Signal strength affect on X1 box?

Our sound has been choppy for a couple of months. The sound drops out for a split second. The whole problem is completely intermittent. We might go for hours without a problem. The sound might drop out once (for a split second), or so often that I have to turn on closed captioning in order to follow the dialog. When it first started, the problem affected live TV, recordings, and On Demand. The strangest part is that if I played a recording more than once, backed up a live TV broadcast, or restarted an On Demand show, the dropouts wouldn't be in the same place! Eventually I got around to calling. A "house tech" came out and replaced the box. At that point, the new box refused to tune to certain channels, or the video was completely pixilated. Comcast rewired the house, ran a temporary line from the house to the street, replaced the splitter (we have a cable modem) twice, and swapped in several more X1 boxes. Then the line techs came out and put a patch in the underground cable servicing our end of the street. We're waiting for the underground line at the street to be replaced, and for the line from the street to the house to be replaced with a permanent (buried) line. So, here's where things stand. The sound is still choppy, sometimes, but not as bad. Furthermore, the problem now seems to be limited to On Demand (although it's so intermittent, it's hard to tell for sure). Here's where we seem to be stuck. Since the dropouts moved around when I replayed a recorded show, it can't be the signal carrying the show itself that's dropping out. If it were, a recording would have the dropout in the same spot, every time. Just to make things more complicated, I have a Blu-ray player and haven't seen any signs of a problem when watching movies. So, here's my real question: can signal problems cause the box, itself, to get the hiccups regardless of what's playing? I've been working with a second tier tech in the Colorado repair center, and she said it can't. Does anyone have an opinion on this?

jerryschwartz wrote:
Our signal levels are iffy. They ran a temporary line from the street to my house, so that leg's probably okay; but they had to cut off a hand's length of corroded underground cable and patch it with some reducers and a piece of (I think) RG-6. They also had to do something else down the street, but I don't know what that was. I can't look over everybody's shoulder at once. There should be a ticket open to replace the underground line from here to the next upstream vault. These connections often sit underwater. They really should replace the vaults with pedestals, but that's not likely to happen. These cables were laid down sometime in the '70s, and they've been fixing them piecemeal for years. In any case, the Denver repair center has been involved for a few weeks. Once they got past the problem of the local office forcing the calls closed, there has been continual attention. The woman I work with out there has gone over and above, including staying after her shift in order to talk to various supervisors who work different shifts. Denver has definitely detected some things that they don't like, and they're pushing the field to get things cleaned up. Last night it got to the point where I was getting XRE-07002 messages. Unfortunately, that message is the X1 equivalent of a dumb look. It didn't really add much. I also saw the box power itself off and then on. It didn't reboot, or anything: it just acted like I'd hit the power switch. None of the other equipment in the house reported any power fluctuation. I wait through the night with hope in my soul.You're doing all the right things and having the Denver office personally involved is great!!! Your box powering off and on could be someone remotely trying to push something down to you or some other behind-the-scenes attempt at restoring your services... Keep up the good fight and don't stop until you're boxes are working flawlessly!!!!

Similar Messages

Dying box or bad signal strength?

I have an older model grey HD DVR box that I have had for a few years now. I live in a highrise condo. Over the years there have been issues with a channel here and there going out. When I go through all the troubleshooting, etc the problem does not resolve. The only thing that ever worked was having a tech come out to the building and boosting my signal strength somehow from the utility closet. Or there have been issues where new installs in the building have messed up my service. Last week I started having the same sort of issue so I called Verizon. The guy on the phone believed that signal strength was not the issue, but rather than I needed a new box. I am skeptical this will solve the problem. But the issue continued to get worse over the last couple of days with more and more channels going out to the point where I am down to about 4 watchable chanels. The new box should be here today so I guess I will know tonight. When I do the diagnostics the box says the network signal is either weak or not there. The guy I spoke to on the phone had me enter a special menu which gave a strenght of about 26 but said "poor". He claimed anything above 25 was acceptable. So I don't know why the box deemed that to be poor. Last night I did the regular system check using the "menu" button and the OOB was about 24.
Hopefully the new box is a new model. It would be nice to upgrade from the old equipment. But after reading all the problems here maybe that's not what I really want. :-)

