Need some cable (TV & Internet ) help!

[camaroguy1998]

For the last 3 -4 weeks my cable internet has been crashing and my digital cable TV has been up & down also! Now my analog cable has been working fine! First problem it has been interfering with my F@H(cant get a WU) So I called Charter and set up an appointment for today(sat 12-26-09) This is what happened......

First off, Charter still sucks!!!!

Christmas morning internet and TV were working(after being down for 2 days), by noon time it was down again. it was down all night. This morning was the scheduled app. Before the guy arrived we had no internet and TV was up and down. When he came in I had internet and Digital TV. He then proceeded to tell me all the wiring in my house had to be replaced. Meaning my drywall ceiling was gonna have to come down in the basement! I told him that was not an option! He then explained the problem was my splitters have failed. They would have to rewire the whole house with a booster box to eliminate the splitters(F'n LIAR) he then ran a test through a site called eQA, which is a Charter tech site they only can access! Wired his way it passed all tests. His way eliminated all my Cable TV access to digital except for my family room where I had the Moxi box. He then hooked up my wire job and it passed all tests again! He wasnt sure what to say then! My wire job was a bit lower on the test score but well within the given parameter! He then unhooked all my TVs except the one in the family room and said it will not work with everything connected!
He suggested in a week call charter and get the wire maintenance feature(@ $5 per mo.) and a week or 2 after that, have them come in and rewire the whole house! Which means tear out my drywall ceiling in the basement!(Not gonna happen) He then said there's nothing he can do????? At that point everything worked! So he left I connected all my stuff back up and its been fine ever since! I figure if/when it goes down again I will try connecting it back up his way but my bet is it still wont work!
I am so pissed!

BTW... I ran a speed test after he left and pegged 17MB on my 10MB service!
WTF?????

At this point I think the guy is FULL OF SNIT!!!!

Sooooo, after he left my cable TV went down and came back up, I then only had Basic cable! No not expanded cable, not digital, not HD... 2,3,4,5,9, 11,30 and a few others(CSPAN etc...) I then decided to reset the Moxi box and got all my channels back
I am so pissed!

So, since then I have not had any problems with either my cableTV or my internet!

He did something outside and wouldnt tell me that!

I'm not sure what I'm gonna do now!

Does anyone here have any Cable TV Tech experience that could help figure out what the deal is?

[KnightRid]

DirecTV - problem solved

Fios - problem solved

if you dont have fios then DSL for internet, if you dont have dsl, just keep the cable service for the internet and drop the crappy compressed as snot signals.

Mike

Other than that, my uncle worked for the local cable company for YEARS and he still tells people they are trying to run too many services through the crappy switching and cable they have. It just wont work as more and more people hook up! They are kind of like our local phone company VERIZON - yes I am calling you out - they are too CHEAP to upgrade! no ifs ands nor buts, they could do it, but they just wont.

[camaroguy1998]

The only reason I'm still on cable is I use a computer to record TV programs since I work evenings I miss all Prime Time TV.
Cable provides the easiest and most reliable setup. Win7's Media Center works pretty good!
I made the mistake of going to cable for my internet when I went to digital cable TV, they offered a package deal that was hard to say no to!(regretting that now) If the internet problems persist I will go back to DSL! I've been waiting on AT&T's U-Verse but its still not available in my area. Been waiting 1 1/2 yrs!

What I dont get is why did everything work fine for 6mos. and now almost over night my wiring is a problem!?!
I'm betting they updated their system and the MOXI box and that is choking the signal!

What you're saying about the signal quality is probably the issue I'm having. The tech did say that the signal from Charter bounces. When I asked him what he meant he explained it this way. A continuous 9db signal would be perfect but Charters signal bounces between 2db and 7db. 7db being plenty to run my setup but, 2db not even close to enough to run through 2-3 splitters!

Charter!

[KnightRid]

exactly - they cant handle everyone at once so they lower the signal to compensate. That is more the reason why the cable internet speeds fluctuate also.

