Comcrap situation has be stumped

[RightIsWrong]

I can't figure this out and it is kind of baffling me so I thought that someone here might have experienced something similar and would be able to point me in a direction that I haven't tried yet.

Config: Wall -> splitter -> TV & modem

Scenario: Above config worked fine for 4+ months. Internet went out a couple of days ago but TV service was working fine. Called Comcast and was told that they were able to "see" the modem w/o issue which kind of baffled me because I had no internet connectivity. Rebooted modem and they were in the black also. Went from wall -> modem directly and internet began working again.

Figured all was well and hung up and went back to original config. No internet again but had TV signal.

Steps taken: Replaced every component with the exception of the cable modem. Swapped out every cable, switched splitters (3 different), added in signal amplifiers (3 different ones), etc.

Recap: As long as there is a splitter in the configuration, I get a tv signal but no internet.

Anyone ever seen anything like this? Any tips/suggestions to solve this would be appreciated.

 

[spidey07]

Splitters cause loss. Also make sure the splitter is high bandwidth. They could be using channels higher than your splitter is rated for. And amplifiers are the devil.

Bottom line - customer wiring is the problem.

 

[RightIsWrong]

Splitters cause loss. Also make sure the splitter is high bandwidth. They could be using channels higher than your splitter is rated for. And amplifiers are the devil.

Bottom line - customer wiring is the problem.

I'll look at a different/better one. Thanks. Any reason why it worked fine for months and then just stopped? Also, all of the splitters that have been tried, were provided by Comcast. I shouldn't ask this b/c I know the answer but....are they just providing bottom barrel crap to their customers?

Would you recommend something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000WPGRKK...veASIN=B000066E6Y&creative=373489&camp=211189

 

[olds]

Comcast is the Devil.
They keep billing me a for replacement of a modem I returned over a year ago. At one point, they credited me for the fees and then 6 months later, it's back on my bill.
I called them and bitched them out. To punish me, they did something to the MAC address of my modem and couldn't reset it. I had to go to a Comcast store and get another Modem.
Unfortunately, at this address, Comcast is all that's available.

 

[spidey07]

Believe it or not but they use high quality splitters. They don't want problems and get serious bulk discounts. You may have better answers in networking forum. I don't deal with the modem stuff.

 

[Exterous]

I've had the same problem before. It took a couple of times out to my place but when I finally got a Comcast guy (and not a contractor) and he actually got there when my internet wasn't working (it would go on and off. Of course it was always working when they showed up).

The signal into my house was low. The explanation given to me was that internet is the most sensitive to low signal, followed by HD and then regular cable, so if you have a signal issue your internet is the most likely to go out.

He was outside at the box for about 15-20 minutes and I never had an issue after that. What the issue was and why it came and went I have no idea

 

[The Boston Dangler]

why didn't you schedule a trouble call? why are you screwing around with the cabling you don't understand? 99% of the time, if you need an amp, what you really need is repairs.

http://192.168.100.1/
this might get you into the modem. i doubt you can change settings, but if you can, don't. you might need to search for a name and password

 

[PhoKingGuy]

Comcast is the Devil.
They keep billing me a for replacement of a modem I returned over a year ago. At one point, they credited me for the fees and then 6 months later, it's back on my bill.
I called them and bitched them out. To punish me, they did something to the MAC address of my modem and couldn't reset it. I had to go to a Comcast store and get another Modem.
Unfortunately, at this address, Comcast is all that's available.

OmSoft lol

 

[Skitzer]

Levels, possibly a bad tap off at the pole.
A good Comcast tech could fix this within half an hour if he has the parts.

 

[AlienCraft]

Corrosion at the microscopic level at the splitter.
As mentioned above, the signal does not like taps.
Here, My room is on the first leg and my TV is behind the modem.
The rest of the house goes on a High Bandwidth Splitter / amp.
Comcast Tech approved this set up last time they were out.

 

[SKORPI0]

Would you recommend something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000WPGRKK?...89&camp=211189

4 PORT CABLE TV / HDTV / DIGITAL AMPLIFIER INTERNET MODEM SIGNAL BOOSTER INTERNET AMP

Bought this instead since I was getting a poor signal, by the time it reached the TVs. Helped my get good signals and excellent picture quality.

Outside box (150 ft cable run) ---> Box (50 feet cable run)--> 2-way splitter (1 feet to HSI modem)/CableTV (50 feet cable run)---> 4-way Splitter ---> 3 HDTVs (50 feet cable run to 2 TVs and 1 feet to 1 TV).

 

[Skitzer]

4 PORT CABLE TV / HDTV / DIGITAL AMPLIFIER INTERNET MODEM SIGNAL BOOSTER INTERNET AMP

Bought this instead since I was getting a poor signal, by the time it reached the TVs. Helped my get good signals and excellent picture quality.

Outside box (150 ft cable run) ---> Box (50 feet cable run)--> 2-way splitter (1 feet to HSI modem)/CableTV (50 feet cable run)---> 4-way Splitter ---> 3 HDTVs (50 feet cable run to 2 TVs and 1 feet to 1 TV).

This will not help if the levels are off. You will amplify a crappy signal.
garbage in = garbage out

 

[SKORPI0]

This will not help if the levels are off. You will amplify a crappy signal.
garbage in = garbage out

I am aware of that. Using an amp works for me, since I was getting a poor signal for the TVs, not a crappy signal. :hmm: The splitters provided by Comcarp does not help.

Note that the amp is not attached to the HSI modem.

