I know we have a few geeks here -- can ya help me out?

My cable company has farmed out tech support to India. I have had to hang up on 4 people so far because I couldn't understand a word they were saying. I tried really hard with the first one, though, and like all tech support people, it seems like he really didn't have a clue what was going on.

I have a cable modem and cable TV. All I want to do is be able to watch TV and be on the computer at the same time. Thanks to Charming Tech Support Fellow #1, I now have 4 pieces of cable and one splitter laying on the floor, and not a frickin clue what to do with any of them. It appears that the same piece of cable both runs the TV and runs the cable modem, so whichever one I want to use, I have to unplug the stupid thing from the other device. It's a PITA.

Can somebody, very slowly and non-technically, for I am nowhere near a geek , help me figure out how the heck I can fix this?