Jreality wrote:

The good news is that the modem has managed to remain online
continuously ever since the technician left. So perhaps, for now,
even though he is telling me I should replace the older cables,
perhaps what he did improved the signal enough so that this modem can
stay online. I got above 9 megabits per second downstream in a speed
test last night, which isn't the fastest in the world, but it's triple
the speed of DSL. If the outages happen again I can rule out the
older CATV cables, by moving the modem to a newer line/jack, and then
disconnecting the older cables from the system for a few days.


Who installed the original coax? If it was the builder or an
electrician, it will be the cheapest crap they could find, and was
intended for a MATV feed. Some was low grade RG-59 with a copper
braided shield that wasn't even good enough for the VHF channels.


There already is an amplifier in the system. It was originally
installed when a Cable modem couldn't work upstairs in my office when
I first bought this place and had cable for a month or two. The amp
was originally on the whole system, but my one Sci. Atlanta Box in the
kitchen (actually a kitchen with a den area) eventually started
getting interruptions, and I was told that the signal to the box was
actually too strong so they added a splitter so that the signal going
to that room isn't amplified.


The fact that you even need an amplifier indicates the coax is
defective or substandard.


I'm still finding it a little "creepy" that I was being told by the
technician that someone at the cable company can go around at my area
and decide to slap a filter on my entire line at their green box, or
slap a filter on a group of people's lines in my development without
telling anyone. It seems to me that if they did that, then I should
be able to move the modem to one of the newer CATV lines that were
added after this place was built with a wireless router, and insist
that they only slap filters on the older CATV cables as a solution
rather than filtering out my whole system.


You don't know anything about how a CATV system works. Filters are
used on individual drops to block channels or groups of channels or
services that aren't paid for. There is supposed to be a small
directional coupler to split the cable modem form the TV feeds to drop
the level to what the modem needs, and reduce possible interference.


They sent me a new modem because it's their policy of sending one to a
new customer. The older modem is like 10 or more years old, and the
speed I was getting wasn't as fast as a newer modem. If I could find
out what frequency it uses, then maybe the new one could be "hacked"
to use the same frequency as the older modem?


They all use the same frequencies for uploads and downloads. The
design of the newer modems allows a higher data rate. In fact, their
business customers can get a 40 Mb/S data rate if they want to pay for
it. Road Runner now offers it to residential customers in limited
areas. It all depends on how much spare fiber optics is available in
your area. Internet is carried over 'Fiber Enhanced Cable TV' which
means they use a piece of fiber optic cable for each area, then it is
converted to RF and connected to the system, for that limited area.

http://192.168.100.1/ will display the user interface on my S-A Cable
MODEM.


Name WebSTAR DPC2100R2
Modem Serial Number ********
Cable Modem MAC Address *****************
Hardware Version 2.1
Software Version v2.0.2r1256-060303
Receive Power Level -3.9 dBmV
Transmit Power Level 51.0 dBmV
Cable Modem Status Operational



The reason I got Cable is because I have DSL too, and it was starting
to really act up, and I got fed up. For the time being, DSL actually
seems like it is back to being reliable. A major piece of equipment
failed on their end that and they had to replace it. In my opinion it
was acting up before it failed completely and causing some major DSL
outages and some days of frequent intermittent outages before they
fixed it. I signed up for Cable while DSL was troublesome, but Cable
proved unreliable too, at least up until now. I'm gonna keep both
for a while because I need a backup in case one has an outage. I
may drop one of the two and get a mobile hotspot as a backup. Is
Verizon any good for that?


DSL is a joke in most places. It is a low grade RF over a copper
pair system that uses old and failing copper telephone wire to deliver
the service. If you have the slightest problem with the pair, and it
fails.


I won't tell you who my DSL provider is but lets just say the name
begins with a V and ends in an n, and their DSL has had frustrating
intermittant outages at times. Their tech support is not located in
the US, and if you call them when there is an outage in your area, it
can take several hours just for them to confirm you're not the only
person having a connection problem, and they make you go through all
kinds of steps on your end to try and rule out that it's your modem,
etc.

J.


--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a Band-Aid™ on it, because it's
Teflon coated.