I am seriously thinking of getting rid of my cable TV and using an outside antenna and the cable Internet for television. The question I have is when I put up an antenna can i just plug it into the coax cable coming into the house? I have my cable internet coming in on the same cable. Is this an issue or will it work.
no
you cannot splice your antenna into your coax for your internet
First of all, you need to make sure you have an outside grounding block right before the cable from the antenna enters the house. Secondly, no, you can't use a splitter to connect the cable from your antenna to the cable with your internet.
The cable from the antenna goes to the television (or whatever you are using for a tuner), and the cable with the internet goes to your computer.
Jon
If you have cable internet (say, Charter) you should be able to split the cable and get basic channels tuned through your HD TV.
Maybe...for about a week...until your cable company disconnects you for cable ingress/egress issues.
"JimmyDahGeek@DON'T_SPAM_ME_gmail.com" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com... I am seriously thinking of getting rid of my cable TV and using an outside antenna and the cable Internet for television. The question I have is when I put up an antenna can i just plug it into the coax cable coming into the house? I have my cable internet coming in on the same cable. Is this an issue or will it work.
As people have said, you can't use the same cable, but it's easy enough to just buy a length of coax or antenna cable to run up to your roof. I used to do that. These days I live in a place where I get 20-odd stations with just a UHF antenna sitting beside the TV. I haven't had cable TV since the early 90s.
The big question is reception: If you're in a city trapped between high buildings, or out in a remote rural area, what you spend on an antenna and cable could be wasted.
ide antenna and the cable Internet for television. The question I have is when I put up an antenna can i just plug it into the coax cable coming into the house? I have my cable internet coming in on the same cable. Is this an issue or will it work.
able ingress/egress issues.
Yeah, that's what we wee told. These bastards don't give anything away!!!!
We stopped the cable few months ago because realized we had been paying mor e each year for 500+ channels --of which we watched maybe 9-10!
We bought an indoor antenna, hung it up high, brought in all the OTA channe ls it would get, but they were AWFUL. Could not get the one single PBS chan nel we did want. Returned antenna,
Now getting TV on computer screen, several days late, but at least we get i t. Looking into connecting computer to TV to view larger picture; some difficu lty because in different rooms, but will solve it eventually.
HB
an outside antenna and the cable Internet for television. The question I have is when I put up an antenna can i just plug it into the coax cable coming into the house? I have my cable internet coming in on the same cable. Is this an issue or will it work.
You can not connect your cable to an antenna unless you block the signal to the antenna. How I do it, (or did it) I run only one cable to the cable modem and then another cable off the antenna to the TVs. I have a signal booster near an outdoor directional antenna since it's a long run, but a couple of years ago some cable guy showed up and said they'd lower the internet bill and give me free basic TV so I told them to climb the pole and get'er done. The bill has creeped up since then eventually at some point I'll be back to plan A and cut the cord again. When I'm not watching broadcast TV I use a computer with wireless keyboard/mouse to stream to the big screen TV and tend to watch something streaming from the internet most of the time with that. If your internet is capped you'll have to watch your bandwidth usage. don't let the URL fool you, it's a valid useful site.
As others have said, you will need two separate cables. In fact, I dropped everything but internet from my cable connection and use an antenna for my TV reception (in addition to stuff I get online through Netflix and Youtube).
I disconnected the cable line from my splitter and connected it directly to my cable modem.
Then I ran a new line from the antenna, and connected it to the splitter where the cable used to connect. This way I still get a TV signal in every room of the house as before.
Once everything is connected, you will need to rescan your TV for the antenna frequencies (they're different than cable TV).
Unfortunately, my cable internet makes up the majority of my cable cost (I was only subscribed to limited basic service). Comcast also charges a fee if you do not use Cable TV (nearly the same cost as limited basic). My bill only went down $5 a month, but that's still $60 a year I can spend on something else.
Good luck,
Anthony Watson
Consider an outdoor antenna (if you can.) Before doing so, on line antenna vendors usually offer maps showing which transmitters ought to give a good signal at your address. Your main choice for outdoor antennas is between (1) Small (folded) antenna, less than 1 ft. square. (2) Traditional UHF antenna, 3 ft to 6 ft. with multiple reflectors. (3) "Mattress" antenna with multiple reflectors (for which several Youtube videos offer to show us how to build our own.)
