More technical problems

[Homer]

Some of you might recall that the other day I posted about how my internet connection goes down all the time. I still haven't solved that problem and now have another one. My cable line is split and I have one cable going to a TV and one to the cable modem. Today, when I do anything on the internet, my TV starts flickering. Anyone know what's up with that?

[pudley4]

You probably need a stronger/better signal. Contact the cable company and have them come out and test the line. They may install a booster, which would boost your signal. They may also replace the line(s) in/into your house with better cables - this can give you an increase in your performance also. They can also check all the wall connetions (from inside the wall to the jack) to make sure they are tight.

We had a similar problem and they were able to resolve it with a higher quality cable line in the house.

[JAque]

I agree with JeffA. The company can measure the signal integrity before it enters the house and each connection in the house. In addition, you may want to mention your internet conenction problem as well. You should try to have the cable modem replaced. If you take it to the office yourself, they will replace it. Just tell them the technician told you so and you didn't want to make an appoiment.

JAque

[dogmeat]

I just had a booster installed by Cox Communications, the local cable/TV/Phone company. They were very nice, called before the appt., showed on time and put a booster at the corner of the block to service everybody on the street - great speed now, no down time (I had been using AT&T dialup when the cable went down). OH, no charge, either.

Dogmeat /images/graemlins/spade.gif

[CardCuda]

I have the same service and had numerous connection problems in the beginning (Charter Pipeline).

If you are using a "splitter" do the following:

Have the cable company come out and "separate" your TV and internet cable connections...in other words have one for internet and one for TV. The feedback noise "supposedly" from the splitter when having the TV on affects the internet connection. You can also call the 24hr service line and they'll be able to tell you how much "noise" your internet connection has. I took the technicians advice and have had no problems since...none, it's been great. Costs a little $ but was well worth it IMO.

If you don't have a spliiter and they are already separated:

The outside cable connection is bad, have a tech come out test them and replace. Takes them about 5 minutes and should be included in your service contract.

Also don't know what kind of modem you have but the ones the cable company gives you are crap (I went through 2 in 6 months, before I finally did some research and went down to Office Depot and purchased my own...$65.00 I think I paid for it and haven't had any problems with it in a year and no modem fee on your monthly bill.

CC

[Caveman]

I would strongly suggest waiting to install an amp until a technician comes out and test your system. If there is lots of noise on your line and you boost the signal you will also be boosting the noise. Make sure you buy a bidirectional amp, the older cheaper amps only work one way and will not work with a modem.

The first and cheapest thing to check is make sure all the cable connections in your house are tight. This is may not be the problem but loose connections allow ingress or egress of signal strength either of which could contribute to your intermittant problem.

Make sure you are not using any of the cheap push on cables, also if you are using old cables you might want to change them out. Buy RG6 or RG6 Qaud shield cables if you can, avoid the thin RG59 cables they do not work well at the bandwidth your modem uses. If you change out the cables change the splitter too, just make sure you buy a bidirectional splitter with a rating of 900 or 1000 mhz. The older 450 mhz splitters do not work and the higher rated ones are not going to give you any advantage.

How many televisions do you have hooked up to cable? Is your wiring on the outside of the house or do you have wires in your attic? The reason I ask isthat someone mentioned seperate lines for your computer and tv. Generally you can't have seperate lines. ( If you are willing to pay the tech on the side he might do it) The ideal setup in most regions is to seperate the tv's and the computer modem at the first split, modem on one side, ALL televisions on the other side of the split. The first splitter should also only be a 2-way, a 3-way splitter can be used but if it is make sure the modem is connected to the 3.5db leg (the other 2 legs will be around 7db)

The fact that the internet use is having an effect on your tv means that signal stregnth is not likely to be the problem.The cables or connections are the most likely culprit, with the splitter being considered part of this.