Does cold weather effect Cable Internet?

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Does cold weather effect Cable Internet?

Posted: 2/18/2006 5:20:39 PM EDT

It has been colder than normal around here the last two days and I've noticed that my internet sucks. Pages take forever to load and I dont get squat for download speed. Is it becasue of the sudden coldness?

Posted: 2/18/2006 5:21:50 PM EDT

[#1]

Its been colder than normal here and I have noticed that my cable TV sucks.

Coincidence??? I THINK NOT.

Posted: 2/18/2006 5:22:06 PM EDT

[#2]

The cold makes the cable shrink/expand.

Posted: 2/18/2006 5:27:33 PM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
The cold makes the cable shrink/expand.

The distance between the conductor and the outside conductor changes which changes the impedance, and when the metal on the connectors shrink from the cold the connections often start causing problems. At work we lose about 2dBmV of signal when it's below freezing. The problem is that's 2dB we need to get the cable modem to work. It's a good thing we have three other connections.z

Posted: 2/18/2006 5:35:42 PM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:
The cold makes the cable shrink/expand.

Glad to see my pee pee isn't the only thing cold weather makes shrink

Posted: 2/18/2006 5:37:58 PM EDT

[#5]

There's probably alot more people on when it's cold too...

Posted: 2/18/2006 5:38:11 PM EDT

[#6]

the more people you have using it at the same time , the slower it gets.
cold weather= more people inside looking at scat porn

Posted: 2/18/2006 5:38:52 PM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
It has been colder than normal around here the last two days and I've noticed that my internet sucks. Pages take forever to load and I dont get squat for download speed. Is it becasue of the sudden coldness?

No.

Posted: 2/18/2006 5:41:31 PM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
Quoted:
The cold makes the cable shrink/expand.

The distance between the conductor and the outside conductor changes which changes the impedance, and when the metal on the connectors shrink from the cold the connections often start causing problems. At work we lose about 2dBmV of signal when it's below freezing. The problem is that's 2dB we need to get the cable modem to work. It's a good thing we have three other connections.z

I gave the arfcom version.

Posted: 2/18/2006 5:50:54 PM EDT

[#9]

Mine sucks too when it gets cold.

Posted: 2/18/2006 6:09:34 PM EDT

[#10]

My cable works fine even when it gets down into the frigid 50s.

Posted: 2/18/2006 6:13:47 PM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
There's probably alot more people on when it's cold too...

yup

Posted: 2/18/2006 6:18:07 PM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
Quoted:
It has been colder than normal around here the last two days and I've noticed that my internet sucks. Pages take forever to load and I dont get squat for download speed. Is it becasue of the sudden coldness?

~~No.~~yes

My cable company has to adjust the gain on the outside line when it gets cold

Posted: 2/18/2006 6:18:44 PM EDT

[#13]

I would call the cable company on its tech help line and complain about the slow response times.

Posted: 2/18/2006 6:23:49 PM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
The cold makes the cable shrink/expand.

Friend of mine has this problem here in Vegas in the winter. His cables run through a large field (horse arena) and the moisture from the sprinklers causes the ground to almost freeze at night. His cable TV reception was terrible and his internet was completely unusable on a typical night.

Cox technitions said this was due to 1) old cabling 2) the moisture causing the ground to become even colder and possibly short or erode the cable 3) a long run that allowed for more signal degredation. Cox themselves would not fix it and only offered them to connect it at the street junction if they dug the cable up and replaced it themselves. They dug the entire run up and replaced it with new cable and insulated it (I think). From then on it was stable.

Posted: 2/18/2006 6:24:44 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
It has been colder than normal around here the last two days and I've noticed that my internet sucks. Pages take forever to load and I dont get squat for download speed. Is it becasue of the sudden coldness?

~~No.~~yes

My cable company has to adjust the gain on the outside line when it gets cold

That must be a older system. Most amps have automatic gain and temp settings.

Posted: 2/18/2006 6:25:57 PM EDT

[#16]

Been wondering about that...

Posted: 2/18/2006 6:28:11 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
Quoted:
The cold makes the cable shrink/expand.

Friend of mine has this problem here in Vegas in the winter. His cables run through a large field (horse arena) and the moisture from the sprinklers causes the ground to almost freeze at night. His cable TV reception was terrible and his internet was completely unusable on a typical night.

Cox technitions said this was due to 1) old cabling 2) the moisture causing the ground to become even colder and possibly short or erode the cable 3) a long run that allowed for more signal degredation. Cox themselves would not fix it and only offered them to connect it at the street junction if they dug the cable up and replaced it themselves. They dug the entire run up and replaced it with new cable and insulated it (I think). From then on it was stable.

All cable i have seen comes insulated. You have a outside plastic layer, then a thin metal sheathing, then foam insulation, then the actualy cable line.

