Do I need a cable-modem coax surge protector?

Question

Ok, I'm about to start back up at college and here's my situation:

I have Cox Cable for TV and Internet. When my modem is on and downloading (even opening CNN.com), some digital TV channels break up like they are degrading the signal. It's not my house so I can't rewire it - the main feed comes in and splits to the familyroom and bedroom. In the familyroom, it runs through a coax surge-protector and splits to the HDTV and modem.

My modem's signal is -12dbmv and the TV says signal is "fair".

Cox's answer is "you shouldn't have a surge protector" so they remove it and that increases the signal 3dbmv which is enough to fix the problems.

I say that I need a surge-protector or lightning (or other surges) can ride the Coax, jump through the modem or TV and into the electrical (bypassing the UPS surge protection) or Eithernet, and fry my computer equipment.

My surge-protector is rated for bi-directional communication and says it's compatible with both cable and satellite systems.

Who's right?

Is there another solution?

Would it help if I split the coax before the surge protector and then put 2 surge protectors (one for TV and one for Internet) instead?

Answer 1

a coax is already protected unless if it breaks and touches power line or any other surge source, then you/your devices may get fried :S...

but unfortunately, the surge protector you are using is introducing 3dbmv ... which is like divide by half. So, you need to find a surge protector which can do a better job.

now you can get variety of other surge protectors at different levels. it's obvious that your input level is low and may be you will need to install a signal booster on the coax lines.  

Answer 2

See link below.

I woul recommend that you get a surge protection unit that protects the ethernet connection from your modem to your pc and that has a coaxial connection to protect the tv cable.  This APC unit would work nicely.

If you protect at the first cable modem you don't necessarily need it for the second room unless you want to protect an expensive HDTV.