wasabiaz
join:2008-06-16
Phoenix, AZ
edit:
June 20th, @04:17PM
| [AZ] Frequent Interrupts & Slowness
[edit: I did browse the forums and found similar complaints but none listing an exact match or location so I decided to post in the off-chance of getting help specific to my area or that other lurkers in my area could be having the same problem.]
I seem to be having problems with my connection. I have called Cox Tech Support a couple of times and had my cable modem 'reset' and 'tested' and all seems fine on their end. But my interrupts continue and it has been going on for several weeks now and my hope of it just going away just doesn't seem to be coming true.
Any tips or suggestions on how to resolve this?
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My cable modem never appears to lose connection. My router never appears to lose connection. My internal connections seem to be fine (my wife will typically use my computer and RDP to her computer using the internal IP and that connection is never interrupted). However, when my wife is transferring files UP or DOWN from her FTP server she is often interrupted and has to restart. Our MSN Messengers frequently disconnect and reconnect. I can't play a single online game for longer than 10-40 minutes without a disconnect. Doesn't matter what it is, World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, Battlefield.. The interruptions are frequent, several times an hour.
Cable modem 'power off and on' and router resets do not change anything. Connection always appears fine and the interruptions are always short in duration. But it's all services when it happens (not single connections or ports).
My network speed tests have been averaging 12Mb/down 3Mb/Up (Premier Package) - though the most recent was 10Mb/down 3.5Mb/Up.. Most of my friends are reporting 20Mb/down 4Mb/Up on their tests. From what I can tell this might be happening to one of my friends that lives directly North of me by about 4 streets. But other friends around the City don't complain about issues. And Cox Tech Support says there are no issues or problems. I'm in North Phoenix.
Are there any tips or suggestions on what this could be or how I could troubleshoot (or fix) this? Maybe tips on what I should tell tech support if I were to call again?
Thanks..
[edit2: I have a Motorola SB5120 Cable Modem and it is connected to a Linksys BEFSX41 Router] |
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AZwldcats
Ummm That's Right
join:2001-02-20
Tucson, AZ
clubs: | Re: [AZ] Frequent Interrupts
Modem levels and log,
Both available at »192.168.100.1
Have you tried without router in place? |
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CoxTech1
VIP
join:2002-04-25
Chesapeake, VA | reply to wasabiaz
I can take a look at the modem if you PM me your cable modem MAC address. |
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peterman25
join:2008-06-19
Laveen, AZ
| reply to wasabiaz
Was there a resolution to this issue or possibly some information to pass along? I am having extremely similar issues in Laveen.
*Modem and router don't appear to lose connection
*Gmail and messenger clients lose connectivity
*FTP transfers interrupted
*Interruptions are short in duration, but frequent.
I have a surfboard 5120 connected to a Netgear WPN824. I haven't contacted cox just yet in hopes that I might find a resolution myself.
Thanks. |
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CoxTech1
VIP
join:2002-04-25
Chesapeake, VA | Send me a PM with your cable modem MAC address and I'll see what I can find out. |
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wasabiaz
join:2008-06-16
Phoenix, AZ
| reply to peterman25
My router ended up dieing. So I replaced it with a Netgear FVS114 and my connection seems to be stable. However, my speed is horribly slower than it should be. On the Premium Package I should get "up to" 15Mb (and possibly PowerBoost moments near 20Mb or so). I would expect that my lowest speed in the "up to" range would be at least above the cheaper Packages. But I'm averaging (downloads) 3Mb and bursts to around 6Mb with the new router. But I'm not sure it is the router because I've bypassed it and connected my computer directly to the cable modem and the speed didn't change much (I burst to 6.5Mb/7Mb) directly connected.
I did send CoxTech1 my MAC address and the reply was that the modem\connection looked good. I'm stumped on what could be going on though. I did have a bad router but that doesn't seem to have been the entire problem - there is more to this. In fact I wonder if whatever the other issue is, could it have caused my router to crap out? |
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needforspeed59
Cruise Ship Just Passing Through
join:2001-05-02
Glendale, AZ | reply to wasabiaz
This may sound simple and you probaly already have done this, but here goes... have you rebooted everything and in the right order? Modem -->router--> PC?
