Atlantic Broadband

[BernieP]

"the signal levels look fine now, Sir". Hopefully yhey are out of bandaids and actually have to fix it.

Every time the system gets sold to a new owner there is a promise of upgrades. Promises that economically can't be met.
The system is too wide spread for the subscriber base. It's been expanded over time (which are probably construed as upgrades) but a good portion of the wiring is probably old - Western Shore or older.
ABB has never absorbed the SMC METROCAST system into their network. Notice the checks are still cashed by "METROCAST" and much of the equipment has a METROCAST tag on it. The simple reason that COMCAST, VERIZON or even COX has never bid on the franchise is that the cost to bring it up to their system standards can not be supported by the subscribers in the coverage area.

 

[stgislander]

Every time the system gets sold to a new owner there is a promise of upgrades. Promises that economically can't be met.
The system is too wide spread for the subscriber base. It's been expanded over time (which are probably construed as upgrades) but a good portion of the wiring is probably old - Western Shore or older.
ABB has never absorbed the SMC METROCAST system into their network. Notice the checks are still cashed by "METROCAST" and much of the equipment has a METROCAST tag on it. The simple reason that COMCAST, VERIZON or even COX has never bid on the franchise is that the cost to bring it up to their system standards can not be supported by the subscribers in the coverage area.

One of the techs that came out to the house told me he worked for Comcast back about 7-8 years ago. He said the the Metrocast equipment currently up on the pole outside my house, is the same equipment that Comcast was getting rid of when he started working for them.

 

[BernieP]

One of the techs that came out to the house told me he worked for Comcast back about 7-8 years ago. He said the the Metrocast equipment currently up on the pole outside my house, is the same equipment that Comcast was getting rid of when he started working for them.

That equipment may have predated METROCAST. When I signed up for ABB service a couple of years back (late 2018), the boxes they brought out were all labeled METROCAST. I'm sure that each time the company is sold, the new owners retain all the assets and use them until they run out.
For all we know, they second / third tier providers buy the discards from the first tier providers (i.e. COMCAST).

 

[fishsauce]

I'm hoping Musk's Starlink satellite internet service will be available soon and give AB some competition.

 

[glhs837]

I'm hoping Musk's Starlink satellite internet service will be available soon and give AB some competition.

Since they have stated that they don't plan to compete with the Comcast types, I'm not sure. I certainly hope they do, the beta folks are showing amazing results.

 

[BernieP]

I'm hoping Musk's Starlink satellite internet service will be available soon and give AB some competition.

Having been a DirecTV customer, there are some issues with satellite links and weather you may want to consider before you go all in.
Depending on the line of sight to the satellite, you can be impacted by weather even miles away, all depends on the elevation.
I think it will also take a while for Musk to get enough satellites in orbit to provide wide coverage.

 

[glhs837]

Having been a DirecTV customer, there are some issues with satellite links and weather you may want to consider before you go all in.
Depending on the line of sight to the satellite, you can be impacted by weather even miles away, all depends on the elevation.
I think it will also take a while for Musk to get enough satellites in orbit to provide wide coverage.

Given these are virtually directly overhead at I think 500 miles up vs 22,000 miles up over the equator, shouldn't be nearly as bad in that regard. Should be 120 new sats a month going up, so the system capability will grow rapidly.

 

[kom526]

So when you call each time, it is like starting over? They are not able to go into your account and see what fixes have already been tried? If not, that is ridiculous.

This is the way it is for the commercial account I have to manage.

 

[LightRoasted]

If I may ...

Having been a DirecTV customer, there are some issues with satellite links and weather you may want to consider before you go all in. Depending on the line of sight to the satellite, you can be impacted by weather even miles away, all depends on the elevation. I think it will also take a while for Musk to get enough satellites in orbit to provide wide coverage.

With DirectTV and Dish, the antenna dish is pointed to a stationary satellite in geosynchronous orbit. Musk's satellites will be orbiting, not geosynchronous, in the thousands. There really won't be a need to point in a specific direction in the sky, just pointing to the sky will be sufficient, with a much smaller dish antenna as well. 12,000 Starlink satellites are already approved with paper work submitted for an additional 30,000. Also, the satellites will be in low earth orbit at or below 310 miles. Dish Network and Direct TV satellites are 22,300 and 22,236 miles out respectively. At present there are 955 Starlink satellites with an expected 1440 by the end of 2021, or early 2022.

