I am switching from satellite to cable for my TV and internet service. I have a cable modem and 4 TVs, including 1 HDTV. For the most part I think I can use the existing cable structure, but I have a couple of questions. I can't use the multiswitch I was using to feed the satellite signal to the TVs, so I have to put in one or more splitters. The cable company installed a 1x8 splitter. I believe that results in significant (12 Db+?) loss in the signal level to each TV, and some of the TVs are getting a rather weak signal. So I am thinking of installing a 1x2 splitter, with one of the outputs feeding a 1x4. The other output from the 1x2 would go to the HDTV (longest cable run). The 1x4 would feed 3 TVs and the cable modem, each of them getting roughly 12 Db loss. Is this a good idea? Specific questions:
1. Will this cause a problem for the modem, since the signal to/from the modem would be going through 2 splitters? I seem to find ambiguous advice about this on the web. 2. Is it important to use bidirectional splitters? Does the modem need them? Will I need them to access PPV and On-demand on the TVs? 3. Monster Cable claims minimal signal loss on their (expensive) splitters. Is it worth it? One of their splitters is a 1x3, and they claim only 5.7 Db loss up to 1 GHz on each output. Would it make more sense to daisy chain two of these?