Old cable & wireless under drive 1997/coax questions

[george1531]

Just a quick few questions

I know a few things about technical stuff, but I haven't posted here so I will try to get a quick reply

The cable that goes under my drive has been laid by cable and wireless 1997 , this cable was then attached again to our house about 2013, broadband only from VM.

I'm not sure what cable was used as it's buried under the drive and just comes straight into the property but I was wanting to know, even though I have not had any problems on a 1 GB connection (1150mbps to router all the time) does this ever need to be repulled as suggested by virgin, the offer has been made and I declined it.

Is it a simple case of "if you don't have any problems you don't need to fix it" or is it a case of the cable is nearly 30 years old so it needs to be changed regardless. It has never been disturbed by anyone.

I have Broadband only I always use modem mode and have my own wireless setup but this is more a question about how virgin deal with things.

I have had the isolation box replaced recently because the old one was , well old., basically and also the attenuator was changed to one that looks like an inline one compared to the old one that was a bit bigger... is there really any difference... it is the correct wideband one (why did another vm tech put forward path one before?)

I just want to know other new ones better attenuator wise?

Main question here is the internal cable that comes from the wall to the super Hub has now been changed from rg59 to RG6 and I have bent it a little bit without even thinking

I just want to know if this is okay also 

should I be concerned about the cable outside if there is no problems or should I just forget about it

I have to admit all of my power levels and speeds are 100% fine?

Black cable is new RGB6, old is white RG59. Length is 2metres to hub.

[asim18]

The cable under your drive could potentially be totally fine. If it was properly done, ie running through proper conduit, properly sealed at both ends, zero moisture ingress etc.

Due to it being done in 1997, I would assume the job was done far better than anyone could do the job today! If you get the job done today it'll probably be done by someone who has no interest in coaxial cable/RF and is more interested in when his shift will end.

Personally, if it's just a simple re-pull through existing conduits, I would get it done.
If it requires more work such as digging up your driveway, I would leave it 'til it breaks.

[Tudor]

You should have no problems, my coax is as old as yours and I’ve been on 1G since it was available.  All coax is being replaced with fibre so it should last that long. As long as t working the bend and red of cable is ok.

[george1531]

I mean, the say the can run it along the side of the drive which is soil and bury it but they always make it sound simple, but there is a stone fence section at the front of the drive. but I don't want new cables being run for no reason is what I am thinking.

when you say all cable is being replaced, are you saying the will change everyone's soon or?

also why are my pictures not showing or are they?

[asim18]

Regarding the attenuators,

3 GHz 0 dB F-male to F-female inline precision attenuator - Technetix

10 dB F-male to F-female inline forward path attenuator - Technetix

If these are the attenuators you're refferring to, I would say the precision attenuator is much better than the forward path attenuator.

To answer your question on why the old installer used forward path attenuator instead of the precision attenuator, I believe the precision attenuators were released around 2019. Prior to that, the older attenuators were the standard.

[george1531]

Bang on... oh ok so it is better... I like to educate myself as forgot so much being out of this world for a long while.

Basically old tech used old style of attenuator but forward path.....new tech use inline, thats logical but wideband. how can both forward path and wideband be correct, doesnt one of these not touch the upstream?

[george1531]

https://jumpshare.com/s/ug0ANz9H8uP7dvRZJChj

https://jumpshare.com/s/yhAfG8MC2OBhH5pVEaK7

[nodrogd]

Virgin are in the process of moving away from traditional DOCSIS cable broadband services to XGS-PON over full fibre in the coming years. All new areas are now XGS-PON FTTP (Hub5x and Flex IPTV boxes for TV only, no landline service). VM are likely to be selling 2Gb symmetrical XGS connections first in existing cable areas & then will start a staged migration of those on the DOCSIS network.

[Tudor]

The OP did not mention attenuators at all, they were referring to the attenuation properties of the different types of RG cable. Did you not closely read their post?

[unisoft]

The new inline attenuator is probably an equaliser. Basically it varies attenuation on stronger frequencies more than the weaker ones like a DocSIS 3.1 channel uses. You are on Gig1 which makes sense as would be a hub using a 3.1 channel.

Forward path attenuators are old hat now and under VM, they usually had a metal rectangular shape but still an inline connector (most areas). These just trimmed in equal levels a frequency range and could actually affect a DocSIS 3.1 channel frequency too much.