Short duration but daily U-Verse cable TV signal loss

[packmule84]

Starting back on March 20th of this year, I began noticing daily signal loss on my two LCD TVs. I have the U200 package(cable and internet). I get a blinking red light at the bottom of my gateway unit when these brief outages occur. The outages result in the following on my TV screens: pixelation, black screens, occasional picture "freeze" and a blue screen and a message stating that I have TV signal loss. The outages are usually 1-2 minutes in duration. The red light at the bottom of the gateway turns green again and within a minute the signal(and picture on my TV) is back on again. These short outages have happened DAILY since March 20th. One outage, on March 27th, was ongoing(on and off) for a half hour between 8-8:30 PM. I have been keeping a log of the outages(the time and duration).

An A T & T Uverse tech was recently out at my residence, checked my connections and said I was fine. He ran a diagnostic check and his gadget said my signals were good with no degradation or loss of any kind.

While these outages are fairly short in duration they are happening daily. Is there anything else I can do about this problem? Without a resolution to this I can't justify continuing to pay A T & T nearly $140/month.

Any help from community members will be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[aviewer ACE - Wizard]

packmule84 - This problem is very mysterious. I have experienced the exact same thing. There were two consecutive days in December that were unbearable.

I believe it is caused by the fragility of the HPNA signal used on COAX cable. There is a theory that the RG needs to be rebooted each month.

I tried making sure all my coax connections were good & rebooted the RG & it was good for about a week, Then, after some more intermittent failures it has been solid for the same number of days.

All I can suggest is make sure the coax is good - no barrel connectors - compression ends - no open splitter ports - tight connections.

Make sure the RG has good air circulation for cooling.

The DVR should be connected to the RG CAT5.

If you can eliminate HPNA by connecting all cat5 it would be interesting to see if it solves the problem.

My NID to RG is COAX. I have seen posts that say this should be cat5.

[dfs459]

Same problem here since december.  Already tried using cat5e to the DVR and STB for a week but had the same problems.

Tech came out, Couldn't find anything wrong in the house so he put us on a new port or node.

That worked for about 5 days then started the problem again.  We did go about 7 days last week without a problem but then the other day it started again.

I put extra feet under the RG for better cooling, No barrel connectors or crimped connectors,  Never had all these problems with Comcast but their prices being so high.

[JefferMC ACE - Wizard]

If your problems affect all TV's and the red light is blinking on the RG, then the distribution network in the home is irrelevant; there is a problem between the VRAD and the RG.

The usual first step in diagnosing this is to ask that you download the software from www.UVrealtime.com and install it on a Windows PC that has access to the RG.  Do Screen captures of the tabs (especially the first tab, the Error tab and the Bitloading tab) and post them here.  We'll look and see if we see a general connection issue.

Normally a sporadic connection issue of the type you're talking about is caused by periodic interference; e.g. use of a treadmill or similar RF generator at a certain time each day.  It could also be when sunlight peeks through and warms up a connection point somewhere.  Or it could be when your neighbor the Ham radio operator turns on his gear.

[packmule84]

[packmule84]

[packmule84]

[texasguy37 ACE - Champion]

The Error Table does indicate some apparent issues.  It could be some type of interference.

If you have any U-verse receivers feed by coax, can you also run the extended test and then post the Coax/HPNA tab?

[packmule84]

^The above screenshots are: IP table, error table and bitload table. I have had several more outages this evening @ 7:44 PM, 7:47 PM and 9:00 PM, each lasting several minutes. A red colored "broadband" light accompanied each outage on the gateway.

I have double checked all my connections and everything is connected tight. The two HDMI cabes I'm using are new(bought recently). As I mentioned before a field tech at my residence recently told me everything was connected properly and his diagnostic tool revealed no signal degradation of any kind.

Many of the member comments I've received, which I appreciate, also include terms I don't understand. I'm curious, even concerned as to why the A T & T service tech checking out my connections here failed to mention these kinds of things with me. He was affable and polite but seemed in a somewhat of a hurry to finish up, his dialogue with me brief, generic and basically just summarizing that nothing was wrong with my set ups.