I'd be more inclined to check for bad connections than to suspect the box. You don't indicate if you have an splitters installed, or if the box is directly connected to the wall outlet. If you've got splitters, start there -- remove them and work your way back to the shortest possible run with no splitters and see what your signal strength looks like.
Also, do you have other outlets in the house which are connected but not in use? Those can introduce noise into the system which if you have a weaker signal can cause you issues. Put a terminator on them if you can't have them removed entirely by taking out any splitter which supplies the signal to that outlet. I have one box which is at the far end of 4 splits (the splitters themselves account for 12 db of signal loss plus the long run takes out several db more) and occasionally I have a block of aout 4 channels (all running near the upper end of the frequency spectrum near 800mhz) that go out (these are the HD signals, the regular SD version of the channel stays operational). When this happens, I go around and disconnect/connect all the connections at the splitters and wall outlets and that usually does the trick. My boxes with stronger signals aren't affected by the dropouts -- so the poorer your signal, the more likely to have that kind of problem. I've had stuff work down into the -30's without issue.
However, never hurts to replace the box if Verizon is willing to send you one. That just eliminates one of the possibilities and if it doesn't work allows you to focus on something else as the cause.

BT Vision box signal strength indicator

Just received the latest black BT Vision box replacing an older version. Old version worked really well, good picture. New one using same leads and aerial point pixellates at times horribly. The signal quality indicator usually indicates 100% and is green in colour. The signal strength indicator varies: sometimes is shows over 70dBuV and is red, other times it is around 64dBuV and is orange and occasionally it is around 56dBuV an is green. What should it be? It pixellates even when the indicator is green. I had a big new roof aerial fitted a few years ago and there is a booster/distributor box in the roof - currently running just two tv's off it, although rarely at the same time.
Why does the new box not work when the old one did? What do I need to do to cure this? Is the signal too strong or too weak?! Any ideas out there?
Thanks, Graham

Thanks for the feedback. I have tried splitting the aerial with a passive splitter - perhaps marginally better but difficult to say. Even tried splitting again to the point where the signal was showing weak. The strength indicator seems to have a colour coding, starting off red with a weak signal, going orange, then green, then as the signal is stronger it goes orange again and back to red when too strong. I have hit the green optimum region and gone either side of it. Pixellation is always there. Reading all the posts on here about this, I am coming to the conclusion that I am not going to be able to fix this.
I may ask BT to reinstate the old box, it worked perfectly - I only asked for a replacement so that I can have BT Sports and the option of Sky sports. I will just have to stream BT sport to my laptop if I want it. I am a little disappointed about this though.

Signal strength finder via black bt vision box

I have recently changed from sky (could be a big mistake) and have had constant troubles ever since.
The latest is I am getting pixelation on all tv channels.
Looking at the online "help" I have checked the aerial connections (all good), Aerial (brand new £50) and pointed in the correct direction. The next item was to use the handy signal strength checker as per BT's instructions.
However these do not appear to match what appears on screen.
You can check your Freeview signal using your Vision+ box, but please be aware that checking your signal will interrupt any recordings that are in progress. You only need to check the signal of one channel in a multiplex to know what signal you'll be getting for the whole multiplex.
How to check your signal:
Press the BT Vision button on your remote control.
DID THIS
Scroll across to Settings.
SCROLL ACROSS GOES TO TV SO I SCROLLED DOWN.
NO "SETTINGS" PAGE SO WENT TO "HELP & SETTINGS"
Select TV Settings.
DID THIS
Select the DTT Signal Strength page.
NO "DTT SIGNAL STRENGTH" PAGE THE ONLY OPTIONS ARE 1/sCAN FOR CHANNELS, 2/ CHANNEL MANAGEMENT, 3/ TV SHAPE.
The minimum signal strength and quality you need for a good picture is:
Signal Strength - 55%
Signal Quality -70%
Am I going mad ?
Can anyone help please?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

There is good news and bad news. The good news is that you are not going mad. The bad news is that you have a new version of the software which unfortunately doesn't include a signal strength tool.
Does your TV have a Freeview tuner? If so, try using signal strength on that.
Your signal could be too weak or too strong. If it's too weak you may be able to use a booster. If it's too strong you can use an attenuator.

Checking signal strength with cable box on

If possible, how would I be able to check the signal strength for one of my cable boxes while it is turned on? I know how to do it when it is off and I know how to do it with a digital adapter. I asked a whole back specifically regarding the Cisco RNG150N but I didn't get a response.

If it's a non-x1 RNG150, then I do not believe there is a way to do it with it turned on. Is there a reason why you don't want to turn the cable box off?

