# Cable wiring for antenna + internet



## hyunelan2

Here is the short version:

I currently have Comcast for cable TV and internet. I am going to get rid of their cable service, but keep the internet service. I have built and installed an HD over-the-air (OTA) antenna in my attic.

I have run coax from my antenna down to the basement where Comcast service enters the house, hits the splitter and goes out to the wall outlets in the house. Since I will still need Comcast to be carried over those lines for internet, how do I tie in both together? Is this possible?



(If not, I guess I will have to get another splitter for the antenna, then hook all the TVs up to that splitter, and leave the ports that are needed for internet hooked up to the Comcast splitter.)

Thanks


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## nap

where is your modem and router for your internet? Since a Comcast modem has a coax input and an ethernet or USB output, how are you utilizing the internet to multiple locations now?

Unless you are using multiple modems, you would not have coax to each room for internet use.


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## hyunelan2

Ive got just one modem - then hooked up via Ethernet to my router. CAT5 serves connections from there. The room with the modem has a pass-through coax output which goes to a TV, but I guess I can deal with that one separately.

Sounds like my best bet is to run Comcast straight to my office (room with the router), and jack the antenna input into the splitter that serves the rest of the house.


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## nap

what I would typically do is take the main cable to the distribution equipment. At that point, split the line with one going to the TV distribution and a second line to the internet modem. At that point, if you need a switch or if the modem/router has enough ports, simply plug your ethernet cable that you have also run to the basement into the modem/router.

depending on where you set your head end equipment, you will have to adjust to fit your layout.


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## gregzoll

You will not be able to mix OTA with the Internet signal from Comcast.

The signal from the antenna needs to stay a separate run to the tv sets. That means a direct coax from the outside drop for cc to your modem period.


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## nap

gregzoll said:


> You will not be able to mix OTA with the Internet signal from Comcast.
> 
> The signal from the antenna needs to stay a separate run to the tv sets. That means a direct coax from the outside drop for cc to your modem period.


there is no antennae. He has a single coax running to the house. It carries both broadband internet and cable television. You split them with one feed going to the modem and the other to the television distribution.


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## gregzoll

From the OP."I am going to get rid of their cable service, but keep the internet service. I have built and installed an HD over-the-air (OTA) antenna in my attic."

May want to throughly read it again nap. As for splitting if a person has both tv & internet, using the wrong splitters can make a mess of the signal, which accounts for the majority of the trouble calls for catv techs, incorrect equipment placed on the line by the end user/home owner/renter.


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## hyunelan2

Maybe this will clarify what I have now, what I wanted to do, and what I think I'm going to have to do.


EDIT: Note, I forgot to remove "(unattached)" from the second 2 drawings for the HD antenna - the HD antenna would be attached in those configurations.


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## gregzoll

There was nothing to clarify. You are wanting OTA instead of catv for your tv signal. You just need to use the coax that is already in place for those sets that you previous had hooked up to your catv provider for tv viewing. As I mentioned before, you just need to hook the coax from the provider directly to your modem period, without having the OTA signal in the mix.

We are talking two different things here period. What you have is plain and simple, you want to pay more for your internet service, and watch limited program from the air waves through archaic technology. BTW, there is no such thing as a HD antenna, it is just a UHF antenna.


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## hyunelan2

gregzoll said:


> There was nothing to clarify.


It seems there was some confusion here, otherwise your last post wouldn't have been necessary. 



> What you have is plain and simple, you want to pay more for your internet service, and watch limited program from the air waves through archaic technology.


You must work for Comcast huh? $20 more for their internet service, $95 savings for getting rid of their TV = $75 net monthly savings. Everything that I could watch on Comcast is conveniently available through Hulu on my HTPCs. I watch everything DVR'd a day or two later anyway, so the 1-day Hulu lag is not a big deal. I just need OTA broadcast for sunday football and the morning/evening news.

Furthermore, Comcast's HD signal is horrible vs. OTA picture quality. The picture is compressed to squeeze more channels into their pipe, which results in motion blur. Switching back and forth between the two, even my wife can notice (which says something). I also do not like the fact that we now have to have the digital transport converter boxes on every TV in the house, which conveniently kills HD from that TV, unless you pay more per month for additional HD boxes.


EDIT: I should also add, that typically if you keep limited basic TV (get rid of digital), they will not raise your internet rates, and the cost is cheaper than the surcharge on only having internet. I want to see if everything works to my satisfaction OTA before I move forward with this though.


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## gregzoll

Work for comcast, no. Where did you get that from what was posted? What you are trying to do is nothing that takes a whole lot of thought, and is done all the time. You want Internet from a provider, regardless if it is DSL, T1, Dial-up, Satellite, CATV, and you want tv viewing, regardless if FiOS, OTA, Satellite, U-Verse, CATV. These are two separate services regardless what you think and need to be kept separate from each other period.

OTA regardless if on Coax or 300 ohm flat ribbon goes to the tv sets, and Internet from your CATV provider comes in on their coax to the direct point where there modem will be located. You can not mix the two services on the same coax, because it will never work period. Only way to mix tv & Internet, is if they are coming in from the same provider through their lines.