I'm a fairly educated person(a college raduate) but I'm not savvy when it comes to electronics, especially those involving computers and anything beyond basic hook ups for TV. I'm not going to spend an inordinate amount of time investing in new cables or other accessories that may, or may not eliminate these signal interruptions. Based on what the A T & T tech told me I shouldn't be having ANY service outages. Obviously an exception would be weather issues or a tree falling across a power line next to my residence. Short of that I just don't see any reason for these issues and I also am fully prepared to cancel my cable TV if necessary. I hope it doen't come to that but sadly it wouldn't surprise me if it did. I'm sure my call to A T & T early next week will result in another person with an Indian name taking my info, setting up another service vist, said visit taking place and the service tech again telling me everything is working properly.

I've been a U-Verse customer since early summer of 2008. I switched over from Comcast because Iwas experiencing even longer and more frequent service outages(some often lasting a couple of days or an entire weekend). Until late last year I had no issues with A T & T but no longer. I cannot justify paying more $ each year(my monthly bill was $117 in 2008, $122 in 2009, $127 in 2010 and is $137 right now) when I'm experiencing these outages. Either the service works or it doesn't. If it doesn't I'm not paying for it. I'll give myself one more go around with A T & T and if it's a repeat of the last service tech's visit I'n cancelling cable. I would encourage anyone else with cable issues that this company has failed to resolve to at least consider doing the same thing.

[packmule84]

I accessed the Coax/HPNA tab and was directed to another web page to run the "extended test". I was asked for a login password before continuing and my member login for both both the community forums here(and my regular A T& T U-Verse account) failed. As to why it wouldn't take my password I have NO idea. Since the logins have failed because the web page waon't accept my password I cannot run the extended test. I had a password issue last year that took several months to fix the A T & T U Verse main website wouldn't accept my password. I did an official password change and it still wouldn't accept the new password. It took a phone rep changing my password on his end to fix the issue. No explanation as to why I had the issue despite my original login password being in their records for my account. This company must really want tme to cancel my  account.

[texasguy37 ACE - Champion]

---

packmule84 wrote:

I accessed the Coax/HPNA tab and was directed to another web page to run the "extended test". I was asked for a login password before continuing and my member login for both both the community forums here(and my regular A T& T U-Verse account) failed. As to why it wouldn't take my password I have NO idea. Since the logins have failed because the web page waon't accept my password I cannot run the extended test. I had a password issue last year that took several months to fix the A T & T U Verse main website wouldn't accept my password. I did an official password change and it still wouldn't accept the new password. It took a phone rep changing my password on his end to fix the issue. No explanation as to why I had the issue despite my original login password being in their records for my account. This company must really want tme to cancel my  account.

---

You need the password to log into the RG not the password to this forum or your U-verse password.  The system password to log into the RG is written on a label on the side of the RG.

[packmule84]

• Status
• Wireless
• Wired Interfaces
• DHCP
• IP Address Allocation
• Statistics

Detailed Wireless AP Statistics

Packets transmitted:	0
Packets received:	0
Bytes transmitted:	277656
Bytes received:	1838359071
Error packets transmitted:	0
Error packets received:	0
Discards transmitted:	124798
Discards received:	1

HomePNA Network (Coax)

Firmware Version:	D-UCv1-9-4-20110222-ATT.bin
Firmware Signature:	939ae1f12acece941137d942a21b7a38
HPNA Physical Link:	UP
Network Mode:	SYNCHRONOUS

NodeID MTU Mac Address

1	0	****
2	8192	****

HPNA Network Performance Management Data

Data Collection Time: 2012/03/30 23:11:41 EDT

HPNA Network Current Multicast Rate (Mbps): 32

Station to Station HPNA Performance	PHY Rate (Mbps)	SNR (dB)	Rx Power Level - dB	Packet Error
1 > 2	****	****	112	41.9	-7.8	0
2 > 1	****	****	112	41.9	-7.4	0

