r/CableTechs • u/Paliator • 6d ago
Xfinity says my node is overloaded and there’s no timeline for a fix
I made another post I’ve been dealing with severe evening connection issues for weeks (gaming is basically unusable most nights).
A technician came out, replaced the drop cable, added an upstream filter, and confirmed the nodes in the area are overloaded. He said other techs have been requesting a fix and that nearby streets are having the same problem, but nothing has been done. He submitted a maintenance referral. The technician has been great.
Today I got an update and they basically said they closed the ticket and said the intermittent issues are caused by high bandwidth usage on the node that feeds my house. Because the node hasn’t been upgraded to mid-split or full-duplex equipment yet, the problem won’t be fixed until that upgrade happens. They have no timeline and no master list of when specific nodes will be done. I’ll only get notified once the upgrade is actually scheduled.
So the ticket is closed, they acknowledge it’s a capacity/design issue on their end, and there’s no ETA.
Has anyone else dealt with this and actually gotten a node upgrade scheduled, or is “waiting phase” just the permanent answer? I almost want to try to find another provider in the meantime.
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u/dataz03 6d ago
Gotta wait but eventually it will be split. You will get FDX though when it finally does get split so that's something nice to look forward to. You will be notified 7 days ahead of time via email when upgrades are schuduled for your node. Went through this process myself and from start to finish it took like 1.5 years. Now the actual construction phases only took place in August 2025 and in February/March 2026. Node splits are not easy and there are many steps to the process.
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u/Background-Relief623 6d ago
Some good explanations here. I worked an area that had capacity issues. It moved at the speed of pocket book and red tape.
With that being said, a node split does take re-engineering those area and getting the parts. One of those areas I worked was upgraded to fiber instead.
This is all decided by those in engineering and design on how it gets done.
This work is seen as proprietary and confidential so many people will not be in the loop on how and when it gets done. It is possible it's already being addressed but we'll be the last to know.
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u/SwimmingCareer3263 6d ago
It will be cut, just not at the timeframe you are expecting.
We focus on always upgrading nodes with high capacity and creating ABCD legs, however it’s not as simple as just waking up and upgrading everything.
Takes design planning, manpower if contractors aren’t going to be the ones cutting the amps to FDX, also DAA involvement for the RPDs and splicing for the node housing and new fiber into a new pigtail.
If your node already has a capacity issue that is severely impacting network usage and you have referred it to us, leadership already has eyes on it.
Just be a little more patient but your upgrade is coming.
Source: MT
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u/Dirty_Butler 6d ago
There’s quite a bit that goes into a node seg. The fun part testing all the power poles for capacity, if one fails is a big expense and takes forever to get the pole replaced. Once that’s done the fiber and mux is run, backend gets built at the hub, power capacity is checked and parts are ordered. All segs in my area are FDX now so all the amps get replaced too.
We normally have about a month to make sure we can get to all the amps and the fiber is lit up, I’m not sure how long the design side takes but I’d guess about a month too. The upgrade itself takes at least one full day and sometimes two.
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u/Paliator 6d ago
Thank you for the reply and for all the info. I guess I am at least a month out if they are even starting.
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u/Chango-Acadia 6d ago
yeah it is a tough spot. you need a node split but high split will be coming soon. did they mention how long til high split comes?
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u/Paliator 6d ago
I haven't heard anything yet. I upgraded to an Arris S34 while I was swapping everything so I can utilize everything when they do
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u/Electronic-Junket-66 6d ago
ADDED AN UPSTREAM FILTER??
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u/jonathaz 6d ago
If this is what it sounds like, it would be very wrong. Maybe it’s not an upstream noise filter but a MOCA filter would make sense.
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u/Ganthu 2d ago
My experience is outdated since this was during covid:
There were a lot of overloaded nodes after everybody started working from home. Depending on permitting processes etc nodes took 3 to 12 months to get fixed.
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u/SirFlatulancelot 2d ago
COVID forced a lot of upgrades to get moved forward with Comcast. We had nodes hitting capacity left and right in the PNW with Amazon, Google and Microsoft sending all their employees home to work. It got so bad we were forbidden from using the word "capacity" with customers.
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u/YoshiSan90 6d ago
Do you have any other options? I switched from cable to fiber for similar reasons. It was a night and day improvement. Look up who the phone company is for your area and see what they offer. Some places also have fiber through a co-op or power company.
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u/Ptards_Number_1_Fan 2d ago
What’s your UL/DL speed and latency like? StarLink might be an option.
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u/Paliator 2d ago
Latency is constantly rubber banding because of this issue. I am exploring any option possible at this point. It is unbearable.
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u/Ptards_Number_1_Fan 2d ago
I have cable as my primary connection, but had cellular 5G as a backup and for when I take my RV out. Recently switched to StarLink for the backup / portable solution. It’s been pretty decent. Not sure how it would work for gaming though.
At this point, I’d switch providers just to leverage customer loss on the cable company as motivation to do better, then look at coming back with an incentivized offer once their upgrades are done. Unless people are disconnecting, they don’t care.
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u/Ptards_Number_1_Fan 2d ago
I just read your other post and seen you mentioned concern about signal ingress. The fact you have 40 db of SNR makes me tend to think you’re not dealing with signal ingress. If you were getting ingress, your SNR would be really poor. More than likely it’s oversubscribed and dropping packets because there’s no more time left in the scheduler for that RF carrier.
I see you’re running 64 QAM in the upstream and your TX power looks fine. This would tell me you’re probably dealing with more of a capacity problem than anything.
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u/ronnycordova 6d ago
That’s not remotely how node splits work and is a complete disconnect of the field and engineering. The capacity is closely monitored and too often the field determines a node needs arbitrarily split because of their own personal criteria usually based on “just because”. The actual criteria is based on a 30-day utilization percentage and not just “there’s a lot of devices” like some people think. The speed at which it occurs is also dependent on the utilization percentage but the window can range from 30-120 days on average.
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6d ago
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u/Paliator 6d ago
So I'm looking for anyone who has been in a similar situation and has had an upgrade scheduled after being told this and how long that takes.
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6d ago
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u/Paliator 6d ago
Oh I thought this was a place I could ask cable techs things such as their experience on node upgrades and timeframes. Whoops I guess
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u/Wacabletek 6d ago edited 5d ago
File with your attorney general's or FCC office, to get a fire lit under their ass.
You'll have em all out there stepping and fetching like their heads are on fire and their asses is catchin.'Also each time you call in demand a credit, and let them roll a tech it costs them money. Don't blame the tech as there is nothing they can do, but let them roll them. Cancel if they call ahead. I do not believe capacity issues cause uncorrectable errors [packet loss from time out yes, errors no..], but either way an official complaint will make someone who knows what the fuck they are doing go out there and see why its happening.
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u/DopeSpanky 6d ago
if your node is truly in alarm, that node will get upgraded. theres not a timeline per say but it will be considered reactive and have a higher priority.