We came back last night from a trip to find our Comcast cable TV and
Internet both not working. I called Comcast tech support, which
confirmed that no signals were getting through to our TV and PC. The
Comcast repairman showed up this morning while I was at work and told my
wife that a rat had chewed through the cable. After replacing the
cable, the TV worked fine but the PC was still not connecting to the
Internet. After about an hour of fiddling with the PC, he told my wife
that the Comcast service is working fine but that there must be a virus
in the PC that is blocking the service and that we needed to have a
computer virus specialist inspect the PC. When I got home, I decided to
look over the PC situation and found that the cable modem was turned
off. After pressing the on/off switch, it worked fine. Could he have
been that dumb?

Now I am wondering about the cable being chewed by a rat. We do live in
a semi-rural environment. But I've never seen a rat on our property.
What do I need to do to protect the cable from further damage from rats?
Thanks for any advice.

"tenplay" wrote in message
...

Now I am wondering about the cable being chewed by a rat. We do live in a
semi-rural environment. But I've never seen a rat on our property. What
do I need to do to protect the cable from further damage from rats? Thanks
for any advice.

A cat or a .22 rifle with good scope come immediately to mind...

Joe

I would say this person knew nothing about your internet service.
Usually if you're getting a TV signal then the modem should work
assuming the STATUS light goes solid meaning it's locked on. Even IF
your computer had a virus it wouldn't affect this--as a matter in fact
your computer doesn't even have to be turned on for the cable modem to
lock in.

As for the rat chewing the cable, I've never seen that happen. The
cable used today has TWO stranded shield layers and one or two solid
foil layers. Not saying it's possible, but I've never seen it and you
shouldn't have to do anything to protect the cable except don't nail
into it or staple into it.

It's possible that (1) their service was out - did your neighbors have
TV? (2) their connection at the pole came loose or needed a new
connector or (3) the entrance fuse might have shorted.

J




tenplay wrote:
We came back last night from a trip to find our Comcast cable TV and
Internet both not working. I called Comcast tech support, which
confirmed that no signals were getting through to our TV and PC. The
Comcast repairman showed up this morning while I was at work and told my
wife that a rat had chewed through the cable. After replacing the
cable, the TV worked fine but the PC was still not connecting to the
Internet. After about an hour of fiddling with the PC, he told my wife
that the Comcast service is working fine but that there must be a virus
in the PC that is blocking the service and that we needed to have a
computer virus specialist inspect the PC. When I got home, I decided to
look over the PC situation and found that the cable modem was turned
off. After pressing the on/off switch, it worked fine. Could he have
been that dumb?

Now I am wondering about the cable being chewed by a rat. We do live in
a semi-rural environment. But I've never seen a rat on our property.
What do I need to do to protect the cable from further damage from rats?
Thanks for any advice.

"tenplay" wrote in message
...
We came back last night from a trip to find our Comcast cable TV and
Internet both not working. I called Comcast tech support, which confirmed
that no signals were getting through to our TV and PC. The Comcast
repairman showed up this morning while I was at work and told my wife that
a rat had chewed through the cable. After replacing the cable, the TV
worked fine but the PC was still not connecting to the Internet. After
about an hour of fiddling with the PC, he told my wife that the Comcast
service is working fine but that there must be a virus in the PC that is
blocking the service and that we needed to have a computer virus
specialist inspect the PC. When I got home, I decided to look over the PC
situation and found that the cable modem was turned off. After pressing
the on/off switch, it worked fine. Could he have been that dumb?

Now I am wondering about the cable being chewed by a rat. We do live in a
semi-rural environment. But I've never seen a rat on our property. What
do I need to do to protect the cable from further damage from rats?

A satellite dish??

"Dr. Hardcrab" wrote in message
news:Yjgxf.35717$v84.20457@trnddc06...

"tenplay" wrote in message
...
We came back last night from a trip to find our Comcast cable TV and
Internet both not working. I called Comcast tech support, which
confirmed that no signals were getting through to our TV and PC. The
Comcast repairman showed up this morning while I was at work and told my
wife that a rat had chewed through the cable. After replacing the cable,
the TV worked fine but the PC was still not connecting to the Internet.
After about an hour of fiddling with the PC, he told my wife that the
Comcast service is working fine but that there must be a virus in the PC
that is blocking the service and that we needed to have a computer virus
specialist inspect the PC. When I got home, I decided to look over the
PC situation and found that the cable modem was turned off. After
pressing the on/off switch, it worked fine. Could he have been that
dumb?

