I used to work at a telecommunications company (different state, not comcast) and will offer my 2 cents.<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 7/24/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Chuck Cole</b> <<a href="mailto:cncole@earthlink.net">
cncole@earthlink.net</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div>
<div id="ridBody" background="/mail/?view=att&disp=emb&attid=0.0.1&th=10ca2007197650ef">
<p><span><font size="4">These questions are almost
on-topic since they deal with techie parts of how we choose to connect
sometimes... :-)</font></span></p>
<p><span><font size="4"></font></span> </p>
<p><span><font size="4">1) do cable modems have very
different sensitivity or dynamic range specs? </font></span></p></div></div></blockquote><div><br>Yes I've seen different modems stay connected at lower ranges than other modems.<br></div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div><div id="ridBody" background="/mail/?view=att&disp=emb&attid=0.0.1&th=10ca2007197650ef"><p><span><font size="4">Problem: My old linksys BEFCMU10
(no version number) occasionally suffers from too low a signal and I must either
wait until Charter's signal rises some, or remove the power splitter allowing my
TV and cable modem each to get signal. The cable modem is normally
attached after two two-port splitters, and removing one is enough to get
adequate signal level on "bad days at Charter". Both spillters are pretty
new and adequate.</font></span></p></div></div></blockquote><div>Ok I'll give you a quick rundown on the spliiter level dropping thing. Everytime you put a splitter in the way you will drop the signal and make it more difficult for your modem to chat with comcast. So there is both an upstream and downsteam going on.
<br><br>Having a homerun (Comcast connection -> two way split -> (Modem, TV's) ) is the best to keep a great signal level with your modem.<br><br>There is a chance that the signal hitting your house is not sufficient and that is why you keep getting dropped. In that case it's a line tech that will need to climb a pole and adjust some amps to fix your signal issue. More signal could create noise and whanot, so maybe they are truely unable to do anything about it. Or they just haven't checked lately. I'm not sure how the cable companies do it around here.
<br><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div><div id="ridBody" background="/mail/?view=att&disp=emb&attid=0.0.1&th=10ca2007197650ef">
<p><span><font size="4">Questions:</font></span></p>
<p><span><font size="4">1a) Charter says they can read
what my modem "sees" as signal level. That would account for all path
losses (if true). Can I read this somehow so I could tell whether the
Charter signal is marginal?</font></span></p></div></div></blockquote><div><br>There ususally is a diagnostic page accessable using a stardard web browser pointed to the modem's ip. I'd search the manufacturers website or the almighty google to find that and the username password if there is any.
<br><br>Also keep in mind that this number is not always correct. I had to use a meter to read the signal at the modem and on some cable modem brands it would read high or low or just be plain wrong.<br></div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div><div id="ridBody" background="/mail/?view=att&disp=emb&attid=0.0.1&th=10ca2007197650ef"><p><span><font size="4">1b) Is this old Linksys cable
modem known to have problems?</font></span></p></div></div></blockquote><div><br>I do not know. In the area where I used to troubleshoot modems we had some brands that would work great for us, but terrible on the competitor. So it may all depend on the company and thier setup.
<br></div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div><div id="ridBody" background="/mail/?view=att&disp=emb&attid=0.0.1&th=10ca2007197650ef">
<p><span><font size="4">1c) Is the Motorola Surfboard
SB5100 any better? I have one of those also, but have never used this
one. The SB5120 is current for Comcast.</font></span></p></div></div></blockquote><div><br>I would try to find out what people are experiencing with comcast. A good source would be their better technicians that do higher level troubleshooting with cable modems.
<br></div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div><div id="ridBody" background="/mail/?view=att&disp=emb&attid=0.0.1&th=10ca2007197650ef">
<p><span><font size="4">2) Roughly how big is a "cell"
for cell phones? Actually a hard question to ask because I'm curious about
the "effective size" of a cell in the midst of a planned cell coverage, and the
criteria of size is the approximate point where the phone makes a logical switch
from one cell to the next as one signal fades but hasn't dropped out, but the
next is stronger.</font></span></p>
<p><span><font size="4"></font></span> </p>
<p><span><font size="4">3) An ad for the
</font></span><span><font size="4">Verizon Razr phone sez
GPS, video, & music </font></span></p>
<p><span><font size="4">3a) does it actually have storage
for offline videos and music or just keep web links for these things?
Seems like too much memory is needed.</font></span></p>
<p><span><font size="4">3b) Is it a full and independent
GPS or a partial implementation (like a Winmodem) using some unique cell network
data?</font></span></p>
<p><span><font size="4">ie, if I had such a phone and
took it to the Boundary Waters where there is no signal, can I play stored
videos and music and use the GPS or some or all of that dead when out of
range?</font></span></p>
<p><span><font size="4"></font></span> </p>
<p><span><font size="4">Chuck</font></span></p></div>
</div><br>_______________________________________________<br>TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota<br><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:tclug-list@mn-linux.org">tclug-list@mn-linux.org
</a><br><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list" target="_blank">http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list</a><br><br><br></blockquote>
</div><br>