Question How to ask ISP/which tests to run to properly check outdoors?

[cctaylor88]

**Tl;dr** I have my ISP coming out tonight, and I want them to focus on everything OUTSIDE of the home (I fully expect them to find nothing as is my previous history). Speeds will go from 300-500 to <6 down out of no where. Everything on my end is completely up to date and capable. What I'd like to know is WHAT to ask them and WHICH tests to run etc. Is there too much "noise" on my line, is my neighborhood "node" over crowded etc?


**Additional info if you have time;** I currently use WOW as my ISP. I will get speeds anywhere from 400-600 down during normal times (paying for 1GB). I'm fine with anything above 200 honestly BUT there are times where my speeds tank to near uselessness. I'm talking <6 down which is simply unacceptable. There is no rhyme or reason. I used to think it was me and I've spent hours upon hours trouble shooting. Even went so far as installing/uninstalling drivers (I was about to do a fresh install of Win10). My router and modem are <1 year old. Both are completely on up to date on firmware.

Spectrum was my previous ISP, I spent several hours of pulling my hair out ... finally on the FIFTH technician I got someone nice who found a literal filter on my line within 15min. The filter automatically put my signal at like -10dB and then with the splitter in the house another -5dB, there was no record of this being placed on Spectrums end and they claimed to not know who it was/when it was placed. It costed me many hours of my life and for nothing of my doing. Since then I realized I can't trust these massive companies.

 

[razel]

They will do what they were sent out to do on their work order. Anything else requires payment. I would just clearly and briefly state what the issue is within 30 seconds.

Sounds like your issue is expecting too much from the Internet from your neighborhood. They tell you it's up to a certain speed. At the speeds you're at you are at the mercy of Internet traffic. Consider reducing your speed tier. mb/s is not like mph. 1000 vs 100mb/s doesn't mean you're getting data 10x faster when you are using less than 100mb/s.

 

[JackMDS]

Cable Internet is much more unstable and volatile than Fiber type (like FIOS).

That the way it is in reality. Cable ISPs info is the best marketing info that they can give you without being sued, it is Not "tangible" reality.

The only thing (according to them) that they ""obligated" to do is to connect their equipment to the output of their Modem (or Modem/Router) and show you what you get at that point.

 

[DaaQ]

**Tl;dr** I have my ISP coming out tonight, and I want them to focus on everything OUTSIDE of the home (I fully expect them to find nothing as is my previous history). Speeds will go from 300-500 to <6 down out of no where. Everything on my end is completely up to date and capable. What I'd like to know is WHAT to ask them and WHICH tests to run etc. Is there too much "noise" on my line, is my neighborhood "node" over crowded etc?


**Additional info if you have time;** I currently use WOW as my ISP. I will get speeds anywhere from 400-600 down during normal times (paying for 1GB). I'm fine with anything above 200 honestly BUT there are times where my speeds tank to near uselessness. I'm talking <6 down which is simply unacceptable. There is no rhyme or reason. I used to think it was me and I've spent hours upon hours trouble shooting. Even went so far as installing/uninstalling drivers (I was about to do a fresh install of Win10). My router and modem are <1 year old. Both are completely on up to date on firmware.

Spectrum was my previous ISP, I spent several hours of pulling my hair out ... finally on the FIFTH technician I got someone nice who found a literal filter on my line within 15min. The filter automatically put my signal at like -10dB and then with the splitter in the house another -5dB, there was no record of this being placed on Spectrums end and they claimed to not know who it was/when it was placed. It costed me many hours of my life and for nothing of my doing. Since then I realized I can't trust these massive companies.

Maybe late for reply but, ask the to drop certify your drop from tap to ground. Which means run the spectrum test on it for noise, another troubleshooting aspect is what were the levels at the tap? Pick a frequency, HSD usually is below 288Mhz depending if they are using QAM256 carriers (Docsis 3.0) or OFDM (Docsis 3.1) What was the level at the tap and what is the level at the groundblock? Need to know the footage of the drop to calculate if the signal loss is what it should be or if it's excessive. Excessive indicating a bad drop, water ingress, noise ingress ect.
What is the splitter configuration? are you and HSD only customer or do you have cable tv as well?
depending on signal level at groundblock a splitter may be needed to attenuate the signal so that it is within range. IE our co. range specs are +7 thru -7 db on RX and +36 through 50 db on TX SNR should be above 33 upstream and 36 downstream. Ideally you would want your forward level at 0db
How long is the coax run from the groundblock to the modem? Hopefully it is RG6 as RG59 has double the loss over distance.
Another parameter is signal QUALITY, what are the pre and post FEC BER numbers? Also the MER? MER is closely related to signal to noise ratio of the old days but not quite. It mean Modulation Error Rate. The pre and post FEC is Forward Error Correction, you always want post FEC to be e-09 Pre FEC can be lower but as long as post can correct it, it's not an issue. BER is Bit Error Rate. This all pertains to signal quality. You can have great signal levels but if the signal quality is no good then something is wrong.
You can download an app from either app store for free, "signal loss calculator" it will give you what you should lose by cable type over footage by frequency.

Cable Internet is much more unstable and volatile than Fiber type (like FIOS).

That the way it is in reality. Cable ISPs info is the best marketing info that they can give you without being sued, it is Not "tangible" reality.

The only thing (according to them) that they ""obligated" to do is to connect their equipment to the output of their Modem (or Modem/Router) and show you what you get at that point.

Not sure what you are trying to say here, unstable and volatile??
Not all cable ISPs are created equal, I will concede that. Without going into names.
But most "coax" cable ISPs are hybrid, meaning hybrid fiber/coax. Headend to Node is all fiber, from node to amps, line extenders and taps including the drop to the home is coax.
Coax can be repaired faster, in regards to a fiber break. Most all have redundancy built in.
Customers per node is not quite an issue nor is peak hours due to CMTS timing offsets. Unless of course they are overloading the node beyond manufacturers recommendations.
The real only thing fiber has over traditional HFC networks is the symmetrical link, although with the advent of the OFDM and moving more nodes into the field, that will become insignificant.
HFC networks are moving towards symmetrical upload/download services.
Did you ever think you would be able to get 1gig from coax? Let alone 2gig symmetrical?