PPC blog

The PPC Broadband team joined experts from across the international telecommunications and media industry to attend theANGA COM Exhibition and Conference in Cologne, Germany,12 June to 14 June, 2018.

The annual event, which is organized by the Association of German Cable Operators (ANGA), attracted a record500 exhibitors this year, and brought together innovations and insights from network operators, service providers and vendors from 36 countries.

As homeowners consume more and more content online, the efficiency of the in-home network becomes increasingly important.

However, the ability of a network to carry a data signal will only ever be as good as the integrity of its individual parts.

It comes as no surprise that in-home network radio frequency (RF) performance has a vital role to play in delivering services that meet consumers’ increasing demands for performance quality while also enabling operators to maintain control of costs.

The ever-increasing consumer demand for faster download speeds, and improved picture and voice quality means connections throughout the home network must perform perfectly.

Today’s coaxial connectors have to provide flawless signal transmission, able to accommodate the vast amounts of traffic traveling back and forth between provider and user. To be sure a coaxial connector is up for the task, it's important for service providers to choose connectors that have been through vigorous testing and can prove their effectiveness, especially when the connection is less than finger-tight.

Hardline coax connectors are some of the most important pieces to delivering service to a subscriber’s home network, so making sure the connectors and cables are prepped and installed properly is vital to network performance.

Hardline cable is used from the headend through the trunk and feeder lines, to the subscriber’s home, and there are many connectors used at the fiber node, amplifiers, line extenders and multitaps.

The quality of components used in drop networks and the skillfulness of the drop installation play a major part in a subscriber’s network performance. But what happens when those parts are out of date?

The parts visible from the headend to the side of the home, and components from the wall plate to the CPE (customer premise equipment), may be brand new and installed properly, but that doesn’t mean most of the premise wiring is up to date.

Cable taps that are being left empty and open on telephone poles are causing problems for TV service providers and technicians. This can be due to a number of reasons, for example if a subscriber cancels their service or a newly-installed tap does not have enough neighborhood subscribers to fill the ports.

These unused ports are becoming a problem because of corrosion from moisture, and noise from RF egress and ingress, but could be solved with the use of a terminator.

Terminators are simple devices that electrically terminate RF coaxial ports both inside and outside of the home. The use of terminators can help protect nearby broadband networks from noise, avoid corrosion of ports and enable technicians to easily decipher the availability of a port.

TV and Internet service providers are always looking for ways to help improve the customer experience of their broadband network, while keeping costs as low as possible.

Proper on-site training for technicians and maintenance teams is key to achieving both of these goals and correcting any bad habits before they turn into problems.

This is easy to say, but is it easy to do? Here are some practical thoughts on using training to your advantage.

Reduce costs with thorough network installation training

It might seem obvious that all new employees need some training, but it should go far beyond basic training and customer service tips. Technicians and maintenance teams need to learn how to properly install all products they are working with, and how to troubleshoot quickly and efficiently, reducing the amount of time and resources spent in the field.

Cable and Internet providers around the world have been challenged by today’s technology demanding faster Internet service and video streaming on their own time.

More cable providers are looking to MoCA (Multimedia over Coax Alliance) in their installations to help with this, but they may not realize they’re missing a key element – MoCA filters installed at every subscriber.

MoCA uses a household’s existing coax cable to transfer data quickly and efficiently throughout the home. A MoCA connection utilizes the unused frequency spectrum offered by coaxial service providers to extend the existing wireless connection to the entire home and cause less demand on the network.

Sounds great! So what’s the catch?

In the modern world, we need our broadband to work fast and reliably - download speeds and picture and voice quality are what we as consumers care about most. This creates an explosion of demand for network capacity in broadband, satellite, telco and security networks.

Today’s coaxial connectors have to be high-performance and provide nearly flawless signal transmission to accommodate the very large amounts of traffic going back and forth from provider to end user.

Coaxial cable is commonly used by cable operators, telephone companies, and internet providers around the world to convey data, video, and voice communications to customers.It has also been used extensively within homes.

It has been around for a long time as a technology (since the early 20th century) and has many singular advantages for reliable, accurate transmission.

It also has limitations that will cause it to be replaced in some cases by fiber optic cable, category cable or, sometimes, by wireless signals.

The key to the coaxial cable's success has been its shielded design, which allows the cable's copper core to transmit data quickly, without succumbing to interference or damage from environment factors.

The three most common cable sizes are RG-6, RG-11 and RG-59: