Sparklight → Crap signal

I have been on Cable One's 50 mbps plan for about a month now, and my connection is absolute garbage. My downstream power level at one point today was -20dbmv and SNR was 28. The internet shuts down completely for hours at a time once or twice a week. I called tech support and the guy I spoke with told me that the low downstream should not affect my connection. Really? Having a super weak signal outside of my modem's handling range is not a problem? He informed me that my neighbors had been complaining as well. What he mentioned is that there seemed to be a problem on the upstream side with noise. That would explain the 100% packet loss I get at times when I do certain tests. It would also explain why gaming is impossible, which is the main reason I switched to cable. Besides Cable One, the only other option I have for internet is AT&T, which is only 1.5 mbps down/0.5 up. I'm seriously thinking about going back with AT&T. Even though it's crap, it's consistent crap. Sorry for the rant, but this would be a good place to vent.

My advice to you is to keep calling in.

A -20 dbmv power level is unacceptable and with the D3 standard, it shouldn't even be near -15. That SNR should be at least 35. My guess is that your upstream power is also crappy. That technician clearly doesn't know what he or she is talking about.

Right, I will keep calling. I don't know if I will ever have much luck being the last house on the line, but I would at least like to know. The cable run to my house is about 250 ft, so I don't know. I can tell that the hotter it gets, the worse the signal is. It's not acceptable since I will be taking online classes soon. What the phone techs tend to go by when troubleshooting a connection is speed tests, and I am getting advertised speeds, but these other issues are making it a nightmare. Thanks for the reply.

Demand a on site tech to come look and refer to the heat issue as well.

I wish I knew of an open source signal monitor and data collector tool I could publish to my ISP.

Ok, so I had a tech come out. I was basically told that my town needed upgrades, but since we are a small town, we've been neglected. One other thing to note was that since the drop from the pole to my house is so long (about 400 ft) and I don't have an extra utility pole in the yard, they are unable to run a thicker cable. The tech put an amplifier outside of the house, and while my signal levels are now around 0 and the downstream snr is now above 35, our connection seems to have gotten worse. Online gaming is totally out of the question now. I guess I am going to have to accept it as it is or either switch back to AT&T's 1.5/.05 plan. I hate to after having them install all of this cable and this amplifier, but I am not happy. It's not totally their fault, but it is what it is.

Did you sit down with the tech while he was there before he left so you could show him what was going on?

Ya, seems like if the tech said that the town needs upgrades and still isn't working, then they need to fix it and or let you out of your contract and go back to AT&T...