How do you split off U-Verse Connection to another room?

Question

I want to have television in my sons room across the hall. Can I run a line from my receiver to his tv? If so, how?

Im pretty sure he will only be able to watch whats on my tv, and thats fine.

Answer 1

The latter part of your statement is true. Both televisions will always be on the same "channel" through the U-Verse receiver. Please note that if you only have coaxial (normal "cable" line) inputs on either television, running a coax line from the box's "to TV" port to a splitter, then to each TV, will significantly diminish your volume abilities on both TV's. The best bet would be to run RCA cables (red, white, yellow) from the box to each TV, but this may be an issue for it is hard to find them over 16ft in length. Both sets of RCA jacks on the box are outputs by the way. If you want High Definition, you MUST purchase a new set top box unless you plan on using an HDMI for one TV, and a component cable (green blue, and red cables for video and red/white for audio)for the other. Running HDMI alone already causes some issues such as picture freezing, and pixelization. I prefer component for it is a more stable interface, as well as the technology has been perfected over time. HDMI is still rather new. It is possible to mix and match different output cables between the two televisions, but it can sometimes cause issues such as burning out the ports on the box. Audio is usually the first to go. It only costs $5 extra a month to add a complete new box to your system, which is FAR cheaper than the possible $100 charge when it kills your box and then has to be replaced due to your tampering. If you choose to use coax on both TVs, and after doing so you feel that it does not hurt your volume to such an extent that it warrants the use of an RF modulator (device that converts coax to RCA and amplifies the signal), which you may need at one, or both TVs), then that would be your best bet. You will need a splitter to do this, which would be best suited to be grounded if at all possible. If you have any additional questions or comments, post them back on this thread and I'd be happy to help you with them.

Answer 2

There are several ways, it will depend on the input options on the back of your two TVs.

Below are some general suggestions based on what I think will be most likely to work.

I assume your son's TV is a regular TV (i.e. NOT an HD TV)

Connect your TV to the U-verse set top box with one of the following connections. HDMI, PrPbY + Audio out, SVideo + Audio out, Video out + Audio Out.    

Run an extra Coax (that is the round normal "cable tv" cable) from your room to your sons, and connect it to the round coax "To TV" connection on your U-verse box and to your son's TV.

Set your son's TV to channel 3 and you should be good to go.

You may want to get a remote control extender to allow your son to change channels from his room. (I have an X10 Powermid, but I got it years ago, I don't know if it is still available or is the best anymore... But it works.)

Some additional notes:

What if my TV is already using the round "cable TV" connection?  Your best bet will be to go to a store (like Target or Walmart) and get a coax splitter.  

Why use a "cable TV" cable to my son's room.  "Cable TV" cable (or COAX) works reasonably well over longer distances, and carries both video and sound on the same cable.   So it is easy.   You will in theory get a better picture using the other connectors.  But If that is a priority, you may want to just rent an extra U-verse box from AT&T.

What if both my and my sons TV are HD TVs?   Well, your best bet may be to just rent another U-verse box from AT&T.  You could in theory use the HDMI and PbPrY connections.  But you would have to spend some serious dollars on cables.  And if your distance is long enough you may not get a great picture.

Hope this helps!