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Frequent comcast outages: modem or cable?

For the last couple of weeks I've been having comcast outages constantly, 5-15 times a day (that I notice). The oddity is that when the outage occurs, the Toshiba modem lights are all normal (power/cable/pc solid; data flashing). The outages seldom last longer than a a couple minutes (long enough to throw me off VPN). When the outage occurs, I can still talk to other computers on my home network, leading me to assume, perhaps wrongly, that the linksys router is OK. I called comcast to schedule service and got the usual line about how i would be charged if the problem was in my equipment. How do I tell? The modem is several years old but its indicators are telling me that data is being passed. Any thoughts? Oh, and unplugging the router and waiting and restoring power usually restores service. This could be incidental since the outages are short. Thanks

Reply to
Burninator
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Clarification: I meant: "unplugging the modem and waiting" I never have to unplug the router.

Reply to
Burninator

Have they accessed your modem remotely and tried to diagnose any problems ?

What model is the modem ?

Does the Toshiba have a status page you can access ? If so, try to get all the info you can from there and post it when normal and when failing - esp the Tx/Rx power and SNR. Comcast could be disabling access to the page if there is one. Try 192.168.100.1 for access to the page.

If nothing stands out, the obvious next step would be to run without the router and see if a single computer connected to the modem has the same issues. If so, you have a modem, cabling or Comcast network issue and will need to figure out which. If Comcast won't cop to a network problem, you could save money by taking the modem in for a swap (I assume they will do that for free if you're renting it or it's included in fees). You could also try bypassing as much of your cabling as possible and connect out near the point of ingress checking your connectors for wear/damage/looseness in the process and making sure they're all clean and tight. What kind of cable do you have ? And who did the install ?

Reply to
$Bill

It is a Toshiba PCX1100U. It doesn't have a status page you can access. Comcast remotely cycled the modem today but phone support couldn't do more than that and that didn't solve problem.

192.168.100.1 doesn't get response. Cursory search indicates that you can't get to diag on this modem. I own the modem and installed it myself. It is at least 5 years old and could very easily be going bad. I was hoping someone might recognize the oddity of lights on modem indicating normal status while no data is getting through. I did the cabling and the coax is less than a year old. Thanks for your response.
Reply to
Burninator

On 03/02/2009 07:40 PM, Burninator sent:

What $Bill said: What's the make & model of the modem?

Has an additional signal splitter been installed anywhere on the premises?

Can you go to *EVERY* cable connector and completely unscrew the connector? Then, re-install and tighten, with a 3/8" open-end wrench,

*slightly* tighter than finger tight.

Pete

Reply to
1PW

No splitter installed. All has been stable for a while. Per your suggestion, I will check all connectors. Thanks. Oh, and isn't Toshiba PCX110U the make and model of modem? Am I missing something? Also, while looking for docs I found original receipt for modem: 9/2001! So I guess by most standards I've gotten a good run off it.

Reply to
Burninator

I had a similar problem, I would loose connectivity for 30 seconds to maybe a minute or 2. It would happen randomly during the day. BrightHouse furnishes my modem and I had gotten a free replacement from them 3 times for this same problem. That convinced me it wasn't the modem. What I used to help prove the problem to them is to us a program (LinkMonitor) that sends out pings to any address you want at any interval and logs the results. I set it up to ping yahoo every 5 seconds and had a log that I could use to prove to BrightHouse that the problem really existed. I even installed it on my neighbors computer both are cables are connected at the same pole splitter, I was convinced it was somewhere upstream from my pole connection but their computer ran fine and the log showed no missed pings. The long and short of it is that it turned out to be a connection where the cable attaches to my home, it goes through a grounded feed thru and then to a 1 to

3 splitter. After they changed all those components and connections it worked like a champ. Unfortunately you say that your wiring is relatively new so while it still could be the problem, it's less likely. Any neighbors willing to swap modems with you for a day or so? Only other option I can think of is buying a replacement modem. I guess that's one of the downfalls of owning the modem, in my case BrightHouse is responsible for their signal all the way into and out of the cable modem including the house wiring. Good luck.
Reply to
Jerry

Then if and when you replace it, *DO NOT* buy another one - get a modem that you can talk to.

Found this which may or may not apply to the 1100:

formatting link
"to access the built in diag... set your ip statically to 192.168.100.2 set your subnet to 255.255.255.0 and set your gateway to 192.168.100.1... then throw 192.168.100.1 into your browser and viola!"

Next time you shop for a modem - get one that talks to you. :)

Reply to
$Bill

Nitpick - if you're going to place the PC on the same subnet as the modem like that, then the gateway can be anything, or nothing at all.

I always recommend the Motorola modems, partly for that reason.

Reply to
Bill M.

Go to local computer store - get a new cable modem - test it out - you have

30 days to return it if the problem does not go away.

Call Comcast to come out while you have the new modem.

On the other hand - if problem goes away - keep it.

Have you tested the cable modem directly to PC - to eliminate the router? With respect to the router - are you connecting wired or wireless? Maybe it's a router issue not cable modem.

Reply to
riggor9999

when I had that, it turned out to be my modem.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

In article , Burninator wrote: : :It is a Toshiba PCX1100U. It doesn't have a status page you can :access. Comcast remotely cycled the modem today but phone support :couldn't do more than that and that didn't solve problem. :192.168.100.1 doesn't get response. Cursory search indicates that :you can't get to diag on this modem. :I own the modem and installed it myself. It is at least 5 years old :and could very easily be going bad. I was hoping someone might :recognize the oddity of lights on modem indicating normal status while :no data is getting through. I did the cabling and the coax is less :than a year old. Thanks for your response.

One alternative is to stop by your local Comcast office and pick up a rental modem. At $3 to $5 a month it's a pretty cheap way to try a modem swap, and if the problem persists it's now Comcast's lines and Comcast's modem (as long as you're confident about your inside wiring). Also, if there's any chance you might want to upgrade to the higher speeds that will become available as Comcast upgrades to DOCSIS 3, you really don't want to be buying a modem right now. There are currently no DOCSIS 3 modems available for direct sale to consumers.

Reply to
Robert Nichols

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