Who Do Cable Companies Work With?

[Revere]

Hi,

I am looking for any information and or experiences that any fellow Avalonians may have concerning the topics below which came about in an interesting experience I had starting last Friday:

On last Friday my cable modem stopped working suddenly. I called customer service and they could not fix it over the phone. I traded out two more modems over the day with them and it would still not work so, the problem is now assumed as with the cable either in my house or outside my home and a Tech was scheduled to come out. Since we just had massive flooding in my neighborhood and region getting a tech out today was well... a run around.

Here is where it starts getting interesting. Yesterday, while getting in the shower I hear a door slam on the utilities shed attached to my home where the telephone, cable and air handling equipment are housed. I go to a window and walking away in a Utility service (cable or phone) uniform is some guy that did not ask me for permission. I almost ran out in a towel to ask him what the hell he was doing in my utility shed without permission on my property. But, since I was not dressed I let it go. This has never happened before. I get out of the shower look out the window and the same guy is buttoning up a box off property and walking away with some equipment about the size of a car radio. Once again I am in no position to run outside.

Today I am waiting for the cable guy who is suppose to call before coming, as they have all done in the past and claim they must do prior to coming. The cable guy just shows up at my front screen door as I have my back turned to it and startles the heck out of me. Very fit guy about 30+ and pleasant to talk too. We head out to my cable box to get started and he goes, “don’t be mad but you’re not going to like this”. Here is your problem, he points to a strange looking filter, which I was puzzled over the day before while figuring out what that other guy was up to after my shower. It was attached to my cable at the point where it comes into the house. He goes on to tell me that a department in Comcast which keeps its own records, fly’s around in airplanes with equipment looking for cable customers with “noise” from their systems which they claim can mess up avionics! What, screw up air planes? He goes on to say it’s a bunch of bull but it is part of your problem at least and that he has had experiences with these things being installed. Plus, the cable company has no notice of it on their main account records because these guys are a separate division. Has anyone ever heard of this before, "plane interference from my homes cable system” is going to make planes fall from the skies?

Well to make a long story short he changes around my cable puts new connectors on it and identifies with his meter he says, an older TV as the “noise” maker. It is in my office with my computer equipment of course, and slaps back on the filter there. He also goes on to tell me as I questioned him pretty good, that he is an ex-Navy communications officer with various clearances and that his sister works for the Federal Reserve. That is more weirdness for me because I have been doing a bunch of research on the Federal Reserve lately for a little project I am working on and with some investment strategies I am interested in watching.

The coincidences etc. struck me as very odd and here is some information I got on the filter, I have the AHP-50 from ARCOM "… effectively attenuates frequencies in the range 4-21 MHz from ARCOM Labs... being a good band attenuation the AHP-50, …for AV networks with a cable modem in the network.

Hmm, why is it then on the back of a TV in the network or out at the ingress point of the cable to my house? It is what also stopped my cable modem and on demand services from working? But, now it needs to be in my office on the back of a TV!

BTW I just thought of this, a couple weeks back the Secret Service interviewed me very casually about my neighbor who is applying for a job with them. Could checking into neighbors be a part of their "process"? Or could I be a target for some reason? Nahh, I am harmless at least I think so but I do some interesting research on various things?

PEACE,
"R"

PS the filter is sitting on my desk!

[jagman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6A5QnnQAUc&feature=player_detailpage

[Fred Steeves]

Never had that happen Revere, but there was a span of time, maybe a year or so and ending about a year ago, where the cable guy would be up atop the pole between my house and the neighbor's like once a month or so. The more I saw it, the more I began to wonder just what the hell he's really doing up there. Geez, how often do they need to climb the dang pole. I had recently read 1984 for the first time, and was envisioning the tele-screen thing or something similar, along with learning that groups like the CIA will blend in under similar aliases. Finally one day I just walked out and politely asked him what the trouble seemed to be. I forget what he said, but he was very rude and arrogant, and didn't say much. Kind of like how an a**hole cop will condescendingly say move along, move along.

Actually, now that I think about it more, I don't recall it happening again after that incident. Hmmm.

