High Tide Aquatics

Any Comcast gurus here?

M

Meshmez

Supporting Member
BARcard
Im having a kinda weird issue with my cable, and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas.

Certain channels have been pixelating pretty badly, which just started a month or so ago. I have called a few times and they tell me they will report it to programming or something. Yesterday I discovered if I run an internet speed test, I can completely lock up the TV channel. As soon as the speed test stops, the channel recovers. Clearly there's interference going on somewhere. Excess cabling is coiled together at my signal amplifier, could this be causing noise? Running the Comcast labs signal strength on my TV shows "good"

I'll be calling them again with this new info, but figured Id see if anyone had any input.
 
I’m not a guru for sure, but had similar issue years ago. It was the signal amp. I replace the amp with a plain vanilla splitter. Problem solved. How long is your cable run that you need an amp?
 
newfly said:
I’m not a guru for sure, but had similar issue years ago. It was the signal amp. I replace the amp with a plain vanilla splitter. Problem solved. How long is your cable run that you need an amp?
Click to expand...
Not super long. I wouldn't think it's out of the ordinary. Years ago Comcast installed the amp because I guess the signal wasn't strong enough. I don't remember the details to be honest.
 
Meshmez said:
Have you noticed it only on specific channels? Would be interesting to have you try the speed test. I confirmed that the speed test only locks up certain channels, and has no affect on others.
Click to expand...
I never watch live TV so I haven’t seen a pattern. What channels are affected by the speed test? I can try it out
 
What is the reason you have an amplifier? If the signal is good, there wouldn't be a need to amplify it; the issue with installing a signal amp is that you amplify noise as well. I've been out of hanging off the poles for 15 years and things have changed a lot. check the connectors at the ground block, splitter and the outlet/s sometimes a bad compressed fitting might give you a head ache. Signal splitters that combine satellite and CATV were a no no to use as digital signals get mixed up; satellite installers loved to use those instead of running an independent line to the TV set equipment.
I sold my signal meter this past Sunday, otherwise I'd let you play with it.
 
xcaret said:
What is the reason you have an amplifier? If the signal is good, there wouldn't be a need to amplify it; the issue with installing a signal amp is that you amplify noise as well. I've been out of hanging off the poles for 15 years and things have changed a lot. check the connectors at the ground block, splitter and the outlet/s sometimes a bad compressed fitting might give you a head ache. Signal splitters that combine satellite and CATV were a no no to use as digital signals get mixed up; satellite installers loved to use those instead of running an independent line to the TV set equipment.
I sold my signal meter this past Sunday, otherwise I'd let you play with it.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure about the amp. I was told I need it, by the Comcast tech that was here years ago. But he also did a bunch of other stuff that screwed things up at the time, so who knows. It has been fine in the current configuration for 3 years, until a month or so ago.

For what it's worth, the speed test isnt affecting the cable today... I'll check again later in the night.
 
...too much cable affects signal loss but it has to be quite an amount of loose cable. In SF, coax has to be quad shielded due to the insane amount of signal from today's technology. Most coax is labeled with the dB loss per 100' if I recall correct.
Normally is about a bad connection somewhere between the tap and the equipment.
 
xcaret said:
...too much cable affects signal loss but it has to be quite an amount of loose cable. In SF, coax has to be quad shielded due to the insane amount of signal from today's technology. Most coax is labeled with the dB loss per 100' if I recall correct.
Normally is about a bad connection somewhere between the tap and the equipment.
Click to expand...
For what it's worth, here's the amp and the pile of wires...
20220628_190646.jpg

20220628_190705.jpg

I have 3 year old quad shield everywhere in my house, all the way out to the side of the house where the Comcast line comes in. Sounds like I need them to come check their stuff...
 
I used to carry an amp or two with me but were just in case of real need; homes with lots of rooms and 8-way splitters sometimes and rarely, needed an amp. A good tech would get the ladder out or the pole steps, climb up the pole (or the underground tap, piece of cake) measure at the tap and then at the ground block; a huge loss would imply to change the drop. Nowadays, signal is "digital" and there's an app for everything. Signal meters are a bit of a "thing of the past" but are a nice piece of equipment for old school people in the trade.
 
Not that this is the issue in this case, but also keep in mind that you share your cable connection to the cable company with a number (I have up to 4 connections) of your neighbors. And if they have changed or added something that is adding extra noise to your node, it can cause issues with your signal.
 
How many outlets do you have? Your amp shows few connected; maybe a 4-way splitter be better but knowing the signal strength at different frequencies would for sure tell you if there's a real need for an amp. If you decide to have a service call on the Comcast line, ask for an In-house technician; they should have the proper testing equipment as opposed to techs working for contracting companies; they rarely are sent to deal with trouble calls and when they are sent, many have no clue on troubleshooting and time is money for them so they just want to go as soon as they step into your home.
 
xcaret said:
How many outlets do you have? Your amp shows few connected; maybe a 4-way splitter be better but knowing the signal strength at different frequencies would for sure tell you if there's a real need for an amp. If you decide to have a service call on the Comcast line, ask for an In-house technician; they should have the proper testing equipment as opposed to techs working for contracting companies; they rarely are sent to deal with trouble calls and when they are sent, many have no clue on troubleshooting and time is money for them so they just want to go as soon as they step into your home.
Click to expand...
I can see the signal strengths on the modem, would those tell anything?
 
So I found someplace online that said if your modem upstream powered level is going over 50 is can start to cause issues....

At 7:30, speed test didn't affect anything.
Screenshot_20220628-193142_Chrome.jpg

At 7:50, it does...
Screenshot_20220628-195054_Chrome.jpg
 
Too much signal is bad as well, that's why I wonder about your amplifier. knowing the specific channel/s where the digital service/s travels through, will tell a tech if the trouble is at the modem/box, splitter, ground block or tap.
I'm out of touch with today's CATV services; wish I could help you a bit. I have a friend, supervisor at Comcast and I asked him about the signal meters since I wanted to sell mine; he told me they are of seldom use but only since signal is really good all over the area and technicians use an "app" to activate services; still, a meter is a great tool when troubleshooting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top