[TelstraClear] How to get TCL to replace my cable

Forums › Vodafone New Zealand › [TelstraClear] How to get TCL to replace my cable

kiwikidd77

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# 22221 20-May-2008 21:29

The last tech to visit my home told me they had installed the WRONG grade of cable from the street to my flat. Its overhead to a pole in the driveway then underground inside a PVC pipe from the pole to the flat.

I ditched cable TV because it kept cutting out and resetting the decoder every few hours and sometimes several times an hour. Now that's gone my cable internet has improved a lot but still don't get much more than 80-100kb/sec on my Lightspeed 40 plan which is supposed to be 10mb/sec.

I have a friend on their 1gb plan and she often gets much faster downloads than I do.

I have rung several times but they don't seem over interested in solving this problem.

sbiddle

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# 132187 20-May-2008 21:55

I doubt TCL had used the "wrong" cable type, simply because the same cable is used for all installs.

What are you basing your speeds on - ie a speedtest site or file downloads?

kiwikidd77

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# 132202 20-May-2008 22:13

its Actually the wrong grade of cable. The labelling on my cable is different than the cable going into my friend's home.
The tech said the cable installed here shouldn't even be used for cable internet. its RG58 vs RG213

BarTender

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# 132223 20-May-2008 23:28

If the cable is wrong then TCL should be obliged to fix it up since it is from the street to the "Grey Box" on the side of your house.

To me it sounds like someone did an illegal install of Cable to your house, since I have never heard of any TCL Contractor installing anything other than quad shielded RG6 that may have "comscope inc, made in usa" written on the cable itself, I also don't believe that it's using RG58, since if it was you wouldn't get any signal at all.

Also sounds to me that the contractor who came out was being lazy and didn't want to spend the time replacing the cable, especially when pulling a new cable underground, can end in disaster if they are not careful!! They should always do a line test on the splitter on the side of your house, if the signal quality is bad which it must be then they should replace the cable.

But anyway, ring up TCL again and get them to fix their problem. "Technically" anything from the street to the point at which it is terminated on your house (in the grey box) is their problem and they must fix it even if it's in an underground PVC pipe which I am sure is why the contractor didn't want to touch it! And they should not charge you to do so since it was their contractor who did the dodgy install (assumption here!)

cyril7

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# 132457 22-May-2008 08:09

RG58 and RG213 are 50ohm cables, so would never be used in an HFC network anyway as its 75ohm.

Cyril

ralphski

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# 132522 22-May-2008 12:12

BTW, TCL only use RG6 or RG11

Any opinions expressed on Geekzone are my own and not those of my employer.

cyril7

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# 132531 22-May-2008 13:11

As ralphski says they only use RG6 or RG11, the latter (lower loss but not significant in 20-30m runs) may be used on longer runs, but at the end of the day if the specfied signal levels that satisfy the modem/STB are present then either are satifactory, there should be no impact on speed.

Cyril

kiwikidd77

31 posts

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# 132779 23-May-2008 12:45

It seems I wasn't clear when I mentioned actuall cable types, I had meant to say that the quoted types were ONLY AN EXAMPLE, as I have NOT checked the actual cables themselves which would require me to climb a pole or two to see.

Sincere apologies from me for any confusion or embarrassment.

I have had a tech call in here and he has said that the speed of 10mb/sec is only guaranteed between my home and clear.net which is fair enough. I understand about loading and other factors outside of telstras control. However, it remains a fact that when I had cable TV the decoder constantly reset, so I got rid of cable TV, couldn't see any future in paying for what appeared to me as a substandard service. My cable internet has improved slightly since then.

I can watch online streaming video from most sites local and overseas but most require me to wait sometimes up to 20 minutes whilst the stream buffers. Downloads are mostly at 45-140kb/sec and often fail to complete.

Interestingly the ONLY site I can NOT watch streaming video from at all is clearnet's own site. It just sits and does nothing at all.

I did a clean install of Windows XP Pro and slowly added all updates checking every time to see if any improvements happened. After Flash player and java were installed most sites worked OK EXCEPT clearnets own site for streaming video.

I've decided not to persue the matter further and will likely cut back on my internet usage next month.

kiwikidd77

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# 132782 23-May-2008 13:02

forgot to mention its over 80 metres from the road to my flat. so if low grade cable has been used then it would explain loss of service on occasion.

cyril7

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# 132785 23-May-2008 13:13

Have you attempted to check your modems diagnostics, you will need to move your PCs address to 192.168.100.X with Subnet 255.255.255.0 and point your browser at 192.168.100.1. If you then click on the signal button it should tell you the downstream signal and S/N and the upstream power.

Downstream signals need to be by DOCSIS standards between -15dBmV and +15dBmV, although TCLs targets arelikely to be more like -5dBmV to +5dBmV (anyone know their target levels). The S/N needs to be 30dB or better, mid 20s and the modem will become flakey. If its better than >30dB and the signal levels ideally in the target range or atleast the DOCSIS accpetance spec then you can most likely rule the cable loss out. I would imagine an 80m run should ideally be done in RG11.

There is also a logs button and you can see recent drop out events.

Cyril

gehenna

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# 132792 23-May-2008 14:07

Was it Astute? And for that matter does anyone know here whether Astute are the only Telstra sub-contractors? Every time I've had Astute on my property it's been a near disaster - from taking 3 weeks and multiple visits to liven a phone jack, to putting a drill through the wall without first checking the wiring and plans - they are such a liability!

kiwikidd77

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# 132811 23-May-2008 15:06

Its OK folks have now decided to forget the issue, can't be bothered with all the technical stuff people have kindly posted to help. Will likely change over to telecom and see if their service is better.