pete_c's profile

Contributor

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66 Messages

Monday, April 12th, 2021 10:41 AM

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Losing Internet Connection almost every night

Modem Owned: Arris SurfBoard SB6190

Service: Internet Only.  Cable from outslide plugs directly to modem

Firewall: PFSense owned

WAP: Ruckus 

Switches: managed layer 2-3 Gb switches

I have used this set up for now 4 plus years.  Upgraded to using IPv6.  Monitoring line now with PFSense.  Never did this before.

Only testing via wired Gb connection as I rarely utilize wireless here.

Almost every day / night I get high latency and PFSense switches over to secondary internet connection. Many times XFinity doesn't come back and I stay at the secondary WAN connection which is an LTE Modem.

20:17:17 MONITOR: WAN_DHCP has packet loss, omitting from routing group Failover 8.8.8.8|24.xxx.xxx.xxx|WAN_DHCP|22.174ms|11.69ms|57%|down|highloss
20:17:26 MONITOR: WAN_DHCP is available now, adding to routing group Failover
8.8.8.8|xxx.xxx.xxx|WAN_DHCP|26.211ms|10.344ms|12%|online|loss

This plays havoc with my IPv6 connection.

I have two set ups in two houses and do not see this in house #2 at this time.  Resetting / rebooting this modem doesn't fix the issue.

2nd house is also using an Arris SurfBoard SB6190 in an identical set up (SB6190 ==> PFSense ==> managed POE Gb switch) and I have no problems at this time.  

I see that ideally my power should be between -5 to 5 dBmV and I am over 16 dBmV.
Should I call for a truck roll to check outside connections at box and adjacent to house? 
All signal testing can be done outside here.
In the old house XFinity ran new RJ11 cable (thick stuff).  
Guessing the cable outside is 24 years old now.   The cable run from the outside box to the modem is some 10 feet long. (single cable no split in any way).  I only use XFinity for Internet and use Direct TV for TV.  When I originally moved here 5 years ago just took my modem and  connected it and changed my service address. 

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Expert

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107.5K Messages

4 years ago

That out of spec downstream power may or may not be the root cause of the issue, but it should be addressed regardless. It may be over-driving the front end receiver of the modem causing waveform distortions.

Are there any drop amplifiers on the coax cable leading to the modem ? If so, try removing it and see.

Contributor

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66 Messages

4 years ago

Thank you EG.

I did install a PCT Drop amplifier yesterday.  Before the drop amp it was around 13 dbMv.

Before drop amp yesterday modem  signal would make firewall go to DHCP mode but never get a DHCP address from the modem. 

Will remove the drop amp tomorrow and install a PPC FPA6-54 Forward Path Attenuator 6dB 75 Ohms for DOCSIS Cable TV Box and Modem.

Would this have anything to do with the cable run from the outside to the adjacent house wall box?

Expert

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107.5K Messages

4 years ago

Is that + (plus) 13 dB without the amp ? If so, that's still too strong. So yes. Bypass the amp and see. You may or may not even need that FPA. Experiment with both conditions.

Contributor

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66 Messages

4 years ago

Is that + (plus) 13 dB without the amp ?

It was.  Now its lower ...see below...

Removed PCT drop amp yesterday

Installed PPC FPA6-54 Forward Path Attenuator at modem.  Modem never connected after installation of PPC FPA6-54.

I let the modem with the Forward Path Attenuator try to connect for some 15-20 minutes.

Removed PPC FPA6-54 and modem connected fine after a minute or so.

Monitoring WAN link yesterday saw these alerts:  

Nothing before or after.  We were streaming a movie last night from the Internet (thinking it was AOD - Amazon on Demand)

I have been paying attention / monitoring WAN link since going to IPv6 in the last few months.

Modem specs:

Standard Specification Compliant
ARRIS DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem / Retail
Hardware Version 3
Software Version 9.1.103AA65L

