Boosting a cable signal?

jumbojp · 04-09-01, 10:49 AM

I have a cable modem which disconnects frequently(about 2 times a day). I need to unplug it for about a minute to reset it and then plug it back in and it works. Time Warner says it is because my cable signal is low.

They tell me the only way to correct this is to add an outlet in the office, instead up running the cable from the master bedroom, through the wall and to the computer.

Short of this I am screwed, because they decided to tell me today they don't cover a cable run more than 10 feet so if I keep it the way it is I will have no tech support. This is confusing to me because there would be just as long of a cable run if they were to do an attic fish to get the cable to the office you just wouldn't see it.

Is there some sort of booster thingy I can buy to help boost the signaL to my cable modem?

There has to be something they aren't telling me to get more money out of me!

MichaelBlanton · 04-09-01, 12:57 PM

Are they implying that their cable feed to your house is adequate, but something in the path from there to your cable modem is causing the disconnects?

Assuming your cabling is properly spliced with quality connectors, make sure that any splitters in the path (and you'll only want ONE between the originating feed, usually at the base of your house, and the modem) are of the 2+ ghz variety. The path to your modem should be as simple as possible.

They didn't charge me to run the new line, so that's what they did.

jumbojp · 04-09-01, 01:08 PM

The way it is setup now kinda sucks.

I have the feed from outside going into the basement.

It is then split to go to the family room and the master bedroom.

From the master bedroom it is split to go to the cable modem in the office.

What they want to do is run a line up the side of the house and fish it through the attic and into the office. I am sure this would get a better signal, but I rent and can't run a wire up the side of the house.

They also want to charge me an extra $100 to do this

4KRG · 04-09-01, 02:59 PM

Cable signal boosters also boost line noise, in most cases this will not help a data transmission.

I had to have new cable run into my house when I had a cable modem installed. No matter what they tried the signal strength was not enough to make it work properly. After the new cable was put in, I got better than advertised speeds.

I can not believe the people you rent from would care about having a second cable run into the house. It would be an added feature to the next renter.

jumbojp · 04-09-01, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 4KRG
I can not believe the people you rent from would care about having a second cable run into the house. It would be an added feature to the next renter.

The problem is that Time Warner wants to run the cable up the outside wall which is light tan siding and faces the road so my renters said no way.

The tech came out and told me it is actually a problem at the box outside. By the time it gets to the house I am already at -8dB and by the time it gets to the modem it is at -22dB

While most channels are getting +22dB the channel the cable modem uses is only at +2dB at the box. Once they boost it I should be around -2dB which is acceptable.

They are sending a maintenance person out to fix it. It is kinda funny what the tech said though:

Me:
" When will he/she come out? How will I know when it was fixed?"

Tech:
"It depends on how important they think the situation is. If they find it important they will be out tommorrow and if they don't it could be next week"

"Give it about a week and call to see if they fixed it yet"

Well I find it important, but I guess they don't really value me as a customer too much!

I am getting download speeds of between 100-300kbps now depending on the download site. Does this mean when they finally fix it I could get even better results? That would be great.

Thanks for the help

4KRG · 04-09-01, 03:58 PM

Rule one - do not always believe what the techs say, most are full of BS

Too bad about the owners not wanting a cable run, seems to trivial to me. It is a little cable. I own my house so it was no big deal, and my new cable run was short.

I get between 1500K and 2000K downloads. Before the new cable run I got about 500K.

Here is a thought for you, this is what I did.

Since signal strength is key to cable modem speed, I have them install the shortest length cable possible from the green cable bubble outside my house to the inside of my house (ended up being about 9 feet). On the inside of the house where the cable came in, I split it and sent one to the cable modem and one to the TV. I then ran CAT 5 Ethernet cable from the room on the lower level where the modem was to my office on the upper level (yes I did this myself, I have been in the PC network field for years and am not a stranger to running network cable) I installed a couple of wall jacks so it looks nice.

To sum it up, coax cable comes into my house on the lower level and splits once. One split goes to teh cable modem, from the cable modem I have a CAT 5 patch cord that goes to an RJ45 in the wall that I installed. That RJ45 wall plate leads to the upper level via a cable I ran myself through the walls, it leads to another RJ45 wall plate in the office upstairs. From there it follows a patch cord to my hub which then leads to my many computers. Easy simple cheap and effective. CAT 5 can easily run 100 meters without loss (text book spec, personally I have run it further without issue). CAT 5 is much easier to run than the COAX your cable company uses.

