Ongoing connectivity issues During Winter - recurring problem, solution found (moisture in connection chamber within the telecom box)

Hi all,

I’m hoping to see if others have experienced something similar and if anyone has found a permanent solution.

For the past few months, since winter started, I’ve been dealing with nonstop internet connectivity issues. Sometimes the service is down for an entire day, other times it drops out overnight or intermittently throughout the day. I’ve started to notice that the outages seem to trend toward colder temperatures, though I can’t say that’s the sole trigger.

Every time this happens, I go through the same cycle:

• Restart modem, basic troubleshooting, chatbot steps (done many times)
• Issue gets escalated
• A technician comes out
• A vague explanation is given, service appears “fixed”
• Things work for a short period
• Then the exact same problem returns

This has happened repeatedly, and at this point sending a tech out feels pointless if the underlying issue isn’t being identified or permanently resolved.

I’m located in the Midwest, and I’m curious if others in colder regions have had similar recurring issues during winter months (signal degradation, line issues, temperature‑related failures, etc.). At this point I’m less interested in temporary fixes and more in understanding what the root cause might be and how to actually address it long‑term. I pay a significant amount for reliable internet, and frequent outages — especially multi‑hour or full‑day ones — are becoming unacceptable.

Update / Resolution:
I ended up figuring out the root cause myself in case this helps anyone experiencing similar symptoms.

I didn’t want to wait for another tech visit, so I took a look inside the customer‑side of the telecom box. I have some IT experience, so I felt comfortable poking around. It turns out there was moisture inside the chamber between the PoE (Power over Ethernet) / MoCA connector that runs into the house and the service line that goes out to the street. The chamber where they join was literally filled with frozen water. The assembly pulls apart pretty easily. Inside, there’s a metal rod on one side attached to a small PCB. You have to be really careful not to bend or break that rod — it’s what makes contact with the female side of the line that runs out to the street.

I chipped out the ice, dried the connections, reassembled everything — and boom, the connection came right back online. If anyone else is dealing with temperature‑dependent drops or recurring winter outages, it may be worth having a tech specifically check for moisture intrusion or a compromised seal in the exterior junction.