Home > Consumer Reviews > 4 PORT CABLE TV / HDTV / DIGITAL AMPLIFIER INTERNET MODEM SIGNAL BOOSTER INTERNET AMP
4 PORT CABLE TV / HDTV / DIGITAL AMPLIFIER INTERNET MODEM SIGNAL BOOSTER INTERNET AMP
See it at Amazon.com for $25.40Average Customer Rating
(4.5 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First | + Share17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
OTA use of PCT-MA2-4P
(5 out of 5) by KKID44 on Nov 11, 2008 (SF Bay area)My digital signal was getting too weak using a splitter. Every splitter cuts the signal in half and my cable runs are 50-100' each. I wanted to share 3 TVs on my attic antenna. Installing the PCT-MA2-4P in the attic next to the antenna, using a power inserter solved the problem. Just like each TV had is own 12' long antenna. Many distribution amps require an AC outlet at the distribution amplifier and I didn't want to install a duplex outlet in the attic. The PCT-MA2-4P with the power inserter allowed me to have the power supply at the TV set and distribute power over the coax cable. This solved my problem perfectly.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Clear, clean signal
(5 out of 5) by JBeary on Jan 13, 2009 (LA, Calif)This amp works great. It has a clear, clean output that boosts the signal without adding artifacts and noise.
It's the only one I use. I have an undergrad degree in engineering. I get tired of talking to people at the cable company who don't know much about what they're doing, and blame everything on the end user.
In particular, I get tired of poor splitters, poor amps and poorly shielded cable. With digital and HDTV, the days of settling for low quality signals are over. Radio Shack doesn't cut it anymore.
Forget snow. Think pixelation, digital artifacts and no signal. This amp gets it done. Check Acoustic Research Coaxial F cables and splitters (antonline), Belkin HDMI cables and these signal boosters. Nothing works better, so why spend more on what Best Buy says is premium wire. Baloney. The only thing premium is the money they collect from the naive.
It's the only one I use. I have an undergrad degree in engineering. I get tired of talking to people at the cable company who don't know much about what they're doing, and blame everything on the end user.
In particular, I get tired of poor splitters, poor amps and poorly shielded cable. With digital and HDTV, the days of settling for low quality signals are over. Radio Shack doesn't cut it anymore.
Forget snow. Think pixelation, digital artifacts and no signal. This amp gets it done. Check Acoustic Research Coaxial F cables and splitters (antonline), Belkin HDMI cables and these signal boosters. Nothing works better, so why spend more on what Best Buy says is premium wire. Baloney. The only thing premium is the money they collect from the naive.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent Product
(5 out of 5) by Cody on Jan 1, 2009I had a new house that included a GE Smart Center with an amplifier for both cable and satellite. After the purchase of a new HD TV it was obvious the cable signal to the new TV that was 75 feet away from the GE amp was terrible. The cable signal coming into the house at the GE amplifier was good. Replaced the GE amp with this PCT amplifier and the picture was just like having the TV hooked up where the cable entered the house. It was an incredible difference and the PCT amp is literally 1/15th the size of the GE amp it replaced. The unexpected bonus to this purchase is the internet connection. The cable modem is now hooked up to the one port on the PCT amp that boosts the signal in both directions. It has speeded up the internet connection considerably. This product far exceeded my expectations which warranted this write-up. Be advised it only works with cable not satellite systems.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Does exactly what it is designed to do
(5 out of 5) by Maynard Handley on Mar 31, 2009 (Pasadena, CA United States)I'm very happy with this device. Looking at the reviews, I think those who are unhappy with it do not understand what it does:
An amplifier like this is not a magic box that will convert an unusable signal (say from a digital TV antenna) into a usable signal; rather it solves a very specific problem.
Suppose you have an signal that is usable at the point of the antenna, but is NOT usable at the point where you want to use it. This might be because you have a long run of coax cable between the antenna and your TV/converter box/tuner/whatever; or it might be because you want to split the signal to feed it into multiple TV/tuner boxes/etc. If this is you situation, the device works very well.
If your problem is that your signal is too weak to be useful directly at the point it comes out the antenna, even before it goes through any long runs of coax or splitters, then no amplifier in the world is going to help you out. What you need is to acquire a better signal. Depending on your circumstances, this might be done by
- changing the angle/orientation of your antenna
- moving it around the room (so it's nearer windows or away from metal or whatever)
- moving it higher (if necessary going outside the house and onto the roof)
- or getting a larger antenna with a larger collecting area.
An amplifier like this is not a magic box that will convert an unusable signal (say from a digital TV antenna) into a usable signal; rather it solves a very specific problem.
Suppose you have an signal that is usable at the point of the antenna, but is NOT usable at the point where you want to use it. This might be because you have a long run of coax cable between the antenna and your TV/converter box/tuner/whatever; or it might be because you want to split the signal to feed it into multiple TV/tuner boxes/etc. If this is you situation, the device works very well.
If your problem is that your signal is too weak to be useful directly at the point it comes out the antenna, even before it goes through any long runs of coax or splitters, then no amplifier in the world is going to help you out. What you need is to acquire a better signal. Depending on your circumstances, this might be done by
- changing the angle/orientation of your antenna
- moving it around the room (so it's nearer windows or away from metal or whatever)
- moving it higher (if necessary going outside the house and onto the roof)
- or getting a larger antenna with a larger collecting area.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Corrected my cable modem connection and improved TV reception.
(5 out of 5) by C. Douglas on Oct 16, 2008 (Crest Hill, IL)Because of how my house is set up, there are two splitters before the cable gets to my modem. The signal dropped out before it got to my modem. This thing fixed the problem, and improved my TV reception. No problems with my IP phone or anything else. I have Comcast cable, and the guy I asked about my problem said one of these would not help. He was wrong.