The Stovebolt Forums Forums The Front Office IT Short Bus I had an epiphany, maybe??

I am still trying to understand how WIFI works. I have 2 TVs one in the family room which is 40 ft. from the wifi box and the cable modem. The other one is at the other end of the house and only has a power cord, no cable or connection to the cable modem. Is wifi coming from the cable modem or just out of the air? I am trying to get rid of the modem. Also, a friend wants wifi to get youtube and do away with his Dish network.

WiFi is only a way to get the internet to your computer, phone, TV, etc. It uses radio waves to transport digital data to your equipment from your router, instead of using a ethernet cable (cat 5, cat 5e, etc.). WiFi signals only travel short distances, limiting those signals to areas such as your home.

Most routers that are supplied from your internet provider process the signals coming into your house and distribute (or route) the data to your devices, via WiFi or ethernet cable.

In my case, I have a cable modem (supplied by my cable company) and a separate router that I own. So my internet signal comes in from the cable modem then on to the router that distributes the signal to my devices. Some thru cat5 cable and some thru WiFi.

I did exactly what your friend wants and got rid of Direct TV. I’m presently using YouTube TV.

Most current TV’s have built in WiFi receivers and network connections (ethernet), so you could use either.

So to answer you question, you need some type of modem to receive your signal from your internet company and a router to distribute that signal. Some companies supply those boxes at cost, some at no cost. Some combine the modem and router into one box. It all depends on which supplier you are using.

I have Spectrum. But not spectrum tv. I do have their supplied router which my Netgear wifi is hooked to. My confusion is the bedroom TV receives a wifi signal but does not have a cable hookup. I do have Amazon prime so I get their movies but rarely do I find one that I am interested in for the ones that they charge me for. Most TV watching is on youtube. On my Netgear, there is only a power cable and a Thick yellow cable that goes to Spectrum router. BTW the reason for all the questions is that they charge me $70.00 a month for their router. I wanted to make sure I really needed it. The irony, when I first got cable was 1978 and it was $99.00 for 160 channels, who needs 160 channels? After rereading your first 2 sentences I am assuming that their router captures the radio waves and I have to keep it. Thanks for the help.

You need the Spectrum Modem in order to “receive” the signal. You do not need the Spectrum router. You can use your private router hooked up to the Spectrum modem. My TV in the living room is hardwired “cat5 cable” from the Netgear Router to the Tv. It doesn’t have to be, it could operate off WiFi but I prefer wired. Our iPads operate from over the air WiFi.

The service guy who was out here told me that I could return theirs. It would only save me $5.00 a month. I have not converted back yet because a friend is trying to dump the Dish network so I am taking my router to his house and see if we can use his modem to get youtube. But dump all the other channels. What was convulsing me was the fact that he had issues in the outside box that he had to fix. That was what caused me to lose tv. But I still have a cable still hooked up but I guess it does nothing. And on top of everything else the bedroom TV is not hooked to anything but house current. Thanks.

The $70 a month is for the service not the router. The signals come thru the cable TV wires on the telephone poles and the box on the outside is the service entrance box which sends the signal thru the house (wired).

I also have Spectrum (also no TV) for my internet service. You can use your own cable modem or their’s. They provided me with their modem at no cost or monthly fee and I use my own router.

Unfortunately the free internet isn’t accessible without one of the big cable/phone companies. Apparently Spectrum has a monthly rental charge for their router.

I pay $50 month for T-Mobile Internet. Their device is wired to my Netgear router. Internet is 10 times faster than my previous broadband provider. Bought a Roku device (one time expense) for TV streaming. I added Sling TV for $50 so I have hundreds of channels and thousands of free movies for $100 a month. Saving $50 a month over DirecTv. We watch a lot of TV these days so it’s worth it to us.

The new wifi box will go back the tech told me mine was ok. The only issue I have with wifi I on youtube it plays for about an hour then it freezes and I have to turn the tv off and wait a few seconds and turn it back on. I can also leave youtube then reconnect to it. No offense but what can you do with all those channels. It would be nice if you could pick out your favorites and that would be it. I have not watched regular tv for maybe 4 years. I can get most of it on Youtube maybe a day late. I am taking my Netgear to my friend to see if he can use it on his Dishnetwork, He won't need it until spring. If all goes well he will go to Hilton Head next month. He is to have hernia surgery and he is not sure if they will let him drive, I told home I would drive him down in his car and rent one and visit relatives in the area or maybe go see Alvin.

That could be YouTube making sure your still watching. That would reduce their traffic by kicking off those who started watching something and got distracted (especially kids).

Could be Phil. Passwords are not so sacred. I was nosing around on the labels of the old wifi and the new one and noticed that they have the passwords on the label. Very small print. So I suppose they expect you to change it. Or it is for the first login. I plan on putting my Netgear back on and using the new one to test at my friend's house and then return it.

Well, I did it again. I thought why not put my Netgear back on and return Spectrum's equipment and save $5.00 a month for who knows how long. Well, I have a phone, Laptop. and tv in the bedroom but my main tv nothing. I tried to log back on with spectrum 7 times, nothing happened. Appointment 12-1 Tuesday. I am going to ask them to set up Netflix. My first set up with Netflix was uneventful and that was 13 years ago. I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER.

.....come on down Ron, Chic-fil-A is now dining in. hehehe

Alvin, I may be down at Hilton Head in December. A friend is having surgery that month here but may need me to drive him down. He usually goes every year. The V A was supposed to it in October but the dr. got sick then this month but his potassium level was too high now they are telling him his sugar is too high. He has already made a deposit on the place he usually stays. So he has an appointment Wed, here in town but his surgery is in Indy V A. A switch from the 2 trips we made to Ft. Wayne.