Don't know if it was anything or not, and it's not as blatant as your story, but hey, it's something anyway huh?

Cheers,
Fred

[the trojan]

wow!that is
just
exciting!
what are you going to do,if it was me sitting looking at a device on my desktop i would be freaked out
completely.

I cant help you,I only have the run of the mill high frequency screeching airport thingymajig.
Keep sane keep safe.

[Logan]

That is interesting. A buddy of mine was saying he read theories on the NSA spying on people through the new Kinect cameras for X-Box.

I have a Kinect. Spy on me all you want haha, nothing to hide. Creepy though in relation to this thread.

[crested-duck]

Something is definately not right with your situation! It's time to get rid of your cable service and that bull**** devise. I think it is time to invest in a sattelite dish instead of using cable. Your sanity as well as your privacy may very well depend on it. I feel your very well descripted series of events contains too many ODD coincidences. Also there are no such things as coincidence. You must have set off a red flag somewhere and now you're under suspicion by big brother.Good luck!

[TigaHawk]

That sounds like an utter bunch of baloney.

If you had wireless internet it would be believeable. For a copper cable that runs thru the ground should have no interference whatsoever with planes.


Go disconnect it, bring it inside and introduce it to a bucket of water. It must be hot from being enclosed in the power box outside all day anyway. Hang it out on the clothes line the next day so it can enjoy the gentle breeze. Maybe it can stay out there untill they realise its not connected and come looking for it - then it can go home with its mummy and daddy, no? :)

[Fred Steeves]

Go disconnect it, bring it inside and introduce it to a bucket of water. It must be hot from being enclosed in the power box outside all day anyway. Hang it out on the clothes line the next day so it can enjoy the gentle breeze. Maybe it can stay out there untill they realise its not connected and come looking for it - then it can go home with its mummy and daddy, no? :)

Thank you for a good belly laugh TigaHawk, that was classic!!!:lol:

Cheers,
Fred

[Vitalux]

It would appear that you are under surveillance by big Brother and they are probably taking a very great interest in your activity.
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQXgKVpzzqSry0A3CmpZZ77TsfJBd8i-gkttPdQGjrCnFRbsHWQcg

[Nairnia]

Hi Revere, interesting post, let me have a stab at it!
First of all, do not think for one second that anyone who wants to monitor or spy on you would need to come out and fit something to your cable feed!
Now, heres what I think.....
Older TV's in particular generate radio frequencies by the very way they operate using a type of superhetrodye where two frequencies are generated and using either sum or difference, make the frequency needing for tuning. (someone more technical might jumpo in here?) They also generate harmonics of the desired frequencies in multiples or divisions, these extra generated frequencies are known as spurious emmisions. We know them better as radio interference or RFI.
Now, internet via cable and indeed DSL requires transmission of a radio frequency carrier, basically, your internet service is delivered by radio waves. It is very possible that RFI was being generated within your home affecting yourself and probably close neighbours reducing their service speed and the cable guy came out and fitted an RFI filter where the DMark is. (also possible a faulty modem could do the same) BTW, utilities generally dont need your permission to enter the Dmark area (in your case an outbuilding) as there will be an easment on your deeds allowing them to do this.
The whole mystery and supterfuge hinges soley on thi other cable guy who claims to be ex-military and tells this grand story. I work in telecoms and it can be pretty boring going from house to house doing the same job every day, sorry but I think he was just winding you up and giving himself a good laugh at your expense. And it gave him a great story to tell his buddy back at the yard!
So rest easy, if anyone is keeping tabs on you, they will be using technology light years ahead of bulky cable filters in out buildings.
Hope this clears things up for you :)

[Ivanhoe]

When the shielding on a coaxial cable is cracked it leaks signal into the air which CAN disrupt certain frequencies use to navigate and communicate with aircraft. It's bleed over and can disrupt communication.
I was an outside plant engineer for CATV for 13 years and we always had major problems with critters chewing on our cables, especially squirrells. Consequently we were always repairing and replacing cable. Cable systems regularly "sweep" areas for excessive "noise" because if they don't repair the cables the FCC can fine them heavily and if warranted close them down until repairs are done.

