TDuncan813's profile

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8 Messages

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2020 11:00 AM

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Frequent Daily Outages every summer

Every summer for the past... I dunno 5 years? Starting right after school gets out and lasting all summer, our connection will drop several times a day. It will eventually return, and a modem reboot almost always brings it back immediately. In years past I've tried customer service and buying new modems and cables and yadda yadda... You know what always fixes it? September. So here we are again, two weeks after the end of the school year, and my internet is dropping several times a day everyday since the school year officially ended (even though school has been closed since March). What's up? What changes in the service in the summer?

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Expert

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111.4K Messages

5 years ago

The heat increases the resistance of the cable lines / hardware which weakens the strength of the signals.

 

What do the modem's signal stats look like ? Try getting them here http://192.168.100.1 or here http://10.0.0.1

Please post the *Downstream Power Level*, the *Upstream Power Level*, and the *SNR* (Signal to Noise Ratio) numbers.


Frequent Visitor

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8 Messages

5 years ago

Status

Connection

This page displays information on the status of the cable modem's HFC and IP network connectivity.
Startup Procedure
Procedure Status Comment
Acquire Downstream Channel 579000000 Hz Locked
Connectivity State OK Operational
Boot State    
Configuration File OK  
Security Enabled BPI+

Downstream Bonded Channels
Channel Modulation Frequency Power SNR Correctables Uncorrectables
1 QAM256 579000000 Hz -0.4 dBmV 41.2 dB 57 90
2 QAM256 585000000 Hz 0.2 dBmV 41.4 dB 66 73
3 QAM256 591000000 Hz 0.7 dBmV 41.9 dB 64 93
4 QAM256 597000000 Hz 0.9 dBmV 41.9 dB 55 112
5 QAM256 603000000 Hz 0.6 dBmV 41.9 dB 59 122
6 QAM256 609000000 Hz 0.7 dBmV 41.8 dB 84 142
7 QAM256 615000000 Hz 0.3 dBmV 41.4 dB 81 100
8 QAM256 621000000 Hz 0.6 dBmV 41.4 dB 66 141

Total Correctables Total Uncorrectables
532 873


Upstream Bonded Channels
Channel US Channel Type Symbol Rate Frequency Power
1 ATDMA 5120 Ksym/sec 23000000 Hz 48.5 dBmV
2 ATDMA 5120 Ksym/sec 35800000 Hz 49.0 dBmV
3 ATDMA 5120 Ksym/sec 29400000 Hz 49.0 dBmV
4 ATDMA 5120 Ksym/sec 16600000 Hz 48.5 dBmV

CM IP Address
     


Current System Time: Tue Jun 23 21:35:37 2020

Expert

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111.4K Messages

5 years ago

The upstream power is on the high side and it may be intermittently fluctuating even higher to out of spec levels. That can cause random disconnects, spontaneous re-booting of the modem, speed, packet loss, and latency problems.

In a self troubleshooting effort to try to obtain better connectivity / more wiggle room, check to see if there are there any excess/unneeded coax cable splitters in the line leading to the modem that can be eliminated/re-configured. Any splitters that remain should be high quality and cable rated for 5-1002 MHz, bi-directional, and no gold colored garbage types like GE, RadioShack, RCA, Philips, Leviton, Magnavox, and Rocketfish from big box stores like Home Depot, Lowes, Target, Wal-Mart etc. Splitters should be swapped with known to be good / new ones to test

If there aren't any unneeded splitters that can be eliminated and if your coax wiring setup can't be reconfigured so that there is a single two way splitter connected directly off of the drop from the street/pole with one port feeding the modem and the other port feeding the rest of the house/equipment with additional splits as needed, and you've checked all the wiring and fittings for integrity and tightness and refresh them by taking them apart then check for and clean off any corrosion / oxidation on the center wire and put them back together again, then perhaps it's best to book a tech visit to investigate and correct.

Expert

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111.4K Messages

5 years ago


@TDuncan813 wrote:
My brother is an Xfinity install tech for 14 years and called those numbers optimal. 

They are not when you factor in the part that I stated about "may be fluctuating higher intermittently". There's not much wiggle room there especially in the heat of the Summer season. 51 dB and you start to have trouble ! 40 to45 dB is "optimal". 

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8 Messages

5 years ago

My brother is an Xfinity install tech for 14 years and called those numbers optimal. He wired my house. I'm having internet drops about every hour or more during the heat of the day, less frequently in the morning and evening/night. TV service will drop occasionally too. I can predict my connectivity stability with the heat index. All i have to do is watch the weather report. It's infuriating, because I haven't seen anything close to a solution that works. I just pay full price for bad service in the summer.

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8 Messages

5 years ago

I've done all of these things every summer for the last i don't know how many summers. I've had techs come out, I've replaced cables and equipment, and it's always the same story: try this try this try this oh hey look it's fixed!. Yeah, because it's September now. There Nothing wrong with my equipment or what's in my house. It's a macro issue. This forum is full of people all having the same problem.

Expert

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111.4K Messages

5 years ago

The bottom line is the upstream power has to be reduced around 5-6 dB in order to allow for fluctuations and the inevitable increases due to Summer temperatures.

 

Your only choice is to get the techs re-involved until it is fixed properly. Bear in mind that if the premises facing techs can not find or fix a problem at your home, it is they who are responsible for escalating it to their line / network / maintenance dept. techs. The problem may lie beyond your home in the local neighborhood infrastructure somewhere but it is their S.O.P. to start at the home.

Good luck !

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