Now I am wondering about the cable being chewed by a rat. We do live in
a semi-rural environment. But I've never seen a rat on our property.
What do I need to do to protect the cable from further damage from rats?

A satellite dish??

or another cable company.....

Depending on where he lives, that may not be possible. Comcast negotiates
exclusive rights with a lot of municipalities.

"Red Neckerson" wrote in message
news:Stgxf.35798$v84.12931@trnddc06...

"Dr. Hardcrab" wrote in message
news:Yjgxf.35717$v84.20457@trnddc06...

"tenplay" wrote in message
...
We came back last night from a trip to find our Comcast cable TV and
Internet both not working. I called Comcast tech support, which
confirmed that no signals were getting through to our TV and PC. The
Comcast repairman showed up this morning while I was at work and told
my
wife that a rat had chewed through the cable. After replacing the
cable,
the TV worked fine but the PC was still not connecting to the Internet.
After about an hour of fiddling with the PC, he told my wife that the
Comcast service is working fine but that there must be a virus in the
PC
that is blocking the service and that we needed to have a computer
virus
specialist inspect the PC. When I got home, I decided to look over the
PC situation and found that the cable modem was turned off. After
pressing the on/off switch, it worked fine. Could he have been that
dumb?

Now I am wondering about the cable being chewed by a rat. We do live
in
a semi-rural environment. But I've never seen a rat on our property.
What do I need to do to protect the cable from further damage from
rats?

A satellite dish??

or another cable company.....

"Bob" wrote in message
...
Depending on where he lives, that may not be possible. Comcast negotiates
exclusive rights with a lot of municipalities.

I live in a county where we are surrounded by Comcast. They even have a hold
on the northern end. I haven't figured out why the guy that has the local
company hasn't sold out yet.

All joking aside, I've seen mice (not rats) chew through all kinds of wires
so anything is possible...


"Red Neckerson" wrote in message
news:Stgxf.35798$v84.12931@trnddc06...

"Dr. Hardcrab" wrote in message
news:Yjgxf.35717$v84.20457@trnddc06...

"tenplay" wrote in message
...
We came back last night from a trip to find our Comcast cable TV and
Internet both not working. I called Comcast tech support, which
confirmed that no signals were getting through to our TV and PC. The
Comcast repairman showed up this morning while I was at work and told
my
wife that a rat had chewed through the cable. After replacing the
cable,
the TV worked fine but the PC was still not connecting to the
Internet.
After about an hour of fiddling with the PC, he told my wife that the
Comcast service is working fine but that there must be a virus in the
PC
that is blocking the service and that we needed to have a computer
virus
specialist inspect the PC. When I got home, I decided to look over
the
PC situation and found that the cable modem was turned off. After
pressing the on/off switch, it worked fine. Could he have been that
dumb?

Now I am wondering about the cable being chewed by a rat. We do live
in
a semi-rural environment. But I've never seen a rat on our property.
What do I need to do to protect the cable from further damage from
rats?

A satellite dish??

or another cable company.....

A squirrel can definitely chew through a
cable. I had a squirrel chew 14 gauge
romex.
He didn't actually chew through the
copper, but he did put some good dents
in it. This
rodent removed about 2 - 3' of
insullation from the cable .... tripped
the breaker when
I turned the switch on. Too bad the
squirrel wasn't attached when I
activated the switch!

Dr. Hardcrab wrote:
"Bob" wrote in message
...

Depending on where he lives, that may not be possible. Comcast negotiates
exclusive rights with a lot of municipalities.


I live in a county where we are surrounded by Comcast. They even have a hold
on the northern end. I haven't figured out why the guy that has the local
company hasn't sold out yet.

All joking aside, I've seen mice (not rats) chew through all kinds of wires
so anything is possible...


"Red Neckerson" wrote in message
news:Stgxf.35798$v84.12931@trnddc06...

"Dr. Hardcrab" wrote in message
news:Yjgxf.35717$v84.20457@trnddc06...

"tenplay" wrote in message
...

We came back last night from a trip to find our Comcast cable TV and
Internet both not working. I called Comcast tech support, which
confirmed that no signals were getting through to our TV and PC. The
Comcast repairman showed up this morning while I was at work and told

my

wife that a rat had chewed through the cable. After replacing the

cable,

the TV worked fine but the PC was still not connecting to the
Internet.
After about an hour of fiddling with the PC, he told my wife that the
Comcast service is working fine but that there must be a virus in the

PC

that is blocking the service and that we needed to have a computer

virus

specialist inspect the PC. When I got home, I decided to look over
the
PC situation and found that the cable modem was turned off. After
pressing the on/off switch, it worked fine. Could he have been that
dumb?

