Question Broken internet

[Suidd]

My connection is just really unstable high packet loss , high ping , hight jitter . Ive been fighting with my ISP for a while now and they have checked and replaced all my wires twice.My connection seems to only be stable when I download something. My ISP is saying everything is 100% working/fine on their end. I have no idea what could wrong on my end. I use their modem they gave me , Im using an ethernet cable . Ive tested it on my PC , 2 phones , brand new ps5 , xbox . its all the same the connection just wont get better. Does anyone have any idea on what I could do cause clearly my ISP thinks its me.

https://imgur.com/a/cNjFcpT

View: https://imgur.com/a/cNjFcpT

Im completely out of ideas and im just frustrated at this point. I have no idea what to do cause this isnt something im super familiar with.

 

[Ralston18]

Some other things you can do; especially if there are concerns about the coax cable/wiring.

Go outside, or wherever, and start tracing all of the wires. Do so safely - no climbing roofs, poles, etc.. Check coax outlets as well. Know where wires go and how they get to that end location.

Look for signs of damage, splices, barrel connectors, corrosion, moisture, kinks, pinched wires, rodent chews, old splitters (one cable in, 2,3, or 4+ cables out). Splitters are cheaply made be it for inside and outside use. Splitters can and do falter and fail.)

Note: Some homes have multiple cables and splitters yet almost all devices are wireless. All of those unused splitters and cables can be and are problematic with regards to devices that do use coax or otherwise use wired connectivity.

Look for unterminated cables. (Dust caps, if any, do not count.)

FYI:

https://blog.solidsignal.com/tutori...dust cap is just,proper endpoint for a signal.

Take photographs and be ready to show the tech any potential problems that you find.

Not defending individual techs per se but most techs are under a great deal of pressure to close a ticket and move on to their next customers. I have had techs here that were also under pressure to sell us more boxes and/or services. Or at least upsell us for better speeds, performance, etc.. (They really did not want to be doing that....)

And the techs can and do quickly swap wires, splitters, connectors, etc., which may seem to work or otherwise test okay. Especially with intermittent problems. Make sure that everything works before the tech leaves. One problem may be truly fixed but another problem created.

Help the tech out. Make it easy for the tech to gain access to outlets, cables, modems, routers etc.. Clear the way, do some dusting, sort out the wiring. Label things. Add lighting. (Note: all of that is likely to help you as well.)

And do take a few minutes to make a list of what all has been done or tried to date.

Just that alone could prove helpful with respect to seeing and understanding the big picture.

 

[Suidd]

Some other things you can do; especially if there are concerns about the coax cable/wiring.

Go outside, or wherever, and start tracing all of the wires. Do so safely - no climbing roofs, poles, etc.. Check coax outlets as well. Know where wires go and how they get to that end location.

Look for signs of damage, splices, barrel connectors, corrosion, moisture, kinks, pinched wires, rodent chews, old splitters (one cable in, 2,3, or 4+ cables out). Splitters are cheaply made be it for inside and outside use. Splitters can and do falter and fail.)

Note: Some homes have multiple cables and splitters yet almost all devices are wireless. All of those unused splitters and cables can be and are problematic with regards to devices that do use coax or otherwise use wired connectivity.

Look for unterminated cables. (Dust caps, if any, do not count.)

FYI:

https://blog.solidsignal.com/tutorials/tip-terminate-unused-ports/#:~:text=A dust cap is just,proper endpoint for a signal.

Take photographs and be ready to show the tech any potential problems that you find.

Not defending individual techs per se but most techs are under a great deal of pressure to close a ticket and move on to their next customers. I have had techs here that were also under pressure to sell us more boxes and/or services. Or at least upsell us for better speeds, performance, etc.. (They really did not want to be doing that....)

And the techs can and do quickly swap wires, splitters, connectors, etc., which may seem to work or otherwise test okay. Especially with intermittent problems. Make sure that everything works before the tech leaves. One problem may be truly fixed but another problem created.

Help the tech out. Make it easy for the tech to gain access to outlets, cables, modems, routers etc.. Clear the way, do some dusting, sort out the wiring. Label things. Add lighting. (Note: all of that is likely to help you as well.)

And do take a few minutes to make a list of what all has been done or tried to date.

