# Weak signal from Comcast



## sjmaye (Aug 28, 2003)

I am getting periodic pixellation on my Bolt running a cable card and Comcast cable. I had this a while ago. I spent time tightening up connections and changed a couple cables. The signal strength improved and problem solved. Until last weekend. I had to disconnect the coax cable momentarily. I reconnected and the problem returned. 

It appears when the channel signal strength is 90db or above I get a good solid picture. Periodically it will drop to 87db and I will get the pixellation. This problem occurs on several channels. Some worse than others. I was trying to avoid calling Comcast and just fix it myself. Has anyone else had this problem and fixed it?


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## Kimo (Aug 3, 2002)

sjmaye said:


> I am getting periodic pixellation on my Bolt running a cable card and Comcast cable. I had this a while ago. I spent time tightening up connections and changed a couple cables. The signal strength improved and problem solved. Until last weekend. I had to disconnect the coax cable momentarily. I reconnected and the problem returned.
> 
> It appears when the channel signal strength is 90db or above I get a good solid picture. Periodically it will drop to 87db and I will get the pixellation. This problem occurs on several channels. Some worse than others. I was trying to avoid calling Comcast and just fix it myself. Has anyone else had this problem and fixed it?


Signal amplifier - not a cheap RadioShack amp, but a good professional one.
I went round and round on this several years back until i found a tech who knew what he was doing.
First was supplied by Comcast.
Second, I bought.
Warning though - these may not work if you are MoCA. Didn't work for me, but YMMV.

Electroline EDA-2400

Amazon.com: Electroline EDA-2400 4-Port Cable TV HDTV Signal Booster/Amplifier (Retail Package with 5-Year Warranty): Electronics


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## sjmaye (Aug 28, 2003)

Funny you say that. I actually have a 15db signal amplifier I got from Comcast years ago. I considering giving it a try. I am a little confused about the moca thing. I am running moca between the Bolt and 2 minis. So, the amp will mess up my moca network?


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## Kimo (Aug 3, 2002)

sjmaye said:


> Funny you say that. I actually have a 15db signal amplifier I got from Comcast years ago. I considering giving it a try. I am a little confused about the moca thing. I am running moca between the Bolt and 2 minis. So, the amp will mess up my moca network?


Since you already have one, try it and see.
I have some very long coax runs feeding several cable outlets, HSI and an OTA aerial. I have several splitters and three (yep, three) Electroline amps pushing signal where needed.
All I know is that I could not get MoCA to work when my amps were connected (maybe they are not bi-directional, I dunno) - so I pulled Cat 6 to the areas I needed and went full ethernet. In my case, there may have been extenuating factors that will not be present in your set-up.
Your experience may be different. Try it out.


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

sjmaye said:


> Funny you say that. I actually have a 15db signal amplifier I got from Comcast years ago. I considering giving it a try. I am a little confused about the moca thing. I am running moca between the Bolt and 2 minis. So, the amp will mess up my moca network?


If the amp you have is one in and one out plus power, and you can place it just before the first splitter to enter your home, it should work without interfering with your MoCA. If it is a standard multiport amp, these do not pass MoCA. There are a number of MoCA friendly amps out there if you need one of those, just say so and I or others will give you some options.


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## sjmaye (Aug 28, 2003)

fcfc2 said:


> If the amp you have is one in and one out plus power, and you can place it just before the first splitter to enter your home, it should work without interfering with your MoCA. .


The one I have is as you describe; one in, one out, plus power. First splitter in crawlspace. Should be no problem to try. Thanks.

BTW- This is a fixed output 15db amplifier. What should I expect to see in my signal strengths? All of them up ~ 15db?


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

sjmaye said:


> The one I have is as you describe; one in, one out, plus power. First splitter in crawlspace. Should be no problem to try. Thanks.
> 
> BTW- This is a fixed output 15db amplifier. What should I expect to see in my signal strengths? All of them up ~ 15db?


No, that will be spread across all of the following outputs, but hopefully it will be enough to push your signal strength up enough to eliminate the pixelation. If not, come back.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

fcfc2 said:


> If the amp you have is one in and one out plus power, and you can place it just before the first splitter to enter your home, it should work without interfering with your MoCA.


And make sure your "PoE" MoCA filter is on the input of that first splitter, between the splitter and the amp.

e.g.







​"Designed for MoCA" amps (e.g.) do effectively the same thing, using built-in MoCA filters. (MoCA bypass amplifiers offer a slight tweak to this approach.)


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## sjmaye (Aug 28, 2003)

OK. I have installed the 15db amp in front of the first splitter. Minis seem to be working as usual. Signal strengths on all channels checked was 90db. I did not notice any fluctuation, though. I will monitor for next day or so. 

WRT the POE MoCA filter. I do not have one installed. I never had one installed since installing the minis. Do I need one? I have one I bought for a different MoCA system. Should I be using it?


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

sjmaye said:


> WRT the POE MoCA filter. I do not have one installed. I never had one installed since installing the minis. Do I need one? I have one I bought for a different MoCA system. Should I be using it?


Yes.

p.s. You can check your before & after MoCA stats via the "view network status" page. (Both PHY rates and power estimates are relevant.) See here.


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## DigitalDawn (Apr 26, 2009)

I noticed pixelation issues on both my Roamio and XL4 since the last update. The problem was especially pronounced on CBS (Comcast channel 433). Checked the signal strength and everything seemed in order. Did a reboot of both boxes and that seemed to work.


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## sjmaye (Aug 28, 2003)

It has been 2 solid days since putting in the signal amp. Pixellation is gone. Many thanks for sharing your experience.


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## SNJpage1 (May 25, 2006)

If you have Comcast have them check the signal coming from the pole. Mine was a bit low so they replaced my two way splitter that fed my modem and then a four way splitter with a new type of splitter that they are offering to customers with a low signal problem. It isn't really an amp that raises the DB level of the incoming line to over come the loss thru the splitter. Some splitters have as much as a 7 DB loss in them. Instead it takes what ever the input level is and makes every output that same level. This cleans up the junk that an amp can add to a signal. It was free for the unit. It is more of a temporary fix until Comcast can replace what ever is causing the loss in the main line. But for me it is working great and I have noticed a better HD picture on my TVs now.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

SNJpage1 said:


> It isn't really an amp that raises the DB level of the incoming line to over come the loss thru the splitter. Some splitters have as much as a 7 DB loss in them. Instead it takes what ever the input level is and makes every output that same level.


Sounds like a "Unity Gain" amplifier.


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## Kimo (Aug 3, 2002)

sjmaye said:


> It has been 2 solid days since putting in the signal amp. Pixellation is gone. Many thanks for sharing your experience.


Glad to hear that the amp is resolving your issue (so far).


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