Cable (TV/Internet) distribution question

Status
Not open for further replies.
H

hardworkingstiff

Senior Member
Location
Wilmington, NC
I'm having reoccuring issues with my Internet connection from my cable company. I have (often) 10-60 second delay when loading a page (like an article on Yahoo or CNBC etc. Most of the page will load, then I have to wait to scroll down the page or do anything on that page. I can close the app, but other than that I cannot do anything. I've reset the equipment (many many times), plugged into the cable modem directly (to eliminate my router) and the problem remained. The cable company has been here many times and says "your signal is fine". Some of my neighbors have complained about connection problems but don't pay as close attention as I do and can't confirm what their problem is. This happened about 10-12 years ago and after 7+ months of complaining I got a tech that spent some time with his laptop connected at the street (at first saying everything was fine) and found the problem was outside the neighborhood.

Anyway, now to the question. What kind of repeater or amplifier or splitter or or or does the cable company use when distributing the signal around the town? It seems to me they have a degraded connection or a piece of equipment that is marginal, but I don't know what kind of equipment they use. If anyone can enlighten me as to the type of equipment used in the distribution of the cable signal I would be grateful.
 
infinity

infinity

Moderator
Staff member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Journeyman Electrician
Have you ever checked the speed of your connection? You can do so here for free:

www.speedtest.net

Here's what I'm running at today:



If it's not your connection then maybe your problem is with your computer. Spyware, malware, trojans, viruses, and worms can cause all sorts of operational problems.
 
H

hardworkingstiff

Senior Member
Location
Wilmington, NC
infinity said:
Have you ever checked the speed of your connection? You can do so here for free:

www.speedtest.net

Here's what I'm running at today:



If it's not your connection then maybe your problem is with your computer. Spyware, malware, trojans, viruses, and worms can cause all sorts of operational problems.
Click to expand...

Yes, I've checked the speed at numerous sites and the speed is great. We have a desktop and two laptops having the same issue as well as 2 neighbors I know that are claiming similar/same problems.

I am 99% sure it's a problem outside the neighborhood that is affecting the signals.

It's really strange.
 
infinity

infinity

Moderator
Staff member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Journeyman Electrician
hardworkingstiff said:
Yes, I've checked the speed at numerous sites and the speed is great. We have a desktop and two laptops having the same issue as well as 2 neighbors I know that are claiming similar/same problems.

I am 99% sure it's a problem outside the neighborhood that is affecting the signals.

It's really strange.
Click to expand...


You're right it sounds like an equipment problem somewhere down the line. Intermittent problems are sometimes difficult to find. The company sends out a guy and he checks it and everything is fine. Next day problem is back. We had issues with the local cable company for years with poor service. The only solution was to get rid of them entirely.
 
L

LawnGuyLandSparky

Senior Member
711087602.png


Your upload and download speeds are affected by other customers activities on your local cable node. Before you access the internet, you and your neighbors have to get through a shared local intranet which also carries digital data to everyone's cable DVRs, telephone and cable modems. That shared intranet can become very busy causinng problems like slower speeds, TV pixlization and screen freeze.
 
kbsparky

kbsparky

Senior Member
Location
Delmarva, USA
DSL service

DSL service

711946828.png


Is this a good number for DSL service?

The "Distance" number is off --- its at least 100 miles from here.

I tried a different server --- this time to Canberra, ACT Australia. Not bad, considering how much further away:

711952128.png
 
Last edited:
H

hardworkingstiff

Senior Member
Location
Wilmington, NC
Article 90.1 said:
Other things to try, consider: Try another Browser, Try another computer, Change Your DNS Servers.
Click to expand...

This problem shows up in my house on 3 different computers running 3 different OSs (Windows 2000, XP, VISTA) as well as across the street in another house and 5 houses up the street in a computer that is running a Phenom Quad processor.

I seriously doubt the problem is something that I can address.
 
A

Article 90.1

Senior Member
Lou, I hear what you are saying, I was just offering additional troubleshooting directions. We have a similar problem in our own house using a cable modem. I'll probably switch to DSL in the near future as I can hit the utilities equipment with a rock from my back yard (meaning that it is close, no that I'll be throwing rocks at it). I understand that cable is your only option, though.

But speaking of the utility, I wonder if there are firmware updates, or resets required in the upstream equipment?

Judging by the technicians that usually show up at our house, I take what they say with a grain of salt. There is one guy who is really great, and we now request him directly.
 
T

TxEngr

Senior Member
Location
North Florida
I had a similar problem at the last house I was renting. The entire subdivision was on cable and the bandwidth had some limitations. At certain times of day the i'net would come to a crawl with the symptoms you describe. Other times it was fine.

Since your neighbors are having the same problem, I suspect it's just a bandwidth issue. This can be solved by the cable company but getting them to act will take a concerted effort by your neighbors and some threats to switch from cable. If enough people in your subdivision threaten the cable company, maybe they'll listen.

Good luck - I know your pain.
 
S

skeshesh

Senior Member
Location
Los Angeles, Ca
hardworkingstiff said:
I'm having reoccuring issues with my Internet connection from my cable company. I have (often) 10-60 second delay when loading a page (like an article on Yahoo or CNBC etc. Most of the page will load, then I have to wait to scroll down the page or do anything on that page. I can close the app, but other than that I cannot do anything.
Click to expand...

I read your posts saying that you've tried different machines, but from the description I must say I still think it's an issue of the computer not the connection. If the page has already loaded I don't see how a problem internet connection would cause not being able to scroll or interact with the page other than closing it. In my experience these symptons have been a sign of malware or other junk on the computer
I sure hope we don't have a sly hacker among the mike holt forum fellows who has been secretly stealing all of our infoz :confused: (just kidding of course)
 
T

TxEngr

Senior Member
Location
North Florida
skeshesh,

The wait after partial loading is caused by the applets on the page being loaded. This is most commonly seen on sites like Yahoo, CNN, Weather Channel, etc. that have lots of ads running in the borders. The whole page locks up until these applets have loaded preventing you from scrolling. I don't know exactly how that works, but you have to wait for the ads. If you go to a page without all the 'extras' on it, then the page loads more quickly. But you still have to wait for the whole page to load before you can scroll.

If you've got a fast connection, you don't even notice this effect. If you've lived through this problem, you know exactly what's going on. Another symptom is that YouTube videos can't be watched in real time. You have to let them preload and then watch them. And don't even think about Hulu or the other streaming sites.
 
Regularkevin

Regularkevin

Member
Location
Auburn, WA
Here are a couple of things to consider:
  • How much RAM does your computer have?
  • How many times has the signal been split before terminating at the computer?
  • Are you using IE?
  • Have you reset the Cache?


 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top