this be the 2-port version of the  Motorola Signal Booster  so who need one of these thing ? anyone who be have difficulty receive a consistent cable tv or cable modem signal be a candidate for this amp , but first check with you cable company to confirm that they have do all they can , in term of get high quality cable and splitter into you home . if they have do that , and you still notice frequent outage of you cable internet service , or pixelated -lrb- distorted -rrb- image on live or recorded tv show from cable , then you may very well need a drop amp like this one . the amplifier be particularly helpful if you be splitting a cable signal come into you house to multiple room for multiple tv feed -lrb- and this be perfectly legal to do , per the Cable Act of 1992 -rrb- . any time you split a cable signal , you lose approximately 3 db -lrb- decibel -rrb- of signal strength . split a signal enough time and it can cause you to lose you cable modem feed or get sporadic distortion on you digital cable channel . insert a cable amplifier like this into you cable feed right where it enter the home and it will boost the signal enough to survive multiple split and , in most case , will allow you to enjoy a glitch free cable tv signal throughout you home . why be this amp 's `` two-way '' or `` bi-directional '' feature important ? a two-way feed be necessary in order to support a cable modem -lrb- upload\/download -rrb- and to support interactive cable service such as ppv -lrb- pay per view -rrb- . this amp will not work miracle . again , always check you incoming signal , cable and connector quality first . but if you have do all that and be still have trouble , this little cable signal amp can be a real life-saver . it also work fine for OTA -lrb- over the air -rrb- hdtv signal distribution , but only if you be start with a decent quality signal to begin with . a full review of the Motorola Signal Booster be available on big Picture Big Sound 's web site .