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mediumhappy
Guest
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 Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 2:51 am Post subject: SB5120 & Comcast Woes |
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L&Gs:
I am a Comcast customer in the Atlanta area. My cable modem service is
down more than it's up and I'm on this ridiculous merry-go-round, where
it goes down, I troubleshoot, it's not a problem on my network, I
reboot the modem, problem still exists, I call Comcast, their tech
makes me do everything over, blames my network for a while, then we
determine it's their problem, they reset the modem, it works for a
while then goes down again, I call them back, they set an appointment
for a tech to visit, the tech shows up, tests everything and it's
working fine, then later that day it's dead again and I start the whole
process over.
Before I give up and get DSL, I am wondering if anyone has knowledge of
a utility that will allow my to monitor the availability of the
internet to my computer through the cable modem and log that
availability to a file, so that I can PROVE to them that it's down more
than it's up. I can see that they've disabled my use of SNMP, so
docsdiag won't work, but I want something a little more sophisticated
than a script that will run pings and log the results to a file.
Ideally, something that will grab the logs from the modem itself, save
them (since there appears to be no way to do that from the Surfboard
management page located at http://192.168.100.1/logs.htm), and then
snapshot the power levels upstream and downstream, etc. A Motorola tech
told me that have something that does exactly that but are prohibited
from making it available to the customers even though many of us own
our own cable modems - they claim their agreements with the cable co's
prevent them from empowering us to do anything that concrete to PROVE
how *** their service is, and if Motorola breaks that rule the cable
co's will just switch to other modem vendors who WON'T break it.
So there you go. I'm ot a coder and a pretty lousy scripter, so if
anyone can helpme find something that'll do what I need it to do, I'd
really appreciate it. Peace. |
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BigJim
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 3:24 am Post subject: Re: SB5120 & Comcast Woes |
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I had similar problems until comcast came out and replaced some lines
between the poles.
It can also be caused by the drop from the pole to the house.
"mediumhappy" <weehawkenventure@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1166475097.683674.136990@j72g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | L&Gs:
I am a Comcast customer in the Atlanta area. My cable modem service is
down more than it's up and I'm on this ridiculous merry-go-round, where
it goes down, I troubleshoot, it's not a problem on my network, I
reboot the modem, problem still exists, I call Comcast, their tech
makes me do everything over, blames my network for a while, then we
determine it's their problem, they reset the modem, it works for a
while then goes down again, I call them back, they set an appointment
for a tech to visit, the tech shows up, tests everything and it's
working fine, then later that day it's dead again and I start the whole
process over.
Before I give up and get DSL, I am wondering if anyone has knowledge of
a utility that will allow my to monitor the availability of the
internet to my computer through the cable modem and log that
availability to a file, so that I can PROVE to them that it's down more
than it's up. I can see that they've disabled my use of SNMP, so
docsdiag won't work, but I want something a little more sophisticated
than a script that will run pings and log the results to a file.
Ideally, something that will grab the logs from the modem itself, save
them (since there appears to be no way to do that from the Surfboard
management page located at http://192.168.100.1/logs.htm), and then
snapshot the power levels upstream and downstream, etc. A Motorola tech
told me that have something that does exactly that but are prohibited
from making it available to the customers even though many of us own
our own cable modems - they claim their agreements with the cable co's
prevent them from empowering us to do anything that concrete to PROVE
how *** their service is, and if Motorola breaks that rule the cable
co's will just switch to other modem vendors who WON'T break it.
So there you go. I'm ot a coder and a pretty lousy scripter, so if
anyone can helpme find something that'll do what I need it to do, I'd
really appreciate it. Peace.
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$Bill
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 5:02 am Post subject: Re: SB5120 & Comcast Woes |
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mediumhappy wrote:
| Quote: | So there you go. I'm ot a coder and a pretty lousy scripter, so if
anyone can helpme find something that'll do what I need it to do, I'd
really appreciate it. Peace.
|
I use a Perl script to login and read the pages off my Terayon modem.
The pages are different, but the principle should be the same.
Email me without the SPAMOLA and I'll send it to you if you like.
You'll need a recent version of Perl installed (Activestate.com would
be the place to get it). |
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Todd H.