[Revere]

Hi Revere, interesting post, let me have a stab at it!
First of all, do not think for one second that anyone who wants to monitor or spy on you would need to come out and fit something to your cable feed!
Now, heres what I think.....
Older TV's in particular generate radio frequencies by the very way they operate using a type of superhetrodye where two frequencies are generated and using either sum or difference, make the frequency needing for tuning. (someone more technical might jumpo in here?) They also generate harmonics of the desired frequencies in multiples or divisions, these extra generated frequencies are known as spurious emmisions. We know them better as radio interference or RFI.
Now, internet via cable and indeed DSL requires transmission of a radio frequency carrier, basically, your internet service is delivered by radio waves. It is very possible that RFI was being generated within your home affecting yourself and probably close neighbours reducing their service speed and the cable guy came out and fitted an RFI filter where the DMark is. (also possible a faulty modem could do the same) BTW, utilities generally dont need your permission to enter the Dmark area (in your case an outbuilding) as there will be an easment on your deeds allowing them to do this.
The whole mystery and supterfuge hinges soley on thi other cable guy who claims to be ex-military and tells this grand story. I work in telecoms and it can be pretty boring going from house to house doing the same job every day, sorry but I think he was just winding you up and giving himself a good laugh at your expense. And it gave him a great story to tell his buddy back at the yard!
So rest easy, if anyone is keeping tabs on you, they will be using technology light years ahead of bulky cable filters in out buildings.
Hope this clears things up for you :)

Thanks Nairnia for the plausible technical aspects of RFI in your well done response. To others here concerning worry or comments on me gaining someone’s attention, I am not really worried. Face it we are all spied on in many overt and possibly covert ways everyday at this time. Just correlating our electronic or paper trail tells volumes about each of us. But, I must say that the stories from the cable man were neither prompted by me nor given positive reinforcement from my demeanor. I only questioned him about technical items of what he was doing. Plus, he was the one offering his life story, including his malice towards many incompetent people he works with at the cable company. Then I just inquired on what he use to do. That is when the Navy came out and his sisters Federal Reserve job. The Federal Reserve is currently a political topic here in the next presidential race! He said,”all of history can be boiled back down to economics”. This is very interesting to me because that is exactly what I have been researching on a Macro level around the Federal Reserve, the IMF, the WMF and the BIS (Bank of International Settlement) and the UN’s growing relationship to this system. I have been following the money and certain patterns they repeat in history. Coincidence, well most anything is possible with the rise in synchronicity many of us are experiencing. Maybe, but it was a bit uncanny. Hey, I am just following the money as they say and it is very interesting.
My work for many past years has centered on high stakes negotiation in enterprise business software for large companies many of which you know. So, I know the dance well and can see it a mile off and something set my senses off. Based on his demeanor those facts were the out liars in the conversation and seemed to be strangely placed. Possibly for my reaction? He was serious about the planes scanning for such interference as my old TV may produce. He also, did not like this group because it caused him problems he claimed with these filters and there absent correlation to the accounts that they are placed on. They create service problems for him.

My utility / furnace room is attached to my house and is under lock and key by me because it doubles as a storage area but I may have left it unlocked. If I had a basement it would be akin to some guy wandering around it. I do not care who it is because I did not give them permission to survey my belongings and it is not in my deed to allow their representatives access without permission. All their equipment is outside and attached to the side of the storage/ furnace room. Thanks again for your keen comments on the RFI.

Peace,
-R-

[Revere]

When the shielding on a coaxial cable is cracked it leaks signal into the air which CAN disrupt certain frequencies use to navigate and communicate with aircraft. It's bleed over and can disrupt communication.
I was an outside plant engineer for CATV for 13 years and we always had major problems with critters chewing on our cables, especially squirrells. Consequently we were always repairing and replacing cable. Cable systems regularly "sweep" areas for excessive "noise" because if they don't repair the cables the FCC can fine them heavily and if warranted close them down until repairs are done.

