| Potential signal problem? So over the past few months I've noticed my downstream power levels continue to rise and I'm a little concerned this might pose an issue later down the road. Before you read any further, let me state right now that there's no actual problem (at least that I can tell) with my connection. It's stable, I get the speeds I'm paying for, no major lag or anything that I can tell.
So take a look at my signal levels taken as of Feb. 13. Let me walk you through how my connection wiring is setup.
From my SB6141 to the demarc on my house is roughly 25 feet of quad shield RG-6. From the demarc to the tap, which is right in my back yard and I have access to, is roughly 80-90 feet. So in total around 100 feet of RG-6 from my modem to the tap. There are no splitter anywhere on the line. This is the type of tap they are using: »www.motorola.com/Video-Solutions···HS_US-EN
Tracing the route back to the headend, the hardline feeder cable runs around 500 feet to an amplifier. This amp has always been there as long as I've known. From the amp, the cable then runs about another 1500 to our node. And yes, anyone who is curious, I do know the difference between an amp and a node...they do look similar but anyone with some familiarity can tell the difference.
From the node it's about another 1000 or feet to the power supply cabinet for the cable line itself. Now here is where it gets a little interesting. Within the last maybe 2 months, they added another amp right after the power supply but before the node my circuit is on. I don't know if this amp actually services my line because it is a big mess of spaghetti on the poles, but it is coincidental that the power levels suddenly increased like they did.
When I first got service my downstream power levels were around 8-9 dbmv down (38dB sn ratio) and 42 dbmv up. The only major changes that have occurred in that time include going from 4 channels downstream to 6, and from 1 channel up to 4 channels. That and the addition of the amp on the line I mentioned. I've also noticed some talk in this forum that the DFW area may see 8 downstream channels later this year.
So, I guess I'm looking for opinions from everyone if this is something to be more concerned about or if I should even attempt to bring this up with tech support. Like I said, I've not really noticed any issues yet.
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The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. -John Adams, 1787 |
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 kilrathi
join:2005-04-22
Rockaway Park, NY | If thats true then those power levels on downstream are damn high, I mean its not like something gonna blow up but I wouldnt want to have my own modem in that setup for long time. |
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Reviews:
 ·Time Warner Cable
| reply to warlock56
said by warlock56:So over the past few months I've noticed my downstream power levels continue to rise and I'm a little concerned this might pose an issue later down the road. Before you read any further, let me state right now that there's no actual problem (at least that I can tell) with my connection. It's stable, I get the speeds I'm paying for, no major lag or anything that I can tell.
So take a look at my signal levels taken as of Feb. 13. Let me walk you through how my connection wiring is setup.
From my SB6141 to the demarc on my house is roughly 25 feet of quad shield RG-6. From the demarc to the tap, which is right in my back yard and I have access to, is roughly 80-90 feet. So in total around 100 feet of RG-6 from my modem to the tap. There are no splitter anywhere on the line. This is the type of tap they are using: »www.motorola.com/Video-Solutions···HS_US-EN
Tracing the route back to the headend, the hardline feeder cable runs around 500 feet to an amplifier. This amp has always been there as long as I've known. From the amp, the cable then runs about another 1500 to our node. And yes, anyone who is curious, I do know the difference between an amp and a node...they do look similar but anyone with some familiarity can tell the difference.
From the node it's about another 1000 or feet to the power supply cabinet for the cable line itself. Now here is where it gets a little interesting. Within the last maybe 2 months, they added another amp right after the power supply but before the node my circuit is on. I don't know if this amp actually services my line because it is a big mess of spaghetti on the poles, but it is coincidental that the power levels suddenly increased like they did.
When I first got service my downstream power levels were around 8-9 dbmv down (38dB sn ratio) and 42 dbmv up. The only major changes that have occurred in that time include going from 4 channels downstream to 6, and from 1 channel up to 4 channels. That and the addition of the amp on the line I mentioned. I've also noticed some talk in this forum that the DFW area may see 8 downstream channels later this year.
