# Comcast Cable TV cable repair



## spitz1234 (Jan 1, 2019)

Just tell them you want to cancel. They will drop your rates and be out immediately to fix your issues.

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## miamicuse (Nov 13, 2011)

I did that already. The customer service rep asked me if I want to schedule a third appointment with a tech. I said "No, the first two didn't work, there is no reason to believe the third one will, and I am not taking time off work to wait for nothing anymore". She then said that's the only way to get the issue fixed. I said perhaps, but I am really disappointed with the service and I may just cancel my service and not needing it fixed. She said "OK, whatever you decide, thank you for using Comcast".:vs_mad:


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## adamz (May 13, 2018)

That looks like RG6. If you make a quality cable strip and crimp with the correct tools, it might very well improve it. Your cable box is probably using a 'channel' that's just the right frequency to be affected. Try that other port, it might help. Or even take that connector off it's port and put it back on might help too. Beware, this could make it worse too though.



You did most of the troubleshooting yourself, they owe you a few months free


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## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

I wonder how fast they would come if you left the cover off and reported some kids messing with it.


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## spitz1234 (Jan 1, 2019)

I think the service guys work 7 days a week

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## cuba_pete (Aug 27, 2014)

You can get a crimp set from HD, Same type their service techs use...it’s a cinch to put a new connector on that yourself.

Send Comcast the bill. :wink2:

I replaced all of Xfinity’s cable from the demarcation into my home with RG6, a distribution amp, etc. That brought up my levels considerably. My last step was to put terminators on all of the unused ports on the Xfinity network interface / distribution amplifier in my yard.

All of this improved my signal to noise ration (SNR) greatly. I can easily achieve 300Mbps on just about any day, while paying for a “guaranteed” 250. Before this work I could only get about 50 reliably.


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## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

I would make an appt, then leave a note on the door with a pic of the box and wire, and say "fix this."


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## miamicuse (Nov 13, 2011)

adamz said:


> That looks like RG6. If you make a quality cable strip and crimp with the correct tools, it might very well improve it. Your cable box is probably using a 'channel' that's just the right frequency to be affected. Try that other port, it might help. Or even take that connector off it's port and put it back on might help too. Beware, this could make it worse too though.
> 
> You did most of the troubleshooting yourself, they owe you a few months free



I think it is RG6. The existing damaged cable connector has a label on it "PPC EX6" does this mean it is a RG6 connector?


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## diyorpay (Sep 21, 2010)

One guess:
Tech was there recently (the day your service became bad?) to disconnect another (former) customer. Looks like he typically cuts the cable with wire cutters, started to do yours by mistake, damaged it and stopped.

There are orange cable pieces on the ground as well.

Kids causing trouble?


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## adamz (May 13, 2018)

*I think it is RG6. The existing damaged cable connector has a label on it "PPC EX6" does this mean it is a RG6 connector?*

Yes, it's an RG6 compression fitting.


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## miamicuse (Nov 13, 2011)

Are there different kinds of RG6 connectors?


I used a standard coax stripper to strip the orange cable. It seems to strip fine and I folded back the braided shield, there is some gel like coating smeared on it which I assume is for the exterior weather proofing.













Then I tried to use a standard RG6 F compression connector on it. The foam core (which is inside a thin layer of aluminum foil) will not insert into the smaller hole of the connector. I thought may be I didn't strip it right and strip it again at a lower portion of the cable, same result. I was able to compress the connector onto the cable, but the foam core wouldn't push in all the way so right now I have an extra long copper conductor.


The service seems to be back to normal after a system refresh myself. Hope that will last. If I can figure out what I am not doing right I would like to remake that connection.


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## JBoot (Jan 15, 2019)

I feel your pain with Comcast! This is really something *they* should fix. Somebody has obviously "played" with this connection.

 


> I used a standard coax stripper to strip the orange cable. It seems to strip fine and I folded back the braided shield, there is some gel like coating smeared on it which I assume is for the exterior weather proofing.


 This is probably a _flooded cable_ used in your area. The coax has in a copper conductor in the center, with a plastic insulator and two levels of braid and foil, which is surrounded by _flooding compound_ and the outside cover.
 


> Then I tried to use a standard RG6 F compression connector on it. The foam core (which is inside a thin layer of aluminum foil) will not insert into the smaller hole of the connector. I thought may be I didn't strip it right and strip it again at a lower portion of the cable, same result. I was able to compress the connector onto the cable, but the foam core wouldn't push in all the way so right now I have an extra long copper conductor


 (assuming it is not RG11) You probably know this: This _*compression* connector_ requires a *“special” tool* to compress the fitting, i.e., a standard “crimping” tool will not work. 

Hope everything works out.


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## adamz (May 13, 2018)

The foam core is called the 'dielectric'. 

There are slight differences in RG6 sizes so you might need specific size RG6 connector.

