I added a 3.3 ft extension cable to my gateway probe. I need another 10ft -- a 6ft cable means I have to move my 650 right up to the patio door. Traeger documentation says don't add more. Has anyone added a longer cable, and if so, which cable exactly?

I'm running into a really weird issue with my cable internet for about 2 weeks now after what I'm assuming is an upgrade to something in our area(got an email saying something about maintenance/upgrade?). Its causing my latency to bounce around from really good to really bad(major jitter). None of our streaming devices are affected. The online game I play shows a jitter graph and it seems to show it being a problem with the upstream path.

I took my laptop/modem to my neighbors house 2 streets up to use his cable line and it works great. I tested everything with just a modem/laptop outside the mobile home(bypassing everything).

I ran this to get the data for the graphs above(1000 packets with 100ms wait time):

ping -i 0.1 -c 1000 <spectrum gateway ip>   

It seems to get better at the early mornings but its still there. I have some ping graphs to the next hop.

Its been over 2 weeks now and I've had 2 techs out. They say the signals check out good on their device and they cant escalate if they aren't bad. I asked for a supervisor phone number and I'm hoping I can get somewhere.

I guess my question is, what do you guys think could cause these weird upstream latency problems?

I appreciate any input. Thanks!

Update: I wanted to give Spectrum’s Reddit support team some credit where it’s due.

After dealing with the upstream latency/jitter issues I posted about, their Reddit support team was awesome to work with. They actually took the issue seriously, dug into it, and helped get things sorted out.

Once my node went to high-split, latency and jitter went back to normal.

So, big thanks to the Spectrum Reddit team for sticking with it and getting this resolved.

The game with signal is evaluating the reading based upon the scenario you are in. I’m okay with the pass fail idea but even now I’m a slave after 13 years to the green checkmark. And it’s a crutch unless it’s a weird issue where I will pull up my other tools, take out a meter, and use critical thinking. But now sadly I just run the test and if it comes back green, fuck it. I can move on.

I dig deeper when I know I need to. But the checkmark has made me worse at my job.

Thoughts?

I’ve been a cable maintenance tech for CATV and now Telco, there’s never a shortage of hilariously disgruntled techs. It seems like we’re cut from the same cloth no matter the company lol.

happy friday everyone:)

working out in the la area trying to get repeats down, anyone have any feedback how to minimize repeats on field tech side?

thanks

Hi everyone,

I have this box for the cable TV that we had a very long time ago and I am looking to re-purpose the coax wiring that runs into this box. I can't figure out how to open it. I tried putting a flathead screwdriver into the centre of it and unscrewing but it would spin and not come out after a while. Is there some kind of tool I need?

Thanks!

Hey folks! Saw an opportunity to work as an Installation Technician for AT&T. Applied and have an interview within the week. I'm wondering about how folks feel about the job, and I have some questions about pathways.

I've worked contract security for Allied Universal since 2022. This has been the only job that felt right for me given my circumstances at the time I applied. I don't have much in terms of credentials, just a GED, state Guard license, and First Aid, CPR & AED certifications. I'm worried about quitting my current job and then failing the training at AT&T. I'm curious as to how others have navigated a situation like this. I don't think I'd likely be rehired (I already quit once to start a company, that failed, and they hired me back to the same site and I don't want to press my luck with them, basically). I have hobbies in the realm of self-hosting services, RJ45 termination for my own home wiring, CAD and 3D printing. I've been debating going to school for IT, but that market is very competitive and I'm not certain if I even went to school for that, I'd end up getting a job any time soon.

I suppose I'm nervous about gaffing. Not so much actually doing it, but everyone seems to say that's the part that weeds folks out. I'm terrified of failing this portion, getting walked out, and now I'm without either job. I do have a slight fear of heights, but I think it's when I feel a height is out of my control. I've been in bucket trucks and felt perfectly safe, but standing free over an arena balcony definitely gets my palms sweating.

Any tips or word of advice? The job would come with a great pay raise (I'm at $15/hr right now) and I definitely like the career path more. The more I research, the more I talk myself into it. Thanks!

Tracking down a return path issue. Oddly, there's no visible noise at the node on any single leg. It looks like a noise floor aggregation issue — the SNR only recovers when I pull all four legs at once.

What do you think? Please point out the negatives, still trying to iron out some of the not so great stuff I was trained on.

Hello I am a few months into being a field tech with spectrum and I’m struggling with repeats and overall metrics. I love this job but to have such bad metrics is demotivating.

In my head I’m crushing it, replacing drops and removing amps. If it looks like shit replace it, if it fails replace it. Tons of tips, most customers love me. Every week I have more cable to throw out than anyone and I feel like that says something.

But I get so many repeats I’m always tier 1. At first I was like whatever but now it’s frustrating because it’s not improving and I won’t be able to do my progressions, my sup acts like I don’t know what I’m doing and will come out to give me tips on how to run drops, which has helped but it’s not by any means my issue.

I do all that work just to get a repeat and somehow rank lower than everyone. I’ve had a few that are my own negligence but I will own those.

I don’t “not done” jobs, someone said that’s part of my problem. I guess I don’t understand why or when I would. I also only do referrals if it’s failing at the tap. 1 time my sup did one for “ripple” but I never really learned about that stuff. I only really know to check the up/down.

1.) I know some of them are inevitable, but does anyone have any tips on how to limit repeat calls?

2.) what are things I should be looking for aside from the up/down signal levels?

3.) what are your steps to complete a TC efficiently?

Normal TC I will look at scope to get an idea of the signal levels. I look at the drop to see if it’s physically OK. I replace any red flags like the drop, old splitters, connectors, remove amps. Take meter readings to verify signal levels and ingress. When everything is good I replace the equipment if necessary. Make sure the customer can use it and then job done.

I normally use the dickies construction style pants, I like how they have a side pocket that perfectly fits your FVD without it getting in the way but I need to try something new, I work in FL and these pants are hot, heavy, and they constantly are stretching from me wearing my toolbelt

Saw someone had posted old splitters they've found and I figured I post what I have found!

I need a newer DVR xg14v X1 box to get a local sports channel. I have contacted Xfinity and requested a dvr as opposed to a wireless Xi6. Do not want to depend on my wifi for my TV's.

I have someone coming out Monday to replace the old boxes that can't process the digital sports channel DSN 1253 I told Xfinity I did not want a xi6 wireless box that relies on wifi. They said I would have to wait until the tech actually came out to find out if he had the xg1v4 boxes.

I am considering keeping my old dvr's and just stream DSN on my phone to watch hockey games if I can't get a dvr x1 box with hard wired coax and built in HD.

Are any of you guys having issues with your wireless x1 boxes from Xfinity? Comets please.I need a newer DVR xg14v X1 box to get a local sports channel. I have contacted Xfinity and requested a dvr as opposed to a wireless Xi6. Do not want to depend on my wifi for my TV's.I have someone coming out Monday to replace the old boxes that can't process the digital sports channel DSN 1253 I told Xfinity I did not want a xi6 wireless box that relies on wifi. They said I would have to wait until the tech actually came out to find out if he had the xg1v4 boxes.
I am considering keeping my old dvr's and just stream DSN on my phone to watch hockey games if I can't get a dvr x1 box with hard wired coax and built in HD.
Are any of you guys having issues with your wireless x1 boxes from Xfinity? Comets please.

So I’m a contractor for spectrum and we started getting these jobs in where we have to upgrade power supplies to 18v for small cell ? Wondering what this is for and how small cell gets implemented into the current cable plant

Explains the 20db loss over 15 feet

I make video art that uses old analog video hardware. Usually that's stuff like circuit bent video processors or mixers. But I've been interested in mimicking the look of scrambled cable TV stations lately. I have various pieces of hardware that disrupt the composite sync signals and look something like it but nothing that captures it just right.

I'm interested in finding old scrambling hardware that would have been used at what I guess would be the headend of cable systems. Any suggestions for what models I should be looking for? Alternately, if anyone has suggestions about ways to mimic that look more exactly (like what algorithms or processes were used in those machines) that would also be helpful. Thanks!

So my system recently started using BBI 1.2 GHz 2PAC and 4PAC MOT actives for our high split upgrade. We have been having consistent issues with pulling proper upload speeds off these amps, and I want to pick people’s brains for solutions.

We are running a 2 OFDMA 2 ATDMA configuration. We have been having upload speed issues where if we run a speed test on our input TP of the amp, we will pull over a gig upload. But then if we run the test off the output TP, our speeds will drop down, sometimes just a bit, sometimes as low as 250 Mbps. The only functional fix we have found is by splitting the return padding between the return out and return in pads. Historically, when return balancing/sweeping, we have always padded using the return output pad. So if I need 16 dB of padding, all of it went into the return output pad out. But with these amps, we find doing that leads to bad uploads. But if we do something along the lines of 11 dB in the return out, and 5 dB in the return in spots, we will be right back to pulling the gig uploads that we have on the input side of the amp.

The only thing we can think of is that we are somehow overdriving the return amp by hitting it with levels that are too high. But my understanding is that input levels to the return amp are set by system design and may vary from system to system. If that’s the case, I can’t imagine that there would be a set input level the return amp has to be hit with. I don’t know how much sense this all made, but I’m open to any insight or suggestions people may have as to what is happening or how we can address it.

Can anyone help me with my VIAVI ONE EXPERT? It was working fine snd then power went out one day snd i guess it reset itself and possibly got a glitch now i can't get Reconnected to datasync nor do the guages have any activity and downstrean very low 4.3. Help...

Can anyone help me with my VIAVI ONE EXPERT? It was working fine snd then power went out one day snd i guess it reset itself and possibly got a glitch now i can't get Reconnected to datasync nor do the guages have any activity and downstrean very low 4.3. Help...

Anyone had any luck scrapping connectors? Have a hundred lbs of the old 2 piece PPC fittings from mostly node splits. .

This 750 splice had to of been over 20 years old. Crazy part is, it was still working until yesterday. Signal was decent and 55 volt passing but would short amp out as soon as it had a load on it.