On Fri, 23 Jun 2006 23:37:52 -0500, crabshell
wrote:

[snip]


What the heck does a cable amplifier do? I figured I'd need a cable box in
every room I want to watch TV in.

I figured I would run a single cable from the entry point into the home to
a single location in each room. Do I need something more than that?


In that case, you will need a big splitter at that single location.
Splitters divide the signal so you get a weaker signal at each
location. It may be too low, requiring an amplifier ahead of the
splitter (better than amplifying each output separately). A 4 or 8
output amp is just an amp and a splitter in the same package.

Connect a cable modem before the amp.

If I want cable internet some day vs dsl should I do a double coax run to
at least one room and run the wireless connection from there?

Best to have your cable modem and router at this central location, and
use CAT5 for distribution. It can be run alongside the cable to each
room.

You mentioned wireless. A wired network will be simpler, faster, more
secure, easier to set up (referring to computer configuration), and
more reliable. When you're installing cable it would be a good time to
put in network cables too.

I can't see
needing a home network where every room is on ethernet, but now that I
think about it, I guess having a double coax run in every room along with
cat 5 allows me the freedom to set up the network hub anywhere in the
house, right?

No, because the CAT5 cables will all be run to one point. It's a good
idea to put the network hub (along with modem and router) at the same
location as the cable distribution point. Use that for telephone too.

Ir is there some other reason for this? I feel like this is
going to be overkill at some piont but again I'd like to do it right.
Besides, if I run ethernet throughout the house it still all has to meet at
a central location -- wherever that is.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what
to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb
contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin