Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with signal

Why does this cable splitter screw up my modem? What can I do about it?

bluelava — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 10:04:29 -0800

Wall<>Cable Modem = Good. Wall<>Splitter<>Cable Modem + TV = Intermittent failures where the modem goes off line. What can I do to improve this? Is there such thing as a lower power splitter? Better cables? And did my cable company make a mistake? More details below! Recently I changed apartments.

In my old apartment, the cable guy came and set up my cable modem in this way: Wall<>Splitter<>Cable Modem. There was nothing at the other end of the splitter as I didn't own a TV. It was strange I didn't question him. Things worked well.

I moved and got a TV hand me down. I didn't order TV services though. On a whim, I set it up such that it is Wall<>Splitter<>Cable Modem + TV and was pleased to discover that I get the local channels! Hurray!

But now, every few days, my cable modem gives up the ghost and can't connect to the cable network. To solve this, I have to connect my modem to the wall directly, wait, and then try the splitter again.

1. Is this, uh, considered, getting cable service for free? Even though all I get are the over-the-air channels?

2. Is there anyway I can connect my TV and Modem to the network effectively?

Thanks.

Furniture blocking wifi signal?

cozenedindigo — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 04:40:42 -0800

Is it possible for furniture to block a wifi signal? Or at least make it drop regularly.. My parents have recently acquired a rather large (wooden) entertainment unit in the living room, and I'm finding the wifi signal is weak (in that specific room) at the best of times, other times dropping entirely. There were no problems before the unit was put in, and signal improves right when you step out of the room.

Is there any way to mitigate this? The router and modem are in the basement. Is moving them to the first floor the only option? It doesn't seem like the issue is distance, since the signal is excellent 2 floors up from the router.

GLONASS Satellite Stats on iOS Devices

Juffo-Wup — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 20:29:10 -0800

Is there an iOS app that shows the received signal strengths of GLONASS satellites? I recently discovered that the GPS receiver on the iPad v3 receives signals from the GLONASS (Russian version of GPS) satellites in addition to (American) GPS satellites.

I have been looking for an app which will show the signal strengths of the GLONASS satellites being received, and possibly their position on a horizon display, but have not been able to find any that do so.

Can you find me an app that shows this information?

How can I split a video signal coming from a MacBook?

GilloD — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:43:49 -0800

I have a MacBook spitting out video via the Thunderbolt/Mini-Display Adapter port. We usually use another adapter to turn that from Mini-Display -> HDMI so we can run it to a TV. We'd now like to split the signal to three TVs, all showing the same video signal. Doable? Macbook
/ | \
TV TV TV

Just like that. What's the easiest way to do this presuming that all the TVs have HDMI and/or Component out. Basically: How do I split a video signal reliably?

Where can I buy a thing to signal whether I am busy or not

jfricke — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:08:55 -0800

I'm looking for a present for our boss with which he can signal to us whether we can talk to him right now or not. I'm looking for a present for our boss with which he can signal to us whether we can talk to him right now or not. We thought about something with a red and a green flag but any other ideas are welcome as well. Do you have any recommendations. I couldn't find anything with google but maybe i was using the wrong key words.

My monitor shifts position every time it loses signal or shuts off.

Mr_Crazyhorse — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 13:33:08 -0800

I have a Dell E248WFP monitor. Every time it loses signal (IE turning off/on the computer), the entire screen will move about 1/8" down and to the right. This problem has been replicated with different computers and DVI cables. This problem is easily remedied by opening up the monitor options on the monitor itself and telling it to reset to factory default settings for "Position Only." Turn the monitor off, and I have to reset position all over again. I am at 1920x1200 resolution. Any help will be greatly appreciated. I will be online all day working so I will be available to provide any additional information, should it be requested. Thank you.

Reliable Internet Signal Booster

Mckoan1 — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:51:36 -0800

Are there any good & reliable INTERNET SIGNAL WIRELESS BOOSTERS on the market? I can only receive a very weak signal for my computer on the second floor. I have read reviews praising these devices to reviews stating that these boosters don't work at all. I would certainly appreciate any recommendations you can provide. Thanks in advance.

Cell Signal Boost Out of the Valley

_paegan_ — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 09:41:07 -0800

The only un-awesome thing about my new apartment near Tempe, AZ is that neither I nor my roommates are receiving any signal strength on our cell phones due to the low mountains surrounding our location. We all have differerent providers (T-Mobile, Verizon, & AT&T) and not a lot of money. Please help me find a cellular signal booster that doesn't cost an arm and a leg or more than $100. I don't even know how to begin.

