Over this past weekend (when I was away) the electric company came out
here and replaced our digital electric meter with one with the dials
on it. When I came back early Monday morning I noticed that the analog
cable tv was very poor, most of the channels were grainy or distorted.
I also noticed that my speed on dialup was rather slow at around 28k
and it's almost always around 40k. I have two ISPs and it was like
this on both of them and on different computers in two different
rooms. Both the cable and telephone line was working fine prior to the
meter being replaced and now they're both pretty crappy. This leads me
to believe that the electric company did something wrong when they
replaced the meter. Could this be possible? If so, what could they
have done?

The electric meter along with the cable and phone boxes are all pretty
much beside each other or at least pretty close to each other on the
outside of the house. I looked to see if anything appeared to be
damaged but everything looked alright. Any ideas on what the problem
could be? As far as I know, nothing else has happened around here to
cause these problems. The cable looks like there's some sort of
interference or like maybe the line was cut or damaged somewhere. Of
course I'm no expert and this is based on what I've seen in the past.
It just seems odd that both the cable and the phone line aren't
working properly since the electric meter was replaced.

Mike:
It is very, very, very DOUBTFUL that the problems you are having with your
cable television reception AND your telephone connections to your dial-up
computer modems are even remotely related.
If you are in doubt about the quality of your services you should make phone
calls to your electric company, cable television company and your phone
company..... after all you are paying for their service and you are their
customer with questions..... make the calls and have knowledgeable people
come out and check your services ...... All we can do here on the
newsgroup is provide wild guesses.
--
Best Regards,
Daniel Sofie
Electronics Supply & Repair
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


"Mike" wrote in message
om...
Over this past weekend (when I was away) the electric company came out
here and replaced our digital electric meter with one with the dials
on it. When I came back early Monday morning I noticed that the analog
cable tv was very poor, most of the channels were grainy or distorted.
I also noticed that my speed on dialup was rather slow at around 28k
and it's almost always around 40k. I have two ISPs and it was like
this on both of them and on different computers in two different
rooms. Both the cable and telephone line was working fine prior to the
meter being replaced and now they're both pretty crappy. This leads me
to believe that the electric company did something wrong when they
replaced the meter. Could this be possible? If so, what could they
have done?

The electric meter along with the cable and phone boxes are all pretty
much beside each other or at least pretty close to each other on the
outside of the house. I looked to see if anything appeared to be
damaged but everything looked alright. Any ideas on what the problem
could be? As far as I know, nothing else has happened around here to
cause these problems. The cable looks like there's some sort of
interference or like maybe the line was cut or damaged somewhere. Of
course I'm no expert and this is based on what I've seen in the past.
It just seems odd that both the cable and the phone line aren't
working properly since the electric meter was replaced.

Well, Like the other post said, any guess are going to be pretty much a
"Wild Guess", unless there is an Power Company Electrician out there that
has seen this problem before. With that said, here is my educated guess.
Remember this statement, "With electronics, anything is possible." However,
I would say that it is most likely 97 % chance that it is purely
coincidence. But there is still that 3 % that I am not sure. I am sure we
have all seen that neat little statement that just about everything has on
it. "This device complies with the F.C.C. Bla Bla Bla, and Bla Bla Bla
must not cause any interference Bla Bla Bla and must accept any
interference Bla Bla Bla. If there is a problem, they will use that
stupid thing. You may want to call the Power Company and tell them of the
problem. See if they will check. But remember, if there is no prob, then
they may charge you for a service call.

Keep us posted on this situation, so we can keep it in our head, if this
problem ever arises again.

Rick

"Mike" wrote in message
om...
Over this past weekend (when I was away) the electric company came out
here and replaced our digital electric meter with one with the dials
on it. When I came back early Monday morning I noticed that the analog
cable tv was very poor, most of the channels were grainy or distorted.
I also noticed that my speed on dialup was rather slow at around 28k
and it's almost always around 40k. I have two ISPs and it was like
this on both of them and on different computers in two different
rooms. Both the cable and telephone line was working fine prior to the
meter being replaced and now they're both pretty crappy. This leads me
to believe that the electric company did something wrong when they
replaced the meter. Could this be possible? If so, what could they
have done?

