TV issues after new line pulled

Hi -

My service was working well - cable and internet. I had two MOCA extenders installed for dead spots in my house - all working really well.

Cable then began to get pixelated and I lost channels intermittently.

Tech came and measured a bad signal where the service enters the house.

I new fiber wire ( and some components on the pole where changed - not sure what they where) was installed from the poll and attached to my service at my house. I have an OTN in the basement.

Now the internet is great - but the cable card in my TIVO will not pair. it appears to be activated appropriately.

Prior to the issues - I was able to get local / unscrambled channels by plugging a coax right into the back of my QAM equipped TV. I am unable to do that now.

Also - my original COAX line with splitter setup is not working - so my MOCA extenders are not working in the original config. - I had to remove one splitter causing some issues. Granted these splitters are not high quality and old - but it seems like there are many things pointing to a weak coax signal - trouble pairing and weaker MOCA signal.

Should I still be able to get unscrambled local TV ? - if I should be able to do this - then I don't think I'm getting a good CATV or quality COAX feed./signal from the new setup and wire and I probably have a problem with the service from the street or an issue with the OTN.

The chat tech had me swap out the cable card and they want me to do it again! -

thoughts ? - I think I'm going to have to insist on getting a tech to check the service from the street.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Accepted answers

ZchorNJ

The ONT box was replaced today and I'm back up and running -

I'm at 43db SNR at the TIVO now.

This is with a 4 way splitter right out of the ONT and another 2 way before it goes into the TIVO

I'm good to go now -

thank you for all the helpful information and I hope others find this info helpful as well -

Thanks again.

All comments

dexman

Focusing on the TV.....

Which STBs are in use? If it/they are new Arris units, the VMS contains the tuners and has the ability to show signal levels and error counts.

MENU->Settings->System Information->INFO

What do the readings look like?

Note; If the STBs are older Motorolas, each unit has a separate tuner and the same information can be checked at each individual TV.

Could pictures of the ONT wiring and splitters be posted for us to inspect?

ZchorNJ

its a TIVO with a new Motorola M cable card.

I will look through the screens to see if there is a signal strength and will up load some pictures of the slitters -

there is one outside by the service box - that goes up to the router into the basement that travels the length of the house -there may be a couple of connections long the way -

One other thing worth mentioning.

- last night I removed the COAX from the OTN - ran a cable right from the COAX out on the OTN - that believe to be working well and plugged it into a TV with digital tuner - I sill was unable to see the local.unscrabled channels.

do you know if I should see unscrambled channels ?

dexman

I'm attempting to program my TV to see if it can receive any local channels when directly connected to the ONT.

Will post the results shortly.

dexman

I can receive free television stations if I move the coaxial cable from the back of the Arris Mini to the coaxial jack on the back of the TV and scan.

If television service isn't ordered from Verizon, the coaxial port on the ONT is turned off for television feeds.

gs0b

Was the ONT replaced? If not, it's likely the problem, as your 1st post describes degraded TV signal strength. It's the ONT that converts the light based TV signals to electrical signals on the coax, so if something in it has failed the signal strength could drop.

Fios does not have any "components on the pole." Everything is passive between the central office's OLT and the on-premises ONT. There are distribution boxes that have passive fiber optic splitters. The tech may have switched your drop to a different splitter to get a signal from a different OLT output, or even just a different splitter output, but that's all they can do "at the pole."

Are you sure they ran a new fiber to your home? That work is usually not done by a repair tech, as it involves underground or aerial work. Verizon has a totally different team of techs who handle the drop fibers.

Your best option is contact Verizon again and get them to investigate the current problem

ZchorNJ

ONT was not replaced .

I watched them pull the line - they mentioned that the coupler in the splitter box on the pole had some cracks in the insulation and that there appeared to be squirrel bites in the line and there where other lines in my neighborhood that had squirrel bites/cracks as well - including a main branch that went down my street -

They described the issue on the pole something like 8 of the 12 "things" where bad - i don't recall the name they used.

What you say makes sense - weak signal - bad OTN as the OTN creates the signal.

I have them coming back at 8:00 AM today - i will post what the outcome of that visit -

thanks for your assistance.

dexman

Probably 8 out of 12 ports were deemed bad.

gs0b

Let us know what they find out.

Note it's ONT, not OTN. It stands for "Optical Network Terminal." Sometimes fingers get crossed. 🙂

clem21

@ZchorNJ wrote:
ONT was not replaced .
I watched them pull the line - they mentioned that the coupler in the splitter box on the pole had some cracks in the insulation and that there appeared to be squirrel bites in the line and there where other lines in my neighborhood that had squirrel bites/cracks as well - including a main branch that went down my street -
They described the issue on the pole something like 8 of the 12 "things" where bad - i don't recall the name they used.
What you say makes sense - weak signal - bad OTN as the OTN creates the signal.
I have them coming back at 8:00 AM today - i will post what the outcome of that visit -
thanks for your assistance.

Inside that box are several fiber cables, splitting out to each home. There is a main cable that has several individual fibers that carry the feed and are duplicated for redundancy. Then it goes to a splitter where a fiber is then sent to each individual house. So if a main fiber gets damaged, there are backups to use inside the box. If the house feed is damaged, they may have to replace it as it is a single fiber. The splices in the box are SUPPOSED to be water and air tight, but they can occasionally breakdown or get eaten by squatters. I've been told that when a splice goes bad it is an on or off situation, no partial signal passes.

ZchorNJ

The ONT box was replaced today and I'm back up and running -

I'm at 43db SNR at the TIVO now.

This is with a 4 way splitter right out of the ONT and another 2 way before it goes into the TIVO

I'm good to go now -

thank you for all the helpful information and I hope others find this info helpful as well -

Thanks again.