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jaxclayton OP t1_jc4o335 wrote

Reply to comment by myfapaway in Can I hook modem up to a coax splice I found behind a blank plate? by jaxclayton

Is that a bad thing? This house is pretty old built 1969 although this picture is from an expansion on the house idk when that was built.

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[deleted] t1_jc6ens1 wrote

If the house is that old I would expect the cable modem to be run directly not interface with the likely oldet cable TV/Antrnna wires.

I was a cable guy coming to install cable at your home I wouldn't want to trust your existing wires I would just want to run a new wire right to one spot.

And simple and one point of failure equals vastly less chance for a call back and as an installer of anything that's what I'm all about!

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Tractor_Boy_500 t1_jc4q9fk wrote

Modern coax for cableTV/Satellite/outside antennas/Cable modems is RG6; it has better shielding and a larger center conductor thus a bit less signal loss.

As said, you may have RG59 (from back in the days before cable modems) which may work for a cable modem, but is less than optimal. Try it, if it works for you then it's your lucky day. If you have low speeds or lots of errors, the RG59 coax cable in your walls could be the culprit. There's also RG11, but I doubt you will find it in a home. RG59/RG6/RG1 explained.

RG59 is about 6.3mm (1/4 inch) OD (outside diameter), RG6 is about 6.9mm (9/32 inch) OD. Comparison between those two.

Another thing... if you have no idea of what is along the cable run feeding that little junction you pictured, then you don't know if there is a signal splitter somewhere along the way. In the old days of outside TV antennas and primitive cable TV, they would often use splitters to distribute the signal to various rooms.

Today, the standard is to pull a "home run" of coax cable from each room/drop all of the way back to a central point in the home - likely the basement, if you have one. Splitters could be hiding in the attic, or behind walls, but that was generally bad practice - they should have been place somewhere visible.

A splitter is a no-no as you basically lose at least 50% of your signal for every splitter along the way. Splitters are/were for TV signals, but they aren't friends with cable modems.

Finally... the funny little connectors you see usually use a 7/16ths inch wrench, and are called "F" connectors.

Finally... a cheapie tone generator + probe may keep you from going crazy if you have to chase out cables, but don't use on lines with AC power. More expensive ones may come with other doodads and be a higher quality... people that use them everyday spend more for good ones.

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young_but_old t1_jc52d3g wrote

Having a splitter does not reduce the signal by 50% and is not an issue if RF is properly checked. You can have too much signal and a splitter is sometimes used to attenuate the signal to a cable modem. It’s all about proper RF levels. Splitters are okay.

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[deleted] t1_jc6ett5 wrote

Mostly I see them just run the cable directly to the cable modem and they don't use the old houses interface at all.

It's really a lot more practical because you're eliminating a lot of the chances for problems and callbacks and Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi mess these days very few people need a hardwired connection to their cable modem.

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jaxclayton OP t1_jc4qr6l wrote

Ahh so is it’s probably better if I just keep my modem up stairs and find a better solution to getting internet in basement? I’m using eero right now but by the time the signal gets to my basement it’s weak, even though I’m hardwired to the euro. I get slower browser speeds and time out of online games.

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