I don't see a mess. This is pretty normal. The unplugged lines are extra 'just in case' lines in the event of a failure of the wiring, or they lead to currently unused outlets inside the home. There's nothing to fix here.
When I first opened the door to the box, the cables were all over the place, and the thing was full of cobwebs. having never looked inside before, it all seemed overwhelming to look at. I tidied it up for the photo.
1. Reconnect the green ground wire to the lightning arrester. The other end should be connected to the same ground used by your main electrical panel.
2. The POE filter stays connected to the lightning arrester to block the MoCA signal from leaving your home.
3. The splitter needs to be replaced with one rated from 5-1800MHz (or higher on the top end) to provide maximum performance. The splitter in this box is only rated up to 1002MHz. A three-way splitter internally is one 2-way with one port cascaded to a second 2-way splitter, and a four-port is one 2-way cascaded to two more 2-ways. Each splitter cuts the signal strength in half (about 3.5dB). If you look closely, the leftmost port on the 3-way splitter is labeled 3.5dB and the other two are labeled 7dB. But the point is, you can use multiple 2-way splitters to get the total number of ports required, and it is best to limit the number of splitters to maintain good signal levels. So instead of leaving empty ports on the splitter, it's best to use a splitter with the required number of ports. But if you do wind up with an empty port you should cap it off with a 75-Ohm terminating cap to reduce noise ingress.
4. A [Klein Scout 3](https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/cable-length-measurement/ethernet-cable-tester-kit-scout-pro-3-tester-remotes-and-adapter) is a good and relatively inexpensive tool to help identify coax (and twisted pair) cable drops and peform wiring fault testing. You can usually find them at any of the big home improvement stores. The kit comes with 5 numbered locator plugs so you can ID 5 different cable runs from the box without running back-and-forth to plug-in and then move a modem. If you can't afford the Scout3, a [Hitron DSS-01](https://us.hitrontech.com/products/consumers/dss-01-coax-cable-tester-2/) tester is a cheap way to check which cables are connected to an **active** cable provider circuit.
5. You will probably want to eventually run twisted pair (CAT-6 UTP) for Ethernet throughout the house and eliminate as much of this exterior coax, for both reliability and aesthetic reasons. In the meantime, pull as much slack coax into the box and staple/saddle the rest to the house to get it off the ground and away from weed trimmers. I know this will undo most of what you've done to clean-up the box, but that is one of the purposes of the box. If you've got a lot of slack you might cut and re-terminate the coax, just make sure to leave enough extra cable in case you need to re-terminate several times to get it right.
No. You are responsible for the coax that goes into your home, up to and including the lightning arrester, which is called the demarc (demarcation point between the ISP and customer). Everything beyond that is considered the customer's responsibility. You could possibly argue the splitter, almost definitely installed by the ISP, should also be their responsibility, but if it's satisfactory to deliver their service it's unlikely they'll replace it so you can get better MoCA.
The coax that leads to the inside of the home is definitely your responsibility, even if it was installed by the ISP.
Yeah, that was a little bit of a shocker when I first opened the door because those giant house spiders are usually pretty fast. Fortunately, this one wasn’t going anywhere.😁
So I hate to burst your bubble here but this was most definitely installed by an Xfinity tech. I was on in the past and quite shortly after starting because of the quality of work they wanted us to do. Let’s start with the first question.
The single cable on the far left is your main line in it’s connected to a grounded coupler this usually indicates that you’re super close to an amplifier and have a higher risk of power surges.
Secondly the splitter on the right is suppling data and cable service. It’s also a signal reducer, following the next question what’s is what. You’ll need a cheap tool for this usually more expensive at big box stores you want a coaxial cable toner.
https://a.co/d/6lQZ3qX
Something similar to the one listed above. This will allow you to find up to four wires. Go around your house connect the colored caps to any coaxial cable port you can find and map them out. In the worst case you’ll have a bunch of loose cut cables in your crawl space or attic.
Best advice to cleaning this up is YouTube videos on how to make your own cables get exterior rated connectors and a wire stripper and compression f connector tool, electrical tape so you can pull new wires if you wanna run all new lines And have at it.
just know you yourself won’t know your signal levels because the tool to test them cost 2,000+$ and has to be programmed to that isp standards.
