8-Port Bi-Directional Cable TV HDTV Amplifier Splitter Signal Booster with Pa...
by PCT
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List Price: Our Price: $32.00 You Save: $17.99 (36%) Availability: Usually ships in 3-4 business days Buy Used: from $23.99 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of 8-Port Bi-Directional Cable TV HDTV Amplifier Splitter Signal Booster with Pa...
Customer Review: Excellent product at a great price - highly recomended
Summary: 5 Stars
I acquired one of these after I was having problems with digital cable reception on one of the longer runs in our house. Previously, the incoming cable was connected to a two way splitter with one end of the splitter connected to a cable modem for internet service and the other end connected to an amplifier. Then from the output of the amplifier, it fed into an 8-way passive splitter that was distrubuted to the outlets in the various rooms.
Needless to say, my old setup required many extra cables and did not drive all the outputs sufficiently even with the unused splitter outputs terminated with a termination resistor. Even the cable modem required a special filter. It may have just been a bad amplifier, but after recognizing that I could consolidate four components (2 way splitter, cable modem filter, amplifier, and an 8-way passive splitter) into one it made perfect sense to use this product.
Installation was simple. At first, I thought it was strange to use a coaxial cable for power. Then, a friend told me the obvious - the distance from the outlet to the location of the splitter varies from installation to installation, so it's possible to cut a coaxial cable to "just the right length" for each installation. That made perfect sense and that is exactly what I did.
The structured wiring cabinet in our house looks much "cleaner" now with less components and internal cable runs. TV and Internet service is working great too. No more digital drop outs and audible "squeaks".
This product is a bargain (less than half the price) when compared with other options I researched on the internet. At first I thought that was "too good to be true", but I was pleasantly convinced otherwise after using it for about a month now. I would certainly recommend this product to anyone that has longer cable runs, poor signals or an overly complex setup. Electricians and cable installers should consider using this when installing (or retrofitting) structured wiring in new homes.
Customer Review: Very good product
Summary: 5 Stars
Received the item within 9 days from the order date. Within the 15 day window for free shipping.
I bought this amp/splitter to solve the following problem:
In my home office I have a cable modem and a TV with one cable drop (outlet). I used a passive high bandwidth splitter to feed the modem and the TV. Naturally the signal degraded somewhat after the split. Initially, the modem was able to lock on the signal and perform well. Over time and signal strength fluctuations from the cable company caused the modem to behave erratically and would frequently lose the connection to the internet. If I bypass the passive splitter the modem would function perfectly.
After receiving the amp/splitter I hooked it up to the main drop from the cable company coming into the house and powered it up with the included power adapter (literally took me 5 minutes to do all the connections). I immediately noticed that the picture on my analog and digital TVs improved significantly and most importantly the modem was able to lock on the signal and connect to the internet with the passive splitter installed.
Just one word of caution. Last night the power in our neighborhood was out for a couple of hours following a severe thunderstorm. This amp/splitter would totally block the signal if it loses power. The reason I mention that is because I have a UPS (uninterruptable power supply)as a backup power to my pc, modem and digital phone (VoIP). During previous power outages I was able to maintain internet and phone connectivity for as long as the UPS batteries lasted (typically 10+ hours with the PC/monitor/printer/fax turned off). Last night I lost the internet and phone connection during the outage. I will just have to add a simple cable switch to bypass the amp/splitter in case of a power outage and another in my office to bypass the passive splitter.
Overall I like this product and would recommend it.
Customer Review: Awesome!
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this because I just moved and the previous owners had butchered the CATV connections. The CATV guy came out, connected it at the street, then we come inside and he tests a few of the jacks and says the signal is terrible, we'll never get a picture. He then traces the feed from the side of the house to the splitter, but the prior owners had finished a closet below where the splitter was, so he said to fix all the inside wiring would cost several hundred dollars and I would be left with a hole in the ceiling.
So I said "no thanks" and began my efforts to fix it myself. I 1st had to cut a hole in the closet ceiling and install an access panel to get to it (more professional than the wonderful CATV company who would have hacked a hole in the drywall, the plastic panel I used cost $15 at a local home improvement retailer). Then in troubleshooting the existing wiring, I find out they had the cable input wired to an output on a passive splitter, and an output wired to the input. Sheesh, how they ever watched TV here is beyond me! I then figured out the splitter was bad and one-by-one connected the input to each output w/ a coupler and labeled them. I then picked the 8 (out of 12) cable outlets I wanted active, bought this baby, installed it, and I have crystal clear picture/sound on all eight TV's! That includes digital TV, standard TV, and HDTV via a converter box/DVR. In my previous house I had a passive 8-way splitter and the pictures were horrible (snow, pixelation, etc.). This splitter/amp really does the trick, I wish I would have bought it years ago in my old house, I just didn't bother because I didn't have a handy AC source like I did here. I highly recommend this splitter/amp, a fantastic product and good price! I can't comment on cable modem as I have DSL, but it will drive 8 TV's flawlessly!
Customer Review: Works great
Summary: 5 Stars
I used to have issues (glitches every few seconds in the audio, and the occasional breakup in video) with receiving ClearQAM digital cable into a Hauppauge HVR-1600. I then added the 8-way amp and got rid of all my splitters, and used a HDHomeRun instead of the HVR-1600, and digital signal is now ~98% on most channels, and basically never breaks up or glitches. I believe the HDHomeRun played a big part in improving the quality, but the signal strength is definitely higher with the amp on.
Analog cable TV quality seems to be improved as well, though I don't have any way to quantitatively measure it.
For my cable modem, I initially connected it through the amp, but then my downstream signal strength went from -3.7 dBmV to 9 dBmV. I have read a "good" range is -8 to +8. After leaving it like this for about an hour, I had a Bit error rate of 0.006%, whereas I had 0.000% before. I did a speed test before and after, and there was basically no difference. I decided to put a 2-way splitter on before this amp, so my cable modem is not amplified, and my error rate is back at 0.000%. For cable modems, expect this amplifier to boost your downstream signal strength, but realize that doesn't necessarily make the signal any better.
I'm also using 75-ohm terminators on the unused ports (I have 3), I didn't do comparison with/without those, but they're cheap and available from this same seller, so I'd recommend picking those up. Any unconnected cables can cause a drop in signal strength and also introduce noise into the rest of the system - every cable should be terminated, or connected to a device like a TV, receiver, or modem.
Customer Review: You need to buy this!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have purchased from Amazon for four years. I make four to five purchases a month. This is my first and probably only review I will give! I have purchased stuff from Amazon before just to throw it out. I don't want the hassle of returning product. I am very lazy. I thought fifty bucks. Maybe it will work maybe not it's only money. Chuck it and call Comcast if it doesn't. I have a attic with an ADT outlet right next to my home networking panel so it was a quick install for me to run the extension cord from the ADT outlet to the network panel that houses the phone and cable lines. I have 9 flat panels all with cable boxes. The last one we got put us over the edge and we couldn't access ON Demand or the higher channels (100 and above) on any of the TV's. We were pulling too much energy from our cable lines and needed something to AMP up the signal. As soon as I disconnected all the lines from our main 10 outlet splitter and used plugged them into the 8 splitter plus a simple three splitter connected to one of the outlets of the 8 splitter all TV's glowed and channels became available as did the ON Demand channels. Now we did have our main line running from the pole to our home replaced last year. So, I did know that wasn't an issue. And I include that statement because: the instructions suggest the AMP may not be the solution; the main line may be the fault. So, if anybody has any problems or second thoughts it is a great buy. For those curious I am running two 100 foot lines and the rest are 50 and 75 foot lines as well.