Cable Reliability

[seekermeister]

Since I went to cable service several years ago, I have noticed that the service goes down 2-3 times a years from several hours up to a day. That wouldn't be too terrible, except that takes out my telephone service also. It is for this reason that I have been thinking about reverting my telephone service back to a regular landline, but I keep waffling.

All that aside, I'm wondering if this is typical of most cable services, or if I'm just "blessed" by only having Cox to choose from?

 

[fseal]

We have problems with our cable (cox) maybe once every 4-5 years barring power outtages. When there is a problem it usually persists on and off for days till they fix it for good. But then it's 100% uptime as far as I can tell for months and months/years on end.

These kinds of problems can be extremely localised to an area due to equipment or the type of people working in that area etc :/

 

[Nitro58]

I dropped cable 7 years ago when I went to satellite tv. I started using DSL and have found it much more reliable and even faster than my old cable was, at least in my area.

 

[seekermeister]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't DSL strictly for TV, rather than internet? Internet is what I want, not TV.

 

[MrNeeds]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't DSL strictly for TV, rather than internet? Internet is what I want, not TV.

DSL means Digital Subscriber Line (copper telephone lines), it's frequently used in the UK, us brits are behind the times, some bright spark decided that copper wires wasn't bad enough and replaced it with aluminium instead, which has a lesser lifespan than the copper cables, but we are getting fibre soon.

 

[Nitro58]

DSL comes from my phone provider (windstream), but you can get your internet from them also. I do have to use a filter so that the internet signal doesn't interfere with my phone signal.

 

[DavidE]

depending where you are (US), you may be able to get Verizon FIOS and/or at&t Uverse.
These are fiber optic cable.
They each have websites where you can enter your address (maybe phone #) to check if the service is available to you.
I have Uverse (FIOS is not available for me).
Occasionally the Gateway resets itself and internet, phone, and TV are down for apx. 5 minutes.

 

[fseal]

Unfortunately FIOS is not "to the door". I wish it was...

It's optical to the last main junction to your neighbourhood then copper twisted pair (essentially DSL) to your house

At least that's what U-Verse is in our neighbourhood. And it took a LOT of prodding to get that information out. Then, to pay for the speed we were getting from cable (which is about 24Mbps now I think? It took 20 minutes to DL the 3.3gig Windows 8 iso) it actually ended up costing more so no way AT&T

If they bring optical directly to my router and get me 100Mbps for at least 25% cheaper than cable then go man go, but not likely to happen...

 

[DavidE]

Unfortunately FIOS is not "to the door". I wish it was...

Do you mean Uverse (not FIOS)?

I'm under the impression FIOS is FTTP (fiber to the premise).
It may also be called FTTH (fiber to the home).

Verizon FiOS - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Uverse uses FTTN (fiber to the node).
I recently read somewhere Uverse may be FTTH in newer subdivisions.

They added Uverse in my neighborhood apx 2 years ago, and did not lay new fiber cable to the homes...

 

[seekermeister]

I just got off the phone with Cox support, because my internet and telephone service has been very volatile since early yesterday morning. One time I check it on speedtest.net and it's normal, the next time it will barely move the needles...or not at all.

The tech seemed to think it is a problem with my cable modem (Cox provided), so he scheduled a service call tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, they replace the modem and all will be well.

While talking with him, I brought up the subject of using the service for sending and receiving faxes, which I have not been able to make work. When I discussed this on another forum in the past, I was told that it is because the cable service is digital, and the fax machine works on analog, but he said that the telephone portion of the service is analog, and that it should work.

I know that I played around with this a lot in the past, but I will try once more, after getting the modem squared away.

 

[Layback Bear]

DSL and Phone use the same lines. Low frequencies for talking on phone and high frequencies for internet. A filter is installed on each phone jack to filter the high frequencies noise while talking on the phone. You can use the phone and be on line at the same time. If you do go DSL I would suggest checking the phone wiring in your house. Some are very old and carry the high frequencies poorly. I replaced all my phone cable in the house to the junction box outside and really improved the speed of the internet. I don't remember the name of the cable it came from a friend that installs systems in large complexes. My old wiring for the phone was from the 1960's, big difference from today's new wiring. I have been using Windstream for years and have had no problems for the last couple of years other than cars or storms knocking down polls. When I did have cable it was a on and off problem sometimes lasting a few minutes to a day or two. That all depends on your location and the quality of the cable co. people and equipment. When cable works it is fast but I really never notice the speed unless I went to some pages that had a large amount of pictures.

 

[seekermeister]

That may be a reason not to go DSL, because the complex that I live in was built in the 70s, and if the wiring isn't up to snuff, there isn't much that I could do about it.

 

[Sardonicus]

My cable reliability has been rock solid with WOW cable. I had problems with AT&T's DSL in the past, that involved the usual customer service annoyances and tech visits. Cable, IMHO is a more reliable service. To be fair, though, it's been years since I've dealt with AT& T, so DSL service may have improved. With that said, when dealing with a specific cable company, it all comes down to their infrastructure and how well they maintain it. I think reliability depends upon the company, not the medium.

Using my cable company's VOIP, to make it function like a conventional phone line, I plugged the standard phone cord into their modem and the other end into the phone jack. Before it's was set up that way, I had the cable technician to unplug the phone connection from the Telephone Network Interface box. This insures that no signal or electrical interference is present on the line. The phone line connected to the cable modem will run the signal throughout the house and all phones and faxes should work as normal.

You may want to have the cable technician to check the Telephone Network Interface box to see if the phone connection is unplugged, so as to eliminate any problems with the functionality of the modem.

 

[seekermeister]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but my cable, both internet and telephone come in on a separate connection dedicated only to cable. Therefore, I don't think that it matters whether the landline telephone is connected or not.

 

[Layback Bear]

This might interest you.

Cable telephony - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Sardonicus]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but my cable, both internet and telephone come in on a separate connection dedicated only to cable. Therefore, I don't think that it matters whether the landline telephone is connected or not.

Seekermeister,
Yeah, I forget that not everyone has the same setup. Hopefully the tech will straighten it out for you. I'll keep my fingers and toes crossed.

 

[seekermeister]

This might interest you.

Cable telephony - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks, but it doesn't. All that is found there is this statement:

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name.

 

[Layback Bear]

Sorry but it works for me from my post and your post.

 

[seekermeister]

Odd! First it didn't work, and now it does.

 

[seekermeister]

The cable serviceman just came by...he didn't even come in to look at the modem, because he thought that he found the problem outside. I ran a speed test, and it looks good now, so I hope that it will remain that way, and not just be one of it's better moments.