What potential issues may arise from high modem activity in an HFC network?

High modem activity in a Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial (HFC) network can lead to reduced signal quality for several reasons. When many modems are actively transmitting and receiving data simultaneously, this can create congestion within the network. Increased traffic can result in noise and interference on the coaxial cable, leading to a decrease in the quality of the signals being sent and received. In addition, the higher demand on bandwidth can cause packet loss, which means that data being transmitted can be incomplete or corrupted, further diminishing the overall signal quality.

Contention for available bandwidth affects all users within the affected segment of the network, leading to slower speeds, interruptions in service, and degraded performance of various applications. This situation is particularly problematic for services that require consistent and high-quality connections, such as video streaming and online gaming, where dropped packets and lower speeds can significantly impact the user experience.

In contrast, other options such as increased customer satisfaction, stabilization of data transfer rates, and longer signal range are unlikely outcomes of high modem activity. Increased activity typically leads to network strain rather than improvements in performance or user experience.