How can I post to Metafilter if I can't see what I'm typing?

amarynth — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 08:22:43 -0800

My monitor suddenly stopped getting a signal. I did some troubleshooting and don't think it's a problem with the monitor or cable. What's the next most likely culprit? I had been using the computer a few hours earlier, it was asleep, and when I went to wake it up there was no signal.

My specs are:
Windows 7 64x
Sapphire Radeon HD 3850 video card
ASRock P45R2000 mobo
4 gb of DDR2 RAM
A Dell widescreen LCD monitor

Here's what I've tried:
-- using the other DVI connection (video card has 2)
-- using a VGA cable with a DVI adaptor (the video card only has DVI out)
-- using a different monitor with the VGA cable and DVI adapter.
-- Plugging the monitor into a different computer using the VGA cable (without the adapter); the monitor worked.
-- I took the video card out of the x16 mode slot and tried it in the x8 mode slot

Other fun facts:
--I can hear my hard drive running, fans running, etc, but can't actually tell if Windows is loading because I can't see anything (I don't hear the windows startup sound, but my sound might be muted -- it often is).
--There are no beeps.

What should my next step be? I don't have any other video cards lying around to try to swap out, or any computers available that I can test my video card in. I don't have any close friends that would be likely to have spare video cards around, but I would be willing to ask around if the video card is the most likely problem.

Thanks!

Intermittent TV satellite signal - help!

Simon Barclay — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:52:39 -0800

Intermittent TV satellite signal. I can't figure out what it is, but I'm loathe to pay a technician to come troubleshoot it for me. Does anyone have an idea of what the problem could be, and how I can diagnose and resolve it? For the last few weeks, my TV satellite signal occasionally drops and my receiver is left searching for the satellite -- sometimes for hours, or most of a day. And then, the signal comes back for a few days. When I have a signal, the diagnostics say that I am getting over 85% signal strength (usually ~95%, up to 100% on some transponders); when I lose the signal, it shows 0%.

The signal loss has happened while it's nice and sunny out, so I don't think it's weather-related. I don't think it's the cable, because then I would always have a degraded signal. Although my dish is pointed close to a tree (it's hard to tell), I can't imagine that it's the leaves blocking the signal, because then I would never (or rarely) have reception.

I called tech support, and they tried to diagnose it remotely, with no results. They offered to send a technician, but it costs money that I would have to pay if it's my fault. Also, since it's intermittent, I would imagine that it would be difficult to figure anything out if he shows up and there's no problem -- but it would still cost me.

Does anyone have an idea of what the problem could be, and how I can diagnose and resolve it?

If it matters, I am with Bell TV and I have a standard-def PVR receiver. Only one receiver in the house, so the cable goes direct from the satellite to the receiver. PVR and satellite installation are 3-4 years old.

text vs voice required signal strength

H. Roark — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 20:37:35 -0800

Is less signal strength required for sending/receiving texts versus voice calls? I find myself in those 1/2-bar situations a lot, where the phone thinks it can make a call but cant - would there be better luck of sending/receiving texts then? I mostly encounter this in hiking/backpacking situations where im trying to check-in, if that matters. (my work pays for a phone with texting disabled so I cant just test)

What is the first radio signal sent by humankind?

smithsmith — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 20:08:17 -0800

What is the first radio signal sent by humankind and could it be understood by an alien race? I have been doing some reading on the topic of SETI and in particular the Wow! Signal and it got me thinking about the following:

1. If a similar "listening" project to SETI was set up by a distant alien race, what would be the Earth-generated "Wow! Signal"? I assume some sort of test broadcast from the late 19th century, but is there a definitive "first"?

2. Could signals from Earth be decoded? I notice that the Arecibo message created by Carl Sagan et al, was sent in binary. Is such a broadcast easier to interpret than a radio broadcast of something like music or the human voice?

