectively. The longer the runs, the higher the loss due to the cable. RG-59 has more loss than RG-6. It's best to use a booster with multiple ports. In other words, an active splitter. One with adjustable gain is another thing to look for. Splitting a signal more than once is another bad idea unless you're using a booster to make up for the loss. Unterminated runs will also add to loss as well as signal leakage, which may or may not affect your reception.
Home made terminations (connectors) will work fine, as long as you make them right. Avoid twist on connectors. Crimp connectors work fine and compression connectors work best. Just use the right connector for the cable you have.
Just FYI
Home made terminations (connectors) will work fine, as long as you make them right. Avoid twist on connectors. Crimp connectors work fine and compression connectors work best. Just use the right connector for the cable you have.
Just FYI
Last edited by cgl; Jul 25, 2005 at 12:39 PM.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 24,418
Likes: 3
From: San Francisco, Ca.
From what I heard, get an adjustable booster that goes up to 25 db., minimum.
I had the same problem as soon as I hooked up my stereo receiver to the cable.
I had the same problem as soon as I hooked up my stereo receiver to the cable.
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Senior User
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 309
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From: Livermore,CA.
I had a lousy picture on a couple of my Tv's away from where the loop into my house begins..
The cable company came to the house and installed a booster in the beginning of the line and what a difference..... Like new...... It looks like a transformer that plugs into the wall with a coax cable connected to it...
The cable company came to the house and installed a booster in the beginning of the line and what a difference..... Like new...... It looks like a transformer that plugs into the wall with a coax cable connected to it...
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,276
Likes: 7
From: NE Tennessee
Yeah I had to have a booster also. I can tell when the air compressor in the garage blows a fuse cause all my TV's look like poop. The cable company installed mine. They also came to the house once cause they detected a 'leak'. FCC had told em about it or something to that effect. Mine is an ANCON. Model is 41150OO3CT. Hope that helps. Charter is our cable company.
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