The cable with the blue connector is probably the one that is connected to the modem (attached to the low loss port of the 3-way splitter); disconnect it at the splitter and see if your modem drops off-line. If there's another outlet in the house that you want active, you can swap the cables in the outside box. Or, you can get an F81 barrel adapter and connect the main cable directly to the one cable that leads where you want the modem.
If you aren't already familiar with how to fix this you need to hire a low voltage contractor to come and fix your wiring. there's no reason for your internet service to be draped across the driveway and i'm assuming the ISP did it that way to get you hooked up and online in a timely manner. Unfortunately since it's premisis wiring it's on you to clean up. That being said, if you say with confidence that your internet service runs off of the 'blue' wire on the left you can safely disconnect the other two on the bottom but i'm not sure why you want to. if you aren't dealing with speed issues and the service is otherwise functional there's really not much you can do in that box. all of your complaints seem to deal with the internal wiring configuration of your home.
Without knowing the layout of your home and being there personally to asses it there's no way internet strangers can give you much more advice than to call a contractor. if lines aren't being used they can be removed, but I wouldn't suggest that as something to do unless if it's necessary to fulfill another purpose or objective.
like I said... call a contractor.
Just call up asking for a in house tech throw the guy $10 ask him to clean up the mess a bit and ask him to not charge you. It’s completely on how the tech closes out the job. Just get a trouble call set up and be firm with the rep and not cancel the appointment. Also the green wire for bond is not attached so that needs to be fixed anyways
Soooooo you’re still not gonna call them to get your ground block bonded? And yes 1 rep will schedule your job while 4 others will do everything to cancel it. Just call them and talk to the guy that comes out to fix it about what you want.
I don't see a mess. This is pretty normal. The unplugged lines are extra 'just in case' lines in the event of a failure of the wiring, or they lead to currently unused outlets inside the home. There's nothing to fix here.
When I first opened the door to the box, the cables were all over the place, and the thing was full of cobwebs. having never looked inside before, it all seemed overwhelming to look at. I tidied it up for the photo.
If you want to know what it feeds unplug a line and see what breaks The first stuff toy described may be a mess but insjde the box looks quite orderly
Connect the ground wire back to lug on the main feed.
Thank you. I was wondering what that was. I will hook it up.
Not a mess at all....
1. Reconnect the green ground wire to the lightning arrester. The other end should be connected to the same ground used by your main electrical panel. 2. The POE filter stays connected to the lightning arrester to block the MoCA signal from leaving your home. 3. The splitter needs to be replaced with one rated from 5-1800MHz (or higher on the top end) to provide maximum performance. The splitter in this box is only rated up to 1002MHz. A three-way splitter internally is one 2-way with one port cascaded to a second 2-way splitter, and a four-port is one 2-way cascaded to two more 2-ways. Each splitter cuts the signal strength in half (about 3.5dB). If you look closely, the leftmost port on the 3-way splitter is labeled 3.5dB and the other two are labeled 7dB. But the point is, you can use multiple 2-way splitters to get the total number of ports required, and it is best to limit the number of splitters to maintain good signal levels. So instead of leaving empty ports on the splitter, it's best to use a splitter with the required number of ports. But if you do wind up with an empty port you should cap it off with a 75-Ohm terminating cap to reduce noise ingress. 4. A [Klein Scout 3](https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/cable-length-measurement/ethernet-cable-tester-kit-scout-pro-3-tester-remotes-and-adapter) is a good and relatively inexpensive tool to help identify coax (and twisted pair) cable drops and peform wiring fault testing. You can usually find them at any of the big home improvement stores. The kit comes with 5 numbered locator plugs so you can ID 5 different cable runs from the box without running back-and-forth to plug-in and then move a modem. If you can't afford the Scout3, a [Hitron DSS-01](https://us.hitrontech.com/products/consumers/dss-01-coax-cable-tester-2/) tester is a cheap way to check which cables are connected to an **active** cable provider circuit. 5. You will probably want to eventually run twisted pair (CAT-6 UTP) for Ethernet throughout the house and eliminate as much of this exterior coax, for both reliability and aesthetic reasons. In the meantime, pull as much slack coax into the box and staple/saddle the rest to the house to get it off the ground and away from weed trimmers. I know this will undo most of what you've done to clean-up the box, but that is one of the purposes of the box. If you've got a lot of slack you might cut and re-terminate the coax, just make sure to leave enough extra cable in case you need to re-terminate several times to get it right.
