Comcast doesn't like me

goldeneye_bill · Post by **goldeneye_bill** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 4:32 pm

Comcast Cable 3000/256
Win XP with all windows updates installed
Internet is slowwwwww....

Just reformatted so all Internet settings are default

2004-07-16 16:24:09 EST: 735 / 105
Your download speed : 752790 bps, or 735 kbps.
A 91.8 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 107555 bps, or 105 kbps.

Browser/OS = Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1) Opera 7.23 [en]
Notes: Read the Analyzer FAQ if the above is not your IP address.
TCP options string = 020405b401010402
MTU = 1500
MTU is fully optimized for broadband.
MSS = 1460
Maximum useful data in each packet = 1460, which equals MSS.

Default Receive Window (RWIN) = 64240
RWIN Scaling (RFC1323) = 0 bits
Unscaled Receive Window = 64240

RWIN is a multiple of MSS
Other values for RWIN that might work well with your current MTU/MSS:
513920 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 8)
256960 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 4)
128480 (MSS x 44 * scale factor of 2)
bandwidth * delay product (Note this is not a speed test):

Your RcvWindow limits you to: 2569.6 kbps (321.2 KBytes/s) @ 200ms
Your RcvWindow limits you to: 1027.84 kbps (128.48 KBytes/s) @ 500ms
MTU Discovery (RFC1191) = ON
Time to live left = 117 hops

TTL value is ok.
Timestamps (RFC1323) = OFF
Selective Acknowledgements (RFC2018) = ON
IP type of service field (RFC1349) = 00000000

mccoffee · Post by **mccoffee** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 4:56 pm

Did you try to hook up anymore tvs or anything not to be a jerk your past post you always have something wrong with the line it seems like your speeds drop next to nothing and dropped connection.

So what's the deal???

goldeneye_bill · Post by **goldeneye_bill** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 5:16 pm

Nope, everything's exactly the same as it was before. I rearranged my room but it's all the same plugsand wires. We have noticed that in the line that comes to a splitter in my room, that there is a humming in the line.

My internet doesn't run off this line so that can't have anything to do with it. Everything is the same as before I just want to get my freakin 80% of the 3000 like I'm supposed to.

mccoffee · Post by **mccoffee** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 5:28 pm

I'm going to have some cable techs hopefully look at this one but i say remove everything on the spiltter and hook up right to modem temporarly and see if speeds pick up

TonyT · Post by **TonyT** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 7:44 pm

We have noticed that in the line that comes to a splitter in my room, that there is a humming in the line

Humming? Humming in a line comes from voltage. The signal going TO your room is incorrect. (the signal strength = amount of voltage in the line)

Get your ISP to send a tech w/ a decent signal meter and run some tests. They MUST come to troubleshoot the quality of the service they are providing. They do NOT have to replace any cables that they did not install, in the event that cables and connectors are bad. They WILL fix things and charge for materials and service that is outside their zone of respopnsibility.

goldeneye_bill · Post by **goldeneye_bill** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 8:48 pm

I'm much obliged for the attention so allow me to lay out the entire scenario for you guys.

We have the one single cable line coming into the house, from there it goes to a splitter that was installed by comcast when we first got the cable internet service. One part of the split goes to the cable modem while the other split supplies the signal for our tv's. Then the cable modem line goes to a computer which is acting as a firewall for our network, then it goes to our router.....or switch..I'm not really sure, but it's a Linksys Befsr41 which runs ethernet signal to our 3 computers.

The cable tv signal goes from that splitter, to a signal amplifier, and then to our tv's, which runs to another splitter which supplies me and my moms tv's.
If we unplug the amplifier then my and my mom's tv's go to crap. So it has to be there.

This setup has worked for a few years so I know it's capable.

My signal wire runs from the splitter in my room to my vcr and then to my tv.
When I plug the RCA cables from my vcr into my amplifier for my room, that is when the humming starts, I unplug it then it goes away. So we're pretty sure my VCR has a problem of some kind. But I don't understand why moving it two feet, with no dropping it or bouncing it off the floor or anything that it starts putting the hum into the system. Another strange twist to this is that the hum can be filtered out by turning the bass on my amp all the way down.
That seems rather strange since you would think that a hum would be there no matter what you did. I plug in the VCR to the system it starts humming on every input....the computer and the vcr. I unplug it and nothing hums, so it must be the VCR.

Hope that was detailed enough

Leatherneck · Post by **Leatherneck** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 10:14 pm

Lot of things can mess with your digital connection. As far as the humming goes, eradicate it. If you are getting any kind of interference from any source, it needs to be isolated and disconnected. I have seen several instances of defective electronics wreaking havoc on modems and digital boxes.

Make sure that the modem is off the first splitter, prefferably not amped. An amp is O.K. if it is a good cable co. return amp, but not necessary if that modem is seeing no less than -12 dB. I've seen modems work fine at -20, but I don't let them go there. However, it is a digital connection, so basicall it is on or off and noise ( any kind of interference ) is going to be where the problem lies. As mentioned before, crappy cable, poor fittings, too many spitters to work back through, appliances & any other noise can mess with your modem.

This is not even taking into consideration that the plant itself may have high noise levels or a laser problem. Have a good tech take a look. I know I don't charge for service calls unless the customer has blatently messed with the cable or is just an plain idiot. I did 6 HSD service calls today. 3 for crap cable, 1 bad modem, 1 bad NIC and one PC with every worm, trojan or virus known to man and maybe even a couple beta viruses

goldeneye_bill · Post by **goldeneye_bill** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 10:42 pm

Well first off, again thanks for the replies guys. But it is not digital cable, it just just regular old coaxial Comcast basic cable.