HPNA Statistics

Mac Address HPNA Firmware (C=coax, T=TP) HPNA Version Master   Interval from 22:54 to 23:09 Short Tx Pkt Short Rx Pkt CRC Errors Rx Dropped Tx Dropped Rx Tx Error % Rx Error % Frames Tx Frames Rx Bytes Tx Bytes Rx Unicast Tx Unicast Rx Multicast Tx Multicast Rx Local Ctrl Requests Local Ctrl Replies Remote Ctrl Requests Remote Ctrl Replies   Interval from 22:39 to 22:54 Short Tx Pkt Short Rx Pkt CRC Errors Rx Dropped Tx Dropped Rx Tx Error % Rx Error % Frames Tx Frames Rx Bytes Tx Bytes Rx Unicast Tx Unicast Rx Multicast Tx Multicast Rx Local Ctrl Requests Local Ctrl Replies Remote Ctrl Requests Remote Ctrl Replies

Station ID 1 Local (Coax) **** C 1.9.4   Feb 22, 2011 √     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 962 633 282215 185412 245 0 442 311 159 159 0 0     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 932 613 265242 183010 235 0 439 310 159 159 0 0

Station ID 2 Remote **** C 1.9.4   Apr 04, 2011       0 0 0 0 0 0 0 450 779 170380 267027 0 245 311 442 0 0 24 24     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 430 749 167978 250054 0 235 310 439 0 0 24 24

[edited for privacy]

[texasguy37 ACE - Champion]

Thanks for posting that info.  The screenshot does not indicate any apparent issues with your coax.

Since you have been unable to get this resolved by calling Technical Support, instead of calling back to Technical Support, I would suggest that you send a PM to Alex who is an AT&T Community Manager on this forum.  He can assist you in getting this issue resolved.

[packmule84]

Is there any procedure or "template" I need to follow in asking for assistance from "Alex"? Should I post a link to this topic thread for him?

I would be happy to ask him for assistance but if there's any procedure involved I'd like to know in advance, that's all. Thanks!

[texasguy37 ACE - Champion]

No, you can just send him a PM and let him know that you have been unable to get the issues resolved with your system. You can also include a link to your thread.  He will get back to you with any additional information that he needs.

[packmule84]

I have sent Alex a PM including a link to this topic thread. Regardless of how this issue turns out I'd like to thank you for your assistance in this topic, texasguy37. I appreciate it!

[texasguy37 ACE - Champion]

You're welcome. Keep us posted on the status.

[packmule84]

No reply from Alex yet. Hopefully I'll hear from him soon. I tried to watch two movies today on Turner Classic Movies. I missed the climax of both because the cable TV signal dropped, each time for two minutes. A few shows I recorded on DV-R are showing these brief but numerous signal interruptions as well.

[texasguy37 ACE - Champion]

Since it's the weekend, don't expect a response prior to Monday.

[packmule84]

^Okay. Fair enough. Thanks for the heads up.

[gbh62]

I just had a very similar problem to yours hopefully resolved on Friday. If you search for posts by me from a month or so ago, I started having a similar issue. A tech came out, did some things on the outside of my house (new balun fixed, fixed a supposed grounding issue inside the green box in front of the house). This seemed to fix the problem, but it really didn't. Every few days the RG would reboot itself, the max rate would drop, and the noise margin would settle at lower value (it was normally 17.0 or 17.5 when no issues were occurring).

On Friday another tech came out. He said there were no outside issues he could measure, he showed me a readout on his equipment that indicated a clean line (no bridge taps), and then said the issue could be the RG. He repalec the 3800 with a 3801.

Three things about the new RG. It has slightly different user rate, 32,339 vs 32,000. It now syncs higher, ~51,600 vs ~49,100 previously. And the noise margin is now much lower, ~14.8db vs.~17.0db previously. Note that before, with the 3800, when I would experience pixelation, I could check the RG stats and always see a lower noise margin, sometimes as low as 10db.

One other note. The tech indicated after the new RG was installed, he now detected a bridge tab, 280ft from the house, and called in for another tech to come out and fix that issue. Not sure if that tech ever came or not. He had no explanation for why his equipment did not detect the bridge tap when the 3800 was in the loop.

So now it has been about two days with no issues. I'm hopeful the problem is solved, and I will post back in a week or so if I don't have any more problems.

[wasabipeas]

Did the 3801 fix the problems with pixelization?  I hate the picturw quality I am getting with U-Verse and I have a 3800 RG. 

[ATTAlexCM]

Thank you all!

