Comcast is doing some kind of work in our neighborhood today.

cypherstream · 2025-04-22T11:47:23+00:00

Comcast came into our development in 2022. Prior to that we were a single cable company neighborhood. They came in with Arris label midsplit gear and harmonic nodes. Today there’s a few trucks and also a pickup from “fiber network services, inc.”. The guy down the street from me took off the amp pedistal lid and was banging on sometihing really hard. Metal on metal for sure, almost like pounding a rod in the ground or something. Wonder what they are up too? It’s an established new cable plant. Could it be FDX upgrades already?

Aceq2jot

we have this hanging in my area hopefully something is soon.

cypherstream

Aceq2jot the node there?

Aceq2jot

cypherstream I believe that is what it is. I have some of these in my are with everything connected. Some are shiny and others are bright white. Trying to figure if we are also getting fdx or just midsplits?

cypherstream

Aceq2jot yeah that’s a node. No way to tell midsplit vs fdx (or even high split) from the outside alone. You’d have to open it up and look at the internal modules to figure that out.

Most likely mid split, but who knows anymore. New nodes are generally white, but I guess that can even vary as well.

Aceq2jot

cypherstream Thank you. It is new as of last fall and we have a big mix of white and stainless ones in my area. The contractors were running fiber all last summer and into the fall and now that winter left the Xfinity trucks have been making all the connections. For the last three months we have been having a schedule maintenance outage at least once a week and a couple of weeks we have had three scheduled outages in the same week. But it is really messing with my speeds etc.

cypherstream

Aceq2jot Usually the nodes manufactured after 2017/2018 are white.

I would HOPE that any new node installed today is FDX ready, just software configured to run in whatever mode the area needs at the moment. Maybe if FDX amps aren’t availalbe, they could have the FDX node operate in Mid-Split mode for now. Then maybe in the future once FDX amps are available and installed, just a software configuration push later the node could be opened up.

Our area is brand new and the Harmonic RPHY nodes initially ran in “legacy” mode - 42MHz split for a few months before they did a software push to switch them to Mid split mode. How I could tell is because once the system was live I ran a cable to my spectrum analyzer and noticed the frequency plan, complete with analog AGC (black screen) on channel 62 were all there, just like the old Scientific Atlanta system that neighbored the new build areas. Then one day in March 2023, the spectrum took a dramatic change. Now it was filled up to 1002 Mhz with wide OFDM’s and no more legacy analog carriers at all. Amps all using QADU for AGC control.

So IMO, that was a software push. I see no different that a FDX node could do the same… operate in a legacy, mid split or FDX mode according to the configuration and provisioning pushed to it.

I could imagine subs right off the node could potentially get D4 but subs past mid split amps would be limited to the 2gig mid split service. I don’t know that they would ever go that granular because it would be a nightmare for marketing. They probably want to ensure the entire node footprint is upgraded with FDX amps before advertising and promoting X-Class service, even though technically its likely able to do otherwise.

HFB1217

I have been getting text from Comcast for the past 3 to 4 weeks now along with service interruptions for so called work/service and prior to this at least once or twice a week texts for service problem interruptions for repairs to the same lines. When I asked for credit it was ignored or not given.

Aceq2jot

cypherstream Do you have a picture of the amps? As they also installed a bunch of new ones late last year in the area before winter hit here in MN. I am lucky in a way as 90% of the area in a two-mile radius is all above ground for the most part.

The other thing that makes me think an upgrade is coming is tried to sign up for the five-year plan and was told that is not available in my area until X-class is available.

badtlc4

Aceq2jot

What you were told regarding 5yr/x-class was just someone who does not know what they were talking about. They have nothing to do with each other and there are no 5 year locks on x-class.

cypherstream

Aceq2jot The common mid split amps are posted in this thread but the FDX amps have a different lid and likely will look like their 1.8 GHz line with the new Commscope stamping on them.

