timothy_mcdaniel's profile

Tutor

 • 

9 Messages

Sunday, June 16th, 2013 7:34 PM

Vampire attacks: the connection goes down at sunset, up at sunrise

Short form: is switching from coaxial to CAT5 actually likely to help with nighttime interference?  How do I run the cable inside? Should I buy any special CAT5 or just let AT&T provide it?

 

Yeah, vampires don't exist, but if someone here tells me to rub garlic on my coaxial cable, I will, just in case.

 

Since I don't know what the important info is, I'll dump it all.  Sorry.

 

I got U-verse service at my new condo unit around the start of May.  For the last week or two, at around sunset, the BROADBAND and SERVICE green lights on my 3801HGV go to red blinking, then green blinking, then back to green: down for 39 seconds, up for 2:08.  At about sunrise, all starts working fine again.

 

Trying to insert images in this editor causes "You must install or upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Flash Player before you can upload images." -- some Linux or browser issue.  So all I can do is post links to the uvwhatsit screenshots.  I think I made each open in another tab/window.  I took them during a down period last night, if that matters, a few hours after rebooting.  (Rebooting is no help, by the way.)

 

http://panix.com/~tmcd/U-verse/Bitloading-2013-06-15-22-48-49.png

http://panix.com/~tmcd/U-verse/CoaxHPNA-2013-06-15-22-48-52.png

http://panix.com/~tmcd/U-verse/ErrorTable-2013-06-15-22-48-55.png

http://panix.com/~tmcd/U-verse/Interfaces-2013-06-15-22-48-59.png

http://panix.com/~tmcd/U-verse/Stats-2013-06-15-22-48-46.png

 

The original installer told me that I was at the distant edge of possible service; that the line with me added was overloaded, so he had to call networking to add a little capacity, which got it just under 100%; the building's interconnection point (sorry, I don't know the right term) was on the other side of the building; he tried to run my signals over my internal phone lines but was not able to get it to work, so he resorted to using the installed coaxial cable.  The timing test I ran looked fine -- just under 6 Mbps download. The latest service person said that, while at that moment (afternoon) the signal looked OK to him, the long run from the connection over coaxial cable was causing me problems and told me I had to have them run CAT5 from that box.  He put that in the notes, so I wonder whether I can get any more service calls until that's done. He also said that running CAT5 the length of the building and then converting to coaxial wouldn't help -- the converter box would itself drop the signal strength.

 

I managed to find a few other similar postings here where people replied that this is a known problem due to electronic interference from devices that turn on at night.

 

Is switching from coaxial to CAT5 likely to help my particular problem?

 

If so: I am a first-time homeowner and I have no handyman experience.  I believe he said that AT&T would do the exterior wiring for free, but I guess I would then have to ask my handyman+electrician friend to get it inside.  What do I ask him to do?  Previously, Time-Warner had put their own box outside and had run coax on the outside wall to two places where they drilled thru the wall to outlets inside.  Will it be a similar thing here?

 

I like higher quality products and Fixing Problems Right once and for all.  Should I let AT&T provide cable, or should I go get some super-duper single-crystal unobtanium cable?

 

Accepted Solution

Official Solution

Expert

 • 

9.4K Messages

11 years ago

The problem is that the ballast and/or bulb in that security light is bad ... it's causing the sputtering and resulting interference.

Have the light fixed and the problem will likely go away without moving any wires.

Expert

 • 

20.4K Messages

11 years ago

Ther error table shows 41 link retrains, after it loses the signal, it has to retrain to get it back.  For great service, I'd contact ATT Customer Care here:
http://forums.att.com/t5/notes/privatenotespage/tab/compose/note-to-user-id/192773

Send them a private message, on this link, and they should be able to give the help needed to solve your problems. They are available M-F 8am-11pm EST. This is not the regular CS/TS people, but the social media people that know the people to contact to get things done.

Include your account#, email address and a good phone # (land or cell) and time to contact you on.

Check the blue PM envelope, upper right, in case they replied this way. Good luck 😉

 

Chris


Please NO SD stretch-o-vision or 480 SD HD Channels
Need Help? 1-800-288-2020, After he gets acct info, press # a bunch of times, get a menu from Mr. Voice recognition
Your Results May Vary, In My Humble Opinion
I Call It Like I See It, Simply a U-verse user, nothing more

Teacher

 • 

14 Messages

11 years ago

Sounds like a loop length issue to me. CAT5 may or may not help but will still get interference if this is the cause. In my opinion you should get a Facilities Tech out to reprovision the lines to the premise if at all possible.

Expert

 • 

20.4K Messages

11 years ago

Think Customer Care can take care of that for him. 😉

 

Chris


Please NO SD stretch-o-vision or 480 SD HD Channels
Need Help? 1-800-288-2020, After he gets acct info, press # a bunch of times, get a menu from Mr. Voice recognition
Your Results May Vary, In My Humble Opinion
I Call It Like I See It, Simply a U-verse user, nothing more

Tutor

 • 

9 Messages

11 years ago

I ran ping all day and night with timestamps.  The technician and I traced the coaxial cable outside the building.  It goes right by two outdoor security lights.  They turn on at sunset.  One of them sputters and turns on for a minute, then shuts off for 2 minutes, then sputters back to life, all night long.  Every time it starts sputtering on, my residential gateway loses its connection a few seconds later.  (Interestingly, the residential gateway reconnects while the light is on, so the sputtering startup is the straw that breaks the camel's back.)  I know that the second light is spitting out EMI too: my networking seemed to work fine when it was broken, and my troubles started earlier this month when they installed this second light.

 

So the technician said that AT&T's options are limited.  He could route the cable a different route, but I'd have to approach the condo HOA for permission to run it over the flat roofs or to run it underground along the front, and I'm not in good odor with them now.  Also, he said that AT&T is considering higher bandwidth service, and while coax works OK for what I have (6 Mbps), you really need CAT5 for the higher-bandwidth stuff.  I offered to buy appropriate cabling, and he said they'd install it.  He said I should get "quad shield CAT5, outdoor rated".

 

I called a local place (Altex Computers is GREAT and they have a lot of cabling).  The first guy said that "quad shielded" isn't a CAT5 thing.  He also said that coaxial cable is shielded already, so he wonders whether shielded CAT5 will do any better.  A second guy said that, when U-verse first came out, he read that U-verse prefers coax.  He also said that coax runs on a higher frequency so he wonders whether CAT5 would even be better than coax, and suggested quad shielded coax (he may have said "RG6"?)

 

Help?  Anyone know what is best for U-verse?

 

(Replacing the light is a high priority, of course, but I don't know that the HOA will get a low-EMI replacement.)

 

Teacher

 • 

14 Messages

11 years ago

Any way to "rip" the coax off the wall to get it away from the lights

Tutor

 • 

9 Messages

11 years ago

The coax cable runs right under the eaves, which is where the lights and their power lines are.  They're all touching.

 

It would be physically possible to move the coax down 12-18" and run it along the tops of the garage door openings back there.  But it would be unsightly and so I hesitate to suggest it to the HOA.

 

Would 12" of distance help significantly in anyone's experience?

 

Teacher

 • 

14 Messages

11 years ago

It may, sometimes it is just inches. But in the end if you cannot get the HOA to approve the cables being moved, there is not too much anyone can do.
Not finding what you're looking for?
New to AT&T Community?
New to the AT&T Community? Start by visiting the Community How-To.
New to the AT&T Community?
Visit the Community How-To.