If you have a clean signal where the cable enters your house, put the cable modem there and run CAT 5 only upstairs. The owners should not care about this. You can hire someone to make that run for you if you need to, the cable people MIGHT do it. Ask the tech if he would moonlight for such a task.

Hope that made sense

Dave99 · 04-09-01, 10:11 PM

I've done the same as 4KRG, placed the modem as close to the house entry as I could (about 6 inches from the outlet, I mounted on the wall behind the sofa) and ran CAT5 to my router (about 60ft) and then to the various pc's (10 to about 75 feet). That cured the vast majority of the connection problems I was having.

Dave

jumbojp · 04-10-01, 11:30 AM

Thanks for the help. If the problem persists I am definately going to look into that!

MichaelBlanton · 04-10-01, 12:12 PM

Jumbo,
Again, make sure that the two splitters in the path are 2+ ghz splitters (for satellites). In speaking with the techs who instlled mine, they said that was the main thing to do if I wanted to split the new line to another bedroom. The 900mhz (typical radio shack type) WON'T do. You should do this regardless of the solution you end up implementing.

ice1138 · 04-11-01, 08:54 AM

It sounds as if the signal which is coming into the house is inadequate. In my area, (btw Im a cable tech) if the signal is too low at the house input, it is our responsibility to adjust the signal accordingly. We guarantee enough signal for 4 connections (tv or internet), but most houses have ample signal for 8+ outlets. -8dB at the house sounds very low to me. Every split takes off another 3.5dB and the modem in my area become very intermittant with signal level below -10db on the upstream channel.
Also as far an amplifier goes, it is not recommended to apply an amp to a negative signal as it will amplify any noise that is likely to be occuring at that level.

jumbojp · 04-11-01, 09:53 AM

It hasn't crashed in 2 days, but I don't know if they fixed the problem or I have just been lucky.

I tested my bandwidth at:

http://www.cnet.com/internetservices/g/bm/msn/0001.html

I am getting between 700-800kbps today which seems to be an improvement on what I was getting. I am going to call tech support today to get a reading on my modem signal and to ask if they fixed it.

Thanks for all the help

ClarkKentKY · 04-15-01, 12:12 AM

Try http://www.DSLreports.com It has some diagnostic java apps, and it even has some registry entries you can download and run to increase your systems packet sizes. It has a forum area i beleive so you might be able to find some more info on there. Good luck.

04-09-01, 10:49 AM	#1
jumbojp DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Dingleberry Posts: 1,662	I have a cable modem which disconnects frequently(about 2 times a day). I need to unplug it for about a minute to reset it and then plug it back in and it works. Time Warner says it is because my cable signal is low. They tell me the only way to correct this is to add an outlet in the office, instead up running the cable from the master bedroom, through the wall and to the computer. Short of this I am screwed, because they decided to tell me today they don't cover a cable run more than 10 feet so if I keep it the way it is I will have no tech support. This is confusing to me because there would be just as long of a cable run if they were to do an attic fish to get the cable to the office you just wouldn't see it. Is there some sort of booster thingy I can buy to help boost the signaL to my cable modem? There has to be something they aren't telling me to get more money out of me!

04-09-01, 12:57 PM	#2
MichaelBlanton Senior Member Join Date: Jul 1999 Location: Columbia, SC Posts: 654	Are they implying that their cable feed to your house is adequate, but something in the path from there to your cable modem is causing the disconnects? Assuming your cabling is properly spliced with quality connectors, make sure that any splitters in the path (and you'll only want ONE between the originating feed, usually at the base of your house, and the modem) are of the 2+ ghz variety. The path to your modem should be as simple as possible. They didn't charge me to run the new line, so that's what they did.

04-09-01, 01:08 PM	#3
jumbojp DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Dingleberry Posts: 1,662	The way it is setup now kinda sucks. I have the feed from outside going into the basement. It is then split to go to the family room and the master bedroom. From the master bedroom it is split to go to the cable modem in the office. What they want to do is run a line up the side of the house and fish it through the attic and into the office. I am sure this would get a better signal, but I rent and can't run a wire up the side of the house. They also want to charge me an extra $100 to do this

04-09-01, 02:59 PM	#4
4KRG DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 15,430	Cable signal boosters also boost line noise, in most cases this will not help a data transmission. I had to have new cable run into my house when I had a cable modem installed. No matter what they tried the signal strength was not enough to make it work properly. After the new cable was put in, I got better than advertised speeds. I can not believe the people you rent from would care about having a second cable run into the house. It would be an added feature to the next renter.

