My Office Internet Failed

[writhziden]

but I don't like the idea of having to sleep right next to so much EMF radiation.

Ummm, EMF = electromotive force. This is just the proper term for "voltage" in a circuit. It is the "E" in Ohm's Law ("E = IR" or voltage = current x resistance). This voltage is what is running through wires. While it is also used in inductors and transformers as electromagnetic induction, these components are generally shielded to prevent spurious signals or magnetic radiation from "entering" the circuit from the outside and from radiating out too as that would indicate an inefficient loss of power. Not to mention the FCC and other regulatory agencies frown on unwanted EMI/RFI emanations.

EMF - Electromagnetic Field. I probably would have been more accurate to say EMR - Electromagnetic Radiation. My mother in law believes it may contribute to my heart rhythm issues; the cardiologists haven't found anything structurally to explain the issues.

Got a microwave or cell tower out your windows? Or a nearby airport's RADAR antenna nearby?

There's an airport 2-3 miles from us.

 

[writhziden]

1. Has someone confirmed exactly what is wrong with your existing ethernet wiring using a meter or is the tech just guessing/passing the buck?
2. If you actually have a bad wire, is there any reason you can't use the old one to pull a new line?

1. No, it was all just a guess by the technician who visited here and tried several changes to fix things with no success. He then asked me to plug into a different cable outlet and see how it worked, and the issues haven't returned with that outlet.
2. I don't have a tall enough ladder to reach the access area for the lines.

 

[Fred Garvin]

OK. It's pretty rare to see a bad coax line inside the building. 90% of the time it's a bad fitting or splitter. The tech should have confirmed your signal with a meter and replaced the coax end connector at a bare minimum. The apartment complex will also have an accessible demarc where everything is tied in, and a tech can test lines from there. I'd get the ISP back there since it doesn't sound someone did their job. The service provider is normally responsible for bringing the signal in, up to the modem.

 

[niemiro]

I'm in agreement that the best course of action is to continue pushing your letting agency to fix their wiring.

However, since we're on the topic, as a piece of anecdotal evidence, I've had a great experience using PowerLine adapters extensively in lots of houses I/my family have lived in (rented and otherwise). To start with, I've had no problem using them in an apartment building - I think because most apartments (mine included) tend to include a set of contact breakers per flat and wire them all fairly individually. Secondly - whilst your milage may vary, I've never had any problem using them across different ring-mains. My family home has Upstairs Outlets, Downstairs Outlets, and Downstairs (Extension) Outlets all wired separately on different contact breakers and I've got PowerLine adapters on all three which have been working together fast and reliably for over two years. Personally I've had nothing but good experiences with modern 500Mb/s highly-rated (on Amazon) PowerLine adapters.

 

[Digerati]

There's an airport 2-3 miles from us.

That does not really mean much because the actual RADAR for the airport could be many miles away on top of a high hill. That's how it is here. Omaha's airport is about 17 miles north of my house, next to the Missouri River, but the primary ASR (airport surveillance radar) for it is located less than 1/2 mile south of me. This is because I live on the side of the highest hill in all of Eastern Nebraska/Western Iowa so the RADAR can easily look out nearly 100 miles over the entire region.

and the issues haven't returned with that outlet.

I agree with Comcast that it is not their problem then. They are required to provide a good signal to the POE ("Point of Entry" to the house or building). The fact you have good signal in your master bedroom proves they have done that. So from there, it is up to the building owner/manager to ensure good distribution throughout.

OK. It's pretty rare to see a bad coax line inside the building. 90% of the time it's a bad fitting or splitter.

I agree, but assuming it did work fine before, it is not likely a fitting/connector or splitter suddenly went bad - without some help. It is more likely the cable became the subject of abuse sometime after installation. This could be due to many things.

Rodents chewing on wires to keep their ever growing teeth in check.
Insects chewing on wires.
Pulls/yanks/trips on the cable damaged the mechanical connection (essential for good electrical connection) in the connector.
Kinks developed in the cable (from pulls/yanks/trips) degraded continuity and/or damaged the shielding.
Water leaks damaged the connector, shorted the signal to the shield, or caused corrosion.
Remodeling the facility resulted in long stretches of coaxial cable running parallel to power cables resulting in interference.
Remodeling resulted in other physical damage to the cable.​

Note interference should not happen with intact (not damaged) RG-6 cable and proper "terminations" (attaching/crimping of connectors and securely tightening of connections). RG-6 (as opposed to RG-59) uses a larger conductor and and much better shielding, but it costs more too.

