Splitters and Router question/help?

[Psywar]

Hello all!

Normally I would look this info up on my own, but I have had a long day and I am about to go shower and go to bed.

 

I Just Got back from my grandma's house.

She moved all her PC equipment into another room last night.

I got a text saying her internet was not working.

 

So after work this morning I went over and checked everything out.

So after fussing with the router a while I directly hook the modem to the desktop.

Ipconfig and it's not showing any address but my own 192.198.* yadda yadda..

 

So I'm like grandma, it's your modem. I need you to call Comcast and let me talk to a tech.

So I am taking with the tech and she tells me my cable modem is not connected..

I'm like well I am and all my lights are on.

So I double check and turn on the TV to make sure I got a signal coming in.

She asks if the modem is on a splitter.

I'm like "yes, is this a problem?"

She told me there probably is not enough power or signal strength to run both the TV and modem.

So I unhooked the splitter and went directly in with the modem.

She's like "now I can see you."

 

So that fixed that..

 

Now my question is: can I buy a more powerful splitter that will run both?

 

The house is practically new.. Like.. 15 years old.. Why would the cable not supply enough signal strength?

 

My second question is: I installed a NetGear N600 router for her last summer.

It has a USB port on it. I assume it's for network storage, but I was wondering, if I hooked her USB printer to it. Could I make it a network printer she could then use over wifi?

 

Thank you guys for the help.

Sorry if the text is a wall that hits you in your face. I typed this on my phone.

[wevsspot]

Hey Psy, you can buy a signal amplifier from Amazon.  There are several to choose from.

 

Here is an example;

http://www.amazon.com/PCT-4-Port-Signal-Amplifer-Active/dp/B005P12QME/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

 

You need to confirm with Comcast, but you may need a signal amplifier with or without an active return.  Just be careful and try to stay within the Downstream Received Power Level for your cable modem.  Per DOCSIS specifications the Downstream RX must be within the range of -15 dBmV > +15 dBmV.  Levels approaching either of those lower or upper extremes may cause issues.  It would be wise to check with Comcast and find out their exact Downstream RX specification for allowing trouble free operation.  Ideally your Downstream RX will be near 0 dBmV and your SNR will be 30 dB or higher.  

 

Usually you can check those levels via the diagnostics page on your modem.

 

As for your printer question....  Yes you can hook a USB printer to the USB port on the Netgear router and print wireless from any of your networked PCs.  The printer will show as a networked attached device.

[Psywar]

Thank you wevsspot for all of that good info!

I will take a look at the modem this weekend.. It was a weird modem as well.. Usually Comcast uses Motorola but this thing was called an ubee or something..

Awesome about the printer too. I don't think grandma wanted to buy another printer lol!

 

Thank you again!

[wevsspot]

NP.  

 

Another option (depending on whether grandma owns or rents her home) is to put a regular high quality splitter out in the cable box service on the side of the home.  Then pull a direct cable run to the room with the modem in it.  Of course a lot of this depends on access to attic, crawl space etc.  

 

This is exactly how I did mine when we switched to Cable from DSL.  That way I have dedicated runs to the cable set top boxes and a dedicated run to my modem.  Beautiful clean signal to both now.

[Psywar]

I was considering this. (She owns the home)

The cables are not too bad to get to.. Everything is fairly easily accessible... Kind of upsets me though cuz Comcast was out there about 5 years ago and re-did all the cabling for them.

 

What really bugs me about it is when I hooked the modem directly to the wall outlet the tech told me it was still not supplying the full voltage the modem needed so it was possible it would cut out intermittently. 

 

Off-subject what the heck is the main box where all the wires/cables comes from called? D-Box? It's killing me.. I remember reading about it in my Network+ class.. 

[bigball1]

Demarcation point?

 

Also if you have a splitter some wheres in the house like a 4x1 (1 in and 4 out) and one or two of the outs are not used. You should swap that out for a smaller one. As you will be losing signal from the unused spigots.

[wevsspot]

Demarcation point?

 

You got it  

[Psywar]

Demarcation point?

 

Also if you have a splitter some wheres in the house like a 4x1 (1 in and 4 out) and one or two of the outs are not used. You should swap that out for a smaller one. As you will be losing signal from the unused spigots.

 

THANK YOU! That was annoying me!

Yeah looks like this weekend I am going to have to go over and check and see what is going where with the cables..

[Nerm]

FYI: dmarc is a reference to the point where the provider equipment (PE) ends and the customer equipment (CPE) begins. If you are wanting to know the name of the actual box itself it is usually called NID or ONT (if fiber) depending on the provider.

 

As for your problem I think wevsspot hit the nail on the head already.

[wevsspot]

Good luck and keep us posted. 

[Psywar]

I will let you all know what I end up doing.

 

Optical Networks.... I doubt I will ever see one in this area haha!

[freddie]

I know Wev said it'll work but check the manual for that router model as some of them explicitly say do not connect a printer via usb blah blah blah

something do with print spooling iirc


or you can just try and if it works.. it works