As for Picture Quality, 99% of the time, it is the tv set that the signal is viewed on, not the service provider. I have had Comcast, and now have ATT U-Verse, and you really can not tell the difference between the two. Now if you compare both against satellite, you can tell a difference in that Satellite PQ is very poor for their HD & SD channels. Again, does not take a lot of technical thinking, and does not take an engineer to explain, or think of the process of what you are wanting to do.


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## hyunelan2

gregzoll said:


> You can not mix the two services on the same coax, because it will never work period. Only way to mix tv & Internet, is if they are coming in from the same provider through their lines.


This is all I needed to know. period. period. You don't need to be a jerk about it. Since the antenna isn't really creating a "signal," it's just wire, after-all, I wasn't sure if you could just jack an antenna in with the rest of the feed, and have an antenna there for the TV tuner could use, plus the comcast signal over the coax that a modem/DTA-box could read.


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## hyunelan2

gregzoll said:


> As for Picture Quality, 99% of the time, it is the tv set that the signal is viewed on, not the service provider. I have had Comcast, and now have ATT U-Verse, and you really can not tell the difference between the two.


Agree on TV picture quality - but when you compare 2 signals on the same TV, that eliminates that possibility. Providers also vary by area. Comcast here in Chicago is probably not the same as it is wherever you are. There have been plenty of complaints about Comcast's degraded HD signal here. It looks clear until there is a lot of motion, then you see some drop-out, especially in the background. Here's a link to some examples

I'd love to give U-verse a go, but is not available in my area.


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## gregzoll

I would not trust opinions from AVS Forums, since majority are too OCD when it comes to over thinking PQ. As for U-Verse, yes there is motion blur with sports, you are going to have that on any provider regardless if OTA, or through a pay service.


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## gregzoll

The signal is picked up by the antenna, and distributed by the coax/flat ribbon in the house through an amplifier & splitter. Same way that is done by CATV providers.


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## hyunelan2

I see it for myself on a daily basis and it is annoying. I did not need AVS Forums to show me that, but I wanted to post a link so people could see what I was talking about if they were unfamiliar. Everything may have motion blur, but Comcast has more than the others (save DirectTV in bad weather).



> The signal is picked up by the antenna, and distributed by the coax/flat ribbon in the house through an amplifier & splitter. Same way that is done by CATV providers.


Right, I get that. What I was/am unsure of is whether hooking an antenna up to the same wire network carrying Comcast data would be detrimental to the Comcast signal, or even effective with the Comcast signal being carried on the same line. I could understand it absolutely not working if you were trying to push Comcast and DirectTV/UVerse/FiOS/etc through the same cable, but since the antenna is only a passive source would it impede the provider signal? 

I would say possibly if I hooked up a signal amplifier, but just hooking up an antenna should not kill off Comcast's signal? Though, I could see a good chance that the TVs simply would not be able to 'see' the antenna signal as the Comcast signal would drown it out.


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## gregzoll

You can not hook both the OTA antenna coax to the coax from the internet provider. Both need to stay separate. Direct line from the pole/pedestal to your cable modem, distribution of antenna signal uses the existing coax for the tv sets, that comcast had previously used. Your third drawing is pretty much showing you the answer that you have been asking the same question about plain and simple.


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## nap

gregzoll said:


> May want to throughly read it again nap. As for splitting if a person has both tv & internet, using the wrong splitters can make a mess of the signal, which accounts for the majority of the trouble calls for catv techs, incorrect equipment placed on the line by the end user/home owner/renter.


my apologies. I knew that because I do remember reading it the first time. For some reason it didn't stick.


but other than that, the rest is the same.




> but since the antenna is only a passive source would it impede the provider signal?


the antennae is no more passive or active than the Comcast signal.


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## hyunelan2

Alright, what I figured is looking to be true (3rd picture). Let's keep discussing a few things though.



nap said:


> the antennae is no more passive or active than the Comcast signal.


Even in the era of switched digital signals? When you used to just screw the cable into the TV, I could see the signal being relatively passive. Now that we need Cable Boxes or DTA converters on every TV in order to get a signal out of them (which work by requesting the channel, then receiving the "switched" stream signal from the provider) - the provider has to "push" the channel though.

It was Comcast's way of being able to cram 10 pounds of 'junk' in a 5 pound bag. By using switched digital, all the channels are not going through the wire at once -eating bandwidth, only the ones requested by the Cable Box / DTA boxes are sent. Would this sent signal not be more actively projected than something passive like an antenna?



Again, I get what the answer to my situation is - I'm just asking some additional questions for understanding.


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## gregzoll

CC is not trying to cram anything down the end user's throat. They are going back to what was previously done for subscribers to get service, and that is use a Digital Set Top Box that understands the encryption scheme. Since you are in Chicago, and CC is using a 100% digital system, there is no way to just watch tv without the box. Same with Satellite & U-Verse.

The future model for CC will be what ATT uses for their U-Verse system, and that is when users select a channel to watch, only that channel is being pushed through the system, vs. all channels at the same time.


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## TNTRob

Makes no sense to mess with your internet signal at all!


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