No Signal

peachtree — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 18:45:41 -0800

What is wrong with my new mobile phone? When my phone goes idle after 15 sec of no use (typical battery saving function) or loses the signal when I am in an elevator (typical situation but normally survivable), it won't automatically reconnect so it's like I don't even have a phone. How can I over come this? Is it normal for "newer" phones to constantly be searching for a signal yet not getting it or turning off like this? I bought a new phone two weeks ago. It's a LG GS 500V. Anyway, I've tried absolutely everything I could think of and if the signal is lost when the phone is idle or after being in an elevator it pretty much cuts off the network connection and I can't receive calls, can't call out, no sms/text messages. Then it takes me some funky method of turning the phone on and off, removing the SIM card, and only sometimes it gets a signal again... is this a problem anyone else has faced and over come somehow that I can't figure out? I've taken it to the shop I bought it from, they reset it, and it worked fine... but I am unable to reset it myself and have the same problem.

The SIM card (which I've had for about 16 months) works no problem with my 7+year old phone...

This is doubly even more frustrating because I bought it in China- it's from a legitimate retailer- and customer service here is famously awful.

I Want My WIFI Back!

Stylistique — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 04:08:44 -0800

Someone's wifi extender is screwing up my wifi! I live in a dormitory-type setting. I can get a weak wifi signal in my room. Normally it's poor to fair 1mbps to 5.5 mbps, just enough to just email and websurf.

Over the last 24 hours, the wifi has degraded to nothing. I believe it is because someone in the building has employed a wifi extender in an attempt to boost the weak wifi signal. I believe this because I tried it myself a few months ago.

Here's what's happening... instead of a poor to fair signal, I am now getting an "excellent" signal that fluctuates between 24 mbps to 54 mbps. Sadly, I am not actually receiving internet, but instead an empty signal. This is exactly what happened when I tried out a wifi extender. Also, the signal continuously drops, about every 2 - 3 minutes. I've tried to connect to the wifi network manually and it shows "connected", but I still experience the same problems.

I know the easy answer would be to ask for my neighbor's cooperation. However, I am in a situation where I cannot do that (military deployed location). So, my question is how do I avoid picking up this wayward extender signal? Or better yet, is there a way to disable it? The little weak wifi signal was one of the few things making life bearable.

p.s. we do not have access to the router or the router's IP number. They are actually hidden.

Piggyback question - The extender that I tried out was a Lynksys, which did not work. I was able to get a hold of Lynksys tech support who told me that without knowing the router's IP address and programing it, it would not work. Is there another type of extender/catcher that is more plug and play and will not screw up my neighbor's wifi capability?

oversampling?

bukvich — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:46:07 -0800

Are there any crackpot signal processors in the house? I am working on a data set which is sampled right at Nyquist in X, in Y, and in time for reasons of budget. I hate this. I have a vague memory of seeing an erstwhile bona fide document many years ago regarding sound engineers recording at 10 X Nyquist and noticing a difference on extreme subtleties (I swear the example they used was rapid pitch changes by opera soprano Cecilia Bartoli). I am sure the consensus expert opinion is a little room past Nyquist to roll off your filter in the Digital to Analog conversion process is scientifically factually the only thing real humans ever should pay for. My Oppenheim and Schafer is well-worn. Still I am not convinced. Does anybody remember the document that I remember? Is there another forum I could post this question without compromising my professional reputation?

Getting poor signal in an internal mini PCI ATSC TV tuner

lrodman — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:56:55 -0800

I recently bought an Avermedia a327 Mini PCI ATSC (DTV) tuner card which I put in my Dell Vostro 1500. I get horrible signal strength (unwatchable) through the built-in antennas. I get fine WiFi signal strength through the built-in antennae, but I've tried hooking up each of the four free antenna cables to the a327 - I got great signal strength when I first put it in (a blip?), and now can hardly get any to watch TV. Any ideas? Tips?

What's behind Comcast's signal specs?

kavasa — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 08:02:09 -0800

Electrical engineers and others with a pretty in-depth understanding of communications tech: why does Comcast have a specified minimum for transmission signal strength from cable modems on its network? Or a maximum for reception signal strength? I'm a new-ish Comcast tech, and one of the things I do on an internet/voip installation is make sure that the equipment's signal strength is in spec. There are three required categories:

-Upstream power in dBmV
-Downstream power in dBmV
-Signal to Noise Ratio

SNR has a minimum but no maximum, which makes sense to me. Why does downstream have a max, though? It has nothing to do with speed, the system checks your account for the speed you're paying for and hands the modem a bootfile that throttles accordingly. And it's not that too much signal creates noise, either - often the modems with too much downstream also have a very high SNR. Similarly, why is there a minimum for transmit power? I understand the maximum: if the modem is right at its transmit power limit, it's going to intermittently lose the ability to reach all the way back up the line and drop connection. But if it's at a low transmit power and line conditions change, it can always just add a little more juice.