Mon 4/12/2021

18:59:30 MONITOR: WAN_DHCP has packet loss, omitting from routing group Failover

8.8.8.8|24.XX.XX.XX|WAN_DHCP|13.267ms|1.276ms|33%|down|highloss

18:59:46 MONITOR: WAN_DHCP is available now, adding to routing group Failover

8.8.8.8|24.XX.XX.XX|WAN_DHCP|15.906ms|5.549ms|20%|online|loss

18:59:57 MONITOR: WAN_DHCP has packet loss, omitting from routing group Failover

8.8.8.8|24.XX.XX.XX|WAN_DHCP|16.688ms|7.034ms|25%|down|highloss

19:00:01 MONITOR: WAN_DHCP is available now, adding to routing group Failover

8.8.8.8|24.XX.XX.XX|WAN_DHCP|15.823ms|5.291ms|14%|online|loss

19:00:04 MONITOR: WAN_DHCP has packet loss, omitting from routing group Failover

8.8.8.8|24.XX.XX.XX|WAN_DHCP|27.761ms|31.182ms|30%|down|highloss

19:00:12 MONITOR: WAN_DHCP is available now, adding to routing group Failover

8.8.8.8|24.XX.XX.XX|WAN_DHCP|17.575ms|7.674ms|10%|online|none

19:13:36 MONITOR: WAN_DHCP has packet loss, omitting from routing group Failover

8.8.8.8|24.XX.XX.XX|WAN_DHCP|18.989ms|11.389ms|33%|down|highloss

19:13:38 MONITOR: WAN_DHCP is available now, adding to routing group Failover

8.8.8.8|24.XX.XX.XX|WAN_DHCP|17.675ms|10.165ms|20%|online|loss

21:25:23 MONITOR: WAN_DHCP has packet loss, omitting from routing group Failover

8.8.8.8|24.XX.XX.XX|WAN_DHCP|15.089ms|5.734ms|21%|down|highloss

21:27:26 MONITOR: WAN_DHCP is available now, adding to routing group Failover

8.8.8.8|24.XX.XX.XX|WAN_DHCP|14.49ms|5.424ms|16%|online|loss

I keep seeing these in the event log but I think this is normal eh?

Mon Apr 12 21:28:39 2021 3 Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx;CMTS-MAC=yy:yy:yy:yy:yy:yy;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Mon Apr 12 21:29:03 2021 3 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx;CMTS-MAC=yy:yy:yy:yy:yy:yy;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Mon Apr 12 21:35:28 2021 3 Ranging Request Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx;CMTS-MAC=yy:yy:yy:yy:yy:yy;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Here are the signals that I see this morning:  (IE: thinking that -15 to 15 dBmV is OK? but reading that -5 to 5 dBmV is better?)

Update 0837C time

From 0800 to 0837 noticed 5 reports of packet loss here.  This reports look like the above ones posted.

(edited)

Expert

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107.5K Messages

4 years ago

The signal stats aren't bad the way that they are now. You could try knocking down the downstream power a bit more if you wish to experiment a little further. But this time, use an overall attenuator pad instead of an FPA. It will balance out both power levels. Try a 6 dB one such as this: https://www.amazon.com/6db-Attenuator-Pad-1-each/dp/B0013L48XA

Would you please post those RF error log entries from the 6190 cable modem in their entirety.

Contributor

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66 Messages

@EG 

Thank you.

Ordered the overall attenuator pad specified above and returning Forward Path Attenuator purchased a few days back.

Here is a copy of the event logs:

Tue Apr 13 07:26:36 2021 3 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 07:50:04 2021 3 Ranging Request Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 07:50:04 2021 3 Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 07:50:28 2021 3 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 07:56:53 2021 3 Ranging Request Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 07:56:53 2021 3 Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 07:57:17 2021 3 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 08:03:41 2021 3 Ranging Request Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 08:03:41 2021 3 Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 08:04:05 2021 3 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 08:10:30 2021 3 Ranging Request Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 08:10:30 2021 3 Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 08:10:54 2021 3 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 08:17:18 2021 3 Ranging Request Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 08:17:18 2021 3 Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 08:17:42 2021 3 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 08:24:07 2021 3 Ranging Request Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 08:24:07 2021 3 Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 08:24:31 2021 3 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Tue Apr 13 08:28:14 2021 5 RCS Partial Service;CM-MAC=a8:9f:ww:xx:yy:zz;CMTS-MAC=00:01:WW:XX:YY:ZZ;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

(edited)

Expert

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107.5K Messages

The entries are a bit troubling. See what happens after trying the pad and compare. If things are still bad, I'll escalate this. Good luck !

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Contributor

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66 Messages

4 years ago

Update: April 21, 2021

Issues mentioned above continue with same almost disconnect messages from PFSense box and same SB 6190 event log messages.

Note these are not 24/7 messages.  Rather they are 1-2 hours at a time; then no messages or event log entries for up to 12 hours...

It is not getting worse or increasing in frequency.  Only it occurs every day at different hours.

IE: today at ~ 17:00C time lost my VPN connection to house #2 (same PFSense firewall and SB6190) where I keep a backup NAS drive and concurrent to VPN tunnel dropping saw same messages from PFSense box and same event log entries on SB6190.

(edited)

Contributor

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66 Messages

4 years ago

Update:  23rd of April, 2021 0600c time.

Yesterday 22nd of April had over 50 alerts sents to me in the span of one hour with failover messages here.

Just wondering now if my issues are being addressed or when they will be fixed?

Contributor

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150 Messages

Hello @pete_c, I hate to see that you've been experiencing issues with your internet connection on such a regular basis. I work from home myself, so I know having a consistent and reliable connection is absolutely critical, but I would be happy to take a look into this further for you. Please send us a Live Chat with your first and last name as well as your service address so we can assist. 
 
To send a Live Chat, click the Peer to Peer chat icon at the top right of the page and enter Xfinity Support in the "To" section of the chat.

Contributor

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66 Messages

Thank you ComcastPeter..Sent a Live chat request with last and first name and service address.  Apologies I had lost my password to log in to the forum and didn't see the message above.

Problem Solver

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892 Messages

No worries at all! I responded to your chat message! Look forward to working with you. :)

I no longer work for Comcast.

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