Now I am wondering about the cable being chewed by a rat. We do live

in

a semi-rural environment. But I've never seen a rat on our property.
What do I need to do to protect the cable from further damage from

rats?

A satellite dish??

or another cable company.....

On Wed, 11 Jan 2006 23:38:01 GMT, "Dr. Hardcrab"
wrote:


All joking aside, I've seen mice (not rats) chew through all kinds of wires
so anything is possible...

I had mice for a while and other than eating into boxes of food and a
big bag of birdseed, the two noticeable things I've found were
microcassettes -- they didn't damage the case but they cut the tape on
4 of them, out of a bunch I had lying on the table or the floor.

And teeny weeny headphones -- they ate part way through the wires on 3
pair, allowing the metal to show, and in each case cutting through one
wire so they don't work. None of them were plugged in.

AFAICT. they didn't touch any of my full size cassettes. or my thicker
wires, which are still easily thin enough that they can get their
teeth around them. Most of my wire is at least 10 years old. Is the
insulation on ear-buds made of something different from earlier years?

I wonder what makes them like this stuff.


Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

I could have also been a rat with a furry tail, more commonly know as a
squirrel. Both of them can do severe damage. Did he show your wife the
chewed cable? Was he outside long enough to replace the cable? Find out
where it happened and cover it with wire mesh.

"tenplay" wrote in message
...
We came back last night from a trip to find our Comcast cable TV and
Internet both not working. I called Comcast tech support, which
confirmed that no signals were getting through to our TV and PC. The
Comcast repairman showed up this morning while I was at work and told my
wife that a rat had chewed through the cable. After replacing the
cable, the TV worked fine but the PC was still not connecting to the
Internet. After about an hour of fiddling with the PC, he told my wife
that the Comcast service is working fine but that there must be a virus
in the PC that is blocking the service and that we needed to have a
computer virus specialist inspect the PC. When I got home, I decided to
look over the PC situation and found that the cable modem was turned
off. After pressing the on/off switch, it worked fine. Could he have
been that dumb?

Now I am wondering about the cable being chewed by a rat. We do live in
a semi-rural environment. But I've never seen a rat on our property.
What do I need to do to protect the cable from further damage from rats?
Thanks for any advice.

Bob wrote:
I could have also been a rat with a furry tail, more commonly know as a
squirrel. Both of them can do severe damage. Did he show your wife the
chewed cable? Was he outside long enough to replace the cable? Find out
where it happened and cover it with wire mesh.

"tenplay" wrote in message
...

We came back last night from a trip to find our Comcast cable TV and
Internet both not working. I called Comcast tech support, which
confirmed that no signals were getting through to our TV and PC. The
Comcast repairman showed up this morning while I was at work and told my
wife that a rat had chewed through the cable. After replacing the
cable, the TV worked fine but the PC was still not connecting to the
Internet. After about an hour of fiddling with the PC, he told my wife
that the Comcast service is working fine but that there must be a virus
in the PC that is blocking the service and that we needed to have a
computer virus specialist inspect the PC. When I got home, I decided to
look over the PC situation and found that the cable modem was turned
off. After pressing the on/off switch, it worked fine. Could he have
been that dumb?

Now I am wondering about the cable being chewed by a rat. We do live in
a semi-rural environment. But I've never seen a rat on our property.
What do I need to do to protect the cable from further damage from rats?
Thanks for any advice.




I have seen squirrels around our property. When you say to cover it
with wire mesh, are you saying to wrap wire mesh around the length of
the cable that is exposed? Thanks.

You'd probably only have to wrap the area that was chewed.

"tenplay" wrote in message
...
Bob wrote:
I could have also been a rat with a furry tail, more commonly know as a
squirrel. Both of them can do severe damage. Did he show your wife the
chewed cable? Was he outside long enough to replace the cable? Find out
where it happened and cover it with wire mesh.

"tenplay" wrote in message
...

We came back last night from a trip to find our Comcast cable TV and
Internet both not working. I called Comcast tech support, which
confirmed that no signals were getting through to our TV and PC. The
Comcast repairman showed up this morning while I was at work and told my
wife that a rat had chewed through the cable. After replacing the
cable, the TV worked fine but the PC was still not connecting to the
Internet. After about an hour of fiddling with the PC, he told my wife
that the Comcast service is working fine but that there must be a virus
in the PC that is blocking the service and that we needed to have a
computer virus specialist inspect the PC. When I got home, I decided to
look over the PC situation and found that the cable modem was turned
off. After pressing the on/off switch, it worked fine. Could he have
been that dumb?