Can you find the splitter? Not all are created equal. The better splitters have a larger (wider) bandpass. Gold "color" does NOT mean better. And for every split, the signal strength is divided EVEN IF NOTHING IS CONNECTED TO AN OUTPUT!!! So if you have a 3-way splitter (1 in and 3 out) and nothing is connected to the 3rd output, the two other connections are still only getting 1/3 of the input signal each. The final 3rd is just lost. This is a fact often not understood by many. If you have a splitter that has unused outputs, consider replacing it with a quality splitter with the exact number of outputs needed.

When a huge storm caused a tree branch to take out my cable drop, the cable company ran a new drop from the pole and left me enough cable length to run the cable directly into the closet in my computer room/office. :grin1: I can't say much for Cox Communications as a service provider, but that cable installer sure did me a solid that day! :smile9: :thumbsup2:

From there I attached a high quality 5-2400MHz 2-way splitter. One side went directly to my cable modem, the other side went to another 4-way splitter for the TVs throughout the house. In this way, I ensured 50% of the signal strength always went to my modem.

And for the record, I always make my own coaxial (and Ethernet) cables. In this way, if I need a 11 foot cable, I can make a 11 foot cable and I can make sure the quality F-Type (or RG-45) connectors are properly attached. I don't have to buy a 25 foot cable with questionable crimped on connectors.

 

[Tekno Venus]

Thought of this thread when I saw this article Can a new powerline kit solve an urban apartment dweller’s Wi-Fi woes? | Ars Technica

 

[writhziden]

Thought of this thread when I saw this article Can a new powerline kit solve an urban apartment dweller’s Wi-Fi woes? | Ars Technica

lots of people don't use 5GHz routers or channels, so there's likely less interference in most buildings.

That piece of information is dated. There are more than a dozen 5GHz signals entering my apartment.

Other than that, it makes me rethink trying out a powerline kit. If it doesn't work, I can always send it back to Amazon for at most a restocking fee.

 

[Digerati]

Other than that, it makes me rethink trying out a powerline kit. If it doesn't work, I can always send it back to Amazon for at most a restocking fee.

I might suggest flipping the circuit breaker for the wall outlet for the switch location. If it kills the power to the other sockets where the receivers will be located, there's an excellent chance powerline networking will work for you.

That piece of information is dated.

It is still valid. While more and more 5GHz devices are out there, by far, 2.4GHz is the most used band. While you may see a dozen 5GHz signal, I bet most if no all of those come from "dual channel" wireless routers - meaning both 2.4GHz and 5GHz devices are being used in the same network/apartment.

 

[writhziden]

I might suggest flipping the circuit breaker for the wall outlet for the switch location.

They're on different circuits, but that doesn't seem to be a major issue if I read that article correctly. The signal will be more degraded, but it should still be sufficient compared to Wi-Fi.

While you may see a dozen 5GHz signal, I bet most if no all of those come from "dual channel" wireless routers - meaning both 2.4GHz and 5GHz devices are being used in the same network/apartment.

Yes, Xfinity now provides dual channel routers. Depending on when they were installed, people may be using the 5GHz now. The latest set of techs who tried to fix my problems told me to connect to the 5GHz band, so if that's now in their installation training, more people will be on the 5GHz networks.

 

[Digerati]

They're on different circuits, but that doesn't seem to be a major issue if I read that article correctly. The signal will be more degraded, but it should still be sufficient compared to Wi-Fi.

That's not how I read it. From that article (my bold added),

All three test rooms are on different switches in my apartment, which could explain the much slower results in the bedroom and office versus the living room, where the receiver unit was on the same switch as the sender.

people may be using the 5GHz now.

But not all devices support it. Most older (and many brand new) connected devices (Blu-Ray players, TVs, smart appliances, smart thermostats, etc.) still only support 2.4GHz.

Like you said, if it does not work as expected, you can return it.

 

[writhziden]

That's not how I read it. From that article (my bold added),

All three test rooms are on different switches in my apartment, which could explain the much slower results in the bedroom and office versus the living room, where the receiver unit was on the same switch as the sender.

Yeah, relatively speaking, those results are much slower, but looking at the numbers still gave me reassurance that it would be better than my Wi-Fi speeds. I purchased a powerline kit today with 10/100/1000 connections, and I'm getting nearly 100 Mbps in my office. That's less than half my overall provided, but it's twice what I've been getting for the past 18 days.

I also bought a network hub so I can link my two PCs with the internet on the primary input. The lack of networking between computers was a big loss to me not having the router in the same room as my two PCs. I share a lot of work files across my network on weekends when I work while my wife is using the desktop. Not being able to easily grab files from the desktop to work on my laptop was a huge pain in the posterior.

 

[Digerati]

Glad it seems to be working for you.