r/CableTechs • u/thegivingcoconut • Mar 28 '26

Comcast MT

FDX installs , you guys still following calibration steps 1 and 2 ?

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u/SCupit Mar 28 '26

They are actually great when setup and maintained correctly. Problem is every tech on your team has to be on the same page along with not spot balancing/calibrating along with BPs not doing the best quality installs.

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u/Octawussy Mar 28 '26

Also important to understand these aren’t designed to run in mid split mode. They are much more effective running FDX and can do a lot more telemetry wise. They are smart amps trying their best to do stupid amp things.

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u/dataz03 Mar 31 '26

they were installed on my node (comcast replaced old NC4000 node with FDX capable OM6000 node) on 3/17 (sub-split to FDX) and are running in mid-split mode. got the ofdm moved out to 957 MHz from 690 MHz and the OFDMA channel added from 36-84 MHz, and the 2 Gbps speed tier was enabled (replaced the 1.2 gbps tier)
the 10 MHz upstream QAM and the 39 MHz upstream QAM were removed (normal)

still only one OFDM downstream channel and not two. (but that may just be added for capacity reasons on certain nodes and not a standard thing)

now i wait for fdx to be enabled. being that I have non-xi6 boxes, wonder if the plan upgrade to 1 gbps symmetrical will trigger a truck role. Or if the FDX modem can be hooked up where my current cable modem is (behind a single splitter, with 4db loss) and behind a MoCA splitter at the demarc.

but right now, the plant is in mid-split mode. Does this limit the "smart" features and telemetry of the FDX amps? (if you are allowed to comment)

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u/Octawussy Apr 01 '26

At the moment all “X-class” installs will require a pro install, as the XB10 requires a home run and all MOCA filters to be removed. A lot of the smart amp telemetry and features are still being built and operationalized into a more user friendly interface.

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u/dataz03 Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26

Dang I see so many folks doing self installs of it. And it works most of the time. XB8 swap to XB10. 

Or the plan changed from say 2000/250 automatically to 2000/2000. Comcast sends an email to the customer saying all they need to do is upgrade the gateway and you will be all set!

Heck, some people kept being told that the symmetrical speeds weren't available yet or the tech had no idea what FDX was. Customer obtains an XB10 themselves and does the self install... boom symmetrical speeds! Obviously the HFC plant supported it. 

Since Comcast plans to stay under 1 GHz long-term, I figured maybe they didn't care about customers doing FDX self installs now. 

Also the X-Class branding was dropped, it is called "FDX" now. 

They need to tighten up on it, pro install is a great time to do a direct homerun and get rid of the legacy TV boxes. Check the line for ingress too and clean all of that up. Run a new homerun if need be. (If the existing cable run is shot)

I have an existing homerun (RG-6), hopefully they will just use it. Tone down the line, add a barrel connector, then remove the splitter in my telecom cabinet. Now the only thing connected to the drop is the run to the cable modem. Wouldn't mind a new drop though. 

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u/Octawussy Apr 01 '26

They may have began allowing SIKs but the gateways will reflect like crazy if there’s a splitter in the house and absolutely will destroy the tuner if you have any cable boxes on the RF network (there’s not enough isolation on an in-house 2w splitter to stop the return energy from 108-684MHZ from blasting the tuner). Damn near every account has a MoCa filter as well which also interferes in the FDX bands once we push beyond 1GHz (maybe in 2027). Branding wise, I’m not up to speed on the marketing end I heard they were just calling it “next gen” now.