2.1 firmware update listed signal strength display fix in its release notes

Summary to those who haven't read Apple's latest letter to iPhone 4 owners:
Apple is saying 'death grip' only affects the graphics of the signal strength not signal itself. Who accepts that? And will therefore fix this in the next firmware update.
But wait! This seems to be fixed in the 2.1 firmware update already!
See 2.1 firmware update changelogs.
Google it, I don't want to post direct link as Apple may start pulling that information down.
Message was edited by: Venomrush

Letter from Apple Regarding iPhone 4
(emphasis mine)
{quote}the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display *is totally wrong.*{quote}
{quote}We will issue a free software update within a few weeks that incorporates the corrected formula. *Since this mistake has been present since the original iPhone*, this software update will also be available for the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G.{quote}
But the 2.1 firmware had in it's release notes as one of the improvements:
{quote}improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display{quote}
So in 2.1 they improved the accuracy of a totally wrong formula?
Something is rotten in Denmark.

The signal strength on my first gen AE is dropping off.

The signal strength on my first gen AIrport Extreme is dropping off. Is this an early indication of pending failure?

Well, the First Generation AirPort Extremes are about 5 years old now, and 5 years of 24/7 operation is pretty good for a modem or router, so it might be time to start thinking about upgrading to a new, faster dual band model.
Personally, I replace the modem and any routers at about 4-5 years, even if they are operating normally. But there are other things to think about as well.
Chances are, there are far more wireless networks around you than there were even a few years ago, so heavy competition for the very limited number of channels that are available may be slowing down your signal significantly.
Five years ago, I could find two or three wireless networks around me. Today, there are over twenty.
I noticed that my neighbor next door was installing a new wireless camera and security system a few days ago, and he told me it was up and running yesterday. Yesterday, my wireless slowed down about 20%...not sure why...but I have an idea.
If you have added other wireless devices like cordless phones, Bluetooth accessories, a baby monitor, a new wireless thermostat and who knows what, all of these things can affect the performance of wireless network communications.
You have not provided any specifics on your network as far as the slow down is concerned, or mentioned any steps that you might have taken to investigate, so until we know more, we'll have to leave it at generalities and possibilities.
You never know. A new router might be just the ticket.....or.....it may offer no improvement at all. Every few days, we see a post from a user who has added a new router...and their network performance has dropped.
For this reason, if you are thinking of replacing the AirPort Extreme, you might want to check with the store on their return policies before you buy.

Unable to connect to Fon when signal strength is l...

Hi. I am new and this is my first post, so please be gentle with me.
I signed up to BT so that I could make use of the mobile WiFi from Fon & Openzone while away in my motorhome. If I get a realy strong signal I have no trouble using the service, however, if I am only showing a signal strength of say 50% I cannot sign up to use the service. Although I am quite happy to put up with a slow connection, I do not have that choice as I cannot get to the log-in page to sign in.
Am I doing something wrong or is there something I can do when this happens?
Geoff

john46 wrote:
you need a reasonably strong signal to connect
Not always the case John. A weak signal that is stable can and does work. I feel that the OP may in inside their motorhome (aluminium) which would affect the signal.....
guanock wrote:
Hi. I am new and this is my first post, so please be gentle with me.
I signed up to BT so that I could make use of the mobile WiFi from Fon & Openzone while away in my motorhome. If I get a realy strong signal I have no trouble using the service, however, if I am only showing a signal strength of say 50% I cannot sign up to use the service. Although I am quite happy to put up with a slow connection, I do not have that choice as I cannot get to the log-in page to sign in.
Am I doing something wrong or is there something I can do when this happens?
Geoff
Hi Geoff and welcome
It should work at 50%. Are you using a laptop with a built in wifi card or a plug in USB wifi adapter?
Via a built in card - If the signal drops have you tried sitting near a window or an open door to rule out your motorhome itself from degrading the signal.
USB adapter - Have you tried using a USB extension lead(s) that you can fix the adapter in a window to maximise the signal strength.
Clearly in both cases you would need to be facing the direction of the signal.
-+-No longer a forum member-+-

Horrendous signal strength, one or none bars where I had 5 with 3G

is it possible that pretty much everyone has a problem with the signal strength? I was apprehensive about the uncovered "revolutionary" antennae and...was proven right. My new iPhone has what can only be described as **THE worst signal response of all iPhones I had**! I am so unhappy about this that it borders rage. I am pondering returning it and asking for my money back. Also, does anyone have a problem with buggy Settings.app on the Phone tab? After about three attempts to activate FaceTime which will NOT work, it completely stops responding to the slider and I have to reboot the phone to (unsuccessfully) try again. WAY TO GO, APPLE!

