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amdx[_3_] amdx[_3_] is offline
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Default Neighbor having ISP speed problems.

On 1/22/2020 8:15 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Wed, 22 Jan 2020 16:11:41 -0600, amdx wrote:

On 1/22/2020 12:40 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Wed, 22 Jan 2020 07:35:55 -0600, amdx wrote:


Quite a few years ago, they drove by my house and said it was singing.


Ummm... we were trying to fix your neighbors mess, not yours. Please
try not to confuse things (and me) by adding your mess to the soup.

All five wires running outside the house, no splitters in the attic.
They raised the maintenance fee to $5 the next month,


$1 per wire for a service contract. I gotta try that on my next
wiring bid to see if it works.

Now, I have cut the cord and have nice system for my antenna, and a
separate coax to my modem.


Modem as in cable modem? Just curious.


It' a modem I connect to the cable to get internet. Cisco DPC3010, my
router is a TP-Link AC1900.
My daily driver is a 1997 Toyota T-1000, Ok I'm just playin with you
on the last one!


The last test was testing the speed at the end of the cable where it
would go into the router, Good.


I'm sorry this line was wrong, where I said speed, I should have said
signal strength.


Just ignore what I scribbled about having found the problem in the
neighbors wiring. However, this gives me a chance to try out my new
service "Remote Viewing and Diagnosis" where I sit in a contorted yoga
position, and try to visualize the problem. In my minds eye, I see
your neighbors cable wiring to be a tangle of rotting cables and badly
installed F connectors. Viewing the scene with my crystal ball
results in the same image, thus confirming my diagnosis. In order to
fix it, simply replace everything.

Still in troubleshooting mode, replace everything is last resort.
First thing, I'm going to try is reducing the signal strength. I know
that is not high on the probable list, but I got other feedback that
over driving a modem can slow them down.

Use push-on connectors (that require a push on tool to install
properly), and not the ring crimp type.
http://www.learnbydestroying.com/jeffl/antennas/Misc/slides/CATV-tools.html


Ya, I have one similar in style to the Apica, If we install new cable,
we can use it.


The Aprica compression connector tool is a problem. It's designed to
fit exactly one size of F-Connector. Each manufacturer has a
different size so as to lock in their larger customers into only using
their connectors and tools. I suggest you use Belden SNS1P6U (red)
connectors:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Thomas-Betts-RG6-Ultimate-Snap-N-Seal-Connectors-SNS1P6U-Pack-of-50/174156136846
You should be paying about $0.50 per connector. I prefer the orange
handle tool, which fits literally everything (including BNC and RCA
phono connectors) but does require some fiddling with the adjustments
to work correctly. Hmmm... I can't find it again on eBay. This looks
like a better version:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/RG59-RG6-Universal-Adjustable-Compression-Crimp-Tool-Connector-CATV-RCA-BNC-F/232216467664


It's always something.

I even have a 500 ft spool of the orange cable the
company uses for direct burial.


Orange is for TEMPORARY cable drops.
https://forums.xfinity.com/t5/My-Account/ANSWERED-Got-an-Xfinity-orange-cable-in-your-yard/ta-p/2941167

Around here it gets buried after laying in the yard long enough to
generate enough complaints. After I cut my neighbors cable while
installing a sprinkler line, ( I called to report it, they said they'd
wait until it came from their customer.) It took almost a year for
enough water getting in to generate the complaint. Then they laid the
oraange wire from the box in my yard across the neighbors driveway and
into the house. We mowed over it for 9 months before I buried the part
in my yard, and it still runs across the neighbors drive more than 2
years later.

I bought it the local metal scrapyard.
I suspect someone stole it and then sold it for the copper to the
scrapyard, I hope they didn't discard it because it was defective.


Temporary cable is usually not waterproof (gel filled and
non-penetrating jacket).

I got a couple of splitters from him before he left, one two way,
-3db, and another with -4.5db tap and the rest -7db. I wanted to insert
just to drop the signal level a little.


The two way (-3.5dB) is a splitter. The other one might be a cable
tap (directional coupler). You can probably use the splitter as a
-3.5dB attenuator if you put a 75 terminator on the unused port.

The cable guy tried to hard wire the computer, I wasn't there then, I
was told they think there is a bad connection in the modem, they had to
keep wiggling it to get a connection, but then they would lose it.


He's probably correct. I've seen it all too often. Some drops the
cable modem with the RG-6/u coax attached. It lands on the
F-connector and breaks the connection inside the tuner. That's
usually easy to fix. Tear it apart, lift the lid on the tuner, survey
the damage, and solder it back together. Extra credit for securing
the F-connector with epoxy (or hot melt glue).


I fixed more than 100 of those torn out F connectors on VCRs.


I said "all 4 ethernet connectors?"


I can see why. Next time you write "bad connector", you might find it
more intelligible if you specify which connector. I'm assuming the
F-connector, but it looks like the unspecified modem is actually a
cable router or "gateway".


You need a mind reading course!
No it was the ethernet connectors, it has 4 of them. I talked with the
neighbor today, he said they actually tried all 4 connectors and all
4 did not work properly.

No answer for that. So, I also
want to take my laptop over and my cable and hard wire it.


Probably a good idea. Wiggle "the connector", any connector and see
what happens.

If it measures slow, I'll suggest we connect the modem outside where
the cable comes up out of the ground and see if it has proper speed.
If yes, then replace the cable in house.