Ivanhoe,

Thanks for the information. We did have a discussion concerning the cable throughout the house and what happens to it over the years as it is heated and cooled over and over. He claimed it affects the connector’s integrity. This aligns with the leakage you mention. Can they or would they sweep for this from airplanes? I found that a bit "big brotherish". It was just another item we are monitored for from the air around here. I won't go into the others I know about.

The cable and connection areas did seem quite legitimate in our conversations. Are you familiar with the filter that they installed? His reaction to it was interesting when he saw it.

Hey, gang this is great! I appreciate the down to earth reasons for various items and that is exactly what I was looking for here. Other then, some odd statements and my gut there very well may be nothing to this incident. That is unless some others have interesting stories or evidence of monitoring by such methods?

Peace,
-R-

[Lord Sidious]

That sounds like an utter bunch of baloney.

If you had wireless internet it would be believeable. For a copper cable that runs thru the ground should have no interference whatsoever with planes.


Go disconnect it, bring it inside and introduce it to a bucket of water. It must be hot from being enclosed in the power box outside all day anyway. Hang it out on the clothes line the next day so it can enjoy the gentle breeze. Maybe it can stay out there untill they realise its not connected and come looking for it - then it can go home with its mummy and daddy, no? :)

I don't know about interference with planes, but unshielded phone line does indeed create a lot of noise itself.
Just try to run a 30 foot + cord from your modem to your computer and see the speed drop.
CAT5 network cable, being shielded, doesn't do that.
So, there is the chance that in an area with enough old phone line, there is electro magnetic ''noise'' in the area interfering with the computers in aircraft.
It is a small chance, but it could happen.
Especially if they were flying at 10 feet. :p

[bitworm]

There's some good technical info here in this thread, but you may also try posting your questions at DSL Reports (http://www.dslreports.com/), as there are a number of technicians from all the major carriers on those boards. Maybe even the guy who showed up at your house. At the least, there should be someone on there who has done the same thing as what you had seen done at your shed.

[Nairnia]

I don't know about interference with planes, but unshielded phone line does indeed create a lot of noise itself.
Just try to run a 30 foot + cord from your modem to your computer and see the speed drop.
CAT5 network cable, being shielded, doesn't do that.


Phone cable isnt shielded and neither is standard cat5e (UTP) If fact there is very little difference between phone (1308) and cat5, both are twisted pair but cat5 has a much higher frequency handling spec.
There is cat5e FTP but that is rearely used and usually only in environments with external noise or RFI, to keep noise out not in.

[Aryslan]

The odd part, to me, is that the cable repair guy mentioned the Fed out of the blue. That, coupled with the SS guy that showed up at your door (do you know if you do, in fact, have a neighbor applying for a position?) would defiantly make me raise an eyebrow.

[Ivanhoe]

Utility workers are allowed access to private property via easements, however it was common courtesy for the company I worked for to knock first to explain why we were accessing their property. Besides, a Rottweiller can RUIN your day! LOL
A utility worker cannot enter your home without permission, to do otherwise is B&E and is unlawful.
The only filters I was personally aware of were for removing or adding channels to individual accounts, like HBO, Showtime, Sports packages and the like. These were done in home and any leakage from a home account could not leak enough signal to disrupt aircraft, unless you have an in home amplifier which could pump out enough signal to cause concern.
I never heard of conducting sweeps via aircraft, ours were always via trucks with special equipment.

[Referee]

I have the feeling you have ticked someone off somehow and you are now being watched UP Close And Personal.!

I also like the bucket of water idea.

[norman]

You mentioned floods in your area.

That might have been the thing that started it all off. If it caused a service problem for one of your neigbors they might have called in the techies who had to look like they doing something.

[Revere]

The odd part, to me, is that the cable repair guy mentioned the Fed out of the blue. That, coupled with the SS guy that showed up at your door (do you know if you do, in fact, have a neighbor applying for a position?) would defiantly make me raise an eyebrow.


