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bees said:
Checked my outside box, it says 2 way splitter rated 5 -1000 mhz.

They may have split it there, as my router is in a different room to my TV.
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But I just have cables and connectors screwed in outside box no splitter there. What does that mean? I only have 1 feed whereas you have 2.

Why have you got a splitter?
 
Oh ok, see it makes sense for you as you would have a splitter probably to split the two feeds you have coming in.

I havent got any splitter apart from the kit.
 
channelking said:
Hi mate,

I am on stats page for both upstream and downstream but I dont know what im supposed to look at. I cant find where SNR is? Plus I dont even know how much signal has changed and gone down since splitter?

I would imagine what ever the acceptable levels are it will apply to the feed directly in router and not so much to splitter as the level will drop due to signal loss with splitter.

So I could have a splitter on the outside box? so you had a 1000mhz frequency splitter in your house?
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If you want to find out the signal loss through the splitter, you need to connect it up again & take the readings from the stats page, as I said earlier. I suspect you will see around 4dB difference in signal level readings.

Your right. The acceptable levels will apply when you have the feed directly into the router. As you are having problems with intermittent connection similar to the problems I had, I suspect that your signal level is near the threshold limit, so keeps dropping out, or that there's an intermittent connection/faulty component in the green box, or somewhere in the system.

My problem appeared to be the second type, as my levels were acceptable when my internet was working, but dropped drastically every now & again.

As I said earlier, your best bet is to keep the stats page open & take readings when your internet goes off & compare them to readings when it's working again & post them on VM's forums. That might give them some idea as to what is happening.

I was assuming that the SNR readings would have been on the same page as the U/S & D/S readings. They are for most other routers.

The splitter in my inside box was also an isolator. They are much bigger than normal splitters & isolate the outer cable in case of lightening strikes etc. The TV & modem signals were sent to 1 port, & the (now unused) FM radio signal was send to the other port.
 
That's the thing mate I have been on the stats page and gone on downstream and upstream but there are so many columns/rows and information what readings am I supposed to look at? That's what I can't figure out.

Also wouldn't you lose 4dB or more signal loss on each output on splitter like 2 way splitter?

If you have a high quality cable, connectors and splitter will you get a slight signal loss compared to cheap kits or will it be the same?
 
channelking said:
That's the thing mate I have been on the stats page and gone on downstream and upstream but there are so many columns/rows and information what readings am I supposed to look at? That's what I can't figure out.

Also wouldn't you lose 4dB or more signal loss on each output on splitter like 2 way splitter?

If you have a high quality cable, connectors and splitter will you get a slight signal loss compared to cheap kits or will it be the same?
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If I had the same modem as you, it would be easier to guide you, as to what you actually need to look at. In general U/S & D/S power levels, & SNR are the most important readings to note.

You have said previously that you have posted on VM's forums. Perhaps if you look on there again, you will see a post by someone telling you where to look & what to post, to provide the correct info. As I said earlier, I'm surprised that no one asked you for this info before, when you told them that you had intermittent problems.

Yes. you will get around 4dB loss on each output of the splitter.

In theory, you will get less loss through better quality cables, but for the short lengths we are talking about here, I doubt that it would make much difference. I have always assumed that the splitters were all constructed the same way. I have used Poundland splitters in the past with no problems, but then I haven't actually measured the signal loss through them. How they compare to splitters that look the same, but cost many times more to buy, I don't know.

Can you just remind me again how often your internet disconnects under normal circumstances (i.e. with your box, splitters, etc. disconnected & the feed connected straight to your router)?
 
Kremmen said:
channelking said:
That's the thing mate I have been on the stats page and gone on downstream and upstream but there are so many columns/rows and information what readings am I supposed to look at? That's what I can't figure out.

Also wouldn't you lose 4dB or more signal loss on each output on splitter like 2 way splitter?

If you have a high quality cable, connectors and splitter will you get a slight signal loss compared to cheap kits or will it be the same?
Click to expand...

If I had the same modem as you, it would be easier to guide you, as to what you actually need to look at. In general U/S & D/S power levels, & SNR are the most important readings to note.

You have said previously that you have posted on VM's forums. Perhaps if you look on there again, you will see a post by someone telling you where to look & what to post, to provide the correct info. As I said earlier, I'm surprised that no one asked you for this info before, when you told them that you had intermittent problems.

Yes. you will get around 4dB loss on each output of the splitter.

In theory, you will get less loss through better quality cables, but for the short lengths we are talking about here, I doubt that it would make much difference. I have always assumed that the splitters were all constructed the same way. I have used Poundland splitters in the past with no problems, but then I haven't actually measured the signal loss through them. How they compare to splitters that look the same, but cost many times more to buy, I don't know.

Can you just remind me again how often your internet disconnects under normal circumstances (i.e. with your box, splitters, etc. disconnected & the feed connected straight to your router)?
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I will go on the router stats and see if I can make sense of the readings.

An engineer who is close said that you will lose 3.5- 4dB on a 2 way splitter and 6-7dB on a 3 way splitter in general and not on each output. You think the information I got is right as I thought you would lose 4dB approx on EACH output? I'm just confused.

So you way say cheap quality long cables (kit from ebay) will have more signal loss than high quality long cables? So there won't be any difference in loss between short cheap cables and long high quality cables?

Well without anything connected and the main feed into the router I don't get intermittent connections...yet. But with splitter and extra cables sometimes and randomly these issues happen.

As I can't work out what acceptable levels are before splitter and after splitter is connected the engineer said that to give him MAC address so he can go into router to see what problems are, check downstream and upstream levels and what the acceptable signal levels. My question is should I give MAC address and is it risky to give it? Will the person know I'm using splitter or box?
 
channelking said:
I will go on the router stats and see if I can make sense of the readings.