All these connect via coax directly to your TV receiver (not to your PC.)
Problem I have, most of what we watch aside from the 6 o'clock news are cable channels. History, Travel, Science, Discovery, Nat Geo. Not in a good spot for OTA anyway, so I pay ridiculous amount for DirecTv.
EXACTLY our problem! Most of the identical channels!!!! Can catch up on some later on computer, but not the same as big TV!
Damn, damn, damn - when is "God" going to do something about these cable co's!
The OTA channels we d/l with the indoor antenna were (...censored...)!!!
HB
And what about a non-HD TV? Do you still need the antenna for one of them?
All but the biggest of these will fit in an attic, if you have an attic (Well, they will fit even if you don't, but it will be someone else's attic.) It won't be quite as high and won't have quite the range, and might not get as many channels, but no climbing tall ladders or being out in the weather.
What are you going to use for internet service? Usually they will end up charging almost as much for just internet as they charge for internet and basic cable.
I have DSL and the phone is basically free. (DSL without phone service is as much as DSL and basic phone)
cable TV and using an outside antenna and the cable Internet for television. The question I have is when I put up an antenna can i just plug it into the coax cable coming into the house? I have my cable internet coming in on the same cable. Is this an issue or will it work.
Issue. Won't work.
Indoor; even in the attic; is a waste of money. Just go for a proper tower unless you live in a city.
I have been away from cable internet for a while but when I had it, the internet signal was between Ch 4 and 5 VHF
If you combined that with broadcast I assume you might see some interference on those channels. I assume they will filter out the basic and "lifeline" channels that are on VHF if you buy internet only but I bet you will not really save any money doing it.
I have 6 different signals feeding the TV cable in my house. There are
4 satellite tuners on ch 73, 75, 77 and 79. My ReplayTV is on Ch3 and I have an agile modulator putting a PC monitor signal on Ch 69. They all coexist quite well. I have thought about integrating that with the antenna amp but I just have not done it yet. Part of my concern is a lightning hit on the antenna blowing up everything hooked to that cable. The way it is I would only lose 2 TVs.I do have fairly robust surge protection tho.
Look at the difference between a tv with no antenna and one with rabbit ears. In that case, even a little cheap INDOOR antenna makes a lot of difference.
When I first** installed my large attic antenna, it got all the Baltimore stations and most DC stations. 40 miles from here. No rabbit ears had ever gotten more than one or two DC stations, plus the Baltimore stations. So you're wrong.
**My $10 antenna amp has failed, so the antenna doesn't do as well now, but I will replace it. Maybe I should have mentioned the value of an antenna amp to the OP, but he would find out about it soon. Anyhow, that's between me and Jimmy.Now that is a lot of money, compared to (buying an antenna amp and) running a cable from the attic. And maybe considered ugly too, and a hazard if not built right or not maintained or in unusually high winds or if the ground shifts, etc.
Exactly. These days most people do live in a city or the suburbs. Jimmy didn't say where he lived.
It's not that hard to run a second cable into the house.
Part of my house overhangs the house in the back, and it's brown underneath, so some brown cable going up next to the brown downspout and then through an easy to drill hole that goes into the closet and it's barely noticeable.
Another cable went in through tthe aluminum basement window frame, in the empty space below the channel. So it didnt' interfere with the operation of the window. For that cable, it's worth using plain cable with no connector on the end yet, because it will go through a smaller hole (small enough to fit in the empty space below the window channel) , and then to add t he F-connector to the end. They make screw-on F-connectors though I've never gotten one to work. They also make normal F-connectors of various designs and fairly cheap pliers to put them on with. F-connector pliers are those which have a hexagon shaped hole between the jaws when the jaws are closed. That's how a hexagonal crimp is put on the round connector sleeve during attaching.
There are all kinds of "putty" or sealant to close the small space remaining between the hole and the cable. I think just about anything will work.
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