How to Split Cable Television

Watch cable TV in different rooms by hooking up a signal splitter to the cable box.

Watching TV in two rooms from one cable box requires a device commonly known as a video signal splitter. The splitter has three or more threaded external jacks for connecting coaxial cables. The single jack on one side of the splitter is used to connect with the incoming signal from the cable box. The remaining two or more jacks on the other side of the splitter feed out to different TV sets. Some loss in picture quality may occur with more than two TV connections from a cable splitter.

Things You'll Need

• Cable splitter Coaxial cables with threaded coupler on each end

Instructions

1. Unscrew the coaxial cable attached to the cable box from the back of a television, if the box is already hooked up to one TV, by turning the threaded coupler on the end of the cable clockwise to remove it from the TV jack. Leave the other end of the cable connected to the cable box.

2. Attach the cable you just removed from the TV to the single RF input jack on one side of the signal splitter, turning the coupler clockwise to secure the cable to the jack.

3. Connect coaxial cables to the output jacks on the other side of the splitter, then hook up the opposite ends to the RF input jacks on the back of the TV sets.

Tips & Warnings

• Some cable boxes are equipped with independent tuners for watching different channels in different rooms. On some boxes, only the same channel can be viewed on the split signal. Contact the cable provider to determine the capabilities of your particular cable box.

• Unplug TV sets and the cable box from electrical outlets while hooking up coaxial cables to the signal splitter.

References

• Ace hardware: Cable Hookup with Video Signal Splitter