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 8:48 am Post subject: Re: SB5120 & Comcast Woes |
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"mediumhappy" <weehawkenventure@gmail.com> writes:
| Quote: | L&Gs:
I am a Comcast customer in the Atlanta area. My cable modem service is
down more than it's up and I'm on this ridiculous merry-go-round, where
it goes down, I troubleshoot, it's not a problem on my network, I
reboot the modem, problem still exists, I call Comcast, their tech
makes me do everything over, blames my network for a while, then we
determine it's their problem, they reset the modem, it works for a
while then goes down again, I call them back, they set an appointment
for a tech to visit, the tech shows up, tests everything and it's
working fine, then later that day it's dead again and I start the whole
process over.
|
I had a similar struggle with comcast.
I was able to demonstrate packet loss via ping -t being quite
different between my computer and router, between the computer and my
cable modem, and between my computer and an external site.
Similarly techs would come out repeatedly and test signal levels and
all was well, they went on their way.
Until finally I begged a tech "please try another cable modem." I
was leasing the modem at the time.
Ping problem, and all other intermittent problems magically gone.
This is among the reasons I continue to lease the modem--one less
excuse for them to point a finger at me.
I'm also no longer with comcast, and am very damned happy. Still on
cable modem just not with comcast.
Good luck!
Oh, to grab logs, a cron or at script calling wget
http://urltothatlogfile would be a way to periodically go and grab.
cron/wget can be had with cygwin.com shell tools.
Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/ |
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Timothy Daniels
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 8:48 am Post subject: Re: SB5120 & Comcast Woes |
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"mediumhappy" wrote:
| Quote: | I am a Comcast customer in the Atlanta area. My cable modem service is
down more than it's up and I'm on this ridiculous merry-go-round, where
it goes down, I troubleshoot, it's not a problem on my network, I
reboot the modem, problem still exists, I call Comcast, their tech
makes me do everything over, blames my network for a while, then we
determine it's their problem, they reset the modem, it works for a
while then goes down again, I call them back, they set an appointment
for a tech to visit, the tech shows up, tests everything and it's
working fine, then later that day it's dead again and I start the whole
process over.
|
I'm having similar problems as an ex-Comcast customer with
Time Warner, but I'm still on the Comcast infrastructure. The modem
web page AND Tier 3 interrogations to the modem show a low receive
signal level (modem reports 15 dBmV) and tracerts show timeouts at
various random nodes. The signal-to-noise-ratio is 30-34 dB. So
what do they do? They try swapping modems and tightening cable
connectors. Meanwhile, multiple cable TV subscribers and internet
subscribers in the building are experiencing picture blocking and
dropped connections and "slow surfing". It's not until I paid an
unscheduled visit to TimeWarner's local warehous/field ops depot
and spoke with the regional field ops supervisor did I get any action -
"linemen" are coming out tomorrow to check the neighborhood
curbside amplifier vault and the building's amplifier for signal levels.
Until I went into their own turf to rattle their office doors did I get any
attention from them that this might be THEIR problem. My impression
from days on the phone with reps at various levels, including local
offices, is that the transition from Comcast/Adelphia is not going well,
and the techs have been swamped with calls. As a result, the feeling
there is that if you get any communication at all, you're lucky, and
they're not going to send out the big guns for "blocking" or "slow sufing".
Fortunately for us, people in our building are getting good service
from DSLextreme and from DirecTV, so we're not locked into the
"Cable Company". We can and will walk if this doesn't get fixed.
BTW, if you own your SB5120, chain it down. The database given
to Time Warner by Comcast shows that the modem I had "belongs to
Comcast" although I returned their Sharkfin modem a year ago and they
haven't billed me for a modem since then. When the Time Warner rep
tried to leave with it last week, I snarled without looking up from the
monitor screen "That modem's not going to leave this room!", and he
gave it back.
*TimDaniels* |
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Ed Nielsen
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 8:41 pm Post subject: Re: SB5120 & Comcast Woes |
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15dBmV at the downstream is pretty high. I would sure like to see that
down below 0. What is your transmit level?
CIAO!
Ed N.
