Cable Internet Noise

[JS1983]

Hey,

 

I was hoping someone could answer a couple of questions for me about modem noise.

 

I have been dealing with unusable speeds for years and can never get any techs to fix it.  They have blamed it on a bunch of different things over the years.  Right now, they are blaming it on noise coming from people's houses.  They said it only takes one house in some cases to bring everyone's quality of service down on the node.

 

My questions are

 

1. Can one house really do that, as far as affecting everyone on the node?

 

2. Also, do they have to go by everyone's house to track down the noise?  I have been told by several workers that they do have to check everyone individually.  If true, I guess that at least partially explains why they don't want to try to fix it.

 

3. Lastly, if anyone has seen this before, what are a few common things that can cause this level of noise?

 

Appreciate any help or suggestions.  Thanks

[Windows7ge]

Noise is a thing but I would be skeptical of that being the cause given everyone else in the area haven't caused a ruckus enough for your ISP to investigate and fix the local issue.

 

What can cause a overall loss of performance is when a large number of people all connected to the same node start saturating the available bandwidth. I would test (if you haven't already) is is the performance better late at night or when people are normally at work? If things improve then it's a lack of infrastructure for the demand in your area.

[Bombastinator]

38 minutes ago, JS1983 said:

Hey,

 

I was hoping someone could answer a couple of questions for me about modem noise.

 

I have been dealing with unusable speeds for years and can never get any techs to fix it.  They have blamed it on a bunch of different things over the years.  Right now, they are blaming it on noise coming from people's houses.  They said it only takes one house in some cases to bring everyone's quality of service down on the node.

 

My questions are

 

1. Can one house really do that, as far as affecting everyone on the node?

 

2. Also, do they have to go by everyone's house to track down the noise?  I have been told by several workers that they do have to check everyone individually.  If true, I guess that at least partially explains why they don't want to try to fix it.

 

3. Lastly, if anyone has seen this before, what are a few common things that can cause this level of noise?

 

Appreciate any help or suggestions.  Thanks

It’s not IMpossible.  It’s a worst case scenario though.  Low probability.  The link to your house is the responsibility of the ISP generally, not merely to the node.  There may be some exceptions to that one but if you personally contract to the ISP personally it’s usually the case.  If this is some home association situation though or something they may not be liable.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Bombastinator

[JS1983]

Hey I appreciate the replies.  There have been lawyers involved for the past couple of years because, as far as I know, Suddenlink hasn't maintained most equipment in my area like they should.  I believe they have finally improved a little in some areas only because they had to finally.

 

One of the problems that started late last year is Hundreds of millions of correctable and uncorrectable errors on pretty much every modem channel building up every day.  My speeds were always terrible, but the errors were new to me.

 

As far as over saturation, I have been told that was an issue, but somehow it was fixed and my speeds went up to 75 mbps download where it is supposed to be and stayed there for about a week last month, so based on it being good for a week, my suspicion of over saturation from too many people on the node seems less likely.  Also, the modem correctable/uncorrectable errors were gone for that time.  Now like I said, 100's of millions on every single channel again and the speeds stay around anywhere from 0.5 to 5 mbps all day every day so I figure it's the noise again.  The power levels have also been fixed which used to be a big problem.

 

So based on all of that, I am leaning toward noise issues again?!?!  I just don't understand how the speed can go from where it is supposed to be, down to pretty much nothing again but still have good power levels and everything.

 

Any thoughts?  Thanks again

[Bombastinator]

I’ve never heard of suddenlink.  Sounds small.  Also this could be any nation at all and laws may change. 

[JS1983]

25 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

I’ve never heard of suddenlink.  Sounds small.  Also this could be any nation at all and laws may change. 

Definitely not small.  They are owned by Altice.

[Donut417]

2 hours ago, JS1983 said:

My questions are

 

1. Can one house really do that, as far as affecting everyone on the node?

 

2. Also, do they have to go by everyone's house to track down the noise?  I have been told by several workers that they do have to check everyone individually.  If true, I guess that at least partially explains why they don't want to try to fix it.

 

3. Lastly, if anyone has seen this before, what are a few common things that can cause this level of noise?

 

1) Yes it can from what I have read. If lets say a homeowner has a larger splitter than what they need and dont terminate the unused ports, it can introduce interference. Keep in mind that coax carries the same RF that is used over the airwaves. Cable Companies use 5 Mhz to 950 Mhz on that line. That also falls in to range of radio, broadcast TV, cellular, etc. So if these signals manage to get in to the cable network, it will cause problems. 

 

2) They do. Because they have to figure out where the interference is coming from. They can put a filter on the offending customers line that help block the interference. 

 

3) Bad wire, bad connectors, unterminated ports on splitter, issues with customers equipment, etc. 

[JS1983]

14 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

1) Yes it can from what I have read. If lets say a homeowner has a larger splitter than what they need and dont terminate the unused ports, it can introduce interference. Keep in mind that coax carries the same RF that is used over the airwaves. Cable Companies use 5 Mhz to 950 Mhz on that line. That also falls in to range of radio, broadcast TV, cellular, etc. So if these signals manage to get in to the cable network, it will cause problems. 

 

2) They do. Because they have to figure out where the interference is coming from. They can put a filter on the offending customers line that help block the interference. 

 

3) Bad wire, bad connectors, unterminated ports on splitter, issues with customers equipment, etc. 

Definitely appreciate the reply.  Good info.