U-Verse and Fios are about in the same boat - they wont pay to upgrade (even though they got MILLIONS from the government) anything other than major areas right now. I bet it will be 5-10 years before we would get anything speedier in my area

Mike

I bet they could have something to degrade the signal to the Moxi also! They want you to rent their DVR to record shows so they have full control over everything.

[camaroguy1998]

exactly - they cant handle everyone at once so they lower the signal to compensate. That is more the reason why the cable internet speeds fluctuate also.

U-Verse and Fios are about in the same boat - they wont pay to upgrade (even though they got MILLIONS from the government) anything other than major areas right now. I bet it will be 5-10 years before we would get anything speedier in my area

Mike

I bet they could have something to degrade the signal to the Moxi also! They want you to rent their DVR to record shows so they have full control over everything.

I think I stated this earlier that the MOXI boxes firmware was upgraded 3-4 weeks ago. Thats about the time my rpoblems started showing up! I'm betting they updated their system also and are having signal strength issues from the upgrade.

My area and FIOS......
3 yrs ago they did a total rebuild of the main street that leads to my subdivision. During that rebuild it was delayed so AT&T could install FIOS, Charter could update their cables(not sure if Charter did FIOS) and a few other updates. We were told we would be one of the first to be offered U-Verse when it becomes available. They started offering it in the STL area about 1 1/2 yrs ago maybe 2. U-Verse is available all around me but, not here in my Sub.

This morning after almost 48hrs of up time it was down again when I got up. I rebooted Modem with no luck. I then disconnected everything but my internet and digital TV and still no success! After rebooting 3 times I was going to give up, so I hooked everything back up turned the modem on and had internet and the Digital TV was fine also!
I just dont get it.

[moon111]

If at all possible, check with neighbors. Having done cable support in the past, it's not uncommon for people not to call about issues. I had one customer state he went out for a walk and talking to people along the way, at least three streets were without service. I scanned the database, not one had called. Don't be shocked if the issue your having is area-wide, but people are living with it. And if they are, convince them to call in.

[Apoptosis]

My Charter cable internet and TV is decent...

My problem for the past three months is HD TV channels have stuttering audio... The picture is fine, but ever 4-5 seconds the audio stutters. Scared to call to get them to come out as they usually jack something else up.

[camaroguy1998]

My Charter cable internet and TV is decent...

My problem for the past three months is HD TV channels have stuttering audio... The picture is fine, but ever 4-5 seconds the audio stutters. Scared to call to get them to come out as they usually jack something else up.

Are you using the MOXI box?

Charters service sucks at best.
The tech who came and worked on mine told me that the signal charter provides "Bounces" anywhere from a 2db to 9db. At 2db you will have problems with digital TV and if you have multiple TV's on your connection, you can and will lose internet access and have issues with analog TV also! He said 7db is where you should be. At 7(or better) you can run several TV's and internet without any issues!

He also told me that Charter had done an update to their firmware and it had issues. The fix was not supposed to be installed until sometime in Jan, 2010.

I've noticed on my setup that if you watch the local stations in analog through the MOXI box the audio and video are out of sync! But if you watch the local HD channels they are fine!
And Again......
Charter's Service Sucks at Best!

[Illuminati]

If the majority of what you watch is local, then spend $60 on an in-attic antenna, drop the line down the wall (or run it out your attic vent and back in the house where the cable normally comes in) and plug that in your media center PC to record in HD. Being in St. Charles, you shouldn't have a problem with splitting to multiple TVs, but you will need digital tuners at, or in, each TV in order to change the channels. Amy and I recently dropped Dish altogether because our DVR was going out every 2 years and we weren't wanting to pay for HD anyways. We actually have all of the cable in our house run to a central location with a 1-to-8 booster amplifying the signal to the rest of the house.

So now we have free HD TV service... to satisfy our premium content needs, we started subscribing to Netflix! Also integrates with Media Center. I also use media center to record HD prime-time shows. Since the switch back in November, we're still happy and haven't looked back! As for internet, we have CenturyLink Dry-DSL (no phone number required and it looks like they may have increase their prices?) and keep renewing our 1 year contract to pay $40 for as fast as they can send us... currently only 8mbps (more like 6mbps actual) but that's impressive for Wright City!