Posted: 2/18/2006 6:30:46 PM EDT

[#18]

Gee, one more reason to stay with dial-up. It sucks all the time.

Posted: 2/18/2006 6:34:08 PM EDT

[#19]

The copper wire becomes more efficient when it gets cold and the amplifiers may overdrive the signal causing problems like you are experiencing.

Either retune the system for the cold weather or wait it out for a couple more days and everything will be back to normal.

I have had a few problems with my system the last couple days....we reset all the amps for the warmer weather and now its 5 degrees outside...hope it warms up soon.

Posted: 2/18/2006 6:57:12 PM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
The cold makes the cable shrink/expand.

Friend of mine has this problem here in Vegas in the winter. His cables run through a large field (horse arena) and the moisture from the sprinklers causes the ground to almost freeze at night. His cable TV reception was terrible and his internet was completely unusable on a typical night.

Cox technitions said this was due to 1) old cabling 2) the moisture causing the ground to become even colder and possibly short or erode the cable 3) a long run that allowed for more signal degredation. Cox themselves would not fix it and only offered them to connect it at the street junction if they dug the cable up and replaced it themselves. They dug the entire run up and replaced it with new cable and insulated it (I think). From then on it was stable.

All cable i have seen comes insulated. You have a outside plastic layer, then a thin metal sheathing, then foam insulation, then the actualy cable line.

That was probably the cause of the problem then. Their house is over 30 years old and that cable run was of unknown age. I do remember him saying when they pulled out the old run, "it looked like shit." He was probably referring to the insulation.

Posted: 2/18/2006 7:55:53 PM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:
Quoted:
The cold makes the cable shrink/expand.

The distance between the conductor and the outside conductor changes which changes the impedance, and when the metal on the connectors shrink from the cold the connections often start causing problems. At work we lose about 2dBmV of signal when it's below freezing. The problem is that's 2dB we need to get the cable modem to work. It's a good thing we have three other connections.z

Most cable modems will lock up between -10 DbMv and +10DbMv, so if you think that the 2 DbMv is causing you problems, you are dreaming. Within those ranges, BdMv has no direct coorelation to modem performance.

Now, if that 2 DbMv loss is pushing you outside those limits, you have to speak to someone at your cable comapny.

Posted: 2/18/2006 7:58:13 PM EDT

[#22]

Bad quality/old cabling will be affected by weather, so yes, it could.

Posted: 2/18/2006 8:01:04 PM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
Quoted:
There's probably alot more people on when it's cold too...
yup

Cables dirty little secret, can be overloaded by too many users. Most systems are close to that but not wuite. Add a few more users on your feed and wham.

Posted: 2/18/2006 8:04:04 PM EDT

[#24]

I have dealt with more than my share of high speed coax circuits, and in my experience weather really didn't have that much of an effect on them either way. The only exceptions I can think of were some local DS3's that were marginal at 68 degrees, that would flake when it got really hot. This is not cable modem experience, but similar technology. I had cable modems for about six years and never really noticed a difference when it was cold.

Posted: 2/18/2006 8:57:05 PM EDT

[#25]

Most cable modems will lock up between -10 DbMv and +10DbMv, so if you think that the 2 DbMv is causing you problems, you are dreaming.

What? The signal right now is -11.1dBmV. Notice that that's in millivolts. No cable system runs at megavolts like your example! The system works about 90% of the time right now. If I lose 2 dBmV of signal, it will not work at all. Where in the world does your "dreaming" comment come from? It's just the way cable modems work. If there's not enough signal it's not going to work. The cable companies have government protected monopolies so they don't try or care. There's nothing they'll do to fix this.z

Posted: 2/19/2006 5:02:51 AM EDT

[#26]

Monitor your signal strenghts and voltage http://192.168.100.1 if you have a Motorola modem
My cable was crapping out recently, drove me nuts www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=124&t=428983

Posted: 2/19/2006 5:09:43 AM EDT

[#27]

Been decent here... down in the teens.

Posted: 2/19/2006 5:20:07 AM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
The cold makes the cable shrink/expand.

The distance between the conductor and the outside conductor changes which changes the impedance, and when the metal on the connectors shrink from the cold the connections often start causing problems. At work we lose about 2dBmV of signal when it's below freezing. The problem is that's 2dB we need to get the cable modem to work. It's a good thing we have three other connections.z

Most cable modems will lock up between -10 DbMv and +10DbMv, so if you think that the 2 DbMv is causing you problems, you are dreaming. Within those ranges, BdMv has no direct coorelation to modem performance.

Now, if that 2 DbMv loss is pushing you outside those limits, you have to speak to someone at your cable comapny.

Thatrs what I was going to say, almost to a T.
Ifa changeaslittle as 2Db causes you to run out of spec your at the edge anyways and need to fix the root problem.
Unless your gear ismade by Cisco, in which case +/- 2 Db would probably be the difference between frying the card and working just fine.

