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25th August 2012, 06:40 PM #1Créateur de sciure
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- Dec 2003
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- Sydney
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Help with Bigpond internet cable and Foxtel cable issue
I have a Foxtel cable for pay TV and Bigpond cable for the internet. I think both cables run from a grey box on the side of our house. The Bigpond cable comes to a wall socket in a bedroom which is connected to a modem and then to my computer.
I am about to start renovating a room that will become a study and in due course I want to have the Bigpond cable moved to that room.
Getting a new cable from the box on the side of the house to the new study room will be hard for the technician who installs it because of very very tight and cramped ceiling space. I assume that the longer it takes a technician to install the cable the more I will have to pay.
I have phoned Bigpond’s support line several times to try to find the rough cost to put a cable through to the new study but was told a technician would have to come.
One support line person said it would be easier to get a new wireless modem. Another said “hard wiring” is more stable than using a wireless modem. And I don’t want to have a wireless modem permanently in the room in which I currently use my computer.
Another person said that perhaps a new wireless modem could be put next to the TV and be connected to the cable used for Foxtel pay TV or alternatively use a “splitter” ?? and connect cable to the Foxtel cable and run that to where I want to put my computer in the new study.
Given the pay TV cable outlet and our TV are only 6 or 7 metres away from where I want the outlet for internet access in the new study, this could be a good and cheaper solution. The cable could go through the ceiling cavity in this part of the house without much trouble.
I spent an hour or so on the phone on this matter and after being transferred to 4 or 5 different people I ended up confused as what to do. I don’t want to have a technician come to install cable or wireless modem, without knowing the facts and as well as roughly what the cost will be.
What I haven’t been able to get clarified or confirmed beyond doubt is:
1. Can the pay TV and the internet run off the one cable?
2. Can a wireless modem for internet access run off the Foxtel cable at the back of our TV?
3. If the answer to these 2 questions is YES, is there any impact on the quality of the Foxtel service or the speed and reliability of the internet service in having both hooked up to the one cable?
Has anyone had experience with this technical stuff? Any help you can give will be appreciated.
Many thanks
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25th August 2012 06:40 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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25th August 2012, 07:13 PM #2GOLD MEMBER
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- Jul 2006
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You need a splitter on the incoming cable to provide two connections points.
Not sure if you can easily buy these. One used to be provided in the Bigpond Cable self install kits.
If you already have two connection points then there will be a splitter somewhere - probably in the gray box outside or as it was in my case when I had cable, a separate box under the floor.Geoff
The view from home
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29th August 2012, 08:51 PM #3
I don't have bigpond internet (too many bad experiences with Telstra) but I do have foxtel, which runs from a dish on my roof to my TV. Perhaps your situations is different but the cables for the foxtel (coaxial cable) and internet (telephone line to the modem, then ethernet cable to the computer) are not in any way compatible. So in my case, it is a definite 'no' to Q1 and 2. But as I said, your situation may be different. Do you get your foxtel through telstra? or direct from Foxtel?
I think you have a few ways to resolve your problem.
1. get telstra/bigpond to come and move your modem connection point
2. get a electrician or TV installer to run an ethernet connection (ie hardwire connection) from your current modem to the new study. This would be a cable from your modem to a new plug in the wall, then another cable from the new plug in your study to your computer. I recently had this done (ironically to connect my foxtel and tv to the internet) and it cost $130. It
3. do it on the cheap by buying a long ethernet cable (make sure to get cat 5e or cat 6) from your modem to yuor study (perhaps under the floor?)
4. get a wifi router or wifi modem. The difference between the two is that the modem will replace your existing modem, but add wifi capability, while the router will connect after your modem (ie you will have two boxes). Expect to pay around $100-200 for a good wifi router or modem.
If you are not a heavy internet user (ie don't really stream movies etc) then wifi will be fine and it will make things much easier in the future if you want to get an ipad, laptop or similar. But you need to be a little tech savvy to set it up. It's not hard, but you want to make sure you set up the WPA security (ie password protect your network).
I am unashamedly an apple fan, so would recommend you get a apple airport extreme wifi router.
Hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have more questions.
TravSome days we are the flies; some days we are the windscreen
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30th August 2012, 11:04 AM #4Créateur de sciure
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- Dec 2003
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- Sydney
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Geoff and Trav.
Thanks for the info.
I will get a Bigpond technician to either put in a cable to the new study or install a wifi modem somewhere, whichever is the most economical (without affecting if at all the quality of Foxtel and internet service).
