Flame me if you will for not calling the cable company and sitting on hold etc etc, but I figure you guys out there will have the answer for this before I can get through!

A client bought a house, a demo house in an upscale tract, where the general contractor TOTALLY cheaped out on phone jacks and on cable outlets. It is a two-story house with two three-car garages, three bedrooms, an office, a dedicated tiered screening room, living room, family room, dining room, pool, fountains....and FOUR phone jacks. There is one cable jack in each room, but not necessarily in the right place. They are too far from the phone company for DSL, so internet is done over the cable.

Anyway, they have a cable modem in the office and also need to run a computer in the upstairs bedroom at the opposite end of the house. There are no reasonable wire paths for a CAT5 from the office to the bedroom, but I could run a cable to the bedroom -- of course, I can't use the jack in the bedroom because it is on the wrong wall -- and connect to the internet there.

If, that is, you can put two cable modems on one cable run. It makes sense to my limited understanding of how a cable internet network might work, but I don't know.

What do you think, or better yet, what has your experience been? They have Adelphia cable, if that matters.

Come to think of it, in another house with Adelphia and a cable modem (but where they don't actually watch cable at all), there is a drop tap in the cable termination at the side of the house. One output is -6 dB, the other is the feedthrough. Which one of these would be the internet connection?

Thanks --

I have seen it done - for a charge. Is wireless an option?

Ernie..wireless is the way to go..i have 4 PCs on my network..and a wi-fi PDA..im useing a older linksys wireless 2.4 ghz router.i did put hi-gain antennas on it since 2 of the PCs are on the 3rd floor...i can use my laptop out in the yard if i want....and i bet the newer stuff is even better..just my 2 cents..

See what I mean? Who can get ANY answer from a cable company this fast?

The office is one floor down and 120 feet from the location we need to add. I don't expect wireless to be a bulletproof solution, even though California houses, especially tract demos, are mostly made of papier mache and dried saliva. The signal would have to go through six walls. Who knows, they might have put insulation in on the outside walls, and maybe even the type with foil backing.

As does my home..i live in a 1929 wood frame home with foiled insulation and so forth..i am picking up a signal from another router down the street..no..its not foolproof but i was surprised how good it did work..so the main PC is in the basement?..my signal has to go thru insulation..drop ceiling..plaster..3 wood floors and a few pieces of furniture..the signal in my daughters room...3 floors up..always runs around 60%..also i think the hardware will have some different effect..3 of the PCs have linksys wireless adaptors..one has a dell..the dell isnt as good..more directional it seems..another thought..put the router in a more central location..just run long ethernet cables..

Ernie, unfortunately, I have to suggest asking the tech dept. of the cable co. if this can be done. The important thing is whether they say you have to have two accounts, because you may have to get two IP adresses.

"Please hold; your call is very important to us."

We have comcast nad IT CAN BE DONE! I have a customer that I did a prewire for (Spring finish) that insisted on having 2 modems. One for the kids to game on and one for him. It was my understanding from a relatively knowledgable tech that you wont get full bandwidth from both but I dont see how they could regulate it. They will however issue to IP's but not 2 bills. You'll pay full freight for the first one and they told me $5 per month for the second active modem. I hope this helps.

You don't get full bandwidth on any cable modem, it is shared with the local group of cable customers.

Don't most modems these days have wireless built in? DSL usually does.

I thought modems had one port, and you had to add a router, and maybe those usually have wireless built in. Then again, I am thinking of technology at least 18 months old.

Most DSL or Cable modems are just a modem. However you can buy some routers that have DSL modems built-in, and some of those would also have wireless.

I don't think I've seen an aftermarket cable modem/router/wireless combo, although some cable modems do have basic router functionality (but you would still need a hub/switch to hook up multiple systems).

Hmm. Well, here in Mpls all the DSL modems being sold are generally both modem and a wireless access point. Unless you request non-wireless. I think my parents cable modem had wireless, too. And they gave that up over a year ago.

My basic DSL modem can handle 2 computers wired (1 ethernet, 1 usb) and a number of wireless.

I have installed a Netgear piece that is a cable modem, 4 port switch and wireless all in one piece. It seemed to work.