So, I guess I'm looking for opinions from everyone if this is something to be more concerned about or if I should even attempt to bring this up with tech support. Like I said, I've not really noticed any issues yet.
interesting. Warlock56 we may even be on the same CMTS possibly or your on the ARRIS C401 for Arlington. Downstream Bonded Channels Channel Lock Status Modulation Channel ID Frequency Power SNR Correctables Uncorrectables 1 Locked QAM256 1 783000000 Hz -3.3 dBmV 37.4 dB 84 0 2 Locked QAM256 2 789000000 Hz -3.8 dBmV 37.1 dB 64 0 3 Locked QAM256 3 795000000 Hz -4.2 dBmV 36.5 dB 211 0 4 Locked QAM256 4 801000000 Hz -4.5 dBmV 36.1 dB 465 0 5 Locked QAM256 5 807000000 Hz -5.4 dBmV 35.5 dB 1612 0 6 Locked QAM256 6 813000000 Hz -5.3 dBmV 36.3 dB 661 0 7 Not Locked Unknown 0 0 Hz 0.0 dBmV 0.0 dB 0 0 8 Not Locked Unknown 0 0 Hz 0.0 dBmV 0.0 dB 0 0 Upstream Bonded Channels Channel Lock Status US Channel Type Channel ID Symbol Rate Frequency Power 1 Locked TDMA and ATDMA 10 2560 Ksym/sec 33000000 Hz 41.2 dBmV 2 Locked TDMA and ATDMA 9 2560 Ksym/sec 36500000 Hz 41.2 dBmV 3 Locked TDMA and ATDMA 11 2560 Ksym/sec 29500000 Hz 41.2 dBmV 4 Locked TDMA and ATDMA 12 2560 Ksym/sec 24500000 Hz 41.2 dBmV I am curious what part of Arlington are you in? I am in south Arlington near the airport. I am supposedly near the end of the line for the node that I am on. Also can you post a picture of the node? I know that there are three different nodes in use in Arlington two motorola types and one from aurora networks. this is what the node looks like that feeds my neighborhood: » www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt···w&dur=41these are the nodes that are used in Arlington: not often used but here is the MBN87 which looks like most of the amps on the lines: » goo.gl/maps/3fwhvSG 2000 node: » goo.gl/maps/ZpsNqaurora NC4000 node: » goo.gl/maps/vmmF9 |
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harald
join:2010-10-22
Columbus, OH
kudos:1 | reply to warlock56
said by warlock56:And yes, anyone who is curious, I do know the difference between an amp and a node...they do look similar but anyone with some familiarity can tell the difference.
From the node it's about another 1000 or feet to the power supply cabinet for the cable line itself. Now here is where it gets a little interesting. Within the last maybe 2 months, they added another amp right after the power supply but before the node my circuit is on. I don't know if this amp actually services my line because it is a big mess of spaghetti on the poles, but it is coincidental that the power levels suddenly increased like they did.
You cannot have an amplifier before a node. Nodes are fed by fiber, not coax.
My guess is that what you are calling a node is actually a bridger. It would not be normal in TWC systems to find a user connected to a trunk cable from a node. The standard configuration is fiber - node - trunk cable - bridger - feeder cable - tap - customer drop. |
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| said by motorola870:I am supposedly near the end of the line for the node that I am on. Also can you post a picture of the node? I know that there are three different nodes in use in Arlington two motorola types and one from aurora networks.
Both the amp and the node appear to be Motorolas. I can try and snap a couple of pictures later today and post them.
said by harald:You cannot have an amplifier before a node. Nodes are fed by fiber, not coax.
My guess is that what you are calling a node is actually a bridger. It would not be normal in TWC systems to find a user connected to a trunk cable from a node. The standard configuration is fiber - node - trunk cable - bridger - feeder cable - tap - customer drop.