Like one reviewer said... and I was in that situation.

An amplifier like this is not a magic box that will convert an unusable signal (say from a digital TV antenna) into a usable signal; rather it solves a very specific problem.
Suppose you have an signal that is usable at the point of the antenna, but is NOT usable at the point where you want to use it. This might be because you have a long run of coax cable between the antenna and your TV/converter box/tuner/whatever; or it might be because you want to split the signal to feed it into multiple TV/tuner boxes/etc. If this is you situation, the device works very well.

 

[weeber]

This is funny because I just had the same situation happen to me this week. My modem, which had been fine for 4-yrs dropped connection and wouldn't connect. My TV signal was fine. The Comcast techs could see the modem, but couldn't configure it. Say what you want about Comcast, but they scheduled a technician over to my house on Sunday to take a look at it.

Turns out there was a lot of noise coming from my hook up (which Comcast was able to detect) and some maintenance dude put a filter in the box on my street earlier in the week. According to the tech, these filters cause problems, but the maintenance guys just install 'em and they wait for the user to call and complain if they see a problem. The tech diagnosed that the noise was coming from the splitter outside my house going bad and the connection inside the box going bad. He removed the filter, replaced the splitter, and replaced the bad connector; thus fixing everything. Took less than an hour, and no cost to me.

It sounds like you have signal issues. All it takes is a little water getting into a connector over time to cause issues. If the problem is outside your house, let Comcast deal with it; it shouldn't cost you thing if the problem is located outside your house.

 

[Ichinisan]

If you can get to the main splitwork, try to wire it like this:

Feed from outside goes to a two-way splitter.

One leg of the two-way splitter goes to the outlet where you have the CM and TV.

The other leg of the splitter goes to a house amplifier.

The output from the house amplifier goes to every other outlet in the home.

You should be able to use another splitter from the wall plate.

In this configuration, your modem's return signal doesn't have to pass back through the house amplifier. Assuming the signal from outside is strong / clean, it should be able to tolerate two splitters totaling -7db loss from the feed (assuming they're decent quality splitters with the correct rating).

 

[Ichinisan]

Don't do what I did.

 

[KLin]

oooh 2 HDHomerun dual tuners. I only have one. Works great though to watch local channels in HD through windows media center.

 

[AlienCraft]

If you can get to the main splitwork, try to wire it like this:

Feed from outside goes to a two-way splitter.

One leg of the two-way splitter goes to the outlet where you have the CM and TV.

The other leg of the splitter goes to a house amplifier.

The output from the house amplifier goes to every other outlet in the home.

You should be able to use another splitter from the wall plate.

In this configuration, your modem's return signal doesn't have to pass back through the house amplifier. Assuming the signal from outside is strong / clean, it should be able to tolerate two splitters totaling -7db loss from the feed (assuming they're decent quality splitters with the correct rating).

This is what we do. works great.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Splitters are fine for a TV signal, they're awful for cable internet. I had to have a dedicated line run to my cable modem when I got cable internet, it wouldn't work off a splitter.

 

[somethingsketchy]

Ichinisan did you get busted by Comcast or something with that arrangement?

 

[OUCaptain]

have you cracked open your cable box on the outside of the building? They like to leave splitters in there going to unused cable runs.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Don't do what I did.

as someone with over 10 years experience, i ask: what am i looking at? are those 2 amps with ethernet ports? i can only guess at levels and snr. let's not even mention clipping and distortion

 

[Ichinisan]

as someone with over 10 years experience, i ask: what am i looking at? are those 2 amps with ethernet ports? i can only guess at levels and snr. let's not even mention clipping and distortion

Feed goes into a two-way split. One leg goes straight to CM. Other leg goes --> surge protector --> amp --> 6-way split --> 4x HDHR tuners, 2x HVR-2250 tuners.

Other thing is a Linksys WRT54GL running DD-WRT with high-gain antenna upgrade.

Yeah, I know. Everything can still get zapped through the CM. I need to add to add an ethernet surge protector.

I need a closet for this stuff.

Ichinisan did you get busted by Comcast or something with that arrangement?

No. I work for the local cableco. (not Comcast)

oooh 2 HDHomerun dual tuners. I only have one. Works great though to watch local channels in HD through windows media center.

My provider has a LOT more than just local HD channels in-the-clear.

 

[Texashiker]

Splitters are fine for a TV signal, they're awful for cable internet.

That is total rubbish - cable modem providers install good quality splitters that work just fine with internet.

Feed goes into a two-way split. One leg goes straight to CM. Other leg goes --> surge protector --> amp --> 6-way split --> 4x HDHR tuners, 2x HVR-2250 tuners.

Cable surge protectors can insert trash into the signal. If your cable line is properly grounded outside, you do not need a surge protector inline.

~~~~~~~

To the OP - there are lots, and I mean LOTS of things that can cause borderline signal problems.

Your connectors outside could have become corroded
TV could be back feeding voltage
If your lines are on telephone poles, a squirrel could have chewed a hole in the line.

Do not install an amp in front of the modem, the signal is supposed to the split before it hits the amp.

One simple test you can do to check the signal, do you have lines on any of your TV channels? Lines on the TV (especially if its all TVs in the house) are a sign of ingress - meaning that outside interference is getting into the cable.

I worked as an internet service tech in the North Houston area for 3 years.

 

[JEDIYoda]

I recommend replacing all the dilithium crystals and then replace the dilithium matrix flow control converter!

Good luck!!