Satellite Setup Opinions ...

[vikingblood]

Hi to all, this is my first post on the message board.
I don't really have one question, I want some general opinions on what type of setup I should be using.

First of all, I am a Directv customer. I just purchased a new home and have 2 cable outlets side by side in each room. All of my wiring goes from outside to inside the house into my closet in the Master Bedroom. I have a huge electrical box where all the cable and phone connections are at. From this box, I can control what I want going into each of the 2 cable outlets in each room. The wiring was prewired while the house was being built, so I just have to figure out if I need a multi switch, and if I need diplexers. I currently am using both Comcast Cable and Directv. I basically have 4 rooms I will be having television in, Living Room, Master Bedroom, Guest Bedroom, and Loft.

Ok, so the loft is already being used ... I'm using one outlet for cable tv and high speed internet access, and the other is being used for Directv. I have no choice, I need one outlet for cable internet ... I know it's nice to have 2 hot lines for the satellite receiver, but I only have one outlet. Is it possible to use a diplexer and split this one line into 2 ? All the other rooms also have 2 side by side coax cable outlets ... so I can run 2 lines straight into my satellite receivers in each room ... then I can use picture in picture and also record while watching another program .... something I can't do in the loft. My actual dish is a WNC 3 LNB High Definition capable dish with a multiswitch. Now, I have 4 lines going straight from the dish into my closet in my bedroom. I want to buy a multiswitch to improve the amplitude of my signal, and so I can split these 4 lines into 8 lines so I can run 2 lines into my 2 bedrooms and living room. I figure I can also place a diplexer onto one of the lines in each room so I can still get cable and local channels if I want. I actually get local channels on Directv, but I might as well get an antena and stop paying for local chanels.

If anyone can help me and give me some advice I would greatly appreciate it. I also plan on getting a satellite guy to come over and help me set it up and reposition my satellite. My signal has gotten weaker due to some new construction and trees.

 

[al]

It sounds as if you have a structured wiring solution in your home. If you do, you will be very happy with the endless possibilities that exist. Check to see if your phone wire is regular phone wire (2 pair POTS) or CAT5e network cable. If it is CAT 5e, and you have two cables to each outlet, you can network your cable internet connection throughout your home with one of the CAT5e cables (the other is still used for phone). That will free one RG6 run for off air (or cable), and the other for DirecTV.

 

[vikingblood]

Awesome !

Thanks for the help, Al, I actually do have 2 CAT5E oulets and 2 RG6 outlets side by side in each room. I'll have to call comcast and see if they can hook that up for me. I don't know why in the heck they used the RG6 outlets for my cable internet when they could have used the CAT5E outlet instead. That information is sweet music to my ears ... thanks again !

 

[al]

The cable internet will run to your cable modem via RG6. My suggestion would be to put your cable modem in your wiring closet, then out from there to a router, sending internet to all rooms connected to router via the CAT5e cable. We are doing exactly the same thing right now for a customer (using Direcway satellite internet instead of cable) who is building a new home.

 

[TonyL222]

I have a home with structured wiring into a central hub as well. The two coax at each location can be used for whatever you want. Are you really going to need two SAT feeds at each TV location? You'll need two receivers (or a recevier with two inputs like a Tivo box) as well. Are all your TVs PIP capable?

As already suggested, you should put your cable modem in the central hub box. Connect it to your cable feed there and then into a router/firewall. Then connect all of your internet connectiosn there with one of the Cat5 to the rooms you want ot have internet. Now you can share your internet connection, and it frees up the coax in your loft.

Make sure you buy the proper multiswitch. You'll need a 5x8 switch (the 4 dish feeds plus a feed from an antenna if desired). That'll give you your 8 outputs. Yes you'll need a diplexor at each location to separate the anntena feed from the satellite feed.