Anyway, thanks in advance!

Imac has lost its once strong wireless signal

ranunculus — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:25:41 -0800

My girlfriend's imac keeps losing its wireless signal, despite having functioned perfectly for over a year at its present location. How can I remedy this? The wireless router - a linksys wrt 54g - is located at my desk about 50 feet and one wall away, where it is hardwired to my pc. For the past year, her imac received the signal perfectly. And now it's extremely weak. Rebooting her computer, my computer, the router, or the cable modem does nothing to improve her signal. Yet my other computer - a pc laptop - receives a perfectly good signal next to her imac.

She is running osx 10.4.11
I'm on vista

Help, I need a stronger wifi signal!

OuttaHere — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:53:19 -0800

Help! I live in a basement and need a stronger Wi-Fi Connection! I live in a Basement of a townhome and pay for internet which my landlord provides via Wi-Fi.

The problem is that he has the router on the third floor of the house, and I am in the basement. It probably doesn't help that it is an old building, so there is a lot of brick and mortar. Anyways, he uses Comcast so in order for us to have a land line in our residence we would have to pay for a completely new cable package/modem etc.

In my room I am getting like 25% signal, 2 bars out of 5 pretty much, and get a really shitty and slow connection. If I move my computer out to the main room my speed and connection increases 10 fold.

Anyway, I'm not the greatest with this kind of tech stuff so I was wondering if people out there had options for me. I haven't talked to my landlord about it but wanted to confront him with some options.

Anyone have ideas, especially if you are familiar with comcast. Are those "Range Extenders" worth it? Can you add a router to a lower level somehow to increase the range? Is there anything comcast can do?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Why-Fi?

Rhaomi — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:17:19 -0800

What's killing my wi-fi connection? The last few days I've been having some odd problems with my wireless network. I'll be browsing on my laptop when all of a sudden things get really slow, as if I lost the connection. But instead of being sent to "This page is not available" or "server not found" pages like when there really is no connection, I just get stuck loading forever. So if I open a tab and go to Google, it will sit and load saying "Waiting for www.google.com" in the status bar for a minute or two, then eventually say "Done" -- even though the only thing that has loaded is a completely blank tab (even the source code of the page is empty) with the raw URL in the title bar.

But throughout all this, there's no indication that I've lost my connection. The wifi icon in the system tray doesn't change, and says I'm connected if I hover over it. When I open up the Command Prompt and enter ipconfig /all, it says all my internet connection stats are normal. The subnet mask, DHCP server, DNS, etc. are all there. The IP address doesn't start with 169. It's all okay.

Weirdest of all, despite the fact that I can see that all the connection info is normal, if I enter my router's IP address into the address bar (which usually takes me to the router's settings page), it just does the same thing. Load... load... load... blank tab. I understand not being able to connect to the internet, but if I can see all my connection and router info in Command Prompt, why can't I connect to the same router with my browser?

The only way to fix it, I've found, is to disconnect from the wireless network and reconnect. It'll then work fine for anywhere from one minute to fifteen, at which point the connection drops again. This is only affecting my laptop, by the way -- iPods and other laptops connect fine.

I've tried restarting my computer, restarting the router, and repairing the connection -- nothing works. It seems that getting closer to the router improves things, but I'm not sure since the problem comes and goes randomly. And besides, the router is in the same place as it's always been, so unless it's suddenly lost broadcasting power I don't see what would cause the problem. And in the "View Wireless Networks" window, it says the network has an Excellent signal when I'm not connected (though that decreases a bar or two once I do).

The only incident I can think of is that a power surge recently burnt out the power supply, and I had to buy a universal one with an adapter to get the router up and running again. But this was a week or two before the trouble started, so that's probably not the source.

Is there anything that would cause a wireless router to lose signal strength like that? Is there something I can do to fix it, or should I just spring for a new one?

Details: I have a Dell laptop running Windows XP SP3. I have a Bellsouth Fast Access DSL internet connection. The router is a 2Wire HomePortal 1700HW. The loading problem happens on Firefox, Chrome, and IE7.

One more detail I remembered: For awhile when the problem first started, ipconfig /all was giving me some weird info. For instance, it said that the "lease" for the connection expired one second after it was obtained. But it's not doing that anymore.

