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RunDVDfirst
@cox.net
| [VA] Why no cable signal when DOM power is out? I live next to the Wolf Trap.(rt 7 & 267)
Whenever there's heavy rain, the power goes out for the
entire neighborhood. There are about 110 house on 4
residential streets. Not sure why rain would affect it,
but Dominion Power usually has it back up in a few hours.
All the utilities(electricity, phone, cable tv) are buried
underground in this area.
My question is, EVERY time the power goes out, so does the
Cox cable TV/internet signal. I've tried this many times
over the last several years. When the power goes out,
the cable light on the modem also goes out, with only
"power" and "PC" light on, which is plugged to a 3000VA
UPS. I also try connecting a portable 15" LCD TV and it
also does not get any cable signal.
Several Cox technicians(both phone support and in the vans)
I've talked to said that Cox does not need Dominion's power
to run its signals... but then why does the signal go away
every time the power goes out???
All my neighbors experience the same thing... does anyone
know why?
thakns! | |
|  
Shrapnel64
Premium
join:2001-01-24
Hayes, VA
 ·Verizon Online DSL
 ·Cox HSI
2 edits | Re: [VA] Why no cable signal when DOM power is out? I'm sure Cox Tech Support can help better than what I can tell you...but it sounds like they don't have the big power houses that operate while the power is out in your area. If you don't know what I'm talking about, they can be identified as big green boxes labeled with Alpha that would keep cable, telephone, and anything served by cox up and running until power has been restored; at least for a few hours. I believe most of them run on Natural Gas so that shouldn't be a problem.
It would appear that if you don't have power, or signal on your cable line, that the battery backup units that cox provides when you order digital telephone, for your digitial telephone, won't work very well.
[EDIT]
Trying to make more sense of what I previously posted. | |
| cableguy619
join:2003-06-24
Chula Vista, CA | but if you have no wpower in the house how do u turn on your modem, pc, tv.... for the most part phone woul dbe powered from COX's back up generators..signal is there but if you have no power to your residence you have nothing | |
| | 
jsimmons
Premium,MVM
join:2000-04-24
Falls Church, VA
1 edit | Re: [VA] Why no cable signal when DOM power is out? said by cableguy619  :but if you have no wpower in the house how do u turn on your modem, pc, tv.... Its called a battery backup UPS system. I have my LAN switch, cable modem, router, wireless AP, and cordless phone on a nice sized battery backup UPS. When the power is out, My network is still alive and my laptop PC (which also has battery) works fine.
--
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler."
- Albert Einstein
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| | | cableguy619
join:2003-06-24
Chula Vista, CA | Re: [VA] Why no cable signal when DOM power is out? JSimmons, I am and we are not talking about A home owend UPS, we are talking about back up power from COX's end to provide services...
it was the point I was trying to get to .. | |
| CCLA
join:2002-06-17
Baton Rouge, LA
| Wonder if you have a house amp in attic? That would kill it when the power is out. But We ( Cox ) are really reliant on commercial power. It sounds like the powersupply for your area isint trippin into standby. We do need power for our system to run. Our feeder lines carry voltage to power the amps on the line. | |
| | 
CoxTech1
VIP
join:2002-04-25
Chesapeake, VA
| It sounds like the Node that provides service to your area looses it's power as well as the area. If this is the case then the only thing that can be done is to complain to DOM for them to find out if a transformer's cable is cut. If the cable is cut and water is entering the line then that would explain why the power keeps going out when it rains.
CoxTech1 | |
| CCLA
join:2002-06-17
Baton Rouge, LA | While Coxtech1's statement is true, he should still have 2-3 hours of service till the batteries in the power supply die. | |
| |
cablehelpR
@cox.net | Re: [VA] Why no cable signal when DOM power is out? not sure if this area is using voip but if its not then the NIU's would not have power if the node is not passing power in a outtage... | |
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NoVA_CoxUser
Stand back from the cage -- The RF bites
Premium
join:2004-07-06
Alexandria, VA
·Cox HSI
4 edits | I'll attempt to summarize in an effort to get this thread back on-track:
1) This gent DOES have a "darned-big" personal UPS (3 KVA) which is maintaining electrical power to his cable modem (and I assume to his other network devices) and at least one LCD TV during a test. The issue is that his cable signal is apparently dropping out when the local electrical utility drops.
He should not be loosing his cable signal in this circumstance. (and I'm assuming that he doesn't have a non-UPS'd coax amp "hidden" in his house somewhere)
2) Each Cox NoVA fiber node has one or more power supplies which power-up the node itself, as well as the associated "active devices" (hardline coax amps and phone NIUs) on that node's distro system.
3) Each of these Cox power supplies is powered by the electric utility at that specific neighborhood location. (They actually have electric meters installed so Cox is billed by DOM)
4) Each Cox power supply also contains a battery bank -- (or possibly a generator ... although I've not personally seen any of the generator models installed in this area)
5) Normally, the batteries "float" on a trickle charge, with DOM electricity powering Cox's power supply which in turn powers the node and it's associated "actives."
6) In the event of a DOM power failure, the Cox power supply shifts to battery power (or generator) and maintains power to the entire node, maintaining Cox's signal to the subscribers.
Essentially, each Cox NoVA node power supply is it's own UPS.
Something appears to be not right with this gent's Cox power supply. While it's working fine when DOM is available, it's apparently not shifting to it's own internal backup power during DOM outages.
And before I get flamed ... yes there could be an electrically-induced Cox network outage upstream of the neighborhood fiber node which could cause this same problem. However, those facilities have extensive power backup features and monitoring; if they were to drop out, it would impact thousands of customers and be detected instantly. | |
| | 
Chekawa
Ema
Premium
join:2001-02-02
Nectar Land | Re: [VA] Why no cable signal when DOM power is out? So does this mean when the power is out in the entire area you still have phone service when cox is the provider? | |
| | |
NoVA_CoxUser
Stand back from the cage -- The RF bites
Premium
join:2004-07-06
Alexandria, VA
·Cox HSI
4 edits | Re: [VA] Why no cable signal when DOM power is out? said by Chekawa :So does this mean when the power is out in the entire area you still have phone service when cox is the provider? Assuming that Cox's power supplies function as-designed, that is correct, phone service is maintained.
The 90 volt "phone power" comes into my phone NIU via the coax from Cox's fiber node power supplies -- even if the electrical utility in the area is "out."
Customers in Cox's VoIP markets don't have NIUs as we do in NoVA, but they use Cox-provided telephony modems which have backup batteries built-in.
Cox NoVA's other network components "upstream" of the neighborhood fiber nodes also have pretty robust power backup (the "hub" serving my area actually has two diesel generators to allow continuous operation through extended electrical outages). | |
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