Now I am wondering about the cable being chewed by a rat. We do live in
a semi-rural environment. But I've never seen a rat on our property.
What do I need to do to protect the cable from further damage from rats?
Thanks for any advice.




I have seen squirrels around our property. When you say to cover it
with wire mesh, are you saying to wrap wire mesh around the length of
the cable that is exposed? Thanks.

"tenplay" wrote


I have seen squirrels around our property. When you say to cover it with
wire mesh, are you saying to wrap wire mesh around the length of the cable
that is exposed? Thanks.

NO! Yew IDGIT!!

Wrap it around the squirrel!!!

Let me see you do that to the 3 ft. long Ratufa squirrel.
http://www.scarysquirrel.org/special/enemy/ratufa/

"Red Neckerson" wrote in message
newsMgxf.35948$v84.32657@trnddc06...

"tenplay" wrote


I have seen squirrels around our property. When you say to cover it
with
wire mesh, are you saying to wrap wire mesh around the length of the
cable
that is exposed? Thanks.

NO! Yew IDGIT!!

Wrap it around the squirrel!!!

On Wed, 11 Jan 2006 15:34:28 -0800, tenplay wrote:



I have seen squirrels around our property. When you say to cover it
with wire mesh, are you saying to wrap wire mesh around the length of
the cable that is exposed? Thanks.

I think he meant to wrap it around the squirrel.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

Do a google search on free to air satellite receivers and cancel comcast.
"Bob" wrote in message
...
I could have also been a rat with a furry tail, more commonly know as a
squirrel. Both of them can do severe damage. Did he show your wife the
chewed cable? Was he outside long enough to replace the cable? Find out
where it happened and cover it with wire mesh.

"tenplay" wrote in message
...
We came back last night from a trip to find our Comcast cable TV and
Internet both not working. I called Comcast tech support, which
confirmed that no signals were getting through to our TV and PC. The
Comcast repairman showed up this morning while I was at work and told my
wife that a rat had chewed through the cable. After replacing the
cable, the TV worked fine but the PC was still not connecting to the
Internet. After about an hour of fiddling with the PC, he told my wife
that the Comcast service is working fine but that there must be a virus
in the PC that is blocking the service and that we needed to have a
computer virus specialist inspect the PC. When I got home, I decided to
look over the PC situation and found that the cable modem was turned
off. After pressing the on/off switch, it worked fine. Could he have
been that dumb?

Now I am wondering about the cable being chewed by a rat. We do live in
a semi-rural environment. But I've never seen a rat on our property.
What do I need to do to protect the cable from further damage from rats?
Thanks for any advice.

buy some sticky self-baited rat traps, install them inside your
basement and check them if you notice dead animal smell. don't worry
about the cable.

tenplay wrote:
We came back last night from a trip to find our Comcast cable TV and
Internet both not working. I called Comcast tech support, which
confirmed that no signals were getting through to our TV and PC. The
Comcast repairman showed up this morning while I was at work and told my
wife that a rat had chewed through the cable. After replacing the
cable, the TV worked fine but the PC was still not connecting to the
Internet. After about an hour of fiddling with the PC, he told my wife
that the Comcast service is working fine but that there must be a virus
in the PC that is blocking the service and that we needed to have a
computer virus specialist inspect the PC. When I got home, I decided to
look over the PC situation and found that the cable modem was turned
off. After pressing the on/off switch, it worked fine. Could he have
been that dumb?

Yes. When I moved into my house I just asked the the Comcast guy
verify that a signal was coming through to the modem and I'd install
the rest because when I was at my apartment, the guy didn't know squat.

"tenplay" wrote in message ...
We came back last night from a trip to find our Comcast cable TV and
Internet both not working. I called Comcast tech support, which
confirmed that no signals were getting through to our TV and PC. The
Comcast repairman showed up this morning while I was at work and told my
wife that a rat had chewed through the cable. After replacing the
cable, the TV worked fine but the PC was still not connecting to the
Internet. After about an hour of fiddling with the PC, he told my wife
that the Comcast service is working fine but that there must be a virus
in the PC that is blocking the service and that we needed to have a
computer virus specialist inspect the PC. When I got home, I decided to
look over the PC situation and found that the cable modem was turned
off. After pressing the on/off switch, it worked fine. Could he have
been that dumb?

Now I am wondering about the cable being chewed by a rat. We do live in
a semi-rural environment. But I've never seen a rat on our property.
What do I need to do to protect the cable from further damage from rats?
Thanks for any advice.

