Home Networking

Just judging by the fading label - absolutely.

Generally, I've always replaced splitters about every several years. (No more than 5.) They do go bad over time.

If that doesn't work, I'd recommend considering replacing the coax.

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

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.

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

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.

Just make the cable company fix it. Cable must be sealed and dry to work properly.

Not "could", it definitely is.

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.

Yes, that is most likely why. Moisture does weird stuff depending on temperature. Also you may have to replace the whole cable because moisture really likes to wick into the braid and corrode. I have seen the outer braid corroded back several feet.

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Also if you dont have the tools to do a proper compression connector, wait for the tech. Screw on connectors might be even worse than what you have now.

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

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.

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.

Yes. Coax is very fickle. It's really easy to cause interference or mess up the signal one way or another. Even the change in temperature over the seasons has a strong effect on signal strength.

Call the ISP to get it fixed. Or if you're up for the challenge, buy a coax stripper, a coax crimper, and some outdoor rated type-F connectors and fix it yourself.

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.

So this splitter installed on the outside of a home would be considered cable theft in my neighborhood.

Splitters in general will always degrade network flow. The more splitters you have the more the coax cable is broken up.

I have 1 coax cable line coming into the house.

It gets plugged INto an electrified coax signal booster. There are then 4 lines going out.

• 1 line to the living room and

• 1 line to each of the 3 bedrooms.

2 of the 3 ends in the bedrooms have terminator caps on them because they do not connect to any device. 1 of the 3 connects to a cable box in my bedroom.

The living room has a splitter like yours.

• 1 line goes to the Cable Box and

• 1 line to my internet modem

That Living Room splitter should be eliminated by me so there are no splits in my cable delivery and improve my own internet access. Thanks for helping me see that I should move the modem to one of the capped bedrooms. ☺️

Get rid of the outdoor splitter.

Yes

Yeah, all your IPs are leaking out of it now

Absolutely. Water is getting in there as well as allowing low frequency ingress. That splitter needs to be changed out too. Get a tech out to change those out.

It is more than likely causing issues. Set up a service call.

More likely that shitty splitter.

Oh yes. Call your provider and get that sorted.

If I have learned anything. With internet anything can cause issues. I have had a heater cause packetloss because of elec surges

Replace the splitter and cover if possible. If this is the initial split in the line you want to make sure the new splitter is grounded as well.

Definitely replace it.

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

The answer is always yes. Any cable can be bad even if it looks perfect.

It could be happening durian the day due to heat.

I rent and when I got cable internet, the tech came out to give me the modem and check the lines, I asked him to disconnect the rest of the lines from the houses junction box and run me a new RG6 cable straight to my modem (I don't use the cable for TV or phone etc.). My house has probably 5 runs that were disconnected. they are all able to be reconnected, but having only 1 (new) line direct to my modem...cleaned up my signal a lot. just an idea. the tech I got just ran it up into the attic straight across the house and dropped it down in the garage. Modem is in garage and cat 6 cable runs to my wifi 6 tri-band router....have had no issues for the last 3yrs.

But a brew cable and screw out on yourself. Unless it goes through a wall without a connector, Then you’ll probably want to wait for a professional.

Are you certain the problem is the signal going into your modem via cable and not your WiFi signal? Frequently lots more WiFi interference during the day when more devices are in use.

I would say so. It is introducing interference and noise on your line.

You can try swapping the 2 output cables.

Not

Yesssss..... please fix the poor guy, also maybe route the cables better so that this doesn't happen again

Yes. Very yes.

Short answer: Yes.

Long Answer: Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees.

After studying the Foto for at least 1 second : Yes

Yes. That and your splitter. Every split weakens the signal. It wasn't a huge problem in the days of cable. For internet, signal strength really impacts bandwidt, or speed. You want a direct line to the modem for best signal or an an applified splitter. If you also use for cable. You can find them on Amazon for fairly cheap.

That connection can be cut and fixed really easily as well. Just watch a YouTube video on how to do it. A razorblade will work if you don't have a dedicated coax stripper.

yes.

Yup. Cold temperatures (as well as high heat) will always cause interruptions with your internet devices.

Would recommend you that it’s easy to fix the damaged connector but if you don’t have the spare connectors with similar dimensions, then it’s better to send this image through email to your ISP & explain that it’s on a spot where temperatures drop very low.

TL;DR: minimum 2 mins of work with fixing it, but still would recommend that the ISP technician fixed the connector

if you plug your cable's ethernet to your pc and go to it's main router page, you can see the sign strenth and other stats. 9/10 it's a very strong signal and usually it's your router/wifi area that's struggling.

It's not helping

Yes that is probably causing problems. If it’s not, it absolutely will in the future. Water will get in and damage the shield allowing interference in. When the water gets into the dielectric it causes issues with signal performance starting with the higher channels (skin effect). Your data channel is probably higher in the channel range so will be affected early on. Replace that cable or at least the part outside. Replace the splitter too just to be safe. The night day thing is probably connected to the sign level in general. When temps drop, signal level goes up slightly. It’s just easier for signals to pass in cold. You’re probably right on the edge because of the water effecting your signal so that slight fluctuation is making a difference for you. Could be that the water is freezing at night too but it’s all the same end result. Replace the cable. All that being said, you could have other issues but that is a great place to start.

Just to chime in as a LV engineer. Not only is it in a bad spot and rusting, it's a 1000mhz swept coax splitter. Aka old af. Replace with 3000mhz in a jbox.

Short answer = yes

The cable needs replacing and it should be covered up when outside too.

This will ruin your broadband but also potentially affect the entire segment.

Call your local cable company to fix it for you.

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Good luck

Yes, that will absolutely cause issues. Even a small cut in the outer sheath can cause issues, the connector needs cut off and re-crimped. Takes about 2 minutes with the proper tools, which can all be bought at Lowes or HD or get a tech out to fix it.

Yes, it could!

Go ahead and replace it!

yep - so could that ancient splitter and it should be grounded to a ground rod as well.

Absolutely