Didn’t know where else to ask this so figured this would be the best place. What exactly is Coax used for? I ask because i’m self installing new Xfinity internet and the instructions say to plug in the Coax and what not. What exactly does that do? It that how the gateway actually gets internet or does it simply “distribute” the internet to other parts of the house?
Truly could not find a good answer on google so just wondering if it’s truly necessary or does simply plugging the gateway in work?
Mind you im not getting cable or anything like that. It’s simply wifi and that’s it. Thanks in advance.
Edit (Solved): To make things short, I plugged my Xfi gateway into these coax outlets in my house but they weren’t working. So, I tried plugging my Gateway directly into the main line outside and it works just fine meaning either the two ports I tried both happen to not work or the wires that take the connection to the rest of the house don’t work. So i’m gonna attempt to connect it in a port upstairs and see if it works just to confirm either possibility. But the problem is largely resolved. Thanks to the legends in the replies for the help!
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Coax is the feed line that the cable/Internet signal is fed into and out of the house through.
There’s *usually* a demarc box outside your house, usually near your electric meter, that will have your service drop (service provider source line) and all the cable lines in your home, probably unlabeled. Your service drop will either be an aerial drop (line run through the air from pole to house) or underground drop (it’ll probably be an orange cable, buried underground until it reaches your house and then up the side into your demarc box)
If you have a multimeter and a scrap piece of coax, it’s pretty easy to find which outlet needs to be connected to your service drop. Either bend the center pin on one end so that it touches the metal fitting, or strip one end. Cut the outer jacket off, separate the metal mesh that you’ll find under that jacket from the foam core, strip the foam core from the center conductor, and twist the center conductor and metal mesh together to essentially create a shorted coaxial cable. Screw the other end of that cable into your coax outlet, then go outside with your multimeter to the demarc box and start testing outlets. Touch one probe to the center conductor and the other probe to the metal fitting (the part that screws onto the cable connections) and look for the outlet that reads 0/infinite ohms. Screw that outlet onto your ground block (double-sided female connector with a green ground wire running from it to your house ground/a clamp on your electric meter/cold water pipe, etc.)
Once that’s done, go inside and see if your modem is connecting to your cable provider and set up per instructions. If not, you’re disconnected at the pole or there’s an actual problem with one of your lines and you will need to call your cable company out to get your cable serviced.
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