I live in a townhouse. When I first moved in here 6.5 years ago I had cable internet, but I got a much better deal on DSL so I dropped it after a month or two even though Cable was faster. A couple of weeks ago decided I'd try cable internet again. While waiting for a new modem, they were able to get me online with an old 3Com "Shark Fine" modem for a few days without problems before a new Motorola Surfboard was sent to me. When using the old 3Com, the service was good (no outages), but the top download speed was around 4.7mbs.
When I installed the new Surboard, the top speed was faster. However, after the first day I discovered that there was an intermittent problem of the modem losing the signal. What I'm finding funny, is that when the Surfboard would lose the signal and go offline, the
3Com, if connected, would be able to get online according to the cable company. I even tried connecting both the Surfboard and the 3Com to a the same two-way splitter and only the 3Com would get a signal during the outages. That led me to believe the problem was the Surfboard. They set up an appointment to have a technician arrive. I continued to use the Surfboard for a few days with at least 2 intermittent outages per day.When the tech arrived, he measured the line signal and did a few things to improve it, such as replacing an unnecessary 3-way splitter with a two way, and replace a few bad connectors in the system, adding a filter on one of the lines going into the bedroom which he said was failing for noise that was likely coming from the TV, and adding a filter to the little TV in the office which he said was generating noise. He claimed his machine was still picking up "ingress" (noise) from the two older approximately 23-year old original cables from when the townhouse was originally built. While I agree that these two cables are older and thinner than what is currently used, and "ideally" would be good to replace, and they may be picking up some noise if his machine is really telling the truth and calibrated correctly, etc, but I wouldn't want to replace them unless as a last resort, because they are snaked through walls. One of them goes from basement-level to attic above 2nd story and the other from basement- level in front of house to 1st story at rear of house. I'm not allowed to have the cable company run wires outside the townhouse and the cable company won't snake new wires for me internally, so I would need to hire an electrician to do the work unless I wanted an ugly/ visible wiring job. I fear it would be expensive to have an electrician install new CATV wires. How much would it generally be expected to cost to replace these 2 main cables in my townhouse and is there any risk of damaging anything from having the work done? (NOTE: In addition, 2 cables going from the attic to 2nd story would likely need replacement as well) Any idea would the total job should cost?
Anyway, I think the technician did improve the signal to the Surboard even though he claims I should still replace the 2 older main cables. There is still no explanation as to why the 3Com didn't have the problem. Currently the Surfboard says the Downstream Power Level is 5 dBmV when previously it was zero. Currently the S/N ratio is 36 to
37 db, but I believe it said the same thing previously. No outage has occurred since the technician left yesterday so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If I do still get these outages, then my plan is to move the modem downstairs to an outlet in the kitchen which the technician said is a good/newer line. If that doesn't make the outages go away, then I would temporarily disconnect the 2 older lines from the system altogether by removing them from the splitter in the garage. I would temporarily lose the ability to watch some of the TVs in the house. If I still get intermittant outages then I would know that the it is utter BS that the older lines were the cause the outages. (I'll reiterate that the 3com modem did not get any outages.) Only if disconnecting the older 2 lines from the system is the only solution to problem would I get involved with replacing them.My opinion, until proven otherwise, is they just want to use the "older cables" as an excuse to not look further into a problem. (I'll reiterate that the 3Com wasn't getting any outages, and TV signal looked fine during the outages) What I find disturbing is that I was also told by the cable company technician that periodically they go around and check noise levels at the pole or, or in my case green boxes on the ground outside the buildings in my development. Supposedly if they detect that the cable connected to my townhouse is introducting too much noise into their system, they could just throw on a filter at the box without even telling me and then I would instantly lose internet as well as some functionalty to my TV converter box. I would then have to schedule a tech call and if the tech finds the filter, I would then be forced to replace or remove the older lines from the system before they would unfilter my line again. Is this a bunch of BS or would they really do that? It seems to me the noise levels would have to be severe for them to do that, right? Is he BSing me?
If it is true that the older cables are picking up some noise, then where is the noise coming from? How long do indore CATV cables last? Do they just wear out from sitting there in the house for a certain time period? At one point, he connected his noise-measuring device to one of the main lines from the end in the attic and said it passed. When he connected the machine to the opposite end in the garage he claimed it failed for ingress which is strange and makes me wonder if the cable is really problematic.
Anyway, so far no outages since the tech was here. I'm hoping that he improved the signal enough to solve the outage problem. I'm getting up to around 7.5 mbs with this modem, which isn't ideal, but it is more than double DSL speed so it's fine with me. If I still get outages then I will take the steps mentioned previously before getting involved with replacing the older cables. I'm just wondering if it is BS that they would filter my cable line against my will just for having older cables that happen to pick up some noise. What I find hillarious is that DSL is able to work with thin telephone wiring that I believe has no noise shielding in and of itself, and is the same age as the older CATV cables, but the cable company is telling me that I should replace the older CATV cables to ensure a reliable cable internet service, and so that I don't eventually get a filter slapped onto my cable line at the exterior box. Something seems fishy to me about what I am being told! Yes two of the cable lines in my house or older and less than ideal, but I'm not sure I'm buying that they really NEED to be replaced. What would it cost to replace them?
J.