Amp (1 input, multiple output)
https://www.commscope.com/network-type/hfc-access/coaxial-passives-and-rf-connectivity/rf-amplifiers/itemmb180-396-se-xfx/

LE (1 input, 1 output line extender)
https://www.commscope.com/network-type/hfc-access/coaxial-passives-and-rf-connectivity/rf-amplifiers/ble180/

cypherstream

The only other thing Comcast is doing in the county is installing these Samsung Strand mount 5G CBRS small cells. First I thought these were new Wifi AP’s but I’ve seen some a few poles away from existing Bel Air Networks Wifi APs.

They look just like the picture in this article, sort of like a modified SA Gainmaker amp housing with bolt on parts. They have one hardline feeder input to it and thats it.

https://www.fierce-network.com/tech/comcast-deploys-samsung-5g-strand-mount-small-cells-cbrs-spectrum

I have not seen this at all yet in the newer Comcast areas, just the older adjacent Comcast systems.

Aceq2jot

Thank You 🙂 The amps are the same as they have installed. I added some pics I took last year.

cypherstream

Aceq2jot wow I don’t think I’ve ever seen a white Arris NC4000 before.

Second one is an Arris OM6000. They can have RPHY modules in them.
The others are the back of something, I’m just not sure what.

CommunityMember

cypherstream I would HOPE that any new node installed today is FDX ready

Depends on what you mean “ready”. All current DAA nodes can have a (reasonably easy) module swap to get to a FDX capable module. Due to the reality of availability, a number of DAA nodes are still being installed without FDX capability (using Harmonic as an example (Commscope has equivalent), a number of Pebble-1 nodes are being installed, because they are available right now, while Pebble-2 has more limited availability). Before a FDX node can be turned up in FDX mode for N+m locations (where m>0) all the amps will need to be swapped, and the node will need to be visited anyway (balancing and RF ingress validation) so visiting the node for a module swap is not overly onerous. Better to use the available FDX nodes where they can be used right now (primarily N+0 locations).

cypherstream

CommunityMember at some point when does it make sense for companies like Harmonic to just manufacture Pebble-2 (or equivalent), to simplify product lines?

I don’t think Intel for example is still making Pentium 3 and 4’s (though they were all the rage the last time many of these cable plants were touched).

fmd

cypherstream Charter is also busy deploying small cells. Keep an eye out for news about the NRoC project… New tech. 🙂

https://www.lightreading.com/5g/cable-s-secretive-nroc-project-explores-way-to-run-5g-on-hfc
https://www.lightreading.com/5g/why-charter-is-studying-how-to-run-5g-signals-on-hfc

I haven’t yet seen Comcast express interest in it though.

Aceq2jot

cypherstream the white ones outnumber the Metallic ones on the Greater Eastside of St Paul and Maplewood, North St Paul areas. Not sure if the white ones are that color to reduce heat from the sun? But the sad part is all of these where installed last July through September. Which leads me to believe the lines are ready but they have to update the backend in Roseville MN, which is where i end up first on a trace route after my gateway. We have had so many scheduled outages beginning at midnight just about every week and lots of random micro outages through out the day, slow speeds at random times etc. So i figure they are upgrade the Pentium processors at their end.

cypherstream

fmd FDX amps are complicated enough, so imagine overcomplicating a TDM based 5G overlay system reliably transmitted within the same FDX amp?

Crawl before you walk. Comcast is hard pressed to get millions of FDX amps shipped and installed. Let’s get that out of the way before trying to shove 5G over it.

Since Charter is going to do a less complicated amp (ie - NOT FDX) I can see why its more logical for them to take a look at NRoC over Comcast.

fmd

cypherstream The 5G amplifier could be standalone, external to the DOCSIS amplifier. Each of them would do appropriate filtering. Just a thought, if a single device gets too complicated. That could also solve a spacing issue, if there is one. We’ll see. 🙂

MacLeech

cypherstream From what I’ve seen NRoC is VERY much like Technetix 5G xHaul/Virtual Segmentation:
https://americas.technetix.com/5g-xhaul/
https://americas.technetix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2023/02/Virtual-Segmentation_WP_EN.pdf
https://emea.technetix.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/Virtual-Segmentation-leaflet_BRC_EN.pdf

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