Aryslan,

Oh yea, I definitely have a neighbor applying for the SS. He told me prior that he was pretty far down the process and to expect an interview. Then one day as I walked out of my place a woman got out of a car across the street showed me her badge, told me why she was there and asked me a series of questions about my neighbor. She was pleasant about it and nothing odd in her questions or personal to me. My neighbor is a nice guy and is always helping out animals around the pond I live on. He's even put on a wet suit and went out on thin ice on a surf board to save a wounded goose that broke through and was too weak to get back out of a hole. Maybe they check out the neighbors as well? The USG is not real keen on privacy laws since the Towers. If I had proof of such I would make a fuss over it. Would my activity here and Camelot plus, my research raise a red flag if they were checking? I wonder? Is there anyone with similar strangeness here in the US?

Peace,
Revere

PS My cable is now not working on half my TV's. It seemed to all work before he left. If it hits the modem I may be down to the iPhone again. LOL...Rediculous!

[risveglio]

That is interesting. A buddy of mine was saying he read theories on the NSA spying on people through the new Kinect cameras for X-Box.

I have a Kinect. Spy on me all you want haha, nothing to hide. Creepy though in relation to this thread.

I have the kinect too and make sure to put the damn thing away and disconnect my ic every time even though I doubt they are watching. I don't really have anything to hide but saying that just gives justification to the police state.

[binemaya]

Hey R!
I just checked recently "liberty global" (hence the irony) and learned they recrute their CEO and director human resource material from goldman sachs.
Almost boring coincidence! ;-)
wishes,
binemaya

[Sidney]

Maybe install a surveyllance camera pointing at your cable shed etc., so you know who is coming and going and what they are doing.

[Cartomancer]

Check out these connected Dots.

About two years ago I saw a video and article online about how some Pakistani students had modified an OLDER tv to see the video output of DRONE aircraft. Now here in the US they have taken away broadcast TV that uses certain bandwith and replaced it with a local digitally oriented signal. In addition newer tv's are not even made like they were in the past. If you have a older tv you have to buy a special box to make it work with the digital signal. They are doing something unknown with the bandwidth that was used in the past.

I think what they are afraid of from you is the fact that you have an older TV hooked up to your system and they think you may be able to see what they are spying on! There has to be a lot more to the fact that they took away broadcast tv like that. They might think you are going to hack what their drones are seeing!

[Creative Lorraine]

I have to laugh.. Because last year Insight Cable guys came to my house with a meter.
Stating there were houses in the subdivision including mine giving off frequencies interrupting
the planes. I live 5 miles from a small airport. But I did check there work badges from there
license so I let them enter my home. I have 2 TV's , so one of the co x cables at the tip where u plug
in the wall for cable had to be replaced Cable guy said wrong type of tip and showed me. they had a meter/
the co x tip they replaced/ the meter went haywire.
I'm laughing again I had a man flash his badge at
my front door asking about a man down the street ' did i know him' he was checking with the neighbors doing
a character background check this guy applied for law enforcement I didn't know the guy so he left
but i went outside and watched this guy i was suspicious
i have never heard of that
but i found out from my Brother when applying for law enforcement that is required
The guy did find a neighbor that let him enter their house.
I could be wrong in saying this Revere The things you r experiencing could be thoughts subconsciously mirroring
back to you.

Lorraine

[Creative Lorraine]

Revere, The reason I say the thoughts mirroring back to you is this
The guy checking out character background checks... Well a week before, I read
in local news a couple got robbed in daylight. When opening door a person knotted
them with a baseball bat and stole alot of ****. That was like 5 miles away from me.
(That article scared me and also triggered me about when my 21 yr Son answered his door
some man with a gun pushed his way in robbed him thank god he didn't shoot my Son)

I have a little window next to my door that i look out before opening the door.
Well i don't think to do that all the time
I just open my door and think my neighborhood is peaceful .. but come to learn that
doesn't matter as far where u live..
I told my boyfriend to start to look out the window,,, sure enough we both just
opened the door. After i read the article it was in my mind and got alot of
visitors at the door like something was testing me Geeze I may have 1 visitor
every 3 months before the article So I just told my self don't answer the door
Time went on I didn't answer and the visitors stop coming.
So my conclusion for myself i was attracting people to knock on my door

Lorraine