Timothy Daniels wrote:
| Quote: | The modem web page AND Tier 3 interrogations to the modem show a
low receive signal level (modem reports 15 dBmV)
*TimDaniels* |
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Timothy Daniels
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 12:14 am Post subject: Re: SB5120 & Comcast Woes |
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It varies around 50-51 dBmV. The low Transmit level may be low due to
a high Receive level (assuming that "X dBmV" means "minus X dBmV").
*TimDaniels*
"Ed Nielsen" wrote:
| Quote: | 15dBmV at the downstream is pretty high. I would sure like to see that
down below 0. What is your transmit level?
CIAO!
Ed N.
Timothy Daniels wrote:
The modem web page AND Tier 3 interrogations to the modem show a
low receive signal level (modem reports 15 dBmV)
*TimDaniels* |
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Jbob
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 12:46 am Post subject: Re: SB5120 & Comcast Woes |
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"mediumhappy" <weehawkenventure@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1166475097.683674.136990@j72g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | L&Gs:
Before I give up and get DSL, I am wondering if anyone has knowledge of
a utility that will allow my to monitor the availability of the
internet to my computer through the cable modem and log that
availability to a file, so that I can PROVE to them that it's down more
than it's up. I can see that they've disabled my use of SNMP, so
docsdiag won't work, but I want something a little more sophisticated
than a script that will run pings and log the results to a file.
Ideally, something that will grab the logs from the modem itself, save
them (since there appears to be no way to do that from the Surfboard
management page located at http://192.168.100.1/logs.htm), and then
snapshot the power levels upstream and downstream, etc. A Motorola tech
told me that have something that does exactly that but are prohibited
from making it available to the customers even though many of us own
our own cable modems - they claim their agreements with the cable co's
prevent them from empowering us to do anything that concrete to PROVE
how *** their service is, and if Motorola breaks that rule the cable
co's will just switch to other modem vendors who WON'T break it.
So there you go. I'm ot a coder and a pretty lousy scripter, so if
anyone can helpme find something that'll do what I need it to do, I'd
really appreciate it. Peace.
|
With Comcast it's a hit or miss with service. With that in mind try
www.dslreports.com. If you are a paid member you have the option of using
their 24 hour monitoring utility which might just be what you are looking
for. Under their Tools section is a test called Line Quality Test. You
can run this test and it will ping and run a trace route as well as a few
other tests to your IP address, one from an East coast and West coast server
location. As a paid member they will allow you to set this test up to for
24 hour line monitoring. It will run the test on a routine basis and log
the results.
http://www.dslreports.com/faq/monitorfaq Read here for more info. |
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Timothy Daniels
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 2:38 am Post subject: Re: SB5120 & Comcast Woes |
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"Ed Nielsen" wrote:
| Quote: | Timothy Daniels wrote:
The modem web page AND Tier 3 interrogations to the modem show a
low receive signal level (modem reports 15 dBmV)
*TimDaniels*
15dBmV at the downstream is pretty high. I would sure like to see that
down below 0. What is your transmit level?
|
The line technicians were by today, and they said the signal level
on the downstream side (coming into our property) was a bit high,
so they padded it down by 4-5 dB. Now the modem is reporting a
downstram signal level of 9 dBmV and an upstream signal level of
47 dBmV. It had been 15-17 downstream and 50-52 upstream.
I asked the tech who adjusted our amp if those numbers meant
NEGATIVE dB, but he said no (which may still not mean anything).
The bottom line is that the speeds have increased a bit, but it's
not really obvious due to the high variance from test to test. Tracerts
are still showing timeouts, and InternetFrog.com is showing "Quality
of Service" levels ranging between 9% and 50%, i.e. high retransmission
rates, and the VOIP test indicates that there would be lots of dropouts
and pauses. I believe it's due to congestion in the RoadRunner network.
*TimDaniels* |
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Bill G
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 3:33 am Post subject: Re: SB5120 & Comcast Woes |
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On Tue, 19 Dec 2006 12:38:09 -0800, "Timothy Daniels"
<TDaniels@NoSpamDot.com> wrote:
| Quote: | "Ed Nielsen" wrote:
Timothy Daniels wrote:
The modem web page AND Tier 3 interrogations to the modem show a
low receive signal level (modem reports 15 dBmV)
*TimDaniels*
15dBmV at the downstream is pretty high. I would sure like to see that
down below 0. What is your transmit level?
