Testing Coax?

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

Hiya Folks, I'm curious to know what tool folks use for checking signal strength out of coax? Whenever I lose my broadband internet, I am never sure if it's a splitter, the modem, the router, the cable, etc... and it's simply trial and error until I find the issue. I don't have a small television to plug into the coax to check that way so was wondering what folks recommend for testing coax integrity as well as the signal strength. Cheers, cc

[SQLit]

It is all in the terminations, weather or not your talking coax, ethernet or fiber. I finally broke down and bought a Fluke network tester, the 620.

It will do everything from Cat 5 down the scale all the way to 10Base 2 which around here is coax. It is pretty simple and this type was brand labled for other companies. When I used to work for the OEM I had a DSP4000.

Check out Black Box and Jensen Tools, my favorite. Jensen is within walking distance from my home. Depending if you need the TDR function some of the lower level tools will work for ya. I was at a customers site installing new network equipment. I took a cord out of the bag, they supplied and connected it. After 20 minutes I went out to the truck and got the Fluke 620. They all laughed at me. Cord was bad out of the bag. Now that does not happen often.

Have fun deciding on what you need.

[thehick]

Or you may be able to log into your cable modem and see the values that it sees. This will tell everything. That's what I did to troubleshoot an intermittent internet dopout. ..thehick

[mm]

They all laughed at Christopher Columbus, too. At least the song says that.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

Whew! Those aren't cheap are they? I was hoping for something under $50. I will keep looking and thanks for the information! Cheers, cc

[SQLit]

Nope not cheap at all. The coax systems I work on are all 10base 2, municipality stuff. There is more of that out there than most people realize. Finding much more than a wire map device for $50 is going to be pretty hard.

Be careful with testing the coax from your provider. I tried that a couple of times with the DSP4000. I got a visit from the cable company the last time. The supervisor was pretty cool about the whole thing. He had never seen the Fluke work so he was pretty interested. I am not to sure that he really understood the meter and the readings. I told him that I would not do it any more and he said he would take care of the call. Ya they know when you put a tester on the line...

[mm]

Then why don't you buy one of those small televisions you don't have. Then you'll have a small television, too.

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[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

Cause I am testing for broadband internet which as far as I know, wouldn't give me a picture on a TV. It's obviously not a life or death thing for me so I'm just gonna keep looking around to see what else is out there. Cheers, cc

[mm]

Oh. Well you brought it up!

It's obviously not a life or death thing for me

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[clifto]

They all laughed when Edison recorded sound, but did Edison record the sound of their laughter? Huh? Huh?

[Sam]

And the telephone was a stupid idea. When you want to talk to people, you go where they are.

[clifto]

Exactly. That's why I have a mobile phone.

[ktcoors]

there are a couple of things that you can do. if your having a problem with the internet then you can usually check your signal depending on the modem. certain modems don't give you a signal reading they just read good or bad. if you open up your internet browser(any one will work) and type in the address http://192.168.100.1 that will take you to the web page built into the modem. usually signal levels shoule be between +10 and -10 on your recieve power levels and your upstream should be between 35 & 55. if you want to check your cable line integrity then the cheapest way is to get a volt ohm meter and some 75 ohm terminators. You have to make sure that the shielding is making a connection with your cable connectors or this wont work. put the terminator on one end and the ohm meter on the other. make sure you don't touch the two ends together or you will get a short. you should have a reading between 75 and 80ish depending on your cable. if your shielding is touching the center conductor at either end you will get a short or a reading almost 0. hope this helps.

the cable guy