Cable Line Quality Issues prompts surprise serrvice call

[korygrandy]

I wanted to throw this out to the forum to see if anyone else has had this experience.

I received a call from the Cable / Internet GIANT with a C and they said they were picking up line quality issue with my service and immediately asked me when I was available for a technician to come check my equipment.

When I moved in here less than 2years ago I had them run a new coax straight from the pole to my house and I do have a cable modem they provided me.

I ran some up/down speed tests using speedtest.net and I am receiving acceptable and non-degraded speeds from the initial test I ran when I moved in at >5ms ping and < 25Mb/s up. To me, my equipment appears to be working properly so this is all surprising. Cable channels are all coming in crystal clear via my TV tuners so I am completely at a loss as to what they are detecting.

Call is at noon today so I will update you but has anyone else had a similar experience?

 

[Bondo]

Re: Cable Line Quality Issues prompts surprise serrvice call

Ayuh,.... They called you,..??

Don't open yer door, til You call Them, 'n verify that it was them that called you....

 

[minuteman62-64]

Re: Cable Line Quality Issues prompts surprise serrvice call

If it is legit, I envy you having a proactive cable company. I have to call mine (Cox) when I notice a problem. Otherwise, I'll never hear from them except at billing time.

Some possibilities:

1. You have a proactive, service oriented cable company.

2. It is a manuver to get a sales rep into your dwelling to sell you some upgraded service/hardware.

3. It's a scam, and you won't be able to do a follow-up post because you will be bound and gagged while your residence is being ransacked.

 

[korygrandy]

Re: Cable Line Quality Issues prompts surprise serrvice call

Quick update and I don't know if I'm crossing any lines but I had to boot the tech out of my home. He showed up without any paperwork started testing some stuff outside my house junction / splitter and then said he needed to grab some equipment to install.

I told him to have his sup call and sent him on his way. I just felt a little uncomfortable.

Sup calls and says my line is giving neighborhood feedback and they are trying to close the loop by installing something. I'm not buyin it.

 

[korygrandy]

Re: Cable Line Quality Issues prompts surprise serrvice call

I have an rca amp that is probably making this thing worse...I was using it as a splitter and it's actually wired inside my house but I'm gonna do my neighbors a favor and swap out to a gold plated splitter.

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: Cable Line Quality Issues prompts surprise service call

Re: Cable Line Quality Issues prompts surprise service call

I have an RCA amp that is probably making this thing worse...I was using it as a splitter and it's actually wired inside my house but I'm gonna do my neighbors a favor and swap out to a gold plated splitter.

Good move!

The In-line Amps are a major headache for cable and Cell Phone providers.
They tend to have too much gain and go into oscillation on their inputs.
Your Cable company was not being Pro-Active; They were responding to all the complaints from your neighbors.
They need to work on their customer relations skills; but the problem is likely real.:blue:

Your cable easily has enough signal to service 10 TVs using just passive splitters.
The amps are seldom, if ever, needed.

I work for a major Cell Phone provider; we track down at least two of these things every month.
They can desense any cell tower within 2 miles.
We usually offer to replace the offending amp with a high quality unit for free just to get the offender to comply.

They can go hard ball with you and terminate your cable service to stop the feedback.
If you refuse to cooperate and continue to knowingly keep creating the the interference; the FCC can get involved.
Tell them you have a line amp on the cable and they will resolve the problem in 5 minutes without going through all the troubleshooting hassles. :joyous:

 

[NYBo]

Re: Cable Line Quality Issues prompts surprise service call

Re: Cable Line Quality Issues prompts surprise service call

I work for a major Cell Phone provider; we track down at least two of these things every month.
They can desense any cell tower within 2 miles.
We usually offer to replace the offending amp with a high quality unit for free just to get the offender to comply.

What kind of amp are you referring to? What are the high quality ones that don't cause the problem

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: Cable Line Quality Issues prompts surprise service call

Re: Cable Line Quality Issues prompts surprise service call

What kind of amp are you referring to? What are the high quality ones that don't cause the problem

These are in line Distribution Amplifiers that take the incoming cable or TV antenna signal and boost it up to supply a signal to multiple TVs.
These are commonly used in apartment building where there is one common antenna or cable supplied to the building and dozens of apartments to support.

In a house they are seldom necessary.
If the signal is weak to begin with, they can help.
If the signal is already full strength; Boosting it overdrives the Amp and then the interference begins.

Many people think that adding an amp will make their Pictures clearer. Untrue!
It is already digital, It is an ALL or NOTHING proposition.

I can not recommend any Particular AMP.
I can recommend you do not get one of the $5 ones off of eBay.
I can also recommend that you do NOT add one to cable TV.

If you have "Over the Air" TV with a Roof Top antenna, and the signal keeps breaking up, A quality one may help.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Cable Line Quality Issues prompts surprise serrvice call

Okay. I thought you were referring to cell phone signal boosters.

 

[bassman284]

Re: Cable Line Quality Issues prompts surprise serrvice call

I have an rca amp that is probably making this thing worse...I was using it as a splitter and it's actually wired inside my house but I'm gonna do my neighbors a favor and swap out to a gold plated splitter.

I was going to say it was probably the gummint wanting to get in your house to install bugs. However, I had this exact problem some years back only in my case I was the one who called the cable company to complain. I would get periodic interference with my picture. The guy who came out pretty much recognized what it was but it took them about a week to track it down.

 

[MrBigStuff]

Re: Cable Line Quality Issues prompts surprise serrvice call

>Sup calls and says my line is giving neighborhood feedback and they are trying to close the loop by installing something. I'm not I'm not buyin it.

Get prepared to be cut off unless you let them fix the problem. If your splitter is causing network issues, they won't hesitate to install a block and cut you off.

Happened to me. They cut me off with no notice. When I called to complain about no service they told me my line was noisy and causing problems. Came out, swapped my splitters for free. Week later same deal. This time they found the feed line was bad and replaced it. No issues since.

Point being, you can be obstinate, they will just cut you off...