The line technicians were by today, and they said the signal level
on the downstream side (coming into our property) was a bit high,
|
Yes, of course. The downstream value you posted WAS high and Ed
pointed that out, even though you initially said you thought it was
low. It should be no surprise that the line tech confirmed that it was
high and therefore padded it down to a more reasonable level.
| Quote: | so they padded it down by 4-5 dB. Now the modem is reporting a
downstram signal level of 9 dBmV and an upstream signal level of
47 dBmV. It had been 15-17 downstream and 50-52 upstream.
|
The new values look great.
| Quote: | I asked the tech who adjusted our amp if those numbers meant
NEGATIVE dB, but he said no (which may still not mean anything).
|
No, they mean POSITIVE dB, referenced to 1 mV, i.e., signal levels
that were too high, not too low. You seem to be predisposed to
thinking your levels were too low. (??)
| Quote: | The bottom line is that the speeds have increased a bit, but it's
not really obvious due to the high variance from test to test. Tracerts
are still showing timeouts, and InternetFrog.com is showing "Quality
of Service" levels ranging between 9% and 50%, i.e. high retransmission
rates, and the VOIP test indicates that there would be lots of dropouts
and pauses. I believe it's due to congestion in the RoadRunner network.
|
What leads you to believe it's due to congestion in the RoadRunner
network?
--
Bill |
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Todd H.
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 3:36 am Post subject: Re: SB5120 & Comcast Woes |
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"Timothy Daniels" <TDaniels@NoSpamDot.com> writes:
| Quote: | It varies around 50-51 dBmV. The low Transmit level may be low due to
a high Receive level (assuming that "X dBmV" means "minus X dBmV").
=50dBmV on transmit is your problem. Or comcast's problem. :-) That
needs to be in the 40's or high 30's or it'll be packetloss city in my |
experience, and you'll have horribly unreliable service.
How many splits occur before that cable line gets to your modem?
I've had my provider out here several times and I think we vfinally
got it figured out here. DC-9 directional couplers were needed to get
returnable signal to my office. These have an insertion loss of half
a dB on the through leg.
Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/ |
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Todd H.
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 4:09 am Post subject: Re: SB5120 & Comcast Woes |
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"Timothy Daniels" <TDaniels@NoSpamDot.com> writes:
| Quote: | "Ed Nielsen" wrote:
Timothy Daniels wrote:
The modem web page AND Tier 3 interrogations to the modem show a
low receive signal level (modem reports 15 dBmV)
*TimDaniels*
15dBmV at the downstream is pretty high. I would sure like to see
that down below 0. What is your transmit level?
The line technicians were by today, and they said the signal level
on the downstream side (coming into our property) was a bit high,
so they padded it down by 4-5 dB. Now the modem is reporting a
downstram signal level of 9 dBmV and an upstream signal level of
47 dBmV. It had been 15-17 downstream and 50-52 upstream.
I asked the tech who adjusted our amp if those numbers meant
NEGATIVE dB, but he said no (which may still not mean anything).
The bottom line is that the speeds have increased a bit, but it's
not really obvious due to the high variance from test to test. Tracerts
are still showing timeouts, and InternetFrog.com is showing "Quality
of Service" levels ranging between 9% and 50%, i.e. high retransmission
rates, and the VOIP test indicates that there would be lots of dropouts
and pauses. I believe it's due to congestion in the RoadRunner
network.
|
Weather does affect these numbers in my experience.
Yeah, upstream power level is nearly always in positive dBmV.
Downstream powerlevels yo ucan see in + and - territory. You had one
seriously hot signal before. My downstream is -5.5dBmV right now for
instance. upstream 43.50 dBmV.
Congestion shouldn't affect your signal levels. It will affect
throughput and packetloss perhaps, but these signal levels it should
not affect at all.
Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/ |
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Ed Nielsen
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 8:46 pm Post subject: Re: SB5120 & Comcast Woes |
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If it were me, Tim, I would pad that down by another 6dB, bringing the
downstream down to +3 and the transmit up to around +53dBmV. Only, I
would have ALL of the padding at the splitter that feeds your cable
modem. If it is a splitter, perhaps change that out for a directional
coupler of comparable value. Many engineers like to see cable modems
run out on the hot side. It helps it to be heard over any noise that
might get on the drop. 53 is perfectly fine. DOCSIS specifies a high
end of 58.