Here is an example that gives you the diameter of the dielectric, it's in the top portion: https://sedectro.com/wp-content/upl...7TSEF-XP-Orange-Underground-Coaxial-Cable.pdf


If you are certain that you are not using an RG59 connector and the dielectric is too big, try to find an RG6 compression fitting that is made for the diameter of the dielectric. Amazon carries the one that was on the cable, the PPC EX6, but you might need to purchase them in bulk. Walmart seemed to have PPC EX6 available in smaller quantities.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

One way to check this without leaving your house is to log onto the modem admin (not your router, but the cable modem). Motorola are generally 192.168.100.1. Then check your upstream and downstream signal to noise ratios and compare to specs. I don't recall the numbers right off hand but you can google that info up. Assuming your gear is working an out of whack signal is generally a good indication of a bad cable and if you have checked your indoor ones then it is Comcast's outside cable issue. I am not sure what the modem login if you have the Comcast gateway. You'd have to google that, too. This is a good way to troubleshoot these issues, especially when they are intermittent. A marginal signal might work sometimes but drop out others. I had one fail like this about 5 years ago... was crushed or pinched underground... and they had to run a whole new one about 150' to the box.


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## miamicuse (Nov 13, 2011)

JBoot said:


> I feel your pain with Comcast! This is really something *they* should fix. Somebody has obviously "played" with this connection.
> 
> 
> This is probably a _flooded cable_ used in your area. The coax has in a copper conductor in the center, with a plastic insulator and two levels of braid and foil, which is surrounded by _flooding compound_ and the outside cover.
> ...



It is not an RG11 cable and I do have a coaxial compression tool. The issue is not in compressing the actual connector which is the final step. The issue I have is the manual part where I peel back the braid after the cutting tool do it's rotations in cutting, and when I insert the cut end into the bottom of the RG6 connector, I cannot fully insert the foam core around the center copper conductor into the smaller hole. It almost seem like the aluminum foil on the outside of the foam core is the culprit. I will try another type of RG6 later to see if it makes a difference.


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## miamicuse (Nov 13, 2011)

adamz said:


> The foam core is called the 'dielectric'.
> 
> There are slight differences in RG6 sizes so you might need specific size RG6 connector.
> 
> ...



I will check into it. If I cannot make a good connection, I will take a picture of the stripped cable end to post here to get some input.


Just one more question, when the cutter makes it's cut to strip, is it supposed to strip the aluminum foil outside the white foam core away? In other words, am I supposed to see a small section of the dielectric with the white foam only, or white foam with aluminum? It seems the aluminum foil, as thin as it is, is what's stopping it from being fully inserted.


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## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

I strongly urge you not to try and repair the cable in that box yourself. 

That utility box belongs to the cable company as does any equipment inside. If you attempt to make repairs within it yourself and something is damaged, regardless of if you did it or not they can try to bill you for the damages on the grounds you were not authorized to perform repairs on their equipment.

I understand your frustration with their lack of response to visits but the inconvenience of scheduling a third visit will likely be a lot less than the financial repercussions of potentially damaged cable company equipment.

I used to work telco and we had issues of customers accessing company equipment and causing damage in an attempt to fix their own phone. It cost the customer a pretty penny in they they had to pay the cost of a tech to fix the damage they caused.


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## adamz (May 13, 2018)

*"It seems the aluminum foil, as thin as it is, is what's stopping it from being fully inserted."*

When you look at the original photo of the connector in the previous post, you can see that the connector was inserted to the point where it "scrunched up' the aluminum foil and the braid which created a slight bulge when the connector was pushed down. You want to avoid doing that.


The foil and braid are the ground connection, 1 of the conductors basically. To answer your question, I think you can remove the foil because there is more foil inside the jacket that the connector will make contact with. But avoid the scrunching because it can create a bad ground connection. Scrunching is an indication of a connector mis-match or poor technique.


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## miamicuse (Nov 13, 2011)

Drachenfire said:


> I strongly urge you not to try and repair the cable in that box yourself.



I really don't want to try and repair the cable in the box myself. However, it's abundantly clear to me that the rep on the phone are powerless and not skillful to diagnose my issue, and the techs are not good at keeping appointments. I have been running around in circles, if you read my original post I had multiple missed appointments already.


So what did I do? I end up cutting that cable where the crimp was, then I went and purchased three different kinds of RG6 connectors. I found one that worked and changed out that connector and remade the connection. I knew I am not supposed to mess with it but I was running out of options. Once I did that, rebooted everything and both my internet and TV has been working flawlessly for 2.5 months...until the first week of May when we had a major rainstorm here, and heavy flooding. Then I started to experience problems with intermittent losing internet connections throughout the day, every day.


I started to call Comcast again to try and figure this out. I was put through the restart, reboot, refresh, cycle of multiple calls again and after a few days I was able to connect to a live person.


They ran another diagnosis and said they did confirm there is an outside problem and will send someone to investigate. They gave me a CR number for the outside service. That was May 21, and they said it will be resolved by May 27. 
Between May 21 and May 27 we had multiple daily internet outages. This is a real problem because my son is going to summer class online and we all working from home and suddenly in the middle of meetings and classes the connection failed, totally unpredictable, intermittent in nature.

