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JM · Guest

In another thread I've discussed with some very helpful people the problems
I'm having with intermittent Comcast internet. The reason I'm posting a new
question is because Comcast has basically taken their official stance, and
now I'm left with some questions how to proceed.

Each morning the internet is down at my client's office. They call me, and
I immediately try to access our router (a Linksys with DD-WRT firmware
connected to the Comcast/Netgear cable modem/router. When I cannot, I start
pinging the modem's gateway address. I get no reply. This will go on until
one of two things happen: Either we power reset the modem or I call Comcast
support and have them poll the modem using their access portal ("svp?").
Either way, the modem will "wake up" and things will be working again
(temporarily). The strange part is that according to Comcast's "historical
data" the modem never went offline! And they don't seem to believe me when
I tell them I COULD NOT ping the gateway ip prior to calling them. They
insist that their constant ping tests show "no or very little packet loss."

Only this morning did a level 2 tech in Denver (I'm in Memphis) really focus
on the fact that I am not able to ping the gateway during these outages. He
not only believed me, he stated flatly that "no matter what is going on on
your LAN side, you *always* should be able to ping the gateway." My
thoughts exactly. I thanked him sincerely, and told him that until our
conversation I felt like I've been telling people I'd seen UFOs. Nobody
would take me seriously.

At any rate, my question is this: Is there *anything* that could be going
on LAN-side to cause a cable modem to "lock up" or otherwise cease to work
properly, requiring a reset? The reason I ask is that Comcast's official
stance - in Memphis, at least - is that while their equipment *might be*
freezing up at times, it has nothing to do with them or their equipment.
The problem is "something" on our network.

Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I enabled high level logging in the
DD-WRT firmware, and I've been monitoring network traffic for 3 days.
Things look "normal" to me: incoming port scans, spam-carrying email (we
run a Netware/Groupwise server), some imap stuff. Over the weekend only the
server is on (the 12 PCs are all turned off), so their is virtually no
outbound traffic. I see a couple of things, which indicates a bug or two on
the server calling out, but it's very infrequent and very light.

Input appreciated. Sorry for the length. I'm just completely out of ideas,
and my client is literally screaming for a solution. Our only other option
for service is Bellsouth DSL, which has awful uplink speeds in that area.

thank you,

jm

JM · Guest

An added note:

This morning while monitoring my network traffic logs, I saw a burst of
output from the email server (about 30 entries) to this ip address:

82.167.66.70

which an IP lookup shows assigned to RIPE Network Coordination Center

Has my email server been attacked? Could this be part of my internet
problems? Will this "lock up" a cable modem/router?

jm

"JM" <jakem38671omitthis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:tOednfwuz88WcqDbnZ2dnUVZ_vCknZ2d@comcast.com...

The Kat · Guest

On Sun, 6 May 2007 10:58:49 -0500, "JM" <jakem38671omitthis@yahoo.com>
wrote:

f/fgeorge · Guest

A hub/router is designed to handle data on a FIFO(first in, first out)
basis. So if you have a program that is backlogged in whatever it is
doing, yes your router can seem "locked up". Yes a log can help track
that, but you will need to talk to your ISP to figure out some of the
traffic. Such as your email routing, some is normal, not every single
site can handle everything. Do you have an automatic email event
happenning? Such as when a server goes down, 30 emails go out to those
that can fix it? Maybe even a series of events that triggered 3 emails
10 times?

On Sun, 6 May 2007 10:58:49 -0500, "JM" <jakem38671omitthis@yahoo.com>
wrote:

clifto · Guest

JM wrote: