Anybody ever heard of this problem? Weather related.
Michael Parks
the 50's. If it's in the 60's or above, it's fine. If it's in the 40's
or below, it's fine. I know this sounds implausible, but it's been
going on since September, and the only constant is the weather being
in the 50's. My modem loses connection every single time. As soon as
the temperate either rises above 60, or falls below 40, it'll come
back on.
I've had a tech out here, many, many times, and the best he's been
able to tell me is that I should replace the modem. I've done that,
twice, and I'm still having the same exact problem.
Anybody have any idea at all what could be causing this? And, more
importantly, what can I do to fix it? It's becoming incredibly
frustrating...
Thanks,
Mike
Kip Patterson
contribute. The first is its high coeffficient of thermal expansion,
which means that it is moving around a lot as the temperature changes.
The second is its tendency to develop a tenacious film of aluminum oxide,
a good insulator.
You almost certainly have a problem somewhere in the cable plant, most
likely at a tap. I wouldn't want to be the person who has to find it.
Kip Patterson
Michael Parks
<ripa...@columbus.rr.com> wrote:
>That's not unusual. Aluminum coax has two characteristics that
>contribute. The first is its high coeffficient of thermal expansion,
>which means that it is moving around a lot as the temperature changes.
>The second is its tendency to develop a tenacious film of aluminum oxide,
>a good insulator.
>
>You almost certainly have a problem somewhere in the cable plant, most
>likely at a tap. I wouldn't want to be the person who has to find it.
>
>Kip Patterson
Kip,
Thanks a lot for the info. I'll relay it to my technician and see what
he can do from there. Though, if it's going to be as much trouble to
fix as you would imply, I'm wondering if the tech doesn't know exactly
what the problem is, and simply doesn't want to be bothered with it.
Wouldn't surprise me.
Mike
SMC
news:qf3qatchfqkpc4m6e...@4ax.com...
> I have RF issues with my modem whenever the outside temperature is in
> the 50's. If it's in the 60's or above, it's fine. If it's in the 40's
> or below, it's fine. I know this sounds implausible, but it's been
> going on since September, and the only constant is the weather being
> in the 50's. My modem loses connection every single time. As soon as
> the temperate either rises above 60, or falls below 40, it'll come
> back on.
<snip>
Yes, I experienced the same problem with my cable modem. Within the last 3
months, if the temperature went above about 20 (I live in cold Wisconsin!)
or the humidity went up, I lost my connection - sometimes for days at a
time. Charter (our local @home NOC) sent out a tech who informed me there
was "nothing they could do". Well, I didn't accept that, so everytime the
cable went out, I made sure to call them and log the problem, so that there
was an audit trail documenting the lack of resolution. I was told numerous
times that "the problem will be fixed on (some date)". Well it never was
fixed, so I finally sent a complaint to the Better Business Bureau of
Wisconsin detailing the problem and asking for arbitration and resolution. I
also found that my city's government holds monthly Broadband regulatory
commission board meetings, and that the public was welcome. I attended
February's meeting and presented my problem to the board (in front of 2
representatives from Charter). Well to make a long story short, instead of
having to deal with the script techs ("Have you re-synchronized your
modem?") at the Charter "technical support" phone number, Charter's director
of Engineering personally contacted me and, much to my shock, actually took
ownership of my problem and saw to it that it was fixed.
I have had flawless, uninterrupted service for the last 2 weeks - with
temperatures in the 30s and 40s!!
Moral of the story: be persistent about having someone who is competent take
ownership of your problem until it is resolved. Also, make sure that you get
a credit on your account for downtime.
Good luck and HTH!
Scott
Michael Parks
Scott,
Thanks for the report. I've been having the exact same problems. I
swear, if somebody tells me to resynch my modem one more time, I'm
going to snap. I have gotten refunds for two months of service,
though, so I guess that's something.
Out of curiosity, what exactly did they have to do to fix it? Was it a
lot of trouble for them? As of right now, I'm assuming that my tech is
either a complete moron (he claims that weather has absolutely no
effect on the line), or he simply doesn't want to deal with the hassle
of fixing it.
I'll contact the BBB next week if it hasn't been fixed by then, and
I'll look into the commission board meetings.
Thanks again,
Mike
markb-dialup
standards, there are none for cable users! and at the other end of the
temp scale, heat expansion will cause the same problem and wet weather
will cause problems also.
Allen Wone
NY, the cable modem worked except when the ground was wet. Every time
it rained and snowed the modem died until the ground dried out a bit.
tech came and said I needed a new underground line but told me it may not
be until spring when the ground thaws. I wasnt happy with that so every
time it went out I called and logged a complaint. This could be a couple
of time a day because sometime I would get the signal and then lose it.
After being told by the cust svc droids that I have to be patient and
wait till spring(though I was getting svc credits) I wrote to the general
manager of cablevision for my area and told him I was not happy. Basically,
I said that if I was new customer who never had cable, would you tell me
that i would have to wait until spring to have you push a wire underground?
That and offering to push the complaint up to the PSC, who regulates cable
companies here in NY got my new line installed in less than a week.
When in doubt, take out a stick and whack the company with it. That doesnt
work, take out the next biggest stick and so on. Its amazing what you can
get done if you offer to have your complaint resolved by a governmental
authority.
James Knott
James Knott
>
> Michael Parks wrote:
> >
> > On Mon, 12 Mar 2001 18:07:26 GMT, Kip Patterson
> > <ripa...@columbus.rr.com> wrote:
> >
> > >That's not unusual. Aluminum coax has two characteristics that
> > >contribute. The first is its high coeffficient of thermal expansion,
> > >which means that it is moving around a lot as the temperature changes.
> > >The second is its tendency to develop a tenacious film of aluminum oxide,
> > >a good insulator.
> > >
> > >You almost certainly have a problem somewhere in the cable plant, most
> > >likely at a tap. I wouldn't want to be the person who has to find it.
> > >
> > >Kip Patterson
> >
> > Kip,
> >
> > Thanks a lot for the info. I'll relay it to my technician and see what
> > he can do from there. Though, if it's going to be as much trouble to
> > fix as you would imply, I'm wondering if the tech doesn't know exactly
> > what the problem is, and simply doesn't want to be bothered with it.
> > Wouldn't surprise me.
>
> Probably not, as the guy who does the service calls is in all
> probability the guy who maintains the cable plant. Also, cable companies
> have to maintain their cable plant to avoid interference problems to
> other services.
That should have read the guy who does the service calls is in all
probability *NOT* the guy who maintains the cable plant.
> --
> Replies sent via e-mail to this address will be promptly ignored.
> To reply, replace everything to the left of "@" with "james.knott".
>
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