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Great success! High five! |
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wasabiaz
join:2008-06-16
Phoenix, AZ | Yup. Several times. Even long delays between each attempt. |
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AZwldcats
Ummm That's Right
join:2001-02-20
Tucson, AZ
clubs:
| said by wasabiaz  :Yup. Several times. Even long delays between each attempt. Is your PC tweaked? IE TCP window is an appropriate size? |
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wasabiaz
join:2008-06-16
Phoenix, AZ
| My PC is not tweaked.
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I have now purchased a brand new cable modem and had it activated on my line. So I've fully replaced the cable modem, ethernet cable and router with new equipment. I've tried safe mode w/networking enabled. I've tried bypassing the router.
I was *finally* able to get to "Level 2" support on the phone with Cox tonight. That person said my modem pings just fine. Great. I went through the entire routine with First Line and Level 2 (power this off, power that off, power this on, power that on, reboot this, safe mode that, disable this, enable that) etc.. And my downloads actually got worse. I'm now looking at an average 1.1 Mb download!
I guess Level 2 is as high as I can go? I now have an appointment on Monday between 1-3pm. Let's see here, I honestly doubt Cox is going to comp me for my poor network performance this entire time and now I have all this new equipment I may not have needed in the first place? Ok - the router did eventually die, but was that on it's own or did something on the network cause that?
Anyways.. I'm very frustrated. And now I have to WAIT until Monday to have someone come out to look at things. I can see it now. They'll check the POC, look at my cable modem, have the power off/on routine.. Maybe even add one of those power boosters or whatever (those things that burn out all the time but solve the problem temporarily so the incident can be closed?) and I'll be back in this situation. Argh.
I mean no offense to anyone. I know everyone is just doing their jobs, and in some cases more than they need to be (CoxTech1 for example has been very responsive and helpful in PMs). Just frustrated that this problem always ends up to be "mine not theirs".
I guess I'll post again after my magical appointment next week. |
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needforspeed59
Cruise Ship Just Passing Through
join:2001-05-02
Glendale, AZ | reply to wasabiaz
FWIW, I have never heard of anything on an ISP's network causing a user's router to go bad. Anyway, I hope you get this resolved soon.
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Great success! High five! |
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wasabiaz
join:2008-06-16
Phoenix, AZ
| I doubt it too. That is the benefit of a router as opposed to a computer directly attached to the cable modem. The firewall benefits of the 'dumb terminal' are typically very well worth it. I guess it's just going to be a waiting game for a few days until the field technician comes out and runs the tests. |
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BinRoanoke
join:2008-06-19
Roanoke, VA
| said by wasabiaz :I doubt it too. That is the benefit of a router as opposed to a computer directly attached to the cable modem. The firewall benefits of the 'dumb terminal' are typically very well worth it. I guess it's just going to be a waiting game for a few days until the field technician comes out and runs the tests. Well, you and I shared the same router and have the same intermittent dropped sync issues. How long did you have it? I've had mine for at least 4 years now. By "died", what exactly happened? Does it not power on at all or does it power on, but never starts a boot?
Anyway, yes, CoxTech1 was very helpful with me yesterday and an agent in chat on Cox's web site (Edward at the Hampton Roads, VA, help desk) was very helpful last night.
What kind of levels are you seeing from your modem? If you go to »192.168.100.1 what do you see? |
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AZwldcats
Ummm That's Right
join:2001-02-20
Tucson, AZ
clubs: | reply to wasabiaz
If your PC is not tweaked:
Go to »/tweaks
Post the results here... |
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wasabiaz
join:2008-06-16
Phoenix, AZ
| reply to wasabiaz
BinRoanoke,
It stopped doing anything (download/upload) and upon a power off and back on again only two LEDs would come on. I don't remember which. But it wouldn't complete a boot (unable to get an IP or connect and my NIC reported "disconnected"). I tried several times so I'm not exactly sure what was wrong - but it wouldn't come online enough for me to try anything else. That kind of "dead" I guess. 
Here are the levels from my modem from three days ago (I'm at work at the moment so this is the best I can do for now, but I did check these last night with the new modem and the numbers weren't too different - for instance I know I saw the download was 37.8dB last night.)