I'm not disagreeing with you, but that new amp they added might not even be servicing my line, it's hard to tell. I can take a picture of the new amp too.
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The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. -John Adams, 1787 |
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 swintecPremium,VIP
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME
kudos:4
 ·RapidVPS
 ·Sprint Mobile Br..
 ·VoicePulse
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to warlock56
said by warlock56:Like I said, I've not really noticed any issues yet.
I would not worry about it then.
If it keeps you awake at night add a splitter before your modem to bring them down and see the effects.
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Usenet Block Accounts | Unlimited Accounts |
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| Sometimes I think that the modem page that tells you your signal strength is really all bull. I seen especially in my case where the signal strength is excellent yet the connection gets slow (mainly upload) or does not work at all even though the lights are the modem are solid showing it is normal. Then I seen peoples modem pages where there signal is higher yet there connection is running great. |
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| reply to harald
said by harald:You cannot have an amplifier before a node. Nodes are fed by fiber, not coax. As it's the node that generates the RF signal on the coax (return path aside), there cannot be anything "before" it. Which is why it should be obvious that he's considering his house the starting point with the node being the end point, which does in fact put the amp "before" the node when looked at that way.
/M |
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| reply to warlock56
said by warlock56:So over the past few months I've noticed my downstream power levels continue to rise and I'm a little concerned this might pose an issue later down the road.
So, I guess I'm looking for opinions from everyone if this is something to be more concerned about or if I should even attempt to bring this up with tech support. Like I said, I've not really noticed any issues yet. At this point since you're not having any issues, I'd just leave it alone and keep an eye on it. If you really want to bring it down you could add a splitter like another poster mentioned or a attenuator. With an attenuator, I wouldn't go more then 6 dB due to your upstream levels. Keep in mind that your downstream levels will go down and your upstream will go up as it gets warmer outside, so keep an eye on that upstream once summer rolls around if you do do something.
/M |
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Amp next to my home | 
The node | 
Closer view of the node | 
The new amp |
said by mackey:At this point since you're not having any issues, I'd just leave it alone and keep an eye on it. If you really want to bring it down you could add a splitter like another poster mentioned or a attenuator. With an attenuator, I wouldn't go more then 6 dB due to your upstream levels. Keep in mind that your downstream levels will go down and your upstream will go up as it gets warmer outside, so keep an eye on that upstream once summer rolls around if you do do something.
/M
I mainly posted because I just wanted to make sure there wouldn't be any long term problems. I'm sure I'm not the first customer in the history of cable to receive a higher powered signal from the cable company and most people back in the day probably never even knew about it.
I also don't realistically expect I'll be able to call up TWC and ask them "hey, can you turn down the power on your amp outside my home?". Can you recommend an attenuator to use, assuming that it will be able to lower the power level without overly killing the signal too much.
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The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. -John Adams, 1787 |
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| said by warlock56:Can you recommend an attenuator to use, assuming that it will be able to lower the power level without overly killing the signal too much. I'm using the 12dB version of this. I actually picked up 3, 6, and 12 dB attenuators to tweak as needed (and figured might as well as the shipping is more then the attenuator), but my upstream is too high to use anything more then the 12.
/M |
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Reviews:
·Time Warner Cable
| reply to warlock56
said by warlock56:Here are the promised pictures to give you a better idea of how the service gets to my house.
said by mackey:At this point since you're not having any issues, I'd just leave it alone and keep an eye on it. If you really want to bring it down you could add a splitter like another poster mentioned or a attenuator. With an attenuator, I wouldn't go more then 6 dB due to your upstream levels. Keep in mind that your downstream levels will go down and your upstream will go up as it gets warmer outside, so keep an eye on that upstream once summer rolls around if you do do something.
