Splitting a phone jack...into 5

[VitaminH]

Ok so here's the deal...moved into this apt like 6 months ago. We had 2 phones and DSL. Split the phone line with a splitter at the jack, ran a line to one phone and then ran another cord to where the DSL modem is (placed with router to split up the net connection), and also the other phone is there.

So now we are looking at cable tv options. We are in part of Chicago, and one Analog provider appears to have a monopoly, that being Comcast, and they kind of suck. So we looked at dishes. Dish Network doesn't look so good, current dispute with Viacom causing lack of Comedy Central (one of the biggest reasons I want cable) and MTVs (roomates love it, not my bag..) makes DishNet unacceptable. So we have DirecTV. Looks great.

Problem: We want it in two rooms, and apparently each reciever needs to be hooked into the phone line? One room is a good 60 feet from the one jack in the whole apt, and the other is about 20. It can be done with significant amounts of phone cord (I've looked at the wireless phone jacks but they are a tad pricey for my book, and the splitting problem still is there) but the main thing is, can we split this jack twice more and turn it into 5 phone jacks without problems on the DSL and/or the phone and/or the DirecTV recievers themselves?

Whew long post. Sorry.


EDIT: On second thought should this be in Tilted Electronics I wonder? Mods do your worst to me...

[gar1976]

I've never hooked a dish into a phone line, either with Dish or Direct. Don't think you need to unless you're ordering pay-per-view.

[VitaminH]

Ahh see that was more along the lines that I thought it would work, but their website implied otherwise...let me see if I can provide some linkiness...

Here's one: http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/learn/...started.dsp#19

Essentially what I get from their FAQ is to have mult recievers they both have got to be plugged into the phone else they cut us off. Sounds like they phone home each night to report in. I wonder what all they report..but that is something for Tilted Paranoia

[WarWagon]

5 times is a lot of splitting for digital connections. I'd imagine you'd have a very weak signal unless being split directly from your main line.

[VitaminH]

Such was my fear. Dagnabit I don't want to have to use the antenna anymore, reception here sucks

[gar1976]

I have dishnetwork with multiple receivers at my house. Two models:

Stripped down Sears cheapie.

Original box from Dish netowork, that is supposed to have WebTV, a Tivo-like device, etc. Powered by microsoft.


Stripped down model never needs to "dial home." Never has. Never will.

The Microsoft box SUCKS. Microsoft and Dish split the partnership shortly after the box was made, and Microsoft refused to allow the Dish engineers to peak at the software code, so as a result anytime there's a programming change the MicroBox freaks. I mention this because this is the only box that tries to "phone home" every two-three months or so, and I need to reset the damn thing to get it to work again. Stupid microsoft.

Moral of the story - according to Dish, they "don't track our viewing habits, and the phone dial-in is only to communicate to their servers for programming changes." Bah. They can download what they need from the sky, baby. I'd give their customer service a call and speak to a technician, and make them give you a yes or no answer in regards to the phone line, with no BS. I've used dishes for five years and never plugged them into a phone line.

[VitaminH]

I believe I will call tech support tonight. This is all really pissing me off. I don't want pay-per-view and all I can get from the website is that's why it would need to be plugged, other than the apparent nightly phone home the boxes do...


YEARGH

[krwlz]

They dont need to be hooked to a phone line... thats just so you can order ppv with the remote. You can still order by phone if you want. Though if it remains unhooked to a phone line for 90 days or something, they disable your ppv ordering through the box.

[iamnormal]

http://www.epanorama.net/links/telephone.html

[rideough]

I wouldn't split one line 5 times. That's just silly. What I would do is find where the line comes in and hook up 5 seperate lines from there. If you split one line 5 times you are signifigantly reducing signal strength and increasing db loss. If you split from the source then you have 5 lines of the same strength. This is what I do for a living so I can finally be helpful!

[MSD]

Here's an inside secret. You don't have to hook it to a phone line, and if you don't, you can order a few PPV movies (I thik it's 5 for DirecTV) before the queue is "full." Until you hook it up to a phone line, the queue stays there, and you can't order any more. Once you hook it up, it phones in all of the PPV orders. You don't have to have it plugged in in order to work, just for PPV. The boxes do not phone home at night unless the service provider signals for them to do so. They don't do that often, since each request has to be triggered manually.

Of course, there are some less-than-legal ways of clearing the PPV queue, but you will get busted if you do it. You cannot trust any manufacturers of card programmers anymore.

If you want 5 phone lines, split them from the source in your basement.

[tooth]

We have had Dish for about 2-3 years now. We have never had our receiver hooked to the phone line. It has never complained, or freaked out. We get all the programming changes, etc.

MrSelfDestruct is right about the PPV queue. I think ours "filled up" at about 10(might be based on $ amount). If we want PPV now, we just call the 800 #. works just fine.

Again that's Dish not DirectTV. So, your mileage may vary.

[telekineticfool]

Originally posted by rideough
I wouldn't split one line 5 times. That's just silly. What I would do is find where the line comes in and hook up 5 seperate lines from there. If you split one line 5 times you are signifigantly reducing signal strength and increasing db loss. If you split from the source then you have 5 lines of the same strength. This is what I do for a living so I can finally be helpful!

Why do you say that it would weaken the signals? I have done quite a bit of phone wiring and electronics, and I'm not understanding what part of the 'signal' would weaken. There shouldn't be any more loss in a splitter then there would be in a jack with no splitter...the only lossy part is the metal-on-metal connection.

I am gonna step in and disagree with all the people who say splitting a jack that many times is bad...if you think about it, every jack in your house is split from the original wall connection...it's not like you're going to be using them all simultaneously.

The drop to your house is the same gauge wire as the wire in your walls, so as long as each phone has a path to the wall, through however many splitters you want, you won't have a problem.

Originally posted by WarWagon
5 times is a lot of splitting for digital connections. I'd imagine you'd have a very weak signal unless being split directly from your main line.

You cannot have a weak digital signal...it is either there or it isn't. Weakness is something that happens to analog signals.

[Vogad]

Originally posted by gar1976
I've never hooked a dish into a phone line, either with Dish or Direct. Don't think you need to unless you're ordering pay-per-view.

Correct...don't need a phone line.. can order pay-per-view over internet or directly by calling your provider and talking... anyway you can split (Parallel) your phone lines indefinelty since there's "no signal loss" except for line loss caused by the cabling. Use Quality cable..

[jdjammer]

This post has been rather interesting for me. I want to split the phone line where it comes into the house to have a stronger DSL connection, as now the DSL drops in and out at night. I guess I will post my questions in a new thread, but thanks for the info!

[Blackthorn]

Originally posted by gar1976
I've never hooked a dish into a phone line, either with Dish or Direct. Don't think you need to unless you're ordering pay-per-view.

Off topic for this thread but:

At least for DirectTv you need a phone line in order for them to send "software updates" to your receiver.