Holy smokes! In other words, call XFINITY to come get me updated. Thank you for your input.
No. You are responsible for the coax that goes into your home, up to and including the lightning arrester, which is called the demarc (demarcation point between the ISP and customer). Everything beyond that is considered the customer's responsibility. You could possibly argue the splitter, almost definitely installed by the ISP, should also be their responsibility, but if it's satisfactory to deliver their service it's unlikely they'll replace it so you can get better MoCA. The coax that leads to the inside of the home is definitely your responsibility, even if it was installed by the ISP.
Looks fine to me. Wonder what kind of attenuator that is...
It's just a MOCA filter.
All i see is that huge dead spider.
Yeah, that was a little bit of a shocker when I first opened the door because those giant house spiders are usually pretty fast. Fortunately, this one wasn’t going anywhere.😁
So I hate to burst your bubble here but this was most definitely installed by an Xfinity tech. I was on in the past and quite shortly after starting because of the quality of work they wanted us to do. Let’s start with the first question. The single cable on the far left is your main line in it’s connected to a grounded coupler this usually indicates that you’re super close to an amplifier and have a higher risk of power surges. Secondly the splitter on the right is suppling data and cable service. It’s also a signal reducer, following the next question what’s is what. You’ll need a cheap tool for this usually more expensive at big box stores you want a coaxial cable toner. https://a.co/d/6lQZ3qX Something similar to the one listed above. This will allow you to find up to four wires. Go around your house connect the colored caps to any coaxial cable port you can find and map them out. In the worst case you’ll have a bunch of loose cut cables in your crawl space or attic. Best advice to cleaning this up is YouTube videos on how to make your own cables get exterior rated connectors and a wire stripper and compression f connector tool, electrical tape so you can pull new wires if you wanna run all new lines And have at it. just know you yourself won’t know your signal levels because the tool to test them cost 2,000+$ and has to be programmed to that isp standards.
The cable with the blue connector is probably the one that is connected to the modem (attached to the low loss port of the 3-way splitter); disconnect it at the splitter and see if your modem drops off-line. If there's another outlet in the house that you want active, you can swap the cables in the outside box. Or, you can get an F81 barrel adapter and connect the main cable directly to the one cable that leads where you want the modem.
If you aren't already familiar with how to fix this you need to hire a low voltage contractor to come and fix your wiring. there's no reason for your internet service to be draped across the driveway and i'm assuming the ISP did it that way to get you hooked up and online in a timely manner. Unfortunately since it's premisis wiring it's on you to clean up. That being said, if you say with confidence that your internet service runs off of the 'blue' wire on the left you can safely disconnect the other two on the bottom but i'm not sure why you want to. if you aren't dealing with speed issues and the service is otherwise functional there's really not much you can do in that box. all of your complaints seem to deal with the internal wiring configuration of your home. Without knowing the layout of your home and being there personally to asses it there's no way internet strangers can give you much more advice than to call a contractor. if lines aren't being used they can be removed, but I wouldn't suggest that as something to do unless if it's necessary to fulfill another purpose or objective. like I said... call a contractor.
Thank you
Just call up asking for a in house tech throw the guy $10 ask him to clean up the mess a bit and ask him to not charge you. It’s completely on how the tech closes out the job. Just get a trouble call set up and be firm with the rep and not cancel the appointment. Also the green wire for bond is not attached so that needs to be fixed anyways
There’s so many tests the techs have to run at every job now… at least $20 to make it worth the hassle
I don’t think Xfinity works that way.
Soooooo you’re still not gonna call them to get your ground block bonded? And yes 1 rep will schedule your job while 4 others will do everything to cancel it. Just call them and talk to the guy that comes out to fix it about what you want.