Then again, if you have a DCT(digital cable box), the increase in signal
level a DC would give it could cause it some grief. Might have to throw
in a 3dB pad on the THRU leg of the DC.
CIAO!
Ed N.
Timothy Daniels wrote:
| Quote: | The line technicians were by today, and they said the signal level
on the downstream side (coming into our property) was a bit high,
so they padded it down by 4-5 dB. Now the modem is reporting a
downstram signal level of 9 dBmV and an upstream signal level of
47 dBmV. It had been 15-17 downstream and 50-52 upstream.
I asked the tech who adjusted our amp if those numbers meant
NEGATIVE dB, but he said no (which may still not mean anything).
The bottom line is that the speeds have increased a bit, but it's
not really obvious due to the high variance from test to test. Tracerts
are still showing timeouts, and InternetFrog.com is showing "Quality
of Service" levels ranging between 9% and 50%, i.e. high retransmission
rates, and the VOIP test indicates that there would be lots of dropouts
and pauses. I believe it's due to congestion in the RoadRunner network.
*TimDaniels*
|
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Todd H.
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 10:58 pm Post subject: Re: SB5120 & Comcast Woes |
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Ed Nielsen <egnlsn@comcast.net> writes:
| Quote: | If it were me, Tim, I would pad that down by another 6dB, bringing the
downstream down to +3 and the transmit up to around +53dBmV. Only, I
would have ALL of the padding at the splitter that feeds your cable
modem. If it is a splitter, perhaps change that out for a directional
coupler of comparable value. Many engineers like to see cable modems
run out on the hot side. It helps it to be heard over any noise that
might get on the drop. 53 is perfectly fine. DOCSIS specifies a high
end of 58.
|
DOCSIS spec or no, in my experience on comcast and wide open west
networks, upstream >50dBmV has always correlated with intermittent
packet loss and frustration like the OP is experiencing. :-)
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/ |
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Poul Starz
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 10:58 pm Post subject: Re: SB5120 & Comcast Woes |
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|
He's not likely to answer for awhile as the RR news servers have
been down for 5 days of "maintenance" with no estimated-time-
of-completion given. TW has been *ucked up for a couple months
since absorbing Comcast and Adelphia customers in November.
--------------------
***PoulStarz***
"Ed Nielsen" <egnlsn@comcast.net> wrote in message news:Jq6dnar0ZMbXAxfYnZ2dnUVZ_rSjnZ2d@comcast.com...
| Quote: | If it were me, Tim, I would pad that down by another 6dB, bringing the
downstream down to +3 and the transmit up to around +53dBmV. Only, I
would have ALL of the padding at the splitter that feeds your cable
modem. If it is a splitter, perhaps change that out for a directional
coupler of comparable value. Many engineers like to see cable modems
run out on the hot side. It helps it to be heard over any noise that
might get on the drop. 53 is perfectly fine. DOCSIS specifies a high
end of 58.
Then again, if you have a DCT(digital cable box), the increase in signal
level a DC would give it could cause it some grief. Might have to throw
in a 3dB pad on the THRU leg of the DC.
CIAO!
Ed N.
Timothy Daniels wrote:
The line technicians were by today, and they said the signal level
on the downstream side (coming into our property) was a bit high,
so they padded it down by 4-5 dB. Now the modem is reporting a
downstram signal level of 9 dBmV and an upstream signal level of
47 dBmV. It had been 15-17 downstream and 50-52 upstream.
I asked the tech who adjusted our amp if those numbers meant
NEGATIVE dB, but he said no (which may still not mean anything).
The bottom line is that the speeds have increased a bit, but it's
not really obvious due to the high variance from test to test. Tracerts
are still showing timeouts, and InternetFrog.com is showing "Quality
of Service" levels ranging between 9% and 50%, i.e. high retransmission
rates, and the VOIP test indicates that there would be lots of dropouts
and pauses. I believe it's due to congestion in the RoadRunner network.
*TimDaniels*
|
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