04-09-01, 03:58 PM	#6
4KRG DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 15,430	Rule one - do not always believe what the techs say, most are full of BS Too bad about the owners not wanting a cable run, seems to trivial to me. It is a little cable. I own my house so it was no big deal, and my new cable run was short. I get between 1500K and 2000K downloads. Before the new cable run I got about 500K. Here is a thought for you, this is what I did. Since signal strength is key to cable modem speed, I have them install the shortest length cable possible from the green cable bubble outside my house to the inside of my house (ended up being about 9 feet). On the inside of the house where the cable came in, I split it and sent one to the cable modem and one to the TV. I then ran CAT 5 Ethernet cable from the room on the lower level where the modem was to my office on the upper level (yes I did this myself, I have been in the PC network field for years and am not a stranger to running network cable) I installed a couple of wall jacks so it looks nice. To sum it up, coax cable comes into my house on the lower level and splits once. One split goes to teh cable modem, from the cable modem I have a CAT 5 patch cord that goes to an RJ45 in the wall that I installed. That RJ45 wall plate leads to the upper level via a cable I ran myself through the walls, it leads to another RJ45 wall plate in the office upstairs. From there it follows a patch cord to my hub which then leads to my many computers. Easy simple cheap and effective. CAT 5 can easily run 100 meters without loss (text book spec, personally I have run it further without issue). CAT 5 is much easier to run than the COAX your cable company uses. If you have a clean signal where the cable enters your house, put the cable modem there and run CAT 5 only upstairs. The owners should not care about this. You can hire someone to make that run for you if you need to, the cable people MIGHT do it. Ask the tech if he would moonlight for such a task. Hope that made sense

04-09-01, 10:11 PM	#7
Dave99 DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: US Posts: 7,680	I've done the same as 4KRG, placed the modem as close to the house entry as I could (about 6 inches from the outlet, I mounted on the wall behind the sofa) and ran CAT5 to my router (about 60ft) and then to the various pc's (10 to about 75 feet). That cured the vast majority of the connection problems I was having. Dave

04-10-01, 11:30 AM	#8
jumbojp DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Dingleberry Posts: 1,662	Thanks for the help. If the problem persists I am definately going to look into that!

04-10-01, 12:12 PM	#9
MichaelBlanton Senior Member Join Date: Jul 1999 Location: Columbia, SC Posts: 654	Jumbo, Again, make sure that the two splitters in the path are 2+ ghz splitters (for satellites). In speaking with the techs who instlled mine, they said that was the main thing to do if I wanted to split the new line to another bedroom. The 900mhz (typical radio shack type) WON'T do. You should do this regardless of the solution you end up implementing.

04-11-01, 08:54 AM	#10
ice1138 Member Join Date: May 2000 Location: kneedeep in apathy Posts: 171	It sounds as if the signal which is coming into the house is inadequate. In my area, (btw Im a cable tech) if the signal is too low at the house input, it is our responsibility to adjust the signal accordingly. We guarantee enough signal for 4 connections (tv or internet), but most houses have ample signal for 8+ outlets. -8dB at the house sounds very low to me. Every split takes off another 3.5dB and the modem in my area become very intermittant with signal level below -10db on the upstream channel. Also as far an amplifier goes, it is not recommended to apply an amp to a negative signal as it will amplify any noise that is likely to be occuring at that level.

04-11-01, 09:53 AM	#11
jumbojp DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Dingleberry Posts: 1,662	It hasn't crashed in 2 days, but I don't know if they fixed the problem or I have just been lucky. I tested my bandwidth at: http://www.cnet.com/internetservices/g/bm/msn/0001.html I am getting between 700-800kbps today which seems to be an improvement on what I was getting. I am going to call tech support today to get a reading on my modem signal and to ask if they fixed it. Thanks for all the help

04-15-01, 12:12 AM	#12
ClarkKentKY DVD Talk Platinum Edition Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 3,754	Try http://www.DSLreports.com It has some diagnostic java apps, and it even has some registry entries you can download and run to increase your systems packet sizes. It has a forum area i beleive so you might be able to find some more info on there. Good luck.