The electric meter along with the cable and phone boxes are all pretty
much beside each other or at least pretty close to each other on the
outside of the house. I looked to see if anything appeared to be
damaged but everything looked alright. Any ideas on what the problem
could be? As far as I know, nothing else has happened around here to
cause these problems. The cable looks like there's some sort of
interference or like maybe the line was cut or damaged somewhere. Of
course I'm no expert and this is based on what I've seen in the past.
It just seems odd that both the cable and the phone line aren't
working properly since the electric meter was replaced.

"Mike" wrote in message
om...
Over this past weekend (when I was away) the electric company came out
here and replaced our digital electric meter with one with the dials
on it.

why? around here they are going the other way with radio remote reading
(drive by) meters.

When I came back early Monday morning I noticed that the analog
cable tv was very poor, most of the channels were grainy or distorted.

all TVs or just one? will the TV work from an antenna?

I also noticed that my speed on dialup was rather slow at around 28k
and it's almost always around 40k. I have two ISPs and it was like
this on both of them and on different computers in two different
rooms.

probably an unrelated issue. if it dosent clear up in a few days call the
phone co. if they say it fine call the ISP. do you hear any noise when
making a phone call?

Both the cable and telephone line was working fine prior to the
meter being replaced and now they're both pretty crappy. This leads me
to believe that the electric company did something wrong when they
replaced the meter. Could this be possible? If so, what could they
have done?

The electric meter along with the cable and phone boxes are all pretty
much beside each other or at least pretty close to each other on the
outside of the house. I looked to see if anything appeared to be
damaged but everything looked alright. Any ideas on what the problem
could be? As far as I know, nothing else has happened around here to
cause these problems. The cable looks like there's some sort of
interference or like maybe the line was cut or damaged somewhere.

TV cables get bad connections and bad amplifiers. if its bad on more then
one TV its probably them. call them and have them check it.

Of
course I'm no expert and this is based on what I've seen in the past.
It just seems odd that both the cable and the phone line aren't
working properly since the electric meter was replaced.

usually replacing the W-H meter is a simple unplug it plug the new one in.

"Tim Perry" wrote in message ...
"Mike" wrote in message
om...
Over this past weekend (when I was away) the electric company came out
here and replaced our digital electric meter with one with the dials
on it.

why? around here they are going the other way with radio remote reading
(drive by) meters.

When I came back early Monday morning I noticed that the analog
cable tv was very poor, most of the channels were grainy or distorted.

all TVs or just one? will the TV work from an antenna?

All of the TVs are like this. The TVs really don't work from the
antenna anyways but I can try hooking it up to see what it looks like
if that's important.



I also noticed that my speed on dialup was rather slow at around 28k
and it's almost always around 40k. I have two ISPs and it was like
this on both of them and on different computers in two different
rooms.

probably an unrelated issue. if it dosent clear up in a few days call the
phone co. if they say it fine call the ISP. do you hear any noise when
making a phone call?


Oh, we've had had noise on all the phones for several years. I usually
get a good speed so I've never bothered with complaining about
something that works good. Although, to get 40k we have to unplug the
downstairs phone from the phone jack, otherwise we get 14k or less. It
could be the ISP but I doubt it. I'll try to dial up a free ISP and
see what happens. I also tried running a test that indicated there was
a lot of line noise so that seems like the phone co. to me.



Both the cable and telephone line was working fine prior to the
meter being replaced and now they're both pretty crappy. This leads me
to believe that the electric company did something wrong when they
replaced the meter. Could this be possible? If so, what could they
have done?

The electric meter along with the cable and phone boxes are all pretty
much beside each other or at least pretty close to each other on the
outside of the house. I looked to see if anything appeared to be
damaged but everything looked alright. Any ideas on what the problem
could be? As far as I know, nothing else has happened around here to
cause these problems. The cable looks like there's some sort of
interference or like maybe the line was cut or damaged somewhere.

TV cables get bad connections and bad amplifiers. if its bad on more then
one TV its probably them. call them and have them check it.

We just had two cable guys come out and they say the cable signal
level is normal. They went ahead and installed an amplifier which
didn't help and made some channels worse, in my opinion. The one guy
said the problem may be outside somewhere but we just had the outside
lines checked and replaced nearly two months ago. Of course, we have
had ongoing problems with this cable since it was installed some 12
years ago. And no, cancelling our service won't help as we get it free
(yes it's legal, we have a contract with them).