 

[DaSDGuy]

Given these are virtually directly overhead at I think 500 miles up vs 22,000 miles up over the equator, shouldn't be nearly as bad in that regard. Should be 120 new sats a month going up, so the system capability will grow rapidly.

As long as there are no thunderstorms directly above you the satellites directly above you will be fine. And everyone knows thunderstorms never come directly above you, right? Besides, the signal from those orbiting satellites will be much stronger than lightening bolts what with a typical lightning flash being only 300 million Volts and about 30,000 Amps.

 

[BernieP]

As long as there are no thunderstorms directly above you the satellites directly above you will be fine. And everyone knows thunderstorms never come directly above you, right? Besides, the signal from those orbiting satellites will be much stronger than lightening bolts what with a typical lightning flash being only 300 million Volts and about 30,000 Amps.

shocking

 

[glhs837]

As long as there are no thunderstorms directly above you the satellites directly above you will be fine. And everyone knows thunderstorms never come directly above you, right? Besides, the signal from those orbiting satellites will be much stronger than lightening bolts what with a typical lightning flash being only 300 million Volts and about 30,000 Amps.

We'll see as the beta continues. Expected a much larger beta invite to happen in January. But how long do such storms sit on top of you for longer than a few minutes? I mean like directly, as opposed to a mile or two to either side. I mean right now, I'm losing connection 8-15 times or more a day, and I know damn well I dont have that many damn storms. I mean I think I get 5-8 storms that track right over the house a year, tops. And thats a five minute thing tops...

 

[DaSDGuy]

We'll see as the beta continues. Expected a much larger beta invite to happen in January. But how long do such storms sit on top of you for longer than a few minutes? I mean like directly, as opposed to a mile or two to either side. I mean right now, I'm losing connection 8-15 times or more a day, and I know damn well I dont have that many damn storms. I mean I think I get 5-8 storms that track right over the house a year, tops. And thats a five minute thing tops...

It depends on the severity of the storms. I lose sat signal during any heavy storm, thunderstorm or snowstorm, and its 5-10 per month over spring and summer. Snow doesnt accumulate on the dish because it's on the ground and I can keep it clean. Since its only live TV it's no big deal because I can watch shows on the DVR. But I work at home and ANY internet loss is unsatisfactory to my boss.

 

[glhs837]

It depends on the severity of the storms. I lose sat signal during any heavy storm, thunderstorm or snowstorm, and its 5-10 per month over spring and summer. Snow doesnt accumulate on the dish because it's on the ground and I can keep it clean. Since its only live TV it's no big deal because I can watch shows on the DVR. But I work at home and ANY internet loss is unsatisfactory to my boss.

right but keep my these technologies are actually more different than they are alike. you're collecting signals from 22,500 miles traight up over the equator and on that diagonal distance all the way to your house here thousands of miles away from the equator with a simple parabolic reflector dish Starlink is using a phased array flat panel antenna where each element of the antenna can be steered towards the Sat that's only 500 miles straight up. That's a far easier case to keep signal.

 

[glhs837]

So, regular tech came out Wed and poked around, spent 20 minutes out by the end of the driveway, then 15 in the den with the modem. Took his "test modem" with him, said he "tweaked some things" and thought we should be fine. Told him if it still didnt work, the next vist should not include sending a tech out here, since three visits have accomplished nothing. I rolled out to drive to Jax Thursday for a Friday event. Disconnects happened Thursday. Supposed to be a phone call with a supervisor Friday to talk things over. Turns out he and his tech came out and did more testing. Tells me, that he's seeing that we are not getting the extreme speed we are paying for and wants to focus on that. Man, I dont care if it wont get 440mbps, I just want it to friken STAY CONNECTED!!!!!! He goes back to what he thinks he can do to fix the slowdown, disregarding anything I'm saying.

So today yet another tech came out, working the speed issue, which since even slow is 70-80mgps, isnt really an issue to me. Tells my son he's already fixed the disconnect issue, was an issue with the wiring out on Rt5, which he fixed before he even came to the house. So lets focus on the speed issue. Says he's getting 400 outside on the wall, but under 100 inside. Well, skippy, it's a friken 2 foot long coax from your splitter to the modem, figure it out. He leaves, they'll be in touch. Supposed to bring another modem tomorrow, to replace my 6 month old Netgear CM1000v2.

