Any ideas on fixing TV cable?

[Saxum]

I had a truck hit the cable (Verizon FIOS) to my house knocking cable down and Verizon restored service, second time this year, but this time the TV signal on the cable going to computer room does not work but one in living room does.  I can watch TV but the signal keeps cutting out and restoring sometimes muting TV.  Verizon says it is an internal issue but I cannot see how a truck taking down cable can affect an internal house cable - there is only one cable coming into the house. It has not affected phone nor FIOS.    I need to pay per box so I am going to return cable box in computer room but there is very little TV I watch these days so may just decide to stop TV service although packages for existing customers are not much different between with and without TV.

 

Any ideas?

[Wacka]

How old is the cable wiring in your  house?  Our neighbor worked for them and added ports himself for us about 30 years ago.  We had a bunch of stations freezing or going out. That neighbor retired and moved but the cable guy that came to check it said he wiring was ancient. He replaced all the wiring  in the basement  and place boosters to make sure all the TVs had a strong signal. No problems since.

[Chef Jim]

 

[Saxum]

When we bought the house on 10/16/1995 there were three TV connections - living room and two master bedrooms.

 

We have had COX and Verizon & FIOS at different times through most of time living here.

We are on corner and has it get pulled a few times and each time it was reconnected with no issue.

Last time there was significant dip in line and lineman says "That is what you get" resulting in it being pulled again in a few months.

When they installed the new cable they also installed a new V6 router whose major benefit is Verizon is running out of addresses.

I was told that its benefit is broadcast speed is faster and "it is was only a few dollars more" (per month).

I tested TV upstairs and it worked but I did not watch it for an extended period.

First time I watched TV it started it started happening.

I am wondering if it has anything to do with new IPV6 router.

I have never been impressed with Verizon technically and working for them did not improve my impression.

 

 

[Just Jack]

Easy test, swap the two boxes between rooms.  

[Saxum]

19 minutes ago, Just Jack said:

Easy test, swap the two boxes between rooms.  

 

Already did that. Not the box.

[davefan66]

I assume you have a router?  Connect directly to that with a network cable to your computer and do a couple of speed tests.
 

If it’s FIOS, that means it’s fiber optic into the house.  Regular copper cable connections are prone to cause problems like these if they are not done right.  Fiber tends to have better connections and less likely, but not immune to have the same problems.  
 

You stated the cable was replaced.  Is there an outdoor splice by where the cable was damaged?  Splices can be a source of problems.  

 

Did you try a router reset?  Cable box reset?  If wireless, an access point rest?

[Greybeard]

On 12/12/2021 at 6:08 PM, Wacka said:

How old is the cable wiring in your  house?  Our neighbor worked for them and added ports himself for us about 30 years ago.  We had a bunch of stations freezing or going out. That neighbor retired and moved but the cable guy that came to check it said he wiring was ancient. He replaced all the wiring  in the basement  and place boosters to make sure all the TVs had a strong signal. No problems since.

              I agree with what you said.  So much depends on how many cables someone has running around their house and the line to the house.  Having a meter that reads signal strength makes this a simple task.  Maybe you can get a hold of meter or if not a booster/splitter.

             Before streaming, I had 4 tv's in the house all connected to cable.  Two of them had intermittent results, so I put in a booster and things were fine.  After a few years, I started having issues.  Spectrum came in and measured the signal strength.  The tech said the signal coming to the house was a little weak.  He went out to the connection on the pole and ended up replacing the cable to the house.   He said he found the squirrels had chewed the cable insulation and water had accumulated in the cable.  The pole at the street where the cable is intermingled with a couple of pine trees. 

            I still have 4 tv's but only two cable connections.  Spectrum has an app that works with Roku's that allow you to stream their programs if you are a Spectrum subscriber.  I don't know if any other provider has an app for this.

           Streaming has certainly reduced the cabling in the house.

          

[Wacka]

At our house, the signal was strong to the house but very weak inside. The Spectrum guy  replaced alll the cable in the basement and added some boosters. Our neighbor had worked for International Cable (what Spectrum was 30 years ago) and just retired a few years ago before selling his house. His house was at the edge of two circuits and had two cable connections coming in. When they wanted to know if an outage in the area was the system or just the circuit, he could switch between  the two and tell the office.

[Greybeard]

On 12/12/2021 at 4:54 PM, Limeaid said:

I had a truck hit the cable (Verizon FIOS) to my house knocking cable down and Verizon restored service, second time this year, but this time the TV signal on the cable going to computer room does not work but one in living room does.  I can watch TV but the signal keeps cutting out and restoring sometimes muting TV.  Verizon says it is an internal issue but I cannot see how a truck taking down cable can affect an internal house cable - there is only one cable coming into the house. It has not affected phone nor FIOS.    I need to pay per box so I am going to return cable box in computer room but there is very little TV I watch these days so may just decide to stop TV service although packages for existing customers are not much different between with and without TV.

 

Any ideas?

          I was wondering if Verizon had an app that would let you stream.  Apparently not but there is a way around it.  See the link.  If you ever try this, let us know if it works.

 

https://www.apprupt.com/fios-tv-on-roku/

[Saxum]

Evidently it was an issue on Verizon.  

Today after a wedding I turned on TV to watch Colts thrash P*ts and game was over but I left TV on while I worked.

I did not have one issue with TV that night.

No issue today this morning either while working.

 

It appears it was a signal strength issue since cord to computer room is longer.  

I have seen Verizon working in area.