Of
course I'm no expert and this is based on what I've seen in the past.
It just seems odd that both the cable and the phone line aren't
working properly since the electric meter was replaced.

usually replacing the W-H meter is a simple unplug it plug the new one in.

Mike wrote:

All of the TVs are like this. The TVs really don't work from the
antenna anyways but I can try hooking it up to see what it looks like
if that's important.

It would be important only if the other TVs were unaffected.

--
John Miller
Email address: domain, n4vu.com; username, jsm

Dealing with failure is easy:
Work hard to improve.
Success is also easy to handle:
You've solved the wrong problem.
Work hard to improve.

We just had two cable guys come out and they say the cable signal
level is normal. They went ahead and installed an amplifier which
didn't help and made some channels worse, in my opinion. The one guy
said the problem may be outside somewhere but we just had the outside
lines checked and replaced nearly two months ago. Of course, we have
had ongoing problems with this cable since it was installed some 12
years ago. And no, cancelling our service won't help as we get it free
(yes it's legal, we have a contract with them).


humm.... its bad but they say its good but the problem may be "outside" ?

as the cable comes into the house and goes to a splitter. bypass this signal
splitter and run the signal directly to a known good TV. if the signal
becomes clear at this point your problem is inside. if not call the cable
guys again and again and again.... they might become annoyed enough to
actually fix it.

"Tim Perry" wrote in message ...
We just had two cable guys come out and they say the cable signal
level is normal. They went ahead and installed an amplifier which
didn't help and made some channels worse, in my opinion. The one guy
said the problem may be outside somewhere but we just had the outside
lines checked and replaced nearly two months ago. Of course, we have
had ongoing problems with this cable since it was installed some 12
years ago. And no, cancelling our service won't help as we get it free
(yes it's legal, we have a contract with them).


humm.... its bad but they say its good but the problem may be "outside" ?

as the cable comes into the house and goes to a splitter. bypass this signal
splitter and run the signal directly to a known good TV. if the signal
becomes clear at this point your problem is inside. if not call the cable
guys again and again and again.... they might become annoyed enough to
actually fix it.


I called the other day to have a maintenance tech come out and check
the lines and they say it could be two weeks before the person shows
up. Those techs don't schedule appointments like the installers do.
Then on top of that, when the maintenance techs do come, they never
let anyone know if they've been here and if the problem is fixed. So
they couldv'e come already and think the problem is fixed when it's
not. It's all very annoying.

One thing I considered is that the last maintenance and line techs
that were out here (two months ago) gave me their work cell phone
numbers, and I'm wondering if I should call them and ask them to help
me out. They had originally given me their numbers because I had been
having trouble getting someone out here, so they said if no one shows
up by a certain time then I should call them and they'd see what's
going on. But that was two months ago for the last problem I had. I
don't know if it would be appropriate to call them and ask for help or
to find out what the hold up is. What do you all think? Should I call
them if I still have trouble this coming week? The one man seemed very
nice and seemed upset that I was receiving such lousy service so he
might be helpful and understanding of my situation.

I called the other day to have a maintenance tech come out and check
the lines and they say it could be two weeks before the person shows
up. Those techs don't schedule appointments like the installers do.
Then on top of that, when the maintenance techs do come, they never
let anyone know if they've been here and if the problem is fixed. So
they couldv'e come already and think the problem is fixed when it's
not. It's all very annoying.

One thing I considered is that the last maintenance and line techs
that were out here (two months ago) gave me their work cell phone
numbers, and I'm wondering if I should call them and ask them to help
me out. They had originally given me their numbers because I had been
having trouble getting someone out here, so they said if no one shows
up by a certain time then I should call them and they'd see what's
going on. But that was two months ago for the last problem I had. I
don't know if it would be appropriate to call them and ask for help or
to find out what the hold up is. What do you all think? Should I call
them if I still have trouble this coming week? The one man seemed very
nice and seemed upset that I was receiving such lousy service so he
might be helpful and understanding of my situation.

look at it this way. if you dont call, no one will come.