There is an aerial cable that comes to this splitter (from the left) that splits out two cables. The one powering my modem is the one that’s damaged.

I’ve been having internet issues during the day for the last few days (I live in the northeast US, so very cold right now if that’s relevant). It’s only during the day. Internet speed is VERY slow when it’s connected (<10mbps download, <1 upload) and it is constantly disconnecting. But at nights internet is normal with no interruptions (160mbsp download, 10 upload). I had a tech scheduled to come out to fix the cable today but the guy never showed up (I could do it on my own but don’t fully trust myself with it) but it seems weird it’s only happening during the day. Is this actually the issue?

The other cable from the splitter goes nowhere, so is not an option. This is a rented house so there’s only so much I can do.

  • nwoidaho@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    That one head of coax needs to be replaced immediately. With the split in the shield, signal interference is highly likely with that. In fact, That whole junction should be replaced and updated with new equipment.

  • Beneficial_Ad7906@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    Everyone is forgetting grounding and a mocca filter and a weather box. So not spec. Also just because you remove a splitter means you fix the issue. Sometimes putting a spliter in place actually helps. There is a sweet spot where the signal strength needs to be. Unless you have the appropriate meter you will not know what your measurements are.

  • AJ_Mexico@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    Looks pretty poor. If the 2nd cable from the splitter doesn’t go anywhere useful, you could just get rid of the splitter, and join the two ends with a straight-thru connector instead of that rusty old splitter. That and fixing the cable sound like good first steps to fixing your problem.

  • Pro-Rider@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    Broken shielded cable usually means RF ingress and water intrusion that destroys the high band frequencies which most MSO operators use for Downstream. So broken shielding effects both TX and RX.

  • Citnos@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    Yes, and regarding the appointment, it has been a busy week for ISPs and understaffed techOps, I am tech support not dispatch and a poor tech called my at 8:00pm still working on a cx house, (with no dispatch assistance bc they left at 6:00pm)

    Try to reschedule the appointment, having that exposed may be being affected by humidity, change of temperature during the day, etc

  • DoTheCreep_ahh@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    Couple things here. Like the others aside, water intrusion in the broken cable jacket is bad

    But, why is the cable jacket (black part) broken in the first place? It’s probably been outside a long time and the outer portion is brittle but also it appears to be stressed. The cable looks like it’s pulled tightly instead of being secured in place with enough slack to keep tension off the connector

    In other words, the cable was pulled so tight that over time slightly bumping it or wind battering it caused the jacket to break, and allowed water to intrude and degrade the cable from inside. At least that’s my guess just from the limited info I see in this pic

    So hopefully the replacement cable has some slack to it and doesn’t break in that spot due to tension or stress.

    You can buy some self adhering or Vulcanizing tape and wrap the connections to weatherproof the new connections after it’s replaced

  • val319@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    Replace the splitter. Splitters go bad. I just replace them to be safe if having any issues.

  • Personal-Internal-84@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    As was said earlier, this is an easy fix if the correct tools and a replacement compression RG6 coaxial cable connector are available.

    I see some other piece of hardware in the top left corner of the picture. Is that a grounding block?

    If it were me, I’d request to have the splitter and the two cable runs replaced as they look fairly weathered. But the technician will be able to make a determination once onsite.

  • supnul@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    100% coax is super susceptible to cuts and exposure to weather. You’re probably degrading the whole node with that. even a little bit of loss of shield can compromise the low band return spectrum and the whole nodes upstream. this is why cable modem is the new DSL. it sucks for performance and reliability. Any one customer without even trying can cause an outage on coax. Lets unplug that TV with cable card and a center pin thats too long … boom antenna. coax not tightened down enough on a splitter, modem or set top box. If your not using a PPC SignalTight or SignalTight Clone it will ingress low band. At some point you almost have to look at a coax like its a water pipe. We had a video headend that had leaks like this … was so bad we either have to replace all cable or just put in filters. the filters worked better than expected and lowered the noise floor 5-8 db more than before the ingress problem even existed.

    i have my hands in some coax hub and headend work but mostly hard troubleshooting like odd leaks/ingress problems that stuff like this picture cause.

    there was a video by Brady Volp a well known expert in the docsis/coax space about how even cable staples will cause signal reflections. its a hard space to keep functional and the more stringent the requirements get the harder it is.

  • Zeal514@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    Yea, 100%. Easy fix with the right tools. Just call your ISP to come out and fix it for free.