To Tap or Split - That is my question

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IownFIVEechos

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To Tap or Split - That is my question

#1

Post by IownFIVEechos » Mon Mar 17, 2014 5:15 pm

I have recently started to remove the splitters from my coax network since I am running the Cat wiring now. In doing so I have made my signals equal to

Signal Strength = 5 dBmV
Quality Strength = 38dB
(This info is from the SDHomeRun WebPage)

I have the only splitter now coming off into the cable modem and the SDHomeRun. The question of the tap vs the splitter is because I have read that if you split you should have equal length on the coax to each device. This is not the case. So the recommendation became a TAP. Should I bother with any of this? Are my signals okay at this point? I recently did this because I was noticing when multiple tuners were recording I would get horrible pixilation. This only started after I was put on a new plan which included HBO. The removal of the splitters seemed to help somewhat but I will occasionally still see the artifacts. I am also wondering if the latest firmware to the HDPrime hosed this as well. Thanks.

barnabas1969

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#2

Post by barnabas1969 » Mon Mar 17, 2014 5:22 pm

You don't need equal cable length to each device after a splitter.

Your signal strength/quality will vary by frequency, so you need to test a range of channels (higher channel numbers are not necessarily higher frequencies). A "tap" is just an unbalanced splitter. They usually have a 1dB attenuation on one output, and a 12dB attenuation on the other output. The 12 dB output is usually connected to your cable modem.

You really need to do more testing before changing anything.

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#3

Post by barnabas1969 » Mon Mar 17, 2014 5:24 pm

Oh, and I updated to the new firmware about a month ago, and it works fine for me.

IownFIVEechos

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#4

Post by IownFIVEechos » Mon Mar 17, 2014 5:25 pm

barnabas1969 wrote:Oh, and I updated to the new firmware about a month ago, and it works fine for me.

I was just about to ask that :) Beta right? Also on the main webpage is were I got those values from. Do you know what they represent if each channel is different? Thanks.

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#5

Post by barnabas1969 » Mon Mar 17, 2014 5:30 pm

No, I'm not on beta firmware. Version 20140121.

When you go to the HD HomeRun's internal webpage, you click "Tuner Status". Then, you click on the link for one of the tuners (tuner 0, tuner 1, etc). The information displayed there is for the currently-tuned channel. Change channels and refresh the page to see the values for a different channel.

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STC

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#6

Post by STC » Mon Mar 17, 2014 5:30 pm

Taps are great for sucking a smicket of juice out of COAX as it passes by. Enough to feed a tuner or two unamplified. To install the correct value, you'd need to know exactly what signal level is flowing through where you want to tap from. Then you purchase the correctly rated tap.
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#7

Post by IownFIVEechos » Mon Mar 17, 2014 5:36 pm

barnabas1969 wrote:No, I'm not on beta firmware. Version 20140121.

I am on beta, can I downgrade do you know? I will check each channel, is their an ideal number I want to be at? I was looking at the overall numbers I guess.

Edit: I just researched and I can not downgrade. But this post has a lot of valuable info for anyone in this game.

http://www.silicondust.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?t=12216

barnabas1969

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#8

Post by barnabas1969 » Mon Mar 17, 2014 6:17 pm

Were you experiencing a problem that was supposed to be fixed by the beta firmware? That is the only reason to ever use a beta firmware. As you discovered, you cannot downgrade.

The signal strength should be as close to zero as possible, but +/-7dB is good. The signal quality should be 35dB or higher. You will most likely notice that channels with higher frequencies will have lower signal strength than channels with lower frequency. So, it is a balancing act.

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#9

Post by IownFIVEechos » Mon Mar 17, 2014 6:21 pm

barnabas1969 wrote:Were you experiencing a problem that was supposed to be fixed by the beta firmware? That is the only reason to ever use a beta firmware. As you discovered, you cannot downgrade.

The signal strength should be as close to zero as possible, but +/-7dB is good. The signal quality should be 35dB or higher. You will most likely notice that channels with higher frequencies will have lower signal strength than channels with lower frequency. So, it is a balancing act.

I went with the beta because they expressed a great amount of effort towards the mobile portion. So I took the plunge. Hopefully it is my network. I am going to reset all my switches as well. I notice sometimes if they run for months a reboot can clean up some issues; not sure if the arp tables or something gets confused from all the adding and removing of the echos that constantly need re-pairing to the media center. Thanks for the info I will check signals. But sounds like if I stay in that 5dB range and 35dB I should be good. I know I was negative before the two splitters were removed.

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