Just that alone could prove helpful with respect to seeing and understanding the big picture.

From what I can see everything looks perfectly fine wire wise just maybe some spider nest on some of the wires

https://imgur.com/a/ML85nVp

View: https://imgur.com/a/ML85nVp

That’s what it all connects to

 

[Ralston18]

"Spider nest" indeed.

Good news being that no one spray painted it all.

General observations:

The incoming orange cable leads to a 3 way splitter. Only one of the three "outs" goes to another 3 way splitter that, in turn, seems to have only one "out" as well. Not sure about that black cable paralleling the orange cable. Both coming out of the larger orange interduct.

Orange cable also has rather sharp looking bend - may or may not be in spec. Even if okay I would still avoid such a turn if at all possible.

There is a third splitter with two outgoing cables.

There appears to be some black to white coax barrel connection.

And the unused splitter connections appear to have some sort of extension on them. Not sure.

Both splitters have ground/earth connections. Grounding is needed but I am likewise not sure about the need to have both (or all three splitters) connected as it appears they are. Possibly leading to ground loop issues.

I also noted one black cable that does not appear to be terminated at all. And another simply cut off. There is also a white cable next the the green security tag that appears unterminted.

One white cable, terminated, just hanging at mid level in the box.

Tie wraps also. They can be used but often tend to be pulled too tight and cause crimping.

Some thinner white cable cables - telephone?? Grey looking cable with black print...?

End result of all that means, to me anyway, that signal strength and consistency is being lost. Interference problems as well.

Take the time to make a careful trace all of the connections starting with the incoming orange cable.

Sketch out a diagram with each splitter and splitter port being numbered in some manner and show the cables between splitters and where all of the outgoing coax cables go.

Look at what is printed along the length of the cables.... Make note of that labeling as well. Could be the wrong type of cables.

Inspect those cable runs and termination points (e.g. a coax wall outlet) for further splits, damage, etc..

I would expect that the ISP considers everything beyond the end of the orange cable to be your responsiblity unless one of those connections leads to an ISP provided (rental or otherwise) device.

The sketch does not need to be fancy or artistic. Just clear enough to show the connections involved starting with coax cables.

Then where the coax cables end show what is connected. Connections ending with a modem or router (or modem/router) should be extended to show wired and wireless device connections.

Any sort of loops ( A connected to B connected to C connected to D connected to A again ) will cause problems.

Feel free to post the sketch showing all connections, cables, splitters, devices, etc.. Lable with make and model information. No need for any personally identifying information.

The purpose of the sketch is to get a sense of the big picture and then use the sketch to remove unnecessary connections/splitters and properly ground, terminate, or repair problems.

There may be other comments, thoughts, and suggestions.

Perhaps regarding some error of omission or commision on my part.

No problem with that on this end.

 

[Suidd]

That is pretty much your only option. If you had not posted your tests I might suspect you had a vpn. A vpn trace tend to look different you do not even see your own router IP.
I can't think of any way your pc can ping your router with no loss but see loss to 8.8.8.8 and the problem be the pc.

well tech came over today and no thing really got solved I asked him to see if he could run a command prompt or use his meter and he didnt . they told me to just observe and take notes / test and call them back monday.

 

[Suidd]

"Spider nest" indeed.

Good news being that no one spray painted it all.

General observations:

The incoming orange cable leads to a 3 way splitter. Only one of the three "outs" goes to another 3 way splitter that, in turn, seems to have only one "out" as well. Not sure about that black cable paralleling the orange cable. Both coming out of the larger orange interduct.

Orange cable also has rather sharp looking bend - may or may not be in spec. Even if okay I would still avoid such a turn if at all possible.

There is a third splitter with two outgoing cables.

There appears to be some black to white coax barrel connection.

And the unused splitter connections appear to have some sort of extension on them. Not sure.

Both splitters have ground/earth connections. Grounding is needed but I am likewise not sure about the need to have both (or all three splitters) connected as it appears they are. Possibly leading to ground loop issues.

I also noted one black cable that does not appear to be terminated at all. And another simply cut off. There is also a white cable next the the green security tag that appears unterminted.

One white cable, terminated, just hanging at mid level in the box.

