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Old November 9th 18, 09:29 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware
VanguardLH[_2_]
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Posts: 1,453
Default Can Someone Tell Me What Is Going On?

SamSpade wrote:

I discovered something last night that has me stumped.
I have two TVs in the house - both have been using a so-called Verizon
set-top box to get TV programming via a wireless Verizon router The
TVs are hardwired to the router via house coax, as is the router. My
two PCs are cat5-connected to the same router even though the latter
could work wireless (wireless showed to be slower). I also have a
tablet and a laptop, both of which get internet wirelessly using same
router.

Having said all that - the other night I accidently disconnected my
router's power, but did not know it (I was not using the web on my
computers). While in that state, I watched TV several hours wth no
problem. Then - I discovered the disconnect, and connected. Then, of
course, my PCs had internet access, All ok.

But then - I thought: How the H was I getting a TV signal?
I repeated the power disconnect just to veriify things, and the same
happened.

I asked a friend, who lives 100 miles away, to try duplicating my
fete, and he said he got no TV at all, which seems logical.

Can anyone suggest how I am getting a TV signal? What don't I know?
Maybe I can stop paying for Verizon TV?

Thanks
Sam


Assuming "router" actually means the cable modem, not some separate
router you have downstream of the modem. The modem losing power means
you lose networking services, not cable TV (CATV). You don't even need
the modem if all you want is CATV service. The coax runs from the
service entry point directly (from a splitter) to the set-top box which
then is wired to the TV. The only reason you have a modem is to provide
additional services, like an internal router and switch for networking,
radios for wifi networking, and voice service (if the modem has that
feature). CATV doesn't go through the modem. From the service entry
point, there is a splitter. One output goes to your TV(s) but perhaps
to an adapter or set-top box and then to the TV(s). The other output of
the splitter goes to the modem for networking and voice services.

I know many users aren't that old where all you had was CATV without any
paralleled Internet service, so you were stuck with dial-up services
over the POTS lines or satellite dish for Internet access. You didn't
get a cable modem back then. CATV was splitting the coax to the various
radio devices (TV, recorders). Just coax from service entry (through a
splitter to connect more than one radio device) to a wall jack to coax
cable to set-top box (decoder) to a coax cable to the TV (or adapter if
the TV didn't have an RF connector).

The coax carries the TV signals. The modem doesn't get those. CATV
doesn't go through the modem. You only need the modem for *other*
services, like Internet or voice. TV signalling over coax doesn't use
IP addressing or any networking protocols.

Sorry, no idea what your friend has for a config (and even yours was a
bit vague). He might be using streaming to his TV and that only works
over networking, not simple TV signals over coax.

The TV just needs coax (although it might not have the old RF connector
some some adapter may be needed to convert to whatever input types the
TV has or which ones other than RF that you want to use). It doesn't
need the cable modem. If you have a smart TV, yes, then it wants to use
a network to communicate with other devices on your network, like
getting firmware updates and accessing non-CATV content sources (e.g.,
Netflix, SlingTV, etc). You only need the modem (what you might be
calling the router) for *networking*.

In fact, your TV (or set-top box) probably does not connect to the cable
modem at all. More likely your setup is something like:

service entry (coax)-- splitter }--(coax)-- set-top box ---- TV
}--(coax)--------------------- TV
}--(coax)-- modem }--(CAT5)-- PC
}--(wifi)-- PC

The modem isn't even in the path between coax service entry to the
set-top box and TV. CATV doesn't need a modem/router. CATV came first.
Cable Internet came later. CATV doesn't use the Internet. The decoder
(set-top box) is only needed if the TV signals are scrambled. If your
TV doesn't have an RF jack, you need an adapter (which could be the
set-top box) to convert from coax to RCA, DVI, or whatever to match what
jacks your TV does have. That's for simple or dumb CATV. With smart
TVs, they want to use networking for their non-CATV features.

You claimed "Verizon set-top box to get TV programming via a wireless
Verizon router". Really? If true then you should be able to connect to
the internal web server in the cable modem to see the list of networked
devices connected to the cable modem. For me, that means use a web
browser on a PC to go to 10.0.0.1, login, Connected Devices, and see
what is listed there. Set-top boxes are not listed for me. My laptop,
desktop PCs, security cam, VOIP box (Obitalk), and smartphones are
listed. Some are wired (Ethernet). Some are wi-fi devices. They are
listed because they are networked devices. The set-top boxes are not
networking devices, just CATV devices, so they are not listed.