/M
I mainly posted because I just wanted to make sure there wouldn't be any long term problems. I'm sure I'm not the first customer in the history of cable to receive a higher powered signal from the cable company and most people back in the day probably never even knew about it. I also don't realistically expect I'll be able to call up TWC and ask them "hey, can you turn down the power on your amp outside my home?". Can you recommend an attenuator to use, assuming that it will be able to lower the power level without overly killing the signal too much. the new amp was likely re-spaced from an existing location as the supposed new amp is likely an older model Line Extender as the newer ones have 4 test ports on front instead of 2 like the one in the second picture.
Also what intersection is that in Arlington? My node is in the Mayfield rd/Collins st area in South Arlington. |
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| reply to mackey
said by mackey:I'm using the 12dB version of this. I actually picked up 3, 6, and 12 dB attenuators to tweak as needed (and figured might as well as the shipping is more then the attenuator), but my upstream is too high to use anything more then the 12.
/M
Thanks, I went ahead and ordered a couple.
said by motorola870:the new amp was likely re-spaced from an existing location as the supposed new amp is likely an older model Line Extender as the newer ones have 4 test ports on front instead of 2 like the one in the second picture.
Also what intersection is that in Arlington? My node is in the Mayfield rd/Collins st area in South Arlington.
Sorry I have no desire to post that sort of specific information on the internet.
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The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. -John Adams, 1787 |
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Reviews:
·Time Warner Cable
1 edit | said by warlock56:said by mackey:I'm using the 12dB version of this. I actually picked up 3, 6, and 12 dB attenuators to tweak as needed (and figured might as well as the shipping is more then the attenuator), but my upstream is too high to use anything more then the 12.
/M
Thanks, I went ahead and ordered a couple. said by motorola870:the new amp was likely re-spaced from an existing location as the supposed new amp is likely an older model Line Extender as the newer ones have 4 test ports on front instead of 2 like the one in the second picture.
Also what intersection is that in Arlington? My node is in the Mayfield rd/Collins st area in South Arlington.
Sorry I have no desire to post that sort of specific information on the internet. was just curious as to where that node is so I could get a look via google maps  not trying to stalk you. Google maps usually has a good set of images of the nodes and amps in most areas.
also your configuration of how the feeds go out is wrong the node sends out different trunk lines in both directions so the node will have fiber coming in from one direction and send out the the trunk lines to the amps from both sides which are in cascades of around 2-3 amps in our area for most runs.
more than likely if you see an amp then node then an amp you are seeing two different runs one going each direction since the node sends out trunk lines to the amps from each direction out of the ports in most cases. |
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| said by motorola870:Sorry I have no desire to post that sort of specific information on the internet.
was just curious as to where that node is so I could get a look via google maps not trying to stalk you. Google maps usually has a good set of images of the nodes and amps in most areas.
also your configuration of how the feeds go out is wrong the node sends out different trunk lines in both directions so the node will have fiber coming in from one direction and send out the the trunk lines to the amps from both sides which are in cascades of around 2-3 amps in our area for most runs.
more than likely if you see an amp then node then an amp you are seeing two different runs one going each direction since the node sends out trunk lines to the amps from each direction out of the ports in most cases.
You're welcome to use my pictures for reference if you want.
I also suspected that multiple runs may be coming off the node, I just don't have enough knowledge of how it works. I'd love to see a tech work on these things sometime. I also got to figuring that the node itself must have more than the one run I mentioned in this thread because my specific run crosses two streets and I got to wondering how the people in between would get service, so obviously there must be another run somewhere. I can get a wider angle picture of the node if it helps. My arrows I put in, if you go the opposite direction, to point toward the headend at Matlock in the south-central part of the city.
That node is the only one I've seen so far for my neighborhood of around...maybe 50 homes. Don't know exactly but I've never had any terrible congestion on it.
However there is a Verizon cell phone tower just a short walk from the main amp in my picture that is serviced by Time Warner; it does take a different route though.
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The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. -John Adams, 1787 |
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