An engineer who is close said that you will lose 3.5- 4dB on a 2 way splitter and 6-7dB on a 3 way splitter in general and not on each output. You think the information I got is right as I thought you would lose 4dB approx on EACH output? I'm just confused.

So you way say cheap quality long cables (kit from ebay) will have more signal loss than high quality long cables? So there won't be any difference in loss between short cheap cables and long high quality cables?

Well without anything connected and the main feed into the router I don't get intermittent connections...yet. But with splitter and extra cables sometimes and randomly these issues happen.

As I can't work out what acceptable levels are before splitter and after splitter is connected the engineer said that to give him MAC address so he can go into router to see what problems are, check downstream and upstream levels and what the acceptable signal levels. My question is should I give MAC address and is it risky to give it? Will the person know I'm using splitter or box?
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The 3.5 to 4dB loss on a 2 way splitter is definitely through each port. If your "engineer" thinks differently, then he is not much of an "engineer" I'm afraid! When you say "...who is close...", do you mean that he lives nearby? What is his job?

In general, high quality cables will give less loss than low quality cables. So over longer distances, low quality cables could cause problems. For relatively short cables, it's not so much of a problem. However, it's impossible to say whether using better quality cables will improve your situation without trying them.

You say that you are not getting any disconnections with the feed straight to the router...yet, so has anything improved since the new cables were replaced by VM? From one of your previous posts, you said that nothing had changed. How often did you used to get disconnections before you bought your cable box & splitter?

Is the engineer who asked for your MAC the same one you refered to about the splitter, or is it an enginner from the VM forums?
 
Well that's what I told him and he said it's 4dB loss generally and not 8dB altogether as not loss through each output. He is just a childhood friend that's what I mean.

i don't really want pay any more money for a high quality kit. You are right though over long distances high quality cables will give less loss than cheap quality cables. For short distances I think there won't be any difference tbh.

I think only 1 cable was replaced, I'm not sure. I still get intermittent connection issue here and there and happens randomly since they replaced it. This can also cause crashes to my box. I didn't have much disconnection before getting box and kit, it got worse after getting new box and kit. It mostly likely will be the acceptable signal levels with splitter have dropped significantly which has caused these issues.

The engineer that I know said to give him the MAC address to check status of router, issues and whether I have normal or poor signal levels. Shall I give the MAC address? Is it risky to give it? What will the MAC address show?
 
To be honest, I'm not too sure what the implications are for giving out your router's MAC. Perhaps someone with more knowledge of networks could comment on any security risks.

Does this person live too far away to pay you a visit?

One of the reasons I suggested visiting the VM forum again, is that they can sometimes monitor your connection remotely, & see that you are having disconnections. At least they can with an ADSL line, so I assume they can with a cable connection.
 
Ye the person lives quite far thats why he asked for the mac address.

Like I said I cant tell from the stats page whether I have acceptable levels or not and whether everything is normal.

The engineer did say if I give the mac address everything will be told to me about issues, levels etc.

I cant find whether giving out MAC address is safe or not. So you think its not safe and I shouldnt give it out? Dont want it saying im using splitter and box.

Is it risky for VM to monitor connection remotely?
 
If I was in your position, I would give up on using the cable side of your box, & just use satellite for now. I would remove the splitter & connect the feed to the router. That way, there's no need to worry about VM detecting your box.

I would then go on to the VM forums again (I know you have already tried many times before), & complain again about intermittent problems.

Someone may come back & ask for your stats (they wil tell you where to look if you don't know), or, if it's a VM employee, they may be able to tell you what your connection looks like by using their monitering equipment.

Like I said earlier, I'm not sure about the security risks of giving out rour router's MAC address. To monitor it himself remotely, I would have thought that he would need more than just a MAC though.
 
I need to use cable mate as I have a combo box. It's a waste if I don't.

You got me worried so I should expect VM to detect the box? Others have cable wont they be detected then?

If someone could possible resolve the issues with MAC address shouldn't I give it?
 
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The only reason I mentioned VM detecting your box, is because I thought you were worrying unnecessarily about it.

AFAIK VM have never been able to detect 3rd party boxes on their lines. There's no return path from the box to the network, so no need to worry.
 
I think I might give MAC address as from that the person should tell me what acceptable levels are and what it should be and how to fix issues. I think that's best as I can't work out from stats page myself.

I need the kit be it cheap or best quality one to get cable working. If I can't fix issues I'm having then I probably have to accept it, I need cable mate, I can't just use sat won't be enough.

So I shouldnt be worried or scared about VM detecting the box or line?
 
channelking said:
So MAC address doesn't actually show you use a splitter and box?
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No. The MAC address is purely a unique number assigned to equipment that is used on a network. It has nothing to do with showing whether you are using a box & splitter.

As I said above. I have never heard of VM detecting unauthorised boxes on their network. I'm sure it would be all over the internet if they had done.
 
Kremmen said:
channelking said:
So MAC address doesn't actually show you use a splitter and box?
Click to expand...

No. The MAC address is purely a unique number assigned to equipment that is used on a network. It has nothing to do with showing whether you are using a box & splitter.

As I said above. I have never heard of VM detecting unauthorised boxes on their network. I'm sure it would be all over the internet if they had done.
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Thanks for the clarification. Might just give the MAC address to the person to see if any further help can be given and possible resolution.

I think your right no information has ever been on the internet of such detection from sly or VM.

But it's still worrying and shows you have to be alert and aware ALL the time.
 
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