Posted: 2/19/2006 5:27:28 AM EDT

[#29]

Quoted:
The cold makes the cable shrink/expand.

+1 and if you have any breaks, the line loss becomes much worse. Call the cable guy!

At my old place, they had to replace my cable all the way down my driveway, and a half block to the pole because of a break. As the TV got bigger, noise became more critical. When I went to a 60" I needed a line amp. Even with that, cable was spotty. Getting the cable company to admit they had a bottle neck and upgrade the equipment was impossible.

Now that I have DSL, I have consistent operations and failures have went to.........none..........ever.

Posted: 2/19/2006 6:06:52 AM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:
Most cable modems will lock up between -10 DbMv and +10DbMv, so if you think that the 2 DbMv is causing you problems, you are dreaming.

What? The signal right now is -11.1dBmV. Notice that that's in millivolts. No cable system runs at megavolts like your example! The system works about 90% of the time right now. If I lose 2 dBmV of signal, it will not work at all. Where in the world does your "dreaming" comment come from? It's just the way cable modems work. If there's not enough signal it's not going to work. The cable companies have government protected monopolies so they don't try or care. There's nothing they'll do to fix this.z

Well, for starters, what size drop are they using to your house 6 or 11?

ETA: If the signal at your house(outside) is too low, it can be a bad drop, or the values rorm the tap can be low. Get someone out there to check it. If the values at the outside ( By outside, I mean the groundblock) are fine, then it is a problem within your home. If it is in your home, usually it can be attributed to cheap/faulty splitters and or lines. BTW, do you have any splitters, if so what kind?

Posted: 2/19/2006 2:51:49 PM EDT

[#31]

Well, for starters, what size drop are they using to your house 6 or 11?

I don't know the type of cable, but it's almost the size of my wrist. That is run into our building then the local cable company has an amp inside our computer room. From there, they have eight runs of RG-59 (they're too cheap to use RG-6!). One is a three feet to our cable modem and the other seven are to houses behind our building. When the cable company first ran the cable, all seven houses had cable, but since the idiots at the cable company got pissed-off at the city after the city finally refused one of their requests for a rate hike, the cable company screwed-over their customers here by moving the three networks to the three channels that have the most interference. Not long after the cable company did that, all seven of the houses behind us disconnected their cable. It's kinda useless to pay for cable when they don't allow you to watch the three main networks.

Get someone out there to check it.

You're joking right? As if they'll do that! The way I've always got service before was to find a local cable company employee at lunch and offer them cash to come look at it after work.

The signal is too low, but when they increase the gain on the amp, the SNR is too low to work.

There are no splitters. There's just a 3' cable from their amp to the cable modem.z

Posted: 2/19/2006 3:20:44 PM EDT

[#32]

Too much signal strength can cause serious problems, too.

Two years ago when I got digital cable, the incoming signal strength was low so I installed a fully DTV, cable modem-compatible amplifier to feed the house. This brought signal levels up to the optimum range.

Just recently, I started having trouble with macroblocking, stuttering, and other problems as well with the digital cable boxes. Some internet connectivity issues as well.

I called for repair.

End result: The cable system in this area has been improved and boosted since I put the amp in. Amp no longer needed, and it was actually feeding too hot a signal to the equipment. Amp taken out, signal strenght is right where it should be , and that's that. All is well.

CJ

Posted: 2/19/2006 4:03:49 PM EDT

[#33]

me being a wonderful cable guy from comcast ill try to give you guys some answers.

1. Cold weather does not affect CATV lines so drasticly that it messes up your signal if at all.
2. Make sure you have a dedicated line running from your ground block (where your cable feeds from outside) to your modem. NO SPLITTERS PAST THE GROUND BLOCK!!!!! THATS THE #! PROBLEM!!.
3. Look at the type of cable feeding your modem.. If it says RG6 your fine. If it says RG59 call your cable provider tell them the tech installed your modem is a lazy piece of $@#% and needs to be fired. I hate those kind of service calls RG59 has half the insulation which results twice the signal loss. that stuff was uses for old atennas you put on your roof.
4. If you have a radio shack splitter throw it away they are garbage.
5. Put a good drop amp in if your signal is low. After you install it turn on your tv if you see white specs on your analog channels or choppiness on your digital channels you have to much signal and thats BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!
6. Check the ends of your fittings if the stinger (copper) is sticking more than 1/8 an inch out of the fitting it will cause signal loss.
7. Make sure your fittings outside are wrench tight outside or moisture will get inside and screw your signal up.
8. If all that fails tell your provider to look at the tap levels and ask if they need to be adjusted. Here your normally at +10 to +15 at the tap.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Does cold weather effect Cable Internet?

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