Comcast digital cable and TiVo series 2

[fractalsphere]

Alright, let me start off by saying I've searched the forums and not specifically found my answers, so I'm going so far as to post and beg for some advice from knowledgeable folks.

I'm in Chicago and have Comcast digital classic and a TiVo series 2 dual-tuner... The wiring back there has become unfortunately the spaghetti bowl, so here's the explanation.

It goes from wall jack to a "genisys 2 -3.5db" splitter (acquired from a comcast tech who was out) which feeds coax into the cable box and also the TiVo. The cable box then feeds the RCA connectors back into the TiVo (this gives it the dual-tuner ability) - from the TiVo another set of RCA wires goes to an RF modulator (cuz my TV is older and only has the coax connection on the back) which feeds coax into the TV itself.

This setup works perfectly most times, but lately I'm getting the Comcast "please wait, this channel will be available shortly" message on many channels unless I take the first splitter out of the deal. The TiVo loses its dual tuner ability, but I get channels properly. When this happens the TiVo pops up the annoying "searching for signal on basic cable in" message cuz its expecting two signals and not getting them.

So what I think happening is I'm probably losing signal strength due to the splitter? Or could it bad cables themselves? Why would it have worked so far fairly well, and then fail on me? How does TiVo expect people to hook all this up when Comcasts support immediately tells me to hook directly up to their cable box and not have any splitters in the way?

Is this a common problem? Is there something I can do to fix this?

Thanks in advance!

[hiker]

Try another 2 way splitter rated at 5-1000 MHz. You should be able to get one free from your local Comcast office. If that doesn't work, you will need to get a Comcast tech to come out and check your signal strength.

[fractalsphere]

Originally Posted by hiker

Try another 2 way splitter rated at 5-1000 MHz. You should be able to get one free from your local Comcast office. If that doesn't work, you will need to get a Comcast tech to come out and check your signal strength.

The splitter on there is rated 5-1000MHz and also marked -130dB RFI.

Could the short coax cables I'm using be causing that much impedance to the signal? Considering that the setup from the pole outside to the basement of my condo building, to the wall jack, and split between TV and Internet boxes means there's at least 3 splitters and cable connectors in the way I'm surprised one more has such an impact.