Outdoor Exposed Cable and Random Short Internet Connection Drops

@XfinityFelicia​ Thank you for the response.  I followed your instructions and direct messaged Xfinity Support.  Thanks!

@user_ekosch​   Xfinity Support has been very responsive. A technician was sent out the next day. However, before the tech had shown up, I had received an automated phone call telling me that the problem had been found and fixed.  I was then given the option to keep my appointment with the tech or cancel it.  Sorry, I don't remember the exact words of the message, because I had been asleep when they had called at 7:30 am.  Since I had no way of knowing if the issue had been resolved, I kept the appointment. The technician checked the lines and couldn't find any issues.  He tightened something at the roadside pole, but didn't think it would have been the cause of random internet drops.  I told the tech about the earlier phone call.  He told me they could have cleared the problem at the node (not located on my property).  A few days went by without any internet drops, then we started experiencing them again, though not nearly as often.  Instead of every day, it was every other day or 2 days could go by before the next one.  This entire time, Xfinity Support had been communicating with me via direct messaging.  They confirmed that one of the drops had been an actual area outage (a short one), so that wasn't just me.  I still have open communications with Xfinity Support, in case we want to start renting their modem.  This would allow them to be able to do more in-depth troubleshooting.  So, I honestly don't know if the internet problem has been resolved.  It isn't happening as often and I haven't been disconnected from the online game that I play (that's the only way I had known when there was a problem).  My son has been disconnected from online games, but he thinks it might be the fault of the games (especially since I don't get disconnected).  In the past, we had both been disconnected (wired and WiFi).  Right now, we are monitoring things.  If the internet drops start happening more frequently or disrupt our gaming, I will probably try the Xfinity modem to see if the problem persists or goes away.  There are still some warnings on the event log (not as often though).  The tech had explained that just because there are warnings, it doesn't mean there is a problem.  These warnings do not match up with the timing of the drops, so they aren't helpful.  Our upstream power numbers had been running high (49-51 dBmV), until something had been done (possibly at the node before the tech had shown up).  After that, the upstream power numbers went back to normal (45-46 dBmV).  Since then, these upstream numbers have gotten higher again only one time (that I have noticed).  Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.  If we do end up renting the Xfinity modem and if the issue is identified (or if the problem goes away), I will update this message on the forum.  PS: We are on the schedule to have the cable line reburied, after the utilities have been marked on the ground.

@user_ekosch​  Hello again.  This will be my final update, because the issue has been resolved. We were still experiencing internet drops, so we replaced the Motorola MG8702 with Xfinity's xFi modem.  The internet has not had any issues since the new modem was activated 3 weeks ago.  There has not been a single disconnection. Even though the Motorola router was an approved one and was compatible with Xfinity, we were experiencing intermittent internet drops. As a bonus, we are now saving $5/month by renting their modem with unlimited data (xFi Complete plan).  We were paying more for unlimited data when we were using our own modem.  The cable line has been reburied, so everything has been resolved.