You obviously have not been feeding the rat enough. Full rats don't chew wires.

Bob

tenplay wrote:

After pressing the on/off switch, it worked fine. Could he have
been that dumb?

Yes.

Now I am wondering about the cable being chewed by a rat. We do live in
a semi-rural environment. But I've never seen a rat on our property.
What do I need to do to protect the cable from further damage from rats?

If the varmint ate the cable somewhere inside the house, I'd figure out
how it got in and seal that hole. If it's outside, there's probably not
much you can do.

Bonnie

bonniejean wrote:
tenplay wrote:

After pressing the on/off switch, it worked fine. Could he have

been that dumb?


Yes.

Now I am wondering about the cable being chewed by a rat. We do live
in a semi-rural environment. But I've never seen a rat on our
property. What do I need to do to protect the cable from further
damage from rats?


If the varmint ate the cable somewhere inside the house, I'd figure out
how it got in and seal that hole. If it's outside, there's probably not
much you can do.

Bonnie

Actually the cable was eaten away right where it enters the bottom crawl
space. My wife said that the repairman advised her to coat the cable
with a mixture of steel wool and foam spray. Anyone heard of it? I
wonder if there is a product already available or if you have to make it
yourself. I do plan on sealing off the crawl space with wire mesh though.

Steel wool stops mice from getting through holes. Don't use steel wool soap
pads. Mice and rats can chew through spray foam. Put some traps that are
made for outdoors near where they chewed. Probably wasn't a squirrel if it
was at ground level. They usually only try to get into a house up high.

"tenplay" wrote in message
...
bonniejean wrote:
tenplay wrote:

After pressing the on/off switch, it worked fine. Could he have

been that dumb?


Yes.

Now I am wondering about the cable being chewed by a rat. We do live
in a semi-rural environment. But I've never seen a rat on our
property. What do I need to do to protect the cable from further
damage from rats?


If the varmint ate the cable somewhere inside the house, I'd figure out
how it got in and seal that hole. If it's outside, there's probably not
much you can do.

Bonnie

Actually the cable was eaten away right where it enters the bottom crawl
space. My wife said that the repairman advised her to coat the cable
with a mixture of steel wool and foam spray. Anyone heard of it? I
wonder if there is a product already available or if you have to make it
yourself. I do plan on sealing off the crawl space with wire mesh though.

On Thu, 12 Jan 2006 11:50:38 -0500, "Bob" wrote:

| Steel wool stops mice from getting through holes. Don't use steel wool soap
| pads. Mice and rats can chew through spray foam. Put some traps that are
| made for outdoors near where they chewed. Probably wasn't a squirrel if it
| was at ground level. They usually only try to get into a house up high.

I had squirrels eating holes through the wood facia boards of the
house. A contractor told me to fill the holes with patching concrete,
like Rock-tite, with steel wool mixed in it.

Squirrels ate right through it, no problem. I can't imagine squirrels
or rats being stopped by foam and steel wool if they wanted to get
through it.

On heavy-duty poly trash barrels, I spray on "Ropel" spray, a vicious
mix of tobacco juice and god knows what else. Seems to work. The
critters were eating big holes in the tops. Can't see why it wouldn't
work on the cable. Just use it outside, not inside.

Be really really really careful not to get it on yourself, your dogs
and cats, your kids. Watch out for backspray. This stuff is
unbelievably bitter, stings your eyes, makes your skin hot. Ask me how
I know.

|
| "tenplay" wrote in message
| ...
| bonniejean wrote:
| tenplay wrote:
|
| After pressing the on/off switch, it worked fine. Could he have
|
| been that dumb?
|
|
| Yes.
|
| Now I am wondering about the cable being chewed by a rat. We do live
| in a semi-rural environment. But I've never seen a rat on our
| property. What do I need to do to protect the cable from further
| damage from rats?
|
|
| If the varmint ate the cable somewhere inside the house, I'd figure out
| how it got in and seal that hole. If it's outside, there's probably not
| much you can do.
|
| Bonnie
|
| Actually the cable was eaten away right where it enters the bottom crawl
| space. My wife said that the repairman advised her to coat the cable
| with a mixture of steel wool and foam spray. Anyone heard of it? I
| wonder if there is a product already available or if you have to make it
| yourself. I do plan on sealing off the crawl space with wire mesh though.
|
|

Peter Cottontail will do this too. Not only has my cable been chewed
through by them, but my ABS brake cables on my car too. We have a
couple of dogs to keep that problem at bay now. Our place is infested
with them, especially since all the neighbors cats arent' around
anymore.