My cable nightmare, can someone help me out?

[cullend]

Hi, everyone. I want to try an call Time Warner have them dispatch a technician, and I want to be able to argue with him if he tells me all the signals etc are ok. I think before I jump right into the details of the problem, I need to give you the back-story to my cable problems.

We started out with AT&T in 2001 for digital cable and high speed internet. A few years later, we were informed that our service provider would be switching to Comcast. This is when all our troubles first started... Soon after we started to experience a slight loss in TV Picture quality, and our broadband speeds decreased. The worst thing to happen out of this was somehow, about a year after the switch our modems where burning out at a rate of 1 every 2-3 months. Our broadband would just go out, and we would call Comcast, and they would walk us through trouble shooting, and then dispatch someone to fix it. All these people ever did was replace the modem. The third time it happened, we made the guy check the lines coming into the house, he told us that they were "acceptable". He then left. Less than a month later the modem went again. Even replacing the modems did not help the speed.

We had another technician come out and tell use there was actually a problem with the cable coming onto our street. He said he would report back to Comcast with that information, and then have a supervisor call us to tell us what they were going to do to correct to issue. This was 2 years ago and it never happened. Since then, we have found a local Comcast office, and we would swap modems out there. If I had to guess, I would say we have gone through OVER 15 modems.

Last fall, we were informed our service provider was switching again, this time to Time Warner. The last three months that we had Comcast as our service provider, it seemed that everything was getting better. The modems where still going, but our speed and reliability had increased, and tech support was much more friendly. I always compared Comcast to the James Bond Casino Royale commercial, where they car went really fast, the flipped over.

Once we were stuck with Road Runner, problems increased. We continue to lose modems like flies, but what is worse, is the speed. With Comcast we had a 6mbps speed package, that wasn’t really capped so you could get great download speeds (this 'uncap' didn’t happen until the last few months) With RR however, we have 5mbps. The highest download speed I can get is 580KBps. Well, to say the least I was "peeved." But imagine my anger when I go to my Aunt's house, less than a 4 minute drive, and she is receiving speeds upwards of 850KBps.

As well, it is IMPOSSIBLE to try and call Time Warner tech support. You will wait on hold for 2 hours. They give you an option where "they call you back." Well they don’t call you back period. If you request a supervisor, they tell you the supervisor is busy and can call you back, they don’t.

Something a bit unrelated to internet is our cable. Just one of the many 'experiences' was this. Our On Demand wasn’t working so we call; wait on hold for about 2 hours. We explain the situation to the tech; she says she is going to send a "hit" to the box. She then says "oops." And tells us the soonest they have a technician, is 2 weeks from then. I ask her what she is talking about, and she said my cable box won’t function; it needs to be replaced and reconfigured. Well I try and argue to get a tech out sooner, I attempt to get a supervisor, but just get shuffled around from office to office.

I have a friend who worked at Comcast, then Time Warner tech support. He told me that for years there has been an open ticket to replace the back end server here because of network congestion.

Anyway, now for the real issue. I want to try an call Time Warner have them dispatch a technician, and I want to be able to argue with him if he tells me all is well.

Outside my house, I there is a plastic box holding cable wiring. The splitter that is there seems to be of good quality. However, I’m not so sure of the cable coming into my house. It is somewhat thick, and just doesn’t appear to be of high quality. Here is what it says on it "MediaOne E8032 F6SSVV CR-D (UL) CATV 0146062." Is that cable any good (picture)?

As well, I have a little plastic stump in front of my lawn with cable stuff in it. Most of the connections look pretty bad(picture). I showed it to a friend and he said it was a sorry ass excuse for a node. So what should I say to the tech about this equipment? Is it good enough? If it needs to be replaced, what would be reason to have it replaced? Like I said, I want to know what I’m talking about when he comes. So what should I say to him about that equipment?

I know that whenever they say the lines are "acceptable" it just means it meets DOCSIS requirements. Here is the info my modem tells me.
SNR 34.6 dB
Power Level -8.6dBmv
Upstream:
Power 52.5 dBmV
What would be 'optimal' and what should they be for good performance? I want to be able to tell this guy I know they are crap, and I want to tell him I know what they should be.

Can you guys think of anything else to tell the technician? Thanks for your help!

[YARDofSTUF]

Your download power level is kinda lowish and your upload power level is kinda highish.

I had TCI, then AT&T, and now Comcast from buy outs, AT&T was my worst to deal with, but the techs that come out are usually good, he should check the signal from your modem, line, and then outside as well.

[ace]

The splitter and the Main line plugged into the splitter is good. Both cables coming off the splitter are bad. They are both rg-59 coming off there. They should both be replaced. Your signal to the modem is ok at best. I like to see the modem between -5 and +5 for the downstream, 33 to 39snr and 35 to 50on the upstream.
You should push them to rewire those cables. Also how many other splitters are in the house? I doubt that your modem is off the first splitter there and that is something that you should have done.