Help me find a rangy router!

jckll — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:51:38 -0800

Help me buy a Wireless (WiFi) router with exceptional signal/range for not a boatload of cash. I am, right now, using a cheapie Netgear b/g refurbished router I bought about 6 months ago. It has no external antenna. It disconnects randomly, seems to have terrible range, and needs to be recycled all the time. I only get about 2Mbits download when connected to it from about 2 feet away (20Mbits cable connection). It sucks.

I live in a dense apartment building with about 20 wireless connections, lots of walls, etc. Help me find a wireless router that will break through all that without breaking the bank (ha!)

I have been looking at this one, and it seems OK. Pretty good reviews, but it's hard to know with those things.

Am I under the right impression that an 802.11n router is going to give me better signal? Especially if most (if not all) of the "competing" routers around me are a/b/g?

If anyone has personal experience with a router with great range, that's bonus points! Or if there is a website/page with comparisons of a bunch of available consumer routers, that would be great too.

PS, I don't have any plans to use enhanced (Linux) firmware like DD-WRT or Tomato as I don't have much use for it. Don't want to run a server or a PBX or anything like that. If that would help me with range/power, I definitely would, but it's far from a requirement.

Thanks!

Wherefore art thou, iPhone reception?

nevercalm — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 13:37:32 -0800

I have an iPhone and AT&T and no reception at my house. What are my options? Last year I moved to a nice property in a valley. Unfortunately, I only get spotty reception on my land, and nothing in the house. The addition of the Griffin Clearboost has at least allowed me to get notifications that I have voicemail, but I still can't use the damned thing as an actual phone. My wife gets fantastic coverage with her Verizon phone, of course.

A friend of mine is insisting that all I have to do is hassle the company to have a cell tower added to my area. I am fairly convinced that I lack the constitutional requisites to do this. Is there any sort of booster or repeater available that doesn't cost $500? Have any Mefites had any success with getting AT&T to accede to their demands, or found any better options?

I'm not looking to change carriers, get a Blackberry, or any of that. I just want my damned iphone to work.....

"On Demand"? Well, I'm DEMANDING already!

EmpressCallipygos — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:27:20 -0800

Shouldn't I be able to get "on-demand" wireless networks to WORK on my computer? Why can't I? After another frustrating train trip during which I was unable to get online, I need an explanation.

When I'm looking for a computer network to log onto on my laptop, I usually see three different kinds of signals -- "secured" and "unsecured" I understand. But then there is a third type, called "On Demand". My wireless manager is often able to connect TO whatever "on Demand" signal I select, but then when I try to open Outlook or a web browser, it doesn't work, and the troubleshooting for my web browser tells me it cannot see the very "on Demand" signal that my wireless manager tells me I am connected to. (Fortunately, at least this time, I know that I'm not the only one with the problem -- I asked a couple guys on the train who were also trying to log on, and they were having the same problem.)

What in the name of hell is behind all this? Why is one program telling me I'm connected when another one is not? Doesn't "On Demand" imply that it is a functioning signal which works when people need it? What's really going on here?

What is the name of this short film about a strange radio station?

Pastabagel — Wed, 20 May 2009 10:48:49 -0800

[NameThatMovieFilter] I'm looking for the name of a short film about a radio station that sends out a mysterious signal. The film either has not come out yet, or came out in the last 4-5 years. The director is a well-known producer of DVDs for major films. I think it may have been the producer of the Memento DVD, or some film like that. The film is an extended short, running about 40 minutes long. I never actually saw the movie, just the trailer, but it piqued my interest.

The plot is generally about people who at night receive a strange radio signal from a particular radio station and come together to investigate or search out the source. The title is something like "AM 1140" or "AM 1420". The problem is that I don't remember the number in the title. The poster was dark, a nighttime photo, with the title in a thin, Helvetica-like white font. Google and IMDB have failed me. Please help!

A Graphic Equalizer for Images?

jfrancis — Sun, 10 May 2009 17:12:16 -0800

Is there such a thing as a graphic equalizer for images? Can I obtain it? In Photoshop you can high pass filter an image (edges and details) or low pass filter it (blur it). But there isn't continuous control over a range of frequencies.

Does some software exist that I as an average user can get a hold of that does the necessary Fourier analysis (or whatever is necessary) to give me fine control over any frequencies in an image I wish to address?

Sort of a graphic equalizer for photos?