My friend had a cool little white box that plugged into the coax and sat next to the computer, not sure how it interfaced with the computer, but this was about 9 years ago, it put your TV shows on the desktop in a window, or full screen, had a remote control, worked good etc... I'll ask him what it was and post the brand/model when I find out.. The only other tv tuner I have experience with was on an all in wonder ati card.

In regards to splitters, the cable guy that was checking my signals gave me a couple with different values and suggested that one might work better than the other at providing the modem with adequate levels, and to try them if I was experiencing signal quality issues.. one is rated at -120dB RFI antronix brand, CMCDT2116L 5-1000MHz, the other is rated at -110dB EMI ISOLATION Regal brand, ZDRDCUV10-12, they both have a TAP connection on the side, and IN/OUT connections on the front. http://techbase.msu.edu/article.asp?id=4765 the link provides one companies instructions on using a splitter before the modem. I don't think it is recommended to split the modem leg between the tap port and the modem. You could use a barrel connector to bring the signal into the room with the modem, then use the splitter near the modem, but this doesn't help if you have a tv in another room unless you re-wire that off the splitter using another splitter :EEK: Each split/barrel connection is supposed to introduce about 3dB loss to the next segment of wire. Knight0334 has more experience with cable systems, you might want to send him a PM regarding how to hook it up for best results.