---

packmule84 wrote:

Starting back on March 20th of this year, I began noticing daily signal loss on my two LCD TVs. I have the U200 package(cable and internet). I get a blinking red light at the bottom of my gateway unit when these brief outages occur. The outages result in the following on my TV screens: pixelation, black screens, occasional picture "freeze" and a blue screen and a message stating that I have TV signal loss. The outages are usually 1-2 minutes in duration. The red light at the bottom of the gateway turns green again and within a minute the signal(and picture on my TV) is back on again. These short outages have happened DAILY since March 20th. One outage, on March 27th, was ongoing(on and off) for a half hour between 8-8:30 PM. I have been keeping a log of the outages(the time and duration).

An A T & T Uverse tech was recently out at my residence, checked my connections and said I was fine. He ran a diagnostic check and his gadget said my signals were good with no degradation or loss of any kind.

While these outages are fairly short in duration they are happening daily. Is there anything else I can do about this problem? Without a resolution to this I can't justify continuing to pay A T & T nearly $140/month.

Any help from community members will be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

---

Welcome packmule84. I'm sorry to hear about the trouble. I received your Private Message and replied with the information needed since this is account specific. Please check your Private Message inbox (blue envelope, top-right) for an update.  We'll get you in touch with the group that can look into it.

Regards,
Alex

[packmule84]

My apologies for not posting an update yesterday but I wasn't feeling well. I was contacted by community support person who suggested I disconnect my RG(gateway) from the surge suppressor it was plugged into and reconnect the RG directly into the wall socket. I did this and had NO issues with brief TV signal loss and/or a broadband red colored light on the gateway. No issues now for two days in a row so hopefully this solves the problem.

In summary, to eliminate the short but frequent signal outages on my TV I disconnected thr RG from a surge suppressor(itself connected to one of the wall socket jacks) and connected the RG directly to the other wall socket jack.

[ATTAlexCM]

Thank you for the update.  Glad to hear that it seems to be working better now.  Hope you feel better soon too!  If we can help further, please send me Private Message and we'll get you in touch with the appropriate group.

Regards,

Alex

[packmule84]

I regret to report that my service outages, after a two day absence, have returned. The outages are just as before: the outage is accompanied by a red colored "broadband" light on the RG. The "service" light also goes out compltely. After a minute(or two) they both come back on BUT the internet(or cable TV image) takes another two minutes to come back on. The RG is currently connected directly to a wall jack adjacent to my desk in the "office" room of my basement apartment.

The signal outages started yesterday evening(Thursday). There were several between 6:30-7 PM. There have been more this evening(Friday), also starting around 6:30 PM. Just in the last hour I've had three outages where I lost internet access.

It would appear that I'm back to square one on this issue. As a precaution I did double check all connections and they are properly and snugly connected.

I still have the contact number of the person I previously communicated with by phone. To the support staff: should I call him back and inform him I still have this problem?

[texasguy37 ACE - Champion]

If you were working with someone at AT&T, I would suggest that you contact them to let them know that you still have an issue.  If you can't contact someone that you were working with, you can send another PM to Alex.

[packmule84]

I've sent a PM to Alex. I will contact the person with A T & T U Verse support(that I spoke to previously) this Monday.

[kidde]

I had the same type of issues you were having. The first tech came and changed my modem from the 3800 to 3801. Same problems again after he left so I knew it wasn't the RG. A month later of trying to troubleshoot everything myself, I called tech support again and another tech came and checked the line and said there was nothing wrong with the line, but he said he would get an outside tech to come. The outside tech left his business card on my door stating he had come by. I rebooted my RG and checked the UV realtime for a whole week. My max rate went up from 49mbps to 58mbps and there was less than 5000 corrected blocks in the whole week and no other errors. I didn't know what he did but the tech must've fixed something. While taking the trash out last week I noticed a new grouding bracket and wire connecting my water pipe and the NID. I'm guessing the old ground wire must've got corroded and wasn't making a proper ground and this is what probably fixed my issues.

[dfs459]

The past 14 days I haven't had any red errors showing on realtime now.  Only had the DVR lose the signal once since then.

 But might be to late as I am now thinking about WOW'S ULTRA TV and their 6 tuner 500Gig hard drive gateway.