Downstream Value
Frequency 579000000 Hz
Signal to Noise Ratio 37 dB
QAM QAM256
Network Access Control Object ON
Power Level -6 dBmV The Downstream Power Level reading is a snapshot taken at the time this page was requested. Please Reload/Refresh this Page for a new reading
Upstream Value
Channel ID 2
Frequency 22800000 Hz
Ranging Service ID 3827
Symbol Rate 2.560 Msym/s
Power Level 48 dBmV
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AZwldcats,
I can try that when I get home tonight. I saw that page once before but didn't pay it too much attention. After reading more on that page it looks like it might help at least test stuff. |
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BinRoanoke
join:2008-06-19
Roanoke, VA
edit:
June 20th, @02:22PM
| said by wasabiaz :Here are the levels from my modem from three days ago (I'm at work at the moment so this is the best I can do for now, but I did check these last night with the new modem and the numbers weren't too different - for instance I know I saw the download was 37.8dB last night.) Downstream Value Frequency 579000000 Hz Signal to Noise Ratio 37 dB QAM QAM256 Network Access Control Object ON Power Level -6 dBmV The Downstream Power Level reading is a snapshot taken at the time this page was requested. Please Reload/Refresh this Page for a new reading Upstream Value Channel ID 2 Frequency 22800000 Hz Ranging Service ID 3827 Symbol Rate 2.560 Msym/s Power Level 48 dBmV That's generally the same type of SNR and Power Level readings I'm running into, so it looks like we're having very similar issues.
I got a call a while ago from someone who said that my transmit level had gotten up to 51.5, so they have scheduled a visit for Monday, including instructions to check at the tap. The current thinking is that there may be a problem at the tap or further upstream (IOW, not the internal wiring in the house). They said to tell the tech that I had a bad forward and return. They also took a look at node-wide statistics for the node I'm connected to and noted that the transmit average was 49, which is on the high side.
One thing that was suggested was to rewire the modem run so that it goes direct to the block, thus eliminating one splitter. I think I'll take them up on that. In any case, that will give me about 3dB more Receive Power and 3dB less Transmit Power requirements. From there I may also go for a Directional Coupler instead of a splitter to provide signal to the TV in the room where the modem is at. That should get 1-2 more/less dB (Receive/Transmit).
At least if there is no immediate resolution, I'll have the signal pathway cleaned up more... |
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wasabiaz
join:2008-06-16
Phoenix, AZ
| reply to wasabiaz
Re: [AZ] Frequent Interrupts & Slowness
I was reading through some of the other threads on this board. There is another thread about slowness in AZ and the folks in that thread appear to be fighting the same complaint. I just can't imagine that the issue could be at my house if others are complaining of the same thing.
On this board, just for example, I counted the posts by state tag for just the first page of threads. Doesn't this say something about the volume of problems?
AZ = 16 threads
VA = 9 threads
CA = 8 threads
All Others = 16
I'll just leave that there - I'm sure everyone can draw their own conclusions. |
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NeoMinder
join:2006-06-06
Phoenix, AZ
| I've been having those same issues all week. Uploads speed have gone up, downloads speeds have crash.
However, there is a speedtest site, speedtest.net, that lets you pick different places around the country. Well, the downloads from the phoenix/scottsdale are at the right speed. But anywhere else it's about 3000Kb/s.
I can't show my signal levels, as I'm at work. But it looks like you all are having the same issues.
PS. I'm in Laveen. 51st Ave and Baseline.
-Tom |
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AZwldcats
Ummm That's Right
join:2001-02-20
Tucson, AZ
clubs:
| reply to wasabiaz
said by wasabiaz :I was reading through some of the other threads on this board. There is another thread about slowness in AZ and the folks in that thread appear to be fighting the same complaint. I just can't imagine that the issue could be at my house if others are complaining of the same thing. On this board, just for example, I counted the posts by state tag for just the first page of threads. Doesn't this say something about the volume of problems? AZ = 16 threads VA = 9 threads CA = 8 threads All Others = 16 I'll just leave that there - I'm sure everyone can draw their own conclusions. Keep in mind that Arizona is the largest of the Cox systems, I would guess 2-3X larger than CA and 5X larger than VA |
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wasabiaz
join:2008-06-16
Phoenix, AZ
| reply to wasabiaz
I didn't know AZ was the larger bases for Cox. That's interesting. I'm around 19th Ave and Union Hills.
I've been using SpeedTest.NET and also speakeasy.net/speedtest/ (which was recommended by no less than 2 Cox employees to use instead of speedtest.net) Both of them are slow.. Speedtest.net shows around 3.5Mbs typically and SpeakEasy is 1.5Mbs.. Not sure why Cox would refer to a site that shows a slower speed but that's how it works some times. I'll just average out the two and say I'm someplace between 1 and 5 megs.. Considering I expect (and pay for) between 12 and 18 megs. |
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