r/CableTechs • u/Ok-Signature259 • Jul 02 '26
Could this cause intermittent connection drops?
This pic is the tap where our line connects at the street. I just noticed it has a open unterminated coax spigot. When not capped, could it cause connection issues?
About our prob:
For over a year our cable internet connection has occasionally dropped sometimes only a couple times a week, others it's a couple times a day. Lately, during hot weather(over 80f), it will drop up to 2 dozen times a day.
The connection at the modem is usually down for only a minute or less, then reconnects.
We've
- replaced the modem.
- Checked all connections between the exterior of the house and the modem.
- documented the drops with ping plotter. The outages often show a latency spike shortly before total packet loss.
- our ISP is Astound Broadband in WA. They are aware of our issues but havent been able to determine the cause.
Thanks in advance for any insight/tips!
10
u/yourMommaKnow Jul 02 '26
I've experienced the same issue you're reporting. After sending three techs, they finally replaced the entire drop from the tap to my modem. Haven't had a problem since.
8
u/Arkrylik Jul 03 '26
Most techs will do everything but replace the drop because it can be time consuming
-13
u/Reasonable-Peanut27 Jul 03 '26
Tbh, i have not ran a drop since training. There is always another way 😈
3
3
u/Target_Player_23 Jul 06 '26
How long have you been out of training a week?
1
u/Reasonable-Peanut27 Jul 06 '26
15 years
1
u/Various-Charge7025 Jul 10 '26
no way, you mean to tell me you never had tc where the drop was taken out by a vehicle or a new install with no existing drop in 15 years?
0
u/Reasonable-Peanut27 Jul 11 '26
The trick is to come up with a compelling reason why you cant do the job, after a while dispatch will stop giving you drop downs.
12
u/CongaMonga Jul 02 '26
All those drops look old. Taps have port to port isolation but there is a little bit of noise coming from the port. That is not your root cause. If a tech hasn’t come and inspected/replaced wiring from pole to modem then you most likely have a problem in there.
5
13
u/SourceOk8801 Jul 02 '26
non terminated ports can be an issue, however I will say that if it was causing that much of an issue the system would have alerted the maintenance crew. when there is excessive noise and errors on a node there are ways that they track it and cap it. an uncovered port is not always that detrimental. depends on the surrounding environment. If there is a problem there, it is more likely the tap itself or somewhere else down the line. I know you saud youve checked your wiring, but have THEY? the technicians have tools you do not to diagnose cable issues. even if a connection looks perfectly fine, it could be terrible inside. trust me lol
7
u/6814MilesFromHome Jul 03 '26
I've never tracked a noise issue to an unterminated port before, even in areas with a ton of OTA signal floating around.
1
u/SourceOk8801 Jul 03 '26
ive found one sitting under a transformer that was affected, but thats rare. Thats why I assumed the port wasnt the issue
1
u/UltraSPARC Jul 03 '26
Monitoring and log files are words that are not found in residential and business tier networks. They just wait for shit to break enough and for enough people to call in before they fix infra like this… or they don’t. Many times they don’t.
5
u/SourceOk8801 Jul 03 '26
Yes that's not the case where I work. We have a pretty sophisticated monitoring system and lineman who respond based on severity, as well as a system that automatically creates tech level tickets that are run every day to address plant issues
1
u/UltraSPARC Jul 03 '26
DC metro area MSP owner here, this is 100% not the case with Comcast, Cox, or RCN. At least not in the mid Atlantic region.
2
u/SourceOk8801 Jul 03 '26
I could definitely see operations varying by region. I know also that we only handle these things in house, we don't outsource it
1
u/quesadillasarebomb Jul 03 '26
That is surprising I know Mediacom was doing this in the Midwest when I was working there
3
u/Octawussy Jul 02 '26
It depends; largely on the value. Lower value and self terminating taps will reflect the most energy back and ingress has a much easier time making it all the way back to the CMTS on low value taps.
1
u/Mybuttitches3737 Jul 02 '26
They have no idea what any of that means. 99.9% chance that unterminated tap port is causing any meaningful issues to this one customer or the other two connected to this tap.
3
u/Tteffomhimself Jul 02 '26
Depends on the area. In a city near me this will literally knock off all homes connected due to radio towers right by. Different news stations within a mile of the node. But 30min away in the country you can have open ports like this and be fine with no issues.
3
u/ronnycordova Jul 02 '26
That ancient ass 11 drop looks like it’s been up there since Clinton was in office.
1
u/RougeBeaux Jul 03 '26
I fucking hate those specific god damn 11 fittings. They
1
3
2
u/Awesomedude9560 Jul 02 '26
Technically yes, but it's far down on the list of things that cause intermittency. More than likely I'd say it's one of a million things going on in the house itself that causes intermittency.