When the technician is here, I’ll able to get a better understanding of the issues than was possible over the support line.
Thanks for your help.
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30th August 2012, 11:39 AM #5SENIOR MEMBER
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- Dec 2010
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- Melbourne
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Cables
We have two cables one for TV the other for Bigpond,not sure if both can run off the same cable,that came about as years ago we had two points put in and never used one that went upstairs so Tec used the spare saying that will give us the best service.
Would like to know if one can be used.
Cheers
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30th August 2012, 08:29 PM #6
Avoid telstra wifi at all costs. If you have any problems with the wifi reception telstra will blame every thing but the poor quality modems they supply and you cannot purchase a cable modem or wifi modem router from anyone except the service provider, they are not available from retail outlets in Australia.
I would suggest the splitter option and then ethernet cables from modem to your computers. Any other option with Telstra as a service provider will only give you migrains.
Just saying
Cheers Rumnut
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30th August 2012, 09:44 PM #7SENIOR MEMBER
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- Dec 2007
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- Gold Coast
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If you have a desktop, pay the money to have an outlet installed in the same room as the computer will live i.e. your planned study. Depending on the status of your contract you could possibly end up with the "free" newer router or wifi router too.
Having the cable modem near the foxtel stu/iq via a splitter is viable but only recommended for wifi. Buying a longish utp/cat5 cable and running it under carpets or along the floor can be problematic. If the cable is twisted, bent, crushed or generally mistreated (and it will be), you will eventually get transmission errors and regret not paying to put cables in wall. Runnng cat5 from one room to another will cost money anyway, is potentially as complicated as running an additional coax for bigpond anyway plus it's another point of failure which just happens to be foxtel/bigpond and so you have now involved a third party (the guy who ran the cable for you - not foxtel or bigpond).
If you want to cable your residence - lots of people do - do so because it gives you multiple data points not because it might be cheaper. If you do, use a certified data installer not just someone who knows wires.
If you go wireless check to make sure you are not using the same channel as your neighbour. Many wifi issues are caused by this (too many people using the same channel). Find a wifi scanner and pick a channel well away from anyone else. It pays to check every so often.
If you use a splitter and your internal foxtel/bigpond cabling is up to spec it will not degrade either service. All the coax goes back to a big splitter on the side of the house (the grey box) and typically enters the property as a single coax feed anyway. They is a limit to the number of sockets allowed before you need a booster too (3 from memory).
I've rambled a bit so ask away if I've confused you. Key message is to pay for cabling, consider it part of the refurb and keep it under your service contract so you can still "complain" to a single entity.
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1st September 2012, 10:50 AM #8Créateur de sciure
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- Dec 2003
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- Sydney
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Thanks for your responses which have been very helpful.
After looking through them I have decided to avoid wifi and I will now get cable installed to the new study.
Thanks for your help.
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1st September 2012, 11:20 AM #9GOLD MEMBER
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- Aug 2007
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- Brisbane
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- 1,156
Another option for you I have never tried but have heard it works well. That is ethernet over power cable. Essentially what you would do is leave your current internet modem in place, and hook it up to a device that plugs into a nearby power socket. You have a similar device plugged into a power socket wherever you want the computer, and the network cable plugs into your computer. Supposed to be faster and more reliable than wireless, but easier to set up than cabling though the wall. Hopefully somebody with actual experience will be able to comment.
The other day I described to my daughter how to find something in the garage by saying "It's right near my big saw". A few minutes later she came back to ask: "Do you mean the black one, the green one, or the blue one?".
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1st September 2012, 01:00 PM #10Senior Member
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- Feb 2008
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- sydney, au
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- 192
This is the system I use so that my Foxtel set top box can access the internet to download from their movie library. Works very well. I bought the 'devices' from Foxtel. They had a special on at the time for $90?
I have heard that this system works best if both power points are on the same supply circuit.
I had the Foxtel cable in for some time and when I also went with Bigpond cable, after the demise of my previous service provider, I had the Bigpond cable modem installed in the room I was going to use as an office.
The Bigpond installer was just going to hook their wireless modem/router up to the Foxtel cable next to the TV but could not get it to work,, As he did not have a spare one, he ran the cable under the floor from the outside gray box to the room and installed a non-wirelessd cable modem.
I have the Bigpond cable modem hooked into a D-Link DIR-300 wireless router. this give me wireless access all through the house.
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