Cable Help

[af54412]

My family bought our house about 6 years ago, and has only had one tv with cable since. Recently, I purchased a new tv for my bedroom, hoping to hook up the cable. My room had an outlet without the connection (just the plate with a little hole). I opened it up and attached the coax connector myself (the wire was sitting inside the outlet). However, when I turned on my tv, it receives no signal. I am sure that the tv is not the problem. My question is, where should I look to try to fix it? I think that the previous owners of the house may have switched the cable off upstairs (where my room is), but I may be wrong. Our house has no basement, and when I took some plate off outside labeled "TV" (by the gas meter), there was only and empty wall with some wires, but no central hub of cables. My parents would not want me opening up the wall to inspect myself. How much would a professional cost to come and make it work? I am very inexperienced with cable, and any ideas would help. Is there a standard place for a cable panel with switches and such in a house? I have looked but I may be chasing something which doesnt exist. Reply if you have any questions or if I explained badly, which is likely. Thanks in advance.

 

[DNS_Tech]

Many new houses have a panel box in a closet on the main floor. Generally it has the alarm system and phone/Internet in it as well. The attic may also be where the connections are. What was outside by the gas meter, how many cables? What kind of service do you have, cable or sat?

 

[af54412]

Thanks, I will look in the closet and possibly the attic. Outside, there was just a hole into the wall once I took the cover off. There were about 3 cables, and they looked like coaxial cable. However, I couldnt see any connections of the wires, only the wires themselves. My family has Comcast cable.

 

[DNS_Tech]

Considering you only had one tv connected, chances are you have a "in" line running from comcast that is connected to whichever of those 3 cables runs into your existing room. You may very well be able to take the "in" cable and connect to a splitter. It doesn't sound like the cables have connectors on them ( the type you would screw on to the tv). To avoid the hassle it may be worth just calling comcast and seeing what it would cost. Just tell them you're cable isn't working, avoid telling them you want an extra room connected.

One thing to keep in mind is that with comcast you will need one of their receivers to get programming. Just connecting the cable to the tv may only get you local channels ( abc, CBS, NBC, fox).

 

[af54412]

I just checked the main closet downstairs and the attic. Nothing in the closet, and in the attic, I once again only saw the cables, not the splitters or any connection of any kind. I guess I have refined my questions into just one: where are the splitters? If I find them, and I still can't figure why the cable in my room receives no signal, then I will call Comcast. Until then, I would appreciate any more suggestions for what to do.