Tie wraps also. They can be used but often tend to be pulled too tight and cause crimping.

Some thinner white cable cables - telephone?? Grey looking cable with black print...?

End result of all that means, to me anyway, that signal strength and consistency is being lost. Interference problems as well.

Take the time to make a careful trace all of the connections starting with the incoming orange cable.

Sketch out a diagram with each splitter and splitter port being numbered in some manner and show the cables between splitters and where all of the outgoing coax cables go.

Look at what is printed along the length of the cables.... Make note of that labeling as well. Could be the wrong type of cables.

Inspect those cable runs and termination points (e.g. a coax wall outlet) for further splits, damage, etc..

I would expect that the ISP considers everything beyond the end of the orange cable to be your responsiblity unless one of those connections leads to an ISP provided (rental or otherwise) device.

The sketch does not need to be fancy or artistic. Just clear enough to show the connections involved starting with coax cables.

Then where the coax cables end show what is connected. Connections ending with a modem or router (or modem/router) should be extended to show wired and wireless device connections.

Any sort of loops ( A connected to B connected to C connected to D connected to A again ) will cause problems.

Feel free to post the sketch showing all connections, cables, splitters, devices, etc.. Lable with make and model information. No need for any personally identifying information.

The purpose of the sketch is to get a sense of the big picture and then use the sketch to remove unnecessary connections/splitters and properly ground, terminate, or repair problems.

There may be other comments, thoughts, and suggestions.

Perhaps regarding some error of omission or commision on my part.

No problem with that on this end.

okay i will do that but just had a tech come over with his supervisor on his phone and they dont know what to do cause they dont see any issues on their end but I did tell them when I run command prompt and do ping test I get a lot of request timed out and my ping fluctuates a lot so they told me to hold off till monday take screenshots and go from there . they didnt mention the wires or anything so i dont know if i should even bother because i doubt they will look at it.

 

[bill001g]

What a bunch of idiots. Do they actually think things will just go away when you have called them multiple times.
They will spend money sending another person out again. It is likely how they measure their metrics. The techs will do anything to get better numbers even if that means the problem is not resolved. A good company would actually deduct points from techs who claim to have fixed a problem that required a second call out.

 

[bill001g]

After ATT fiber came in where I live I figure spectrum might try harder. Seems they are still down all the time and they raised the rates again even though they were higher than att already. Maybe thats why I see more ATT trucks around placing flags in people yard to run fiber to their house lately.

 

[Suidd]

What a bunch of idiots. Do they actually think things will just go away when you have called them multiple times.
They will spend money sending another person out again. It is likely how they measure their metrics. The techs will do anything to get better numbers even if that means the problem is not resolved. A good company would actually deduct points from techs who claim to have fixed a problem that required a second call out.

yeah unfortunately optimum is my only option so im kinda screwed there, but im going to keep trying to get this fixed. I wish ATT would bless my area. its hard to work with them cause they keep doing test on their end but dont wanna test or ping test inside my house cause thats what errors start to show up. I filed a FCC complaint and I have someone on my case , I just got off the phone with him he said hes going to do a singal test and node test and let me know what it looks like when it comes back. hopefully they can find the issue there HOPEFULLY.

 

[Ralston18]

FCC?

How did you contact the FCC?

They offer speed tests (apps) but I am not (was not) aware that they do any sort of signal and node testing.

Any more information on exactly what will be tested and how?

What information was provided to the FCC? Generically I expect that to be name, address, etc.. Did you provide any IP address information, account numbers, and so forth?

Not asking for any of that actual information.

= = = =

Regarding the last tech visit. If they did not mention the spider nest of wires then there is something wrong. Maybe the original installation is a botched job via some subcontractor.

And from what point did they conduct their tests? The orange cable? Somewhere else?

What, if anything was connected to the incoming cable(s)? Did the tech say anything about decibel levels, noise levels, etc?

I have recovered or improved coax service by simply replacing splitters. Especially splitters exposed to the elements. From time to time all that was necessary was to disconnect the cables, blow out dust, debris, and moisture. Clean the threads - and reconnect. All worked again.

Terminators and an occassional new cable helped. Especially with exterior cable runs.

At one time, it was no problem to get a Comcast/Xfinity tech (or the store) itself to give me an extra splitter or two. Especially if I returned the failed splitter. Swap in the new one - problem gone. Those days long past.....

