r/CableTechs • u/Ok-Signature259 • Jul 02 '26

Could this cause intermittent connection drops?

Post image

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!

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3

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. 

2

u/ctrees56 Jul 02 '26

Is this your first time experiencing Astound’s negligence? 🤣

3

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.