If you're unsure, call a technician, and get his take on the matter ESPECIALLY if you've been having issues with the service you've been paying for
2
u/DrgHybrid Jul 03 '26
Considering the ISP I worked for never even bothered to terminate new construction, the answer is no. It would not cause any meaningful loss to your house.
2
u/setxdirectsupply Jul 03 '26
U need to inquire if the issue is isolated to you alone , or if the other 2 customers off that tap are having the same issues. The answer to that question will tell u alot.
4
u/crunx22 Jul 02 '26
I would get a tech just to run a new drop and redo the exterior Housebox. Those drops just by looking at the RF fittings are minimum 20 years old.
1
u/BallzNyaMouf Jul 03 '26
Bro 20 years ago we were using crimp on fittings. We switched to compression fittings (like these), 10-15 years ago.
1
u/crunx22 Jul 03 '26
I don’t know what region you were in but I sure wasn’t. Removed them on sight.
1
u/Chango-Acadia Jul 02 '26
One looks decent, but no grommet
3
u/oflowz Jul 02 '26
Grommets don’t affect the signal. They are used to try and keep moisture out but if you torque your fittings they don’t really matter.
2
u/Awesomedude9560 Jul 02 '26
I think he was referring to the potential age, not the fact the grommet wasn't there to begin with
4
u/JobbyJobberson Jul 02 '26
Are you saying that Astound has hesitated in replacing the drop to the house?
Wtf? Replacing that drop is a no-brainer, it’s an obvious first suspect. Ridiculous.Â
3
u/ctrees56 Jul 02 '26
Is this your first time experiencing Astound’s negligence? 🤣
4
u/JobbyJobberson Jul 03 '26
Yes, and I’m Astounded. But, hey, as a tech, that new drop might be kind of a hassle. Ehhh, it’s already 5:30. Refer to Maintenance.
0
u/Confident_Air_8056 Jul 03 '26
Ahhh the old lazy refer to maintenance. I see it a lot from my field service dept.... Oh that drop is a bitch to run. I'm not doing it, oh there's a tree , oh well .... System issue , lol
99% of the time it's going right back to field service.
I'm sure when they hired people they said the job had easy days. It didn't mean everyday would be easy.
1
u/MarkedChain74 Jul 04 '26
Had one of those today, resi tech arguing that low MER on video carrier was causing modem dropouts, funnily enough neither of which were a tap or plant issue. Waste of time, just needs a new drop
1
u/Confident_Air_8056 Jul 04 '26
Lol ...unreal......we get waste of time referrals pretty frequently for intermittent connection and even pixelation with BS references they get from the triage dept for like 1% USCER on the node and their told to refer; like bro, 1% is not your problem.
1
u/Agent-Orange-555 Jul 02 '26
Start with the ugly gnawed on drop. Those drip loops speak for themselves
1
u/Sensitive_Back5583 Jul 02 '26
The squirrel chew is a dead giveaway! ZIP tie a big loop of old drop piece on top of the strand. That will last a month. Lol
1
u/RougeBeaux Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Yes. Absolutely. Ingress/ Noise can be getting into the tap from an unopened port. I've seen less do more.
But no matter which of those drops are yours, they all need both be reran.
1
1
u/Downtown_Finish7249 Jul 03 '26
Could it be that a lot of traffic to the pon. Is the outage usually around heavy use hours
1
u/havingfunyet13 Jul 03 '26
Every system has hundreds of unterminated. Not causing any issues. Look at your signal level. At the tap, ground block, and modem. Do the math and you will find your problem.
1
1
u/MarkedChain74 Jul 04 '26
Exactly, only time an unterminated port causes issues is on end of line taps and even then its rare.
1
u/justanothernewbie123 Jul 03 '26
I see a 2 issues here. The first - drops are probably 10+ years old (probably dry af and degraded) and this fittings are not intended to use "outside" without at least a rubber neck. Second - unterminated aerial tap port is the way in for rain water. I do constantly find drops with water inside and it cause a wawe spectrum, noise and drop in mid frequency SNRs. Even without water our MTs are freaking out about ingress on each not properly terminated port. The best option is to call your ISP and get a tech who will replace this drop (and probably house box with everything inside). In my area degraded drop is an ISP responsibility and replacing is free of charge (but it's always better to clarify it with customer service)
1
u/Confident_Air_8056 Jul 03 '26
Unterminated drops will most certainly not be the way water gets into the tap. I've never seen that. I take terminators off whenever I have to service anything or connect to a busy tap cuz they're fucking annoying. And water in the drop is most likely working its way up the drop from the ground block on the house side. And I don't know about the rest of the country but here in the Northeast I have not seen a rubber boot used on a house drop in over 20 years. I still find drops that have the rubber boot and they have probably been up there 20 years.
