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ddwest
join:2014-02-04
Las Vegas, NM

ddwest

Member

[WildBlue] Loss of signal

During the day, I occasionally lose the signal. I tracked it today starting in the morning and the signal stopped between 7:00AM and 7:35, again at 9:00 until 9:20 and finally between 6:00 and 6:25 PM. The sky conditions were basically the same throughout the day, light clouds, no rain.

Could the dish being out of alignment be the cause of this intermittent loss?
Against my own advice, I called tech support only to be hustled for an upgrade to Excede.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

P.S Just as I got ready to send this, the signal stopped again starting at 7:48PM. Now it looks like it was off for only a few minutes.
DrStrangLov
join:2012-03-28

DrStrangLov

Member

When working, if one can get decent upload/download speeds, I would suspect your dish is in alignment. During prime-time, what is typical up/down?
viasatguy
Premium Member
join:2002-06-11
Carlsbad, CA

viasatguy to ddwest

Premium Member

to ddwest
It would be helpful to have the modem/TRIA stats.

From your web browser enter 192.168.100.1 to see what the modem is reporting.
DrStrangLov
join:2012-03-28

DrStrangLov to ddwest

Member

to ddwest
said by ddwest:

I called tech support only to be hustled for an upgrade to Excede.

If yours was installed back in 2005 time-frame, there was the modem's power-brick issue, and I would have suspected all were replaced.

I assume your cable goes direct from modem to TRIA, with no surge protection inserted.

About when was yours installed? Any chance something has chewed on your cable?

CSRs, years ago, could see your setup's specs
Liberty
Premium Member
join:2005-06-12
Arizona

Liberty to viasatguy

Premium Member

to viasatguy
Steve, OP said he was offered to upgrade to Exede.
No URL for WB modem
viasatguy
Premium Member
join:2002-06-11
Carlsbad, CA

viasatguy

Premium Member

Not Steve, but thanks, I missed that part.
ddwest
join:2014-02-04
Las Vegas, NM

ddwest to DrStrangLov

Member

to DrStrangLov
Thanks for the response.

The reason I thought it might be an alignment issue was that I read somewhere that if your upload speed is less than 100 Kbps, then alignment might require some investigation. During the peak of my outages yesterday, my upload speed was 48 Kbps. This morning, my upload speed is 150 Kbps. download 1.68 Mbps so I may have to rule that out. But if I've learned nothing else in my eight years with Wildblue, time heals all wounds when it comes to dependability - wait long enough and it will work again, eventually.

I'm in the process of checking out the cables for fraying. I'm also going to unloosen and clean all the connections since they're exposed to the weather. We have some rats up here in the mountains the size of dogs so chewed cables are a possibility.

Thanks again.

hdman
Flt Rider
Premium Member
join:2003-11-25
Appleton, WI

hdman

Premium Member

One other issue is not just the weather on YOUR end, but also the weather at the NOC or where the signal is sent from earth to the bird. You may also want to check that as well depending on which NOC you are serviced from.
ddwest
join:2014-02-04
Las Vegas, NM

ddwest

Member

I may have solved the problem of my signal loss.

I removed, cleaned and used a moisture repellent on all my coax connections about a week ago. Since then, I haven't noticed a loss of signal. Of course, it may start up again...who knows?

My dish was installed around 2005 and the connectors have been exposed to the weather all that time.

I hope a moderator here can relay this to tech support and maybe help someone else with the same problem.

james1979
Premium Member
join:2012-10-09
Quinault, WA

james1979

Premium Member

said by ddwest:

I removed, cleaned and used a moisture repellent on all my coax connections about a week ago.

What type of moisture repellent did you use on your coax connections?

After cleaning and tightening them, I smeared dielectric grease on the outside of the coax connectors on my Dish TV. I don't know how helpful that was, but it hasn't hurt anything. (I haven't touched my Exede system, as that might void the warranty with my lifetime equipment lease).

My understanding is that you want to be careful not to get dielectric grease inside the coax connectors. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than me can expound on the wisdom of using dielectric grease in this manner.

Hughes is now using some type of "weather proof" tape on their coax connectors. That seems like a much better idea than grease. I don't know exactly what type of tape that it is, but this what it looks like:




(Sorry for the slight blur, but it's a good enough photo for discussion purposes.)