Google "coax cable installation tutorials" and do some reading. Learn more about how the cabling and connections should be properly done. That does not mean that you should do so yourself - could give the ISP more reason to blame it all on you and charge accordingly.

Which may be moot if you are already responsible for everything past your ISP's terminal point. They will go past that point but you pay.

Hint: those coax connectors are often awkward to connect and disconnect. There are a variety of "special" tools to help. The nuts are 7/16". A small crescent wrench works but a 7/16" open-ended wrench with offset ends works even better.

 

[Suidd]

FCC?

How did you contact the FCC?

They offer speed tests (apps) but I am not (was not) aware that they do any sort of signal and node testing.

Any more information on exactly what will be tested and how?

What information was provided to the FCC? Generically I expect that to be name, address, etc.. Did you provide any IP address information, account numbers, and so forth?

Not asking for any of that actual information.

= = = =

Regarding the last tech visit. If they did not mention the spider nest of wires then there is something wrong. Maybe the original installation is a botched job via some subcontractor.

And from what point did they conduct their tests? The orange cable? Somewhere else?

What, if anything was connected to the incoming cable(s)? Did the tech say anything about decibel levels, noise levels, etc?

I have recovered or improved coax service by simply replacing splitters. Especially splitters exposed to the elements. From time to time all that was necessary was to disconnect the cables, blow out dust, debris, and moisture. Clean the threads - and reconnect. All worked again.

Terminators and an occassional new cable helped. Especially with exterior cable runs.

At one time, it was no problem to get a Comcast/Xfinity tech (or the store) itself to give me an extra splitter or two. Especially if I returned the failed splitter. Swap in the new one - problem gone. Those days long past.....

Google "coax cable installation tutorials" and do some reading. Learn more about how the cabling and connections should be properly done. That does not mean that you should do so yourself - could give the ISP more reason to blame it all on you and charge accordingly.

Which may be moot if you are already responsible for everything past your ISP's terminal point. They will go past that point but you pay.

Hint: those coax connectors are often awkward to connect and disconnect. There are a variety of "special" tools to help. The nuts are 7/16". A small crescent wrench works but a 7/16" open-ended wrench with offset ends works even better.

I contacted them through some fourm from reddit and not entirely sure I asked them to do a node test and a signal test for me and they said it will take a couple hours to do and they will contact me back, I gave them all my info account and phone and address. im not honestly sure the tech was outside with his supervisor the whole time on the phone so i have no idea what they were talking about. I dont really wanna touch the wires cause I dont wanna make things worse but im completely lost for hope at this point I dont think it will ever be fixed.

 

[Ralston18]

FCC call/contact- that reddit forum contact does not sound right at all.

Be very wary and do not give them any financial information.

FYI:

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/filing-informal-complaint

https://broadbandnow.com/guides/how-to-file-fcc-ftc-internet-complaint

= = = =

As for not touching the wires: fair enough. I do not want to make things worse either.

However, you can still sketch out the wiring, components, etc. and just simply learn more about it all in the meantime.

Had an afterthought: not sure about your residence/location (not asking) but is there any possibility that someone could be tapping into your service?

 

[Suidd]

FCC call/contact- that reddit forum contact does not sound right at all.

Be very wary and do not give them any financial information.

FYI:

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/filing-informal-complaint

https://broadbandnow.com/guides/how-to-file-fcc-ftc-internet-complaint

= = = =

As for not touching the wires: fair enough. I do not want to make things worse either.

However, you can still sketch out the wiring, components, etc. and just simply learn more about it all in the meantime.

Had an afterthought: not sure about your residence/location (not asking) but is there any possibility that someone could be tapping into your service?

yeah i meant that i filed a fourm and they contacted me via email , and thats what I thought too but I dont think so I changed the wifi so many times and it makes no difference. If thats what ur asking and I will do that

 

[Suidd]

yeah i meant that i filed a fourm and they contacted me via email , and thats what I thought too but I dont think so I changed the wifi so many times and it makes no difference. If thats what ur asking and I will do that

My internet only works fine when I download something , maybe something is backwards in the modem settings , I have no idea. just spit balling at this point.