I too have confirmed the issues shown in the videos about the antenna, however my signal strength in my home where I use my phone the most is way inferior to that of my 3GS even if you're not holding the phone! It's so bad that I am going to put the iPhone 4 back in the box and use my old phone till they get this resolved.

Signal strength java WIFI app

hi
im making a application that searches for all packets retrieved on a network and where
they are comming from using jpcap.
my question is, and i have been searching on google and cannot find much on. is that
how would you get the signal strength of a wireless ap
im guessing that you would just ping it.
e.g.
send a packet at it and determine how long it took to get back to you
the ferther away the longer time :)
anyideas
there's probly a easy tool in java that you can use that i have stupidly missed out on

morgalr wrote:
jwenting wrote:
morgalr wrote:
Um, NO. Radio Waves travel at 300,000,000 meters per second, approximately the speed of light, Actually they travel AT the speed of light, which is approximately 300E6 meters per second in vacuum.
Of course the speed of light is itself affected by the medium through which the radiation is travelling, usually meaning that the actual speed will be slightly lower than the speed in vacuum (though I think I read somewhere of an experiment leading in at least one case to a speed faster than that in vacuum, don't know whether that was ever reliably replicated).It seems to me that that is approximately the speed of light--300E6==300,000,000--unless you want to put qualifiers onto it--like STP or in a a vacuum.your post could have been interpreted as stating that radio waves travel at approximately the speed of light and that they travel at 300 million meters per second ;)

Signal strength poor

My computer is a floor above and about 50 feet diagonally from the primary computer linked to fios internet thru a wireless connection. The primary computer has great signal strength but mine is always poor. I heard that other wireless products might interfer with my antenna's signal. Is there a cure for this (besides hard wireing)? Thanks.

I suggest you might try several things:
1) Move the router around a little. The signal strengh at your wireless PC is affected by the path the signal has to take, how many walls, mirrors, etc, it has to go through, so moving the router a little bit might help. Try moving it both horizontally and vertically.
2) Try moving the antenna. I have mine vertical, but you can rotate it to horizontal or anywhere in between. With your PC above the router, horizontal might just work better
3) Try using a different channel, especially if there are other networks in your neighborhood. From looking at my Actiontec router, it appears that the default channel setting is Automatic, but you can change it to any channel you want, 1 to 11 (Wireless Settings ==> Basic Security Settings ==> 3.Channel). It might take some experimentation, but what you want is a channel that is not in use by other networks nearby. Some wireless cards/notebooks offer a function that allows you to see what other networks are available, and what channel each is using (including your network). If yours has that capability it might help you figure out another channel to use.
Beyond the above, another thing you could try is to buy a higher gain antenna for the router or the wireless client, but that costs money. Or invest in a wireless access point, which can be placed nearer to the computer with signal strengh problems - money again.
I suggest you try the free things first. And maybe someone else will come along with additional suggestions.
Unfortunately, wirelss can be somewhat hit or miss. I presume you are using the Actiontec router that Verizon gave you; some people report that the wireless capability of that router is terrible. I have the Actiontec, and for me the wireless signal is great, much better than the signal from the router I replaced. But your mileage may vary.....

What is the optimal db signal strength?

I noticed that in the set box diagnostics you can check your signal strengh db. Can someone tell me what is optimal. Mine says good as is about 26-28db.
Thanks

ComaTech wrote:
The SNR number, is the signal strength to the box.
I really wish that people would not spread incorrect information. SNR is a quality measure (Signat to Noise Ratio) not a signal level measure. It is strictly the measure of how much above the background RF noise (present on all signals) the wanted signal is. One can have a strong signal and a poor SNR if there is a lot of noise and conversely one can have a good SNR with a weak signal is there is little noise.
Signal levels are typically specified as dBmV or dBm in controlled impedance systems.
Sorry for getting technical, but it is one of my pet peeves when wrong technical information is espoused as truth
If a forum member gives an answer you like, give them the Kudos they deserve. If a member gives you the answer to your question, mark the answer as Accepted Solution so others can see the solution to the problem.

Can I determine my wireless signal strength?