The cable modem is off the first splitter and it is not getting signal from the amp, it has absolutely no connection whatsoever to the ampand the rest of the splitters. The cable line comes out of the wall and is split by a comcast installed splitter and one end of the split line goes to the internet side of things while the other end of the split line goes to the tv's.

I know Mnosteele has been very adamant about how computer power doesn't make your connection faster, but my brothers computer is on the same line as the rest of the computers in the house and he atleast get's over 2,000 Kb when he runs the same tests that I run and I'm doing good to get 700 Kb.
His computer is about exactly twice as powerful as mine.

I don't want to bash Comcast but they seem to keep blocking my ports when I broadcast my Shoutcast, which that aggravates me to no end cause I am not doing anything illegal since I am not making any money off of this and we're paying them what they ask for and we're not using anymore than we're allocated. Sad....

Anyway I honestly think the hum has been fixed. I didn't do anything to cause it and I also did nothing to make it go away. Strange.

2004-07-16 22:37:26 EST: 1064 / 25
Your download speed : 1090161 bps, or 1064 kbps.
A 133 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 25819 bps, or 25 kbps.

This is a speed test from the dallas speakeasy server and as you can see that is just unacceptable. Especially the upload.

If we call in Comcast to check our line, will they not frown on our internet sharing?

mccoffee · Post by **mccoffee** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 5:46 am

know Mnosteele has been very adamant about how computer power doesn't make your connection faster, but my brothers computer is on the same line as the rest of the computers in the house and he atleast get's over 2,000 Kb when he runs the same tests that I run and I'm doing good to get 700 Kb.
His computer is about exactly twice as powerful as mine.

Steele is right speed is determine but isp and the effects of clear signal of the cable line computer specs have nothing to do with why the line speed is the same.

Call comcast you got something wrong they shouldn't frown on networking if the line is making noises it sounds like the it's the cable line the only to know for sure is too call.

TonyT · Post by **TonyT** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 5:22 pm

Couple of things:
1. Why use a computer as a firewall when the router has it built in already?
2. Try grounding the line that hums.
3. The line to the house may have a poor ground connection outside. It should be ground to a copper grounding pole and not a cold water line.

goldeneye_bill · Post by **goldeneye_bill** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 9:49 pm

I apologize for the mixup, but the computer is a webserver for us, it used to be a firewall but now it's a server. The line coming to the house has worked for many years, it's just within the last few days, since I rearranged my room, that it started humming in here. But strangely enough my cable reception has never been better.

Are you a cable man Tony? As in do you work for a cable company? And if so does your company tell you to report people who are sharing their line in a network or using ports on their line for broadcasting or other things? Comcast seems to enjoy closing our ports from time to time eventhough we aren't doing anything wrong. What is the industry stance on that?

It is all legal no matter how you stretch the laws.

gunbuster · Post by **gunbuster** » Mon Jul 26, 2004 9:34 pm

As far as the hum is concerned, I'd say you are right that it is coming from the vcr. It is probably something wrong with the output of the vcr. Seeing that it can be filtered out by turning the bass down, it is probably 60Hz hum from AC bleeding onto the line out. If that was backfeeding into your cable, you would have humbars on some of your channels. They show up as lines rolling down your screen. If you see that on the tv in the bedroom, then it is causing a problem. If not, then I wouldn't worry about it.

Pertaining to the ground as being a problem, there is nothing wrong with grounding to the cold water pipe in the house, as long as it is the main ground for the house. That is usually the case in older homes. If you don't have a ground rod near the power meter, then it will be grounded to cold water. Either way, there should be a ground block where the cable drop from the pole meets your house. It will have a groundwire coming out of it going to a ground somewhere. If you don't, call Comcast. DO NOT attempt to install a ground yourself unless you are an electrician. You can be badly hurt if there is a ground problem somewhere. Comcast will probably take care of it for free, as it is their responsibilty to make sure the installation is grounded at the time of install.

As for the slow surf speed, just have them come out and troubleshoot it. At least you'll know if it is your pc or the modem. The service call fee is probably around 20 dollars, and you won't get charged if it is a problem on their end.

Good luck,
Gunbuster

goldeneye_bill · Post by **goldeneye_bill** » Mon Jul 26, 2004 10:25 pm

I appreciate the reply my friend, I have had horrible cable my whole life in this room, but since we replaced the line that goes from the splitter in my room to my vcr the reception has DRAMATICALLY improved, and yes the hum was there before we replaced the line.

What I don't understand is why the VCR hsa just all of a sudden started humming. It is very new and it has not been dropped or hit or placed in the heat of a sealed up car in July or anything like that.

If anyone else out there is an expert on amp's....the right channel of my amp is crapping out on me. The left side is great, but for the right side to work you have to really ram the plugs into the back...mostly like it's not making good connection.. It's not like the speaker or the speaker wire itself is no good, but the actual channel itself sometimes says, Uh uh I'm not gonna work anymore....The tv sound...the Vcr sound..the xbox sound..the computer sound...they all suffer from this..In addition to the hum..This is a really simple setup in my room but it seems like it's always had the most trouble of any room in the house.

As for grounding to water pipes and that kinda thing, I have no idea. I'm in the process of diagramming the living room for surround sound speaker optimized placement. It's fun

I need a job in just doing odd things like this...I need a job period...

But thanks for the help guys, any tips on the other things I metnioned?

Curt · Post by **Curt** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 11:58 pm

I'd say if your amp's channel is messed up and it is connected to the VCR that your amp is the problem. Get rid of both once and see what happens.

goldeneye_bill · Post by **goldeneye_bill** » Tue Aug 03, 2004 4:04 pm

How can I possibly get rid of both? If I get rid of both then all I have is a tv.....thats' not an improvement..