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Intermittent connection drops - hard time working from home.
Hello - hoping I can use this post as a reference of my troubleshooting and open to any thoughts.
I have the Gigabit internet plan. My speeds are generally ~940 down, ~40 up. For a few months now, we have been having intermittent connection drops. Not very long but enough to really cause issues with video calls for work and live streaming after hours. We both work from home and require consistent connections. These drops can be seen on all devices (wired PCs, wired TV devices such as Nvidia Shield, wireless devices streaming, etc.) My troubleshooting steps:
1) Returned the Comcast modem supplied to me and purchased a Motorola MB8611 (approved on Comcast device list) and separate TP-Link Archer AX50 router. No change.
2) Swapped out our existing TP-Link router with an ASUS AX5400. No change.
3) Removed a run of cable from the equation and connected my modem directly to the line coming into the house instead of in my living room. No change.
(Unmentioned but plenty of modem / router restarts and resets done along the way to all devices)
I decided to try and capture these drops using a continuous speed test tool. Below are images of a few days where the drops were occurring.
https://i.imgur.com/FZd5MvC.png
https://i.imgur.com/zdp8djl.png
You can see the drops where the upload and download go to ~0 and lots of packet loss. They generally don't last too long but sometimes can be up to 30 seconds long. In either case, it's enough to drop a video call.
Here are the associated metrics from the modem for reference:
https://i.imgur.com/MR89qCK.png
https://i.imgur.com/ObW6ngp.png
We have plenty of speed but the consistency in connection is the real value we're looking for. I'd be willing to take a slower speed tier just to have a consistent connection so we are not dropped from work calls or disconnected from livestreaming services such as Twitch when broadcasting.
Happy to provide any additional information needed! Thanks.
BruceW
Gold Problem Solver
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26.5K Messages
4 years ago
The signal levels and SNR you posted look OK, but there are other impairments that might exist that the modem does not report.
Please see Internet Troubleshooting Tips. If you still need help, please post the entries in your modem's Event Log. Be sure to edit out any MAC addresses (Forum security processing considers them "personal information" and prevents them from posting).
If you can't find the problem or you'd rather have Comcast take care of it, call them at the phone number on your bill or 1-800-Comcast, or use one of the options on https://www.xfinity.com/support/contact-us/. It's not likely they can fix the problem remotely. If not, insist they send a tech out to identify the cause and correct it.
If the tech finds bad coax, splitters, amplifiers, or connections in your home (even if Comcast originally supplied them) you'll probably have to pay for the visit unless you have their Service Protection Plan ( https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/service-protection-plan, closed to customers that don't already have it). If the trouble is due to a faulty Comcast rental device or anything outside your home you shouldn't be charged.
(edited)
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BruceW
Gold Problem Solver
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26.5K Messages
4 years ago
"Dynamic Range Window" and "Commanded Power Exceeds" warnings are cause by excessive upstream power levels, or an excessive difference between upstream power levels. As stated, if you can't fix this yourself from the Troubleshooting page suggestions it would be best to turn it over to Comcast's premise techs.
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