I feels like I'm watching the blindfolded guys and the elephant. And all I can do is watch through a one way window and scream wordlessly. They tell me they cannot or do not have access to the connection history that the guys I talk to on the phone can see. They describe thousands of drops going back nine months. My guys here are evidently blind to any of that historical data.

Think it's time to set up a come to Jesus meeting at the local office so we can all lay our cards on the table. I'm paying silly money for a basic service, it shouldn't be this damn hard to make it work.

 

[LightRoasted]

If I may ...

So, regular tech came out Wed and poked around, spent 20 minutes out by the end of the driveway, then 15 in the den with the modem. Took his "test modem" with him, said he "tweaked some things" and thought we should be fine. Told him if it still didnt work, the next vist should not include sending a tech out here, since three visits have accomplished nothing. I rolled out to drive to Jax Thursday for a Friday event. Disconnects happened Thursday. Supposed to be a phone call with a supervisor Friday to talk things over. Turns out he and his tech came out and did more testing. Tells me, that he's seeing that we are not getting the extreme speed we are paying for and wants to focus on that. Man, I dont care if it wont get 440mbps, I just want it to friken STAY CONNECTED!!!!!! He goes back to what he thinks he can do to fix the slowdown, disregarding anything I'm saying.

So today yet another tech came out, working the speed issue, which since even slow is 70-80mgps, isnt really an issue to me. Tells my son he's already fixed the disconnect issue, was an issue with the wiring out on Rt5, which he fixed before he even came to the house. So lets focus on the speed issue. Says he's getting 400 outside on the wall, but under 100 inside. Well, skippy, it's a friken 2 foot long coax from your splitter to the modem, figure it out. He leaves, they'll be in touch. Supposed to bring another modem tomorrow, to replace my 6 month old Netgear CM1000v2.

I feels like I'm watching the blindfolded guys and the elephant. And all I can do is watch through a one way window and scream wordlessly. They tell me they cannot or do not have access to the connection history that the guys I talk to on the phone can see. They describe thousands of drops going back nine months. My guys here are evidently blind to any of that historical data.

Think it's time to set up a come to Jesus meeting at the local office so we can all lay our cards on the table. I'm paying silly money for a basic service, it shouldn't be this damn hard to make it work.

Must be that two foot cable then? Right? Or their splitter and the two foot cable? Or the crimped connectors on the two foot cable, which would make the two foot cable bad? Just spit-balling here. Thinking out loud. I'm guessing that troubleshooting is not these technicians strong suit?

 

[glhs837]

If I may ...


Must be that two foot cable then? Right? Or their splitter and the two foot cable? Or the crimped connectors on the two foot cable, which would make the two foot cable bad? Just spit-balling here. Thinking out loud. I'm guessing that troubleshooting is not these technicians strong suit?

They have replaced the connectors, cable is pretty new. Problem really is the problem isnt at my house, but farther down the line. Which is why my neighbors have disconnect issues also. But far fewer since none of them are as connected as my house is.

 

[glhs837]

Having been a DirecTV customer, there are some issues with satellite links and weather you may want to consider before you go all in.
Depending on the line of sight to the satellite, you can be impacted by weather even miles away, all depends on the elevation.
I think it will also take a while for Musk to get enough satellites in orbit to provide wide coverage.

So the northern folks are seeing some real weather now, good snowstorms, and the dishes self heating elements are keeping the dish clear, and connection speeds even in moderate snowstorms are in a decent range.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

Did you try taking the splitter out of the loop?

Strangely certian LED lights adversely affect OTA signals, try turning off all your lights, unplug anything that isnt necessary, try a coaxial ground loop isolator, and finally you could try an isolation transformer for your power line the modem is plugged into.

A coaxial ground loop isolator should be about $35.

 

[BernieP]

So the northern folks are seeing some real weather now, good snowstorms, and the dishes self heating elements are keeping the dish clear, and connection speeds even in moderate snowstorms are in a decent range.

It wasn't what was on the dish, it was the moisture content in the atmosphere, the density of the clouds, that seemed to be the problem.
Changing frequencies make a difference.