asoa's blog

At home here in Colombo, we have Comet Cable and ADSL internet from SLT. After we moved into the house I connected my wireless router to the ADSL router at home. Just after I powered on the wireless router the TV signal got corrupted and the wireless signal was fluctuating like anything.

Having a thorough knowledge of wireless analysis, I suspected interference immediately but I had no way to check it out with a spectrum analyzer. I changed the channel of wireless router from channel 6 to channel 1 and the TV signal was back to normal and the wi-fi signal also became normal. In order to confirm my suspicion I checked the details of the Comet Cable decoder and found out that it was in fact a wireless decoder using 2.3 – 2.7 GHz. Thought also to check the Comet Cable site to see if I can get any more info about this product and follows is what I found on the Comet Cable site.

Comet Cable uses state of the art MMDS (Multipoint Multi-channel Distribution System) pay television system, which is widely used in over 35 million households throughout the world. The only system deployed in the South Asian region. The distribution of these channels are from the HEAD END located at the rooftop of the HILTON JAIC TOWER. From which, these channels are transmitted in the MMDS frequency band (2.3 – 2.7 GHz) to the customer site where specialized equipment from Comet Cable is required. These signals are then converted to UHF signals via a down converter installed at site to transmit the audio/video signals to the customer’s television.

Comet Cable distributes its services to a radius of approximately 50 Km from the HILTON JAIC TOWER. Main distribution area is considered to be the Greater Colombo Region. This system requires line-of-sight transmission from the antenna at customer site and the transmitting tower. 

Aha 50 Km! So this could be one reason why I see fluctuations of so many wireless signals I found throughout the Greater Colombo Region. Anybody who has Wi-Fi at home or office with close proximity to a Comet Cable decoder and having connectivity problems should switch channels and see if your wi-fi signal improves.