Wireless Signal Boosters

Wondering if I need a second signal booster for TV?

We have a regular antenna with a signal booster on the TV. I am going to put a splitter on the cable and run it to a second TV in the house. (It works; I've already tried.) I was wondering if the second TV would get better reception if it had a signal booster too. That way 1 booster wouldn't be taking care of both TV sets.

Public Comments

1. No, you don't need a second booster. You will end up boosting the signal too much and overload the TV's tuner. The whole idea of a booster is to retain the signal quality from the antenna all the way down through the lead in wire and splitters to the television(s). One placed as close to the antenna as possible will do the job just fine. Here's another thing that might help. All signal boosting amplifiers have a certain "noise figure". What that means to you is, the more boosters you put in line, the more likely you are to get a grainy picture. There's nothing better than a nice, big antenna placed well above the roof. This will get enough signal to easily drive two TVs through 100' of coax and a single splitter without a booster. Boosters are primarily for long cable runs and multiple splits. They overcome losses... they don't improve the signal.