Type of attenuator

[ccarmock]

I've read through a few posts here about signal levels & attenuators...

The green cabinet serving my house is almost directly across the road from me.

Without an attenuator my cable modem reports a downstream power level of 20.2 dBmV and SNR of 41.5 dB. Upstream power is 36.0 dBmV

With a 15 dB attenuator this changes to 5.7 dBmV downstream with 42 dB SNR and upstream power rises to 51 dBmV.

As I thougth a true cable system attenuator was a forward path attenuator should it cause this significant rise in upstream power?

The attenuator is marked 8032N-15 Attenuator 5-2400 MHz

It sounds as if it is attenuating for forward & return path to me....

[LaineY]

it will do..

and With a 15 dB attenuator this changes to 5.7 dBmV downstream with 42 dB SNR and upstream power rises to 51 dBmV.
should be spot on as these are all within the acceptable levels.

[Ignitionnet]

The attenuator is marked 8032N-15 Attenuator 5-2400 MHz

It sounds as if it is attenuating for forward & return path to me....

Note its' frequency band it attenuates. Attenuators have no concept of which direction the stuff is flowing in, the ones that are forward path only simply do this by having a low pass filter which avoids the attenuation being applied to lower frequencies.

On the VM network the return path occupies the spectrum between 5 and 65MHz, that attenuator attenuates that band.