Cable modem locking up

My motorola surfboard modem (SB5101) has been giving me problems. Very frequent lock-ups. Used to only happen with torrent programs when there were too many peers. Now it is happening all the time. Sometimes with only one window open to the net.

I am running Win98SE I have an idea why. Just before this started happening, I made some tweaks to maximize my speeds using iSpeed for Windows. (bumped my RWIN from 8712 to 23232, and adjusted the TTL from nothing to 64) I am now running at close to advertised speeds, but it's not a great trade off to have to keep rebooting the modem by unplugging it. I'd like to find which settings might be causing the lock-ups, so I can eliminate them, while still not sacrificing too much speed. Any suggestions on which setting might screw with my modem?

-- Trevor Ylisaari

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Reply to
Trevor Ylisaari
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Who owns the modem? If the cable company, call them and let them worry about it. If your own, they might still be aware of some issues with it. Bear in mind, however, that perhaps your modem is NFG and has to be replaced.

Reply to
James Knott

It is not likely that your modem is locking up, or if it is, that anything you have done is responsible. The first thing to check are the signal levels and signal to noise ratios. From a browser enter

192.168.100.1 that brings up the modem diagnostic pages. Post the upstream and downstream signal diagnostics. The second thing is to take the AC adapter and plug it directly into a wall outlet.

What happens when the modem locks up? What is going on with your computer when this happens? Do you reboot the computer or does power cycling the modem restore operability without rebooting the computer? Have you run a full virus scan and adware scan recently? Go to

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, the FAQs section, find the security FAQ and follow the instructions for diagnosing with hijackthis.exe and for posting a hijackthis log on the security forum.

Q
Reply to
Quaoar

He tweaked his OS settings - I doubt that's any form of violation. He could try changing them one at a time and see what might be the cause if it's a setting at all.

Reply to
$Bill

Not really sure. They supplied the modem to me free with a 1 year contract. The modem has been working fine for about 6 months. Until I made the tweaks. I could change the settings back to what they were, but I really like the faster speed.

-- Trevor Ylisaari

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Reply to
Trevor Ylisaari

Oh, I see. You violated the contract with your ISP, caused some problems and then expect us to fix it. Sorry, you're on your own.

Reply to
James Knott

Forget it. He attempted to boost the bandwidth beyond what he's paying for and is now looking to us for help in violating his contract.

Reply to
James Knott

James, I think you've misread his post. It looks to me like he tweaked Win98, not the modem. In that case, he isn't violating any contracts.

If he is a typical Windows tweaker, I suggest he try removing his tweaks and seeing if the "problem" goes away. If it does, then it most likely has little to do with his modem.

-Gary

Reply to
Gary

No violations. I pay for 3 MB down speed. Before the tweaks I was consistently averaging about 800 kb/sec down. After the tweaks I am running about 2500-2600 kb/sec down.

-- Trevor Ylisaari

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Reply to
Trevor Ylisaari

Downstream - Frequency 561000000 Hz Signal To Noise Ratio 35.7 dB Power Level 7.8 dBmV

Upstream - Channel ID 4 Frequency 35300000 Hz Power 33.0 dBmV

I will move AC adapter from the power strip to the wall plug (just curious about this though. How could this become a sudden issue? Not questioning the advice, just trying to understand better what is going on)

When it locks up, power cycling alone does not restore the connection. I have to run winipcfg and release and renew to get my connection back (either that, or reboot the computer, which can be a hassle if I am in the middle of several things at the time)

Yes, I am aware of virus/spyware issues and keep a close eye out for those. I run virus and spyware scans regularly. And I am very familiar with hijackthis. All are showing the system clean at this time.

Thank you for taking the time to assist me.

-- Trevor Ylisaari

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Reply to
Trevor Ylisaari

The modem stats look fine. Power strips break down and can cause low DC output on connected adapters. What specifically is the modem - manufacturer and model? There are a couple of older Motorola models that can cause disconnects from DC power problems.

What kind of ethernet NIC are you using? Check the NIC settings via Device Manager for any kind of power saving mode and disable it. Since you are directly connected to the modem, you cannot use a static IP address; DHCP must be set up in the NIC properties. Check this site for networking setup help:

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Q
Reply to
Quaoar

Site, please. I have never encountered this.

--Gene

Reply to
Gene S. Berkowitz

All that packaging says is Motorola Surfboard cable modem. model # SB5101 Card is a CNet Pro200 PCI Fast Ehternet

The odd thing is, since I have changed the settings back to what they were, I have not had anymore lock-ups. I haven't had a chance to pull the desk out and change the adapter from the power strip to the wall jack. So that hasn't had anything to do with it (though I will still do it as a 'just in case' measure. Just seems odd that upping the RWIN would cause the modem to lock.

-- Trevor Ylisaari

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Reply to
Trevor Ylisaari

"Trevor Ylisaari" wrote in news:4387ba90$0$24528$ snipped-for-privacy@news.suite.net:

Reply to
Colin

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