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HDHR Prime issues


mastrmind11

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mastrmind11
1 hour ago, cayars said:

You need a Verizon service call.  Have you set this up yet?

Not yet.  Found the run to the HDHR, switched out the F jack and I get HD, but missing all the cbs, nbc etc channels.  I can watch everything else but those channels don't even appear on the scan.  I've rescanned like 5 times in the last 2 hours.  Bizarre

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sooty234

If you're missing channels, that means you've lost some of the bandwidth (I used to be a satellite TV installer). We used to have a meter that would test the integrity of the cable, but you don't have that... SO... there are several possibilities why this could happen, but I can tell you that what we did in this situation was, just replace the cable. Don't use splitters, don't connect two cables together. There could be corrosion. A rat might have chewed on the cable...any one of a number of things, and it can be a nightmare and a waste of time trying to fix it. Buy some new RG6 with a solid copper conductor (not copper clad). Buy a cheap compression tool, a two blade stripper (not adjustable) and water tight F type fittings. Here's a cheap kit that will work ok, my stuff cost a couple of hundred bucks. If you do need to couple two cables together, don't connect RG59 to RG6, and don't use 1 GHz connectors, which have the white center, use the blue, they are 3 GHz. Cable companies still use 1 GHz, which only just allows for their bandwidth. So if it corrodes or starts to fail, you start losing channels.

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mastrmind11
10 hours ago, sooty234 said:

If you're missing channels, that means you've lost some of the bandwidth (I used to be a satellite TV installer). We used to have a meter that would test the integrity of the cable, but you don't have that... SO... there are several possibilities why this could happen, but I can tell you that what we did in this situation was, just replace the cable. Don't use splitters, don't connect two cables together. There could be corrosion. A rat might have chewed on the cable...any one of a number of things, and it can be a nightmare and a waste of time trying to fix it. Buy some new RG6 with a solid copper conductor (not copper clad). Buy a cheap compression tool, a two blade stripper (not adjustable) and water tight F type fittings. Here's a cheap kit that will work ok, my stuff cost a couple of hundred bucks. If you do need to couple two cables together, don't connect RG59 to RG6, and don't use 1 GHz connectors, which have the white center, use the blue, they are 3 GHz. Cable companies still use 1 GHz, which only just allows for their bandwidth. So if it corrodes or starts to fail, you start losing channels.

yeah unfortunately replacing the main run isn't really possible without some serious ripping apart of walls and ceilings.  all of my splitters are 2+ GHz because my LAN is all MoCa.  However I had no idea the F type connectors had any sort of measurable impedence, so I just picked up a couple from Microcenter.  Turns out, they're the white version.  I have a blue one that I actually replaced with a white one 🤣  .  anyway I will be putting the blue one back and will report back.  thanks for the tip!

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mastrmind11
5 minutes ago, sooty234 said:

Be aware that if any of the run is RG59 then that is also only 1 GHz.

yeah, this was all working perfectly a few weeks ago so nothing is RG59.  i have my HDHR at the end of the run from the ONT and all of my other hardware is behind the HDHR.  as far as i can tell there shouldn't be any other splitters on this line. so once I replace this connection point with a new connector, i should be able to at least determine that it's not a failed connector.  ie, if this doesn't work i'm calling verizon.

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sooty234

1 gig stuff will actually run some higher frequencies for a while, but will eventually fail. We used to see this. Satellite TV signal from the dish operates above 1 gig. We would sometimes use diplexers to push our signal down the same wire as cable. We would sometimes get called out because the customer had tried to do something similar and screwed it up. They'd say the same thing, "it used to work, I don't understand why it stopped working". Then I'd have to explain....then run a new cable. It actually burns the surface of the conductor. Your MoCa stuff probably does something similar, and occupies frequencies above 1 gig.

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mastrmind11
8 minutes ago, sooty234 said:

1 gig stuff will actually run some higher frequencies for a while, but will eventually fail. We used to see this. Satellite TV signal from the dish operates above 1 gig. We would sometimes use diplexers to push our signal down the same wire as cable. We would sometimes get called out because the customer had tried to do something similar and screwed it up. They'd say the same thing, "it used to work, I don't understand why it stopped working". Then I'd have to explain....then run a new cable. It actually burns the surface of the conductor. Your MoCa stuff probably does something similar, and occupies frequencies above 1 gig.

ok so i traced it all the way to where it enters the house.  the whole run is RG6 all the way to where it enters the house where there is a splitter.  i replaced that splitter and the other one in between with a blue F type connector.  also made sure to tighten the terminals.  rescanning on the HDHR now, and if this doesn't work i'll call verizon.  there's just no way to run a new cable without poking holes along the ceiling, which i definitely don't want to do, so i'm kind of at a loss if this doesn't solve the problem.

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sooty234

I'll be interested to see what they find. It does appear to be a devolving issue. So something is failing, somewhere. 

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mastrmind11
54 minutes ago, sooty234 said:

I'll be interested to see what they find. It does appear to be a devolving issue. So something is failing, somewhere. 

100%. But I'm not running a new drop so if it's not a failing ONT I feel bad for the people I eventually sell this place to after I shut off live tv.  I'll keep everyone posted.  🍻

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mastrmind11
7 minutes ago, ebr said:

Okay if I move this to the Hardware forum since it was not related to Emby?

go for it.

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Years ago I used to work for Comcast and going to service calls that had bad signal could be bad splitters, bad run to the tap, hell, even bad wall plates. But one thing you always want to make sure is nothing is touching the center copper wire. Me personally, if you have access to the outside tap and run a cable from there to the prime box (might have to throw in a splitter to knock down the signal, might be too strong), sorry if this has been tried. But could help decide the problem. I highly doubt it's a cable in the walls, but splitters and/or wall plates go bad all the time. Hopefully there's no old satellite splitters on the line as those seem to fail all the time by me. Again, apologies if all of this has already been tried and looked at, just thinking out loud. 

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mastrmind11

so follow up to anyone who has been following the saga and/or cares, tech came out and tested/replaced the ONT.  I spent hours on the phone with support not because I wanted to, I requested a van to replace the ONT 2 weeks ago, they *made* me do the troubleshooting steps *in order to get a van*.  2+ hours with an idiot from a foreign country just to get a van🙃.  Anyway, ONT upgraded, now I can decide if I want Gb internet since an upgraded ONT was a requirement :)  Cheers guys, thanks for all the suggestions. 

Going to call them and get a refund for last month's service, and a refund for wasting my last 3 Saturdays.

 

 

Edited by mastrmind11
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