Yep. The idea it to plug into the unspecified ISP's cable at the
point of entry so as to eliminate the entire house and everything in
it.

Cursitor had no effect in my lack of important data.
I did it all myself.


FON (fear of numbers) must be contagious. You can check if you have
FON. Just count how many product names, model numbers, version
numbers, measurement numbers, in your posting. If it's tiny compared
to the number of lines in the posting, you're doing badly and are
infected with FON. If all you see are numbers, then you are suffering
from hyper-FON, and are spewing too many numbers. An average of one
number per line is a good compromise.

First it was about 36*F outside and I took the garbage out and saw the
cable truck, so I wondered over to neighbors to supervise. ;-)


Got it. The garbage attracted the cable truck. I'll try that next
time the cable guy is late.

I was at the house when my neighbor called the cable company, they
went through several procedures trying to fix his problem and couldn't.
They said because your such a loyal customer (ahem) we want to send a
truck out today, will between 3 and 6 be OK. Great. So they never showed
up. He called the next day and they did show up.

I didn't inspect the cable guys meter, it was two parts the measuring
device and a separate display. they were both in there bag or holder and
I didn't get a good look. By the time we got to a 300MHz bump it was
getting dark.


At what temperature do you start functioning normally?


Do you mean now or 30 years ago?
My wife might even question if I ever function normally.



If this goes any further, I'll answer 3 or 4 of your 5 questions.


I don't think it can go much further. I still don't know what
equipment you're working with or the basic system details.

Yes we have that awareness of product speed , and the cable guy got
70 MBPs on his phone.


That would be via wireless. So, the cable speed could 70Mbits/sec or
faster as the wireless connection is now the slowest part of the
system.

That's still not what he is paying for.
As I said he had 200 MBPs, I talked him down to 100 MBPs, saying, "I
can stream all 3 firesticks and use my computer without buffering.


You won't get 200 Mbits/sec on a wireless smartphone. 802.11ac can
theoretically do 500 Mbit/sec, but all I've seen is about half of
that.

He only has one TV and his wife's cellphone to deal with.


He has 3 Amazon Firesticks. One for the TV, but they don't fit in
cellphones. Where to the other 2 Firesticks go?

OK, I gave out useless info, I'm the one with 3 Firesticks.
He has one TV with a firestick and his wife's phone, also has a laptop,
but not used much.

I'll add, I have an old slower laptop, but when I speed test with wifi
on that at my home, I get the full 60 MPBs that I pay for.


If you feel the urge, plug your fastest machine into a gigabit port on
your router, and run
iperf3 -s
to setup an iperf3 server. Then run iperf3 on one of your machines
and speed test you wi-fi and ethernet speeds. That takes the speed of
the cable out of the picture and only measures the speed of your
hardware. It should be faster than 60 Mbit/sec or it's NOT your cable
ISP that's slowing you down:
https://iperf.fr/iperf-download.php
Mo
https://www.google.com/search?q=iperf3

Drivel: I've been replacing older routers (i.e. Linksys EA2700) with
newer routers because they can't deliver the speeds that Comcast is
now providing. I've seen 300 Mbits/sec recently and the EA2700 can
barely deliver 90 Mbit/sec.

He has the combo unit now a Netgear.


Find a suitable recycler and buy a new modem (SB6190) and a separate
wireless router (Asus RT-AC68u with 802.11ac or better). He won't
like the price on the router, but methinks it's worth the price.
https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=100158096%204016

This is what I like and which might work if approved by the
cable ISP:
https://www.newegg.com/arris-sb6190-cable-modem/p/N82E16825694017


Cable guy a gave a little push to Arris.


Arris/Motorola have their problems, but I think they're good enough
and generally better than most. I buy quite a bit of refurbished
hardware including refurbished Arris cable modems. I have received
some lemons, but have always been able to exchange it for one that
works. Just be sure to update and test it on arrival.

Usually have to call the cable company and have them ping some info
to the modem when first installing.


Baloney. When you swap modems or routers with the neighbor, the cable
company thinks that the modem is still at his house. Nothing to
change or reset. The unspecified cable company has no way to know if
the modem is at the neighbors house or at your house, as long as
you're both on the same ISP, CMTS, and segment.


WE aren't with the same company.

Then I'd have to re ping it back at my house.


Wrong. Also, ping is a latency test program, not a programming tool.

I have a different cable company, not positive mine is compatible with
his Comcast service. But I could check.


Hold it. If you have a different ISP, you can't move a modem or
router to another ISP. Got any more details you failed to mention
that might be important. If not, please cease mentioning your setup
as it just confuses the issue. We're trying to troubleshoot the
neighbors networks, not yours.


My neighbor is a Southerner and talks pretty slow, sometimes hard to
understand. I played interference to help the cable people on the phone.
When I was showing him how to use the remote on the Firestick, when we
got to Alexa, I said, "push that button and name a movie." He pushed it
and in his Southern drawl named what I expect was a movie. I reacted by
saying, "give me that remote, she's never going top understand what you
said," and she didn't. I was a little embarrassed at what I said and his
girlfriend/wife was sitting in her seat laughing about it.
Other than that, nothing to add at this time, he gets Mondays off, so,
I'll know something after that.
Thanks for your patience and your fountain of unending knowledge,
Mikek