Charter probably has some really bright installers - and then there's this guy...
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I just had Charter in to set up a new Tivo. He showed up with a cable card and Tuning adapter. FOUR AND A HALF hours later he left with nothing working. He was here from 5PM to 9:30, and spent most of that time on the phone with Tech Support. He finally left and they scheduled a return appointment almost a week later! A week.
So this morning, I looked at the setup and saw there was no coax going from the Tuner Adapter to the Tivo, just the USB cable. Hmmm, what if I connected the TA out to the Tivo in? LOL
It worked! I should have checked it out last night but quite frankly after 4 1/2 hours I was pretty spent and my wife was totally ticked off.
So this morning, I looked at the setup and saw there was no coax going from the Tuner Adapter to the Tivo, just the USB cable. Hmmm, what if I connected the TA out to the Tivo in? LOL
It worked! I should have checked it out last night but quite frankly after 4 1/2 hours I was pretty spent and my wife was totally ticked off.
A jab at the customer for not clearing the area?
Last Spring a neighbor added Comcast and the burial contractor ran the cable to the wrong structure (three buildings all have the same street address). The installer (also a contractor) laid 100' of cable (black RG6 CL2) overland to get to the appropriate structure. Part of the run was across a seldom-used gravel driveway. It took Comcast several months to bury a new cable.
I get subs all the time that don't clear an area ...
Our boxes are usually next to the Edison, people will decide to grow all thier flowers or bushes or roses right in front of the stuff to cover it up, what do you think they think when I have to clear the area to work ?
Not really an excuse to that, but I do agree that is a temporary line that will have to be buried, and it won't be that exact line, they will replace it and bury the new line.
Makes me wonder, I installed the cable card myself with my TIVO and had the thing up and working in about 20 minutes and that included calling into Charter and having them pair the card to the unit. They provided me with instructions that showed how they suggest the whole thing be installed and not how the tuner adapter suggests having it setup.
You can hook things up one of two ways...
1. Split the coax before the TA and one line goes to the TA and the other line goes directly to the Tivo. Then connect the TA to the Tivo with the USB cable only (there should be no coax going from the TA to the Tivo)
2. Do not split the coax and just run it directly into the TA then connect the coax out on the TA to the Tivo, as well as connect the USB cable from the TA to the Tivo.
Method 1 is prefer because the TA tends to degrade the signal more than a splitter does.
Sounds like the installer didn't split the cable so he did method 2 but forgot to connect the coax from the TA to the Tivo.
I had another Pico Brain from Charter install a business account and I used a CAT6a patch cable between their modem and our router. The Charter weenie said that CAT6A could not be used and replaced it with his CAT5E cable. After he left, I put the CAT6A back on.
Installers from all such organizations are subject to company policy and if the policy says CAT5e, that's what they use. It is safer than trying to teach the difference between CAT5, CAT5e, CAT6, CAT6a and CAT6e (a non-standard) and allowing the installers to make judgment calls.
Truth be known, for 1000BASE-T, CAT5 is good enough. The dire need for CAT6 was primarily a marketing push to sell higher MSRP cable as the realizable performance gains don't happen until CAT6a.
CAT6A is more resistant to interference that 5E and there are old fluorescent fixtures near by. The installer indicated that CAT6A would not work. I do not agree that someone who does internet installs for a living know next to nothing about Ethernet cables.
Installers are people who run wire/fiber and terminate it according to established policies. They are typically not physicists or even Technician Class licensed RF people and I'd be willing to wager that few have a substantial background in networking. There's a huge difference between hooking up a relatively foolproof modem or media converter and network design and implementation.
Something they all understand is getting dinged for not following policy.
Something they all understand is getting dinged for not following policy.
Incorrect. CAT6 will support 10GBASE-T at limited distances (55 meters ideally) while CAT5 will not support 10GBASE-T. The reduced distance is about to 55 meters (~180ft is fine for most residences). See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_6_cable .
Had I been talking about 10Gb, you're nit would be warranted but 10Gb wasn't mentioned. I was clearly referring to 1Gb.
It will probably be a while before we start seeing 10Gb in residential LANs and then, as it is now, CAT6 will not be the optimal choice.
"The dire need for CAT6 was primarily a marketing push to sell higher MSRP cable as the realizable performance gains don't happen until CAT6a." That part of your statement it totally wrong.
"..., as it is now, CAT6 will not be the optimal choice" Again somewhat wrong. Folks that already have CAT6 wired in their residence will, in most cases, be able to upgrade to 10Gb without rewiring when consumer grade/priced equipment becomes available. That is the optimal choice for them. I was fortunate to be next store to a lab that tested Mohawk CAT6 and Tyco CAT6 at 10Gb to 200ft without errors. The distance would be somewhat less in some residential installations
"..., as it is now, CAT6 will not be the optimal choice" Again somewhat wrong. Folks that already have CAT6 wired in their residence will, in most cases, be able to upgrade to 10Gb without rewiring when consumer grade/priced equipment becomes available. That is the optimal choice for them. I was fortunate to be next store to a lab that tested Mohawk CAT6 and Tyco CAT6 at 10Gb to 200ft without errors. The distance would be somewhat less in some residential installations
For those who thought their were future-proofing, CAT6 wasn't the final solution that it was promoted to be. CAT6 isn't necessary for Gigabit and it isn't a lock for 10Gb as you've admitted. There's no reason to relegate the CAT5e to making disposable jumpers. That CAT6 may or may not work in an environment that is a long way off for residential users doesn't justify the extra expense.
I stand by my assertion that CAT6 isn't a large enough step forward to make it a no-brainer over CAT5 for the home (which is what we're talking about in the context of this forum).
I stand by my assertion that CAT6 isn't a large enough step forward to make it a no-brainer over CAT5 for the home (which is what we're talking about in the context of this forum).