I'm using a Verizon router MI424WR. is there a way to tell the signal strength I'm getting? I'm using a wireless network adapter for my TiVo box in the other room. My signal is not always good but don' Know if the strength is poor because of my wireless network adapter or my router.

Your TiVO I would imagine can display at least a part of the picture as to how the Wireless signal strength is. If it doesn't, should you happen to have a Laptop, placing the laptop near the TiVo may give you an idea of the strength as well since that would more than likely report the strength.
========
The first to bring me 1Gbps Fiber for $30/m wins!

How reliable is home phone connect with weak signal strength?

I live in an area that for the first year had decent signal strength. It was never strong but for the past 4 months my cell phones frequently can't make or receive calls. I complained to Verizon so much they finally gave me a network extender and now the service in my home is fine. My question is about a home phone connect for my Mother next door. She doesn't have internet so she can't have a network extender and mine won't reach that far (about 100 yards). I am able to make and receive calls at her house on my cell about 80% of the time, about the same as my house before the network extender. I just have a basic LG phone and I usually have 1 bar of service down there, never more. I have asked the sales people at Verizon and they all say SURE the home phone direct will work fine. It has a better antenna and transmitter than your cell phone. You won't have a problem. Has anyone had similar experience with using the home phone connect in a marginal signal area? If so did it have substantially better signal strength than a cell phone? My son has a new IPhone 4S and he always has a better signal than my little cheapie.

THANKS for the reply. I went to the Verizon store today and picked one up. I have a 14 day trial where it can be returned for a full refund if it doesn't work. The $35 activation fee is supposed to be nonrefundable but the guy said if it doesn't work right off the bat to call him (within a couple of days) and he could stop the activation without any charges.
In response to lewisr13 I don't have a home phone direct, only 3 cells at my house with the network extender. I have a very poor signal on my cell at my Moms house. She can't have a network extender because she doesn't have internet.
Anyway I brought the unit home today and walked all over her house. Sometimes I had one signal (out of 3) and about half the time I didn't have any. Of course when I had none I could not make or receive a call. I was about ready to box it up and take it back when I decided to go to an outside utility room, where I intended to mount it in the first place.
Low and behold there is a spot on the east facing wall of the utility room where it has TWO signals. If I move it more than 3-4 inches in any direction I lose one of them. It's been about an hour and so far they have glowed blue without blinking as long as I don't move it. Of course the phone works fine as long as they stay that way.
I am both pleased and worried. Pleased that it is performing so well and worried that it won't remain that way. The guy at the Verizon store was extremely helpful and told me to call him with any questions or problems. I called him and asked if he thought the signal would remain that way. He said he thought it would but didn't really know for sure. I have got my fingers crossed and will watch it very closely for the 14 days. Just my luck on the 15th day it might be lights out.
I hope not - I am looking so forward to porting her AT&T number to Verizon and saying Adios to Ma Bell and her whole family. My Mother is 86 years old and has had phone service for about 55 years. She's never been late with a payment in all those years and when she called them with a problem they treated her like &$#@%.

Will signal strength or internet speed suffer when using a Generation 1 Time Capsule and wireless extending a network with a Generation 5 Airport Extreme

I have a wireless network in my home and I have a Time Capsule 1st generation and a Airport Extreme 5th Generation, will this cause my internet to be slow or have glitches with signal strength?

We've gone over this in the other thread.
If the Time Capsule will be connecting using wireless only, everything depends on the quality of the connection between the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule.
The quality of the connection will be affected by the distance that the Time Capsule is located from the AirPort Extreme and any obstructions in the signal path.
If you have a ceiling between the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule, then you should expect the signal arriving at the Time Capsule to have lost 30-40% of its bandwidth (speed). So, the Time Capsule can only repeat the weaker signal that it receives.
Other walls or other obstructions like heavy furniture, large mirrors, etc will also affect the wireless signal as well as cordless phones and other wireless networks around you.
If you are lucky enough to have line-of-sight between the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule, then the wireless connection between those devices can work quite well. Few of us have this luxury, and must settle for significant compromises in performance.
If the wireless connection between the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule does the job for you reliably, then you can leave things as is. If you are not getting the reliable performance that you need, then you will need to establish a wired Ethernet connection between the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule.
As you might imagine, there is virtually no signal loss in a wire, even up to 300+ feet or 100 meters.

Signal strength affect on X1 box?

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