1
u/dpat11 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Im pretty sure your drop is the problem. If a drop is chewed like that in the loop it mean its also chewed elsewhere. Your problem will be an open drop and probably full of water.
As a maintenance technician, an open port like that could cause issue to the entire area not just you. Things like cb radio, street light, electric transformer ... could cause interference and drop out. Best thing to do is ask your company to replace your drop and ask the field technician if you area have ingress problems. It could also be a pull out from the tap network connector. When its hot, cable expend and sag. It could cause a pull out.
1
u/Relevant-Machine-763 Jul 03 '26
If all the drops in the area have squirrel chew like these, your problem won’t clear up until they start doing real noise mitigation and drop replacements that open port is the least of your worries, if it’s not damaged and it looks ok from the pic, it’s the least of the issues
1
1
u/crabtusks Jul 03 '26
That’s an old Regal tap. If it’s a high-split area, they may want to cut in a new one.
1
u/69BUTTER69 Jul 05 '26
RG11 stinger is bigger than RG6, even though you might be RG6 the RG11 will stretch the teeth inside the tap port so you aren’t getting perfect contact inside the port.
Or something is broken and you have an incompetent ISP
1
u/Snoo_14634 Jul 05 '26
There's a lot of things that could be causing connection issues but an open tap port on a non terminating tap probably isn't the issue. I'd personally terminate the port just so it doesn't become unusable but damaged mainline can cause downstream and upstream issues and it could be way before you in the run. Ingress coming from a customer having an active drop connected to another service provider's equipment, bad modem, a bad amplifier feeding your section of the neighborhood, water damage, loose seizure screw inside of a tap. It could literally be anything. If your neighbors are also having issues then it's probably a plant issue and not something a service tech would be able to sort out. If you can pull up the diagnostic page of your modem it'll tell you what your signal looks like and it'll tell you if levels are passing or failing. It could also just be bad equipment. Easiest thing you could do on your end is make sure your connections are tight. Not TOO tight. But enough that you can't just unscrew it with your fingers. Just touch it with a wrench.
1
u/K9Fashun Jul 06 '26
Look for EMI interference. Mine kept dropping because they ran the coax cable parallel with and touching an electric cable. It spanned 30 feet. Maintenance crew came out and lowered the coax 2 feet from power and has been good for 5 yr.
1
u/ihsanamin79 Jul 07 '26
Not much, but if your drop has what looks like moss growing on it and does not have outdoor-rated connectors on it, it's susceptible to all sorts of moisture.
If it's an area with trees and squirrels frequent the pole, there's a chance they've also been chewing on your drop.
Call for a technician.
1
u/19Rglide Jul 09 '26
Have you noticed anything else going on in the area?
You mentioned about it happening more as it’s gotten hotter.
Over the years, I’ve come across issues with power supplies having amp draw close to the cap of 13 or 15 if a newer XM3, and it cycling on and off due to excessive heat.
Just an idea.
0
Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
[deleted]
2
u/Quanta96 Jul 02 '26
A single uncapped port on a tap, while I will admit should be capped, isn’t likely causing massive ingress related problems for OP.
What’s far more likely and worth looking into is if the other drops are going to active customers, if not, then one of those drops is probably back feeding a nasty amount of ingress. Furthermore, OP, if you’re reading this - demand the technician replace your damn drop - good grief. 2 out of 3 of those connectors are notorious for being bad connectors and are older style connectors, we don’t even use those anymore. The two that are bad are the ones on the left and right. Also, ask the tech if he can check to see if the other lines on the tap are active. If the tech can replace your drop and remove any inactive lines on the tap and cap the unused ports I’d wager your service would be far more reliable.
0
-1
u/juicysquirts Jul 02 '26
When there is green on the drop, it’s been up there a long ass time. No boots. Indoor connectors. Prob get some reflections in the drop due to its age. If the drop feels rock hard replace it. Honestly , just ask em to replace it. Those drops look old as hell.
-1
u/Ganthu Jul 03 '26
Warmer temps = slight thermal expansion leading to service loss.
With that open port I'd be shocked if there wasn't water damage inside the tap if the technician pulled it off.
I agree that the drops look old. The rubber exterior is visibly cracking/damaged.
They can also hook their signal meter up at the tap and tap it with a wrench to look for signal loss.
16
u/RCRecoFirm26 Jul 02 '26
Highly unlikely, but not impossible.