Ralph,

You may be able to talk the cable company out of some cable and
connectors for free if you do the inside wiring. That assures them
the cable is to spec. You may have to get a special tool just for
the connectors they use as there are several differant kinds of
connectors that fit the cable.

The Comcast installers did give me an "approved" splitter, even though the
one I bought separately was better quality. It didn't make any difference
in my signal, but I used theirs just to keep the tech's happy.

Once I dropped cable TV, I didn't need the splitter anymore so the cable
line now goes directly to my cable modem.

Anthony Watson
www.mountainsoftware.com
www.watsondiy.com