Connecting Virgin media to coax outlets

[jon92]

I have just moved into a house with coax outlets in all rooms (the screw-on type female socket), but currently not connected to anything. I have a separate Virgin media feed into the house, with TV and broadband. I'm wondering if the Virgin signal can be distributed around the house by connecting to the existing coax 'network' somehow. Unfortunately I don't know much detail on the coax outlets, although the Virgin installer said they were 'Sky' sockets, if that clarifies anything.
I can use wireless in some rooms, but it is not reliable on the upper floors so if an easy wired connection can be made I would prefer it.
Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[JohnD]

The incoming signal from Virgin has to be decoded to be fed into your TV. They will rent you additional decoders, or else you can have all the TVs running off the output from one decoder, and they will all show the same channel.

I'd go for Freeview in all the other rooms if I were you

 

[jon92]

Thanks, I will probably end up just using Freeview in the other rooms then. What about the broadband though? Can I connect the Virgin broadband to one of my wall connectors and then pick it up from others?

 

[kjacko]

Thanks, I will probably end up just using Freeview in the other rooms then. What about the broadband though? Can I connect the Virgin broadband to one of my wall connectors and then pick it up from others?

No, not unless you have a modem in each room. Other than that its wireless push-out i'm afraid.

Coax doesn't come into play for broadband once its in the house. It's then down to network cabling.

 

[JohnD]

your virgin wireless router/decoder box probably has several internet sockets on it, you can use one for each cable to another room.

 

[dmiller]

The coax cable in place probably is not up to the standard needed to carry virgin media signals. Best bet is the Ethernet over power line adapters and another wireless router set up to cover the dead zones.

 

[kjacko]

You can't distribute broadband in a house via coax anyway. Unless you have more than one entry point from the road and a modem connected to each entry point.

The powerline adaptors as suggested by dmiller would probably be the best bet to avoid drilling holes and laying network cable.

 

[clubb699]

The powerline adaptors as suggested by dmiller would probably be the best bet to avoid drilling holes and laying network cable.

Brilliant technolgy i use this system go for it

 

[jon92]

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions, looks like powerline adaptors for me.

 

[abrocky]

Research coax networking, it can be done, but need appropriate devices...

Best bet is to require with cat5 or cat6...

Or if u don't want to rewire, a wireless extender?!

 

[Sam Gangee]

Best bet is the Ethernet over power line adapters and another wireless router set up to cover the dead zones.

Powerline adapters are deprecated and may cause major problems with interference. See http://www.satcure.co.uk/reviews/satcure_blog_169.htm#PLA

 

[jon92]

The cable is 'TX100' apparently, which I think is reasonable quality. I have had a look at coax networking (thanks for the tip) which is quite bewildering, but it seems feasible to distribute the signal with suitable splitters/amplifiers. I expect to have one wireless modem/router attached to it, and one wired modem. One TV would also be connected. Can this be done with a simple splitter or do I need the signal amplified too? Currently there is a 15db attenuator on the incoming cable I notice.

 

[Sam Gangee]

You can't split the incoming cable to the router. Use a router with more than one Ethernet port and use CAT5/6 cables to feed broadband wherever it's needed if its wireless signal won't reach.

 

[Aragorn84]

You can't split the incoming cable to the router. Use a router with more than one Ethernet port and use CAT5/6 cables to feed broadband wherever it's needed if its wireless signal won't reach.

This.

The supplied Virgin "router" contains a cable modem, and a wireless router in one box, the cable modem is specific to the virgin service and cant just be bought in a shop.

If you have one of their recent "superhub" models, it has four ethernet sockets on the back. You need to use one of these and run it upstairs using proper ethernet cable (cat5).

If its an earlier setup then you will often end up with a seperate modem and router, in that case you'll need to take the ethernet feed from the router part (which again should have a number of spare ethernet sockets)

 

[jon92]

Thanks, I know that 'proper ethernet cable' would be best but I only have a coax network in the house. I think it's time to admit defeat and just use a wireless repeater.