So on May 27, I called Comcast again, this time the calls took one hour and 20 minutes of wait before someone live answers, continuously in a loop of asking you to go online for virtual help.

The Comcast rep told me from the records a tech did stop by and he found a problem outside, and they needed a new "adapter" but they didn't have one with them and it's a special part that needs to be ordered, they will return on May 30 to replace the adapter. OK so at least someone did come by the investigate and confirmed that there is an issue outside.

On May 30 Comcast knocked on my door in the morning and asked me about the problem I am having. I explained everything but asked if he was there to replace the adapter outside. He seemed puzzled so I told him someone came by on May 27 saying I need a new adapter outside and it's a special part that needs to be ordered and I assumed that's why he came. He said he came because there is a work order to my address. OK so he said he will trouble shoot and see what's going on.

He started with saying his meter to read the cable signal is out of battery because he left it on all night, so he will need to charge his meter on my outside receptacle. While waiting for that he tried to open my wall cable box outside. He couldn't find his key to open that box so he used a tool(as the correct word cannot be used in a post) to pry which eventually broke the box in half. He then said I needed a new cable from my wall box to the outside box and that most likely is my issue because many other customers had issues with their outside line being damaged by lawn mowers weed eaters etc... so he ran a new line from my now broken wall box to the outside box. He asked me to check if my cable is working and it was but it doesn't mean my issue is resolved because my issue is intermittent. He then said my issue should be resolved but he can't check the signal because his meter is still being charged. He said someone will come back to bury the cable in a week or so.

I then asked him about the adapter outside that is pending work. He laughed and said there is no adapter, that's probably the Comcast rep on the phone making up some BS story so he could get off the phone. "They will say anything to make you think they are solving your problem" he said. He said he is 100% sure my issue is resolved then he left.

Two hours later my issue returned. I lost internet for a full hour, again with no reported outage in my area.


He also left the cable hanging over a tree and a gate...so yesterday someone from Comcast came by the bury the cable, and the guy said there is no enough slack in the cable to bury it but he will try. I didn't know Comcast used basically what looks like a larger pizza cutter to cut through my lawn and bury the line about 1/2" at most. One rain storm and the cable will be fully exposed to be abused by the lawn mowers and weed eaters. While struggling to bury the line he used a fork to push the cable down into the dirt and in doing so the guy badly pierced the cable at one point. So yes, this is not a joke, the new cable is again, damaged, by them.


I am not sure what to do now or whether I need to call Comcast again. Is someone still coming to change an adapter that needed to be changed? Did Comcast closed my case by changing out a line that does not need to be changed in the first place?

Each time I get on the line I wait over an hour. Their automated answer required you to reboot your equipment before they let you continue. If I set up an appointment I don't know if they will show, and if they do show I don't know they really want to resolve my issue or just do something but continue to leave me hanging.



This is turning into a joke.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Did you check the SNRs in your cable modem dashboard? Connect the modem directly to your end of their cable, connect a laptop with an ethernet cable to the modem and log into the interface. If the SNRs are out of spec and the rest of their system is up and operating their cable or box is bad. That's what a tech will do with his own signal checker if he comes out. There is nothing to debate or figure out.


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## adamz (May 13, 2018)

Wow. What a PIA issue. It might be time to consider alternate Internet services in your area (if you haven't done that yet).


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

A lot of cable modems use ip address 192.168.100.1 and admin/password. The signal display looks like this... and there are more channels below... the number of channels depends on your service speed. This particular example is my NetGear cable modem connected to Comcast 200 Mbps service. SNRs should be above 33 db IIRC for QAM 256 service, although some of this may depend on whose network you are on or other QAM ratings. There are also specs for the power column but I don't recall what those need to be. You can Google for all this info.


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## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

Coax cable is required to be buried between 18" and 24" depending on municipality, therefore a cable buried less than what the municipality requires is a violation.

These people do not sound like Comcast employed service personnel. They sound like sub-contractors. 

Generally sub-contractors are not paid by the hour but instead how many jobs they close which is probably why the first tech did not want to spend time burying the line and second did not do it properly.

You seemed to have documented everything well. 

Send a registered letter to Comcast Customer service detailing your ordeal. Keep emotions out of the letter and stick to the facts as accurately as you can. Include pictures of the poorly buried cable if possible.

Give them a reasonable deadline by which to resolve the issue. Make it clear that if the issue is not properly resolved, you will have no choice but to file a complaint with the public utility commission. 

If the issue is not resolved, contact your local public utility commission and file a complaint. They will require a detailed report on the incident. When you write the report, again keep emotions out of it and stick to the facts. 

Dates, times and what you were told are important because Comcast will try to counter your narrative using their own recordings. If your dates and times coincide with theirs, it will be difficult if not impossible for Comcast to dispute it.

Good luck


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