Is it normal for coax cable to have signal degradation?

[Rob94hawk]

I have an old coax cable connected to my cable modem that has been working flawlessly for 3 years, now the modem is down. Now the cablevision guy on the phone says he has to send a guy out cause we are getting a weak signal.

All the lights on the modem change from on to off every so often now instead of being on all the time.

The question is, nothing has changed with the wiring over the years so how can it be an issue on my end? I have a couple of cable splitters but they are 1Ghz splitters installed by cablevision.

Any ideas? Whos fault is it?

 

[lomn75]

Well, even with GHz splitters, you should still only have one between your modem and the wall.

However, there's lots of ways that coax can degrade. Overly sharp corners, insulation cracking/chipping, EMI from other electronics -- possibilities abound.

 

[Rob94hawk]

Well, even with GHz splitters, you should still only have one between your modem and the wall.

I think I have 2 splitters before the modem. Maybe I'll just run a new line. But I think it's just weird how it just went dead like that.

 

[Bob002]

I think I have 2 splitters before the modem. Maybe I'll just run a new line. But I think it's just weird how it just went dead like that.

Adding new customers to existing line can also affect things. When they originally built that system, they set it up for what was currently there, plus a little more for future growth. Ever seen those commercials about your neighbor stealing cable? Those are complete shit, but the idea is the same.

As you add more people to current capacity, it can slowly degrade your signal as it has to be split up between more and more people, losing power before it's amplified again. Unless they've recently rebuilt the system, this could be part of what you're experiencing.

I mapped cable for about a year and learned quite a bit.