Place your bets......
modem or router or line
Saturday, May 10, 2008 by Lantec | Discussion: Personal Computing
First off, the information..... at home I have Roadrunner high speed online with telephone service thru the same modem (Arris provided by Brighthouse) connected to a Linksys Wireless G 2.4ghz router. My computer is physically connected to the router and my wife & son use the wireless connection (only allowed MAC addresses).
NOW for the issue...for the last 6-8 weeks I've noticed that from time to time my phone will be "out of service" no dial tone if you call it goes directly to voicemail. I also noticed some drop outs on the internet and I've frequently (2+ times a week) had to cycle my modem & router. I see the companies trucks working in the surrounding area a lot so I assume it's do to some network issue. Yesterday it was out all day so I called and the tech says there have been no network downtime in my area to speak of. He checked from his side and he can see my modem but it won't go online (at the time) so I'm supposed to get a visit this evening to fix whatever the problem may be........oh and just for laughs everythings working again since about noon.
Soooo here's the deal, where would you put your money on what the problem is? Personally I think it's a line issue and the signal is getting degraded somewhere nearby. Optionally, I guess the modem could be bad or maybe the router has a short or some issues. Both are surge protected as well as the phone line. Place your bets....
NOW for the issue...for the last 6-8 weeks I've noticed that from time to time my phone will be "out of service" no dial tone if you call it goes directly to voicemail. I also noticed some drop outs on the internet and I've frequently (2+ times a week) had to cycle my modem & router. I see the companies trucks working in the surrounding area a lot so I assume it's do to some network issue. Yesterday it was out all day so I called and the tech says there have been no network downtime in my area to speak of. He checked from his side and he can see my modem but it won't go online (at the time) so I'm supposed to get a visit this evening to fix whatever the problem may be........oh and just for laughs everythings working again since about noon.
Soooo here's the deal, where would you put your money on what the problem is? Personally I think it's a line issue and the signal is getting degraded somewhere nearby. Optionally, I guess the modem could be bad or maybe the router has a short or some issues. Both are surge protected as well as the phone line. Place your bets....
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Wizard1956
Reply #2 Saturday, May 10, 2008 1:27 PM
Reply #2 Saturday, May 10, 2008 1:27 PM
My money's on a line/equipment issue on their side. Or....have you seen any unusual lights hovering overhead? Could be a ufo! 
I hope they get you fixed up,good luck.
I hope they get you fixed up,good luck.
RPGFX
Reply #3 Saturday, May 10, 2008 1:53 PM
Reply #3 Saturday, May 10, 2008 1:53 PM
I had a very similar issue a few years ago. It turned out to be an exposed line outside my house. Have you noticed that the outages occur during rain or strong wind?
ShelbyGT_The_Car
Reply #4 Saturday, May 10, 2008 1:59 PM
Reply #4 Saturday, May 10, 2008 1:59 PM
You have now been upgraded to a faster network. Thus we are happy to inform you of a small increase in your monthly bill. We are sorry for the problems in your area. But we had little choice since you are always using up your bandwidth.
Thank you!
I have heard of some people with cable connections getting such a notice. Due to their use of to much bandwidth and such. So they say... But actually it is just a way to make you pay more.
Oh when the Men in Black do show up... that is it for you! They usually take everything they want and place you in a container. A small container at that too!
Good luck!
SGT
Thank you!
I have heard of some people with cable connections getting such a notice. Due to their use of to much bandwidth and such. So they say... But actually it is just a way to make you pay more.
Oh when the Men in Black do show up... that is it for you! They usually take everything they want and place you in a container. A small container at that too!
Good luck!
SGT
CommanderGizmo
Reply #5 Saturday, May 10, 2008 2:27 PM
Reply #5 Saturday, May 10, 2008 2:27 PM
I was just helping a customer track down an annoying intermittent problem. AT&T's top level support said they thought it was a mole digging in the ground bumping the line every time it went past. They'd have to catch it while it was screwing up to be sure.
Now thats and explanation!
Now thats and explanation!
Achronous
Reply #6 Saturday, May 10, 2008 2:43 PM
Reply #6 Saturday, May 10, 2008 2:43 PM
Lol, a similar thing happened with the telephone line back home. It was the nibble toe for some weasels...
Artysim
Reply #7 Saturday, May 10, 2008 3:08 PM
Reply #7 Saturday, May 10, 2008 3:08 PM
Lantec, could be lots of things but I think your first two guesses are the most likely at this point (bad modem or cable/RF issue) Having to reset your modem twice in a week should not be happening. Ideally you should only have to do that once in a blue moon.
That said, depending on your providers network and how it's configured there could be other factors at play (although this would probably then be affecting other subs too) Last week we had a problem where an improperly configured firewall was causing one way voice calls!
CarGuy1
Reply #8 Saturday, May 10, 2008 8:53 PM
Reply #8 Saturday, May 10, 2008 8:53 PM
Do you have cable TV with your internet provider also?
If so, have they been running the Emergency Broadcast Test lately?
If the answer is yes, your cable company is broadcasting the test on the channel that your Road Runner is on (I believe channel 66 in my area). The test will screw with your modem and kill your internet.
If so, have they been running the Emergency Broadcast Test lately?
If the answer is yes, your cable company is broadcasting the test on the channel that your Road Runner is on (I believe channel 66 in my area). The test will screw with your modem and kill your internet.
Lantec
Reply #9 Saturday, May 10, 2008 9:28 PM
Reply #9 Saturday, May 10, 2008 9:28 PM
I have CATV(HD), Brighthouse telephone and Road Runner high speed internet all packaged together. We were one of the first 100 customers in the County to take their phone service. We make a lot of long distance calls and save $80/month over Bellsouth with the telephone.
The problem was...........
I found out today that about 6 weeks ago my next door neighbor got the same service I have. He's been having issues too.
His installer was a private contractor and not a Brighthouse Employee....it seems there is more than one kind of cable and the fella used a 6 instead of a 9 (haven't got a clue what that means) to connect to the drops which are 9s...... according to the Brighthouse guy that's a big no-no.....so he was here for about 3.5 hours and ended up putting in complete new drops to both homes. Everything's working great and I even got a bit of a bump in upload speed from 3-4mbs to around 5 mbs
So mostly good guesses.....
The problem was...........
I found out today that about 6 weeks ago my next door neighbor got the same service I have. He's been having issues too.
His installer was a private contractor and not a Brighthouse Employee....it seems there is more than one kind of cable and the fella used a 6 instead of a 9 (haven't got a clue what that means) to connect to the drops which are 9s...... according to the Brighthouse guy that's a big no-no.....so he was here for about 3.5 hours and ended up putting in complete new drops to both homes. Everything's working great and I even got a bit of a bump in upload speed from 3-4mbs to around 5 mbs
So mostly good guesses.....
CarGuy1
Reply #10 Sunday, May 11, 2008 7:46 AM
Wow, that’s fast. I just upgraded to Road Runner Turbo and in my area they only offer 1mbs up and 8mbs down. I'm jealous.
Reply #10 Sunday, May 11, 2008 7:46 AM
Everything's working great and I even got a bit of a bump in upload speed from 3-4mbs to around 5 mbs
Wow, that’s fast. I just upgraded to Road Runner Turbo and in my area they only offer 1mbs up and 8mbs down. I'm jealous.
GenBlood
Reply #11 Sunday, May 11, 2008 9:10 AM
Reply #11 Sunday, May 11, 2008 9:10 AM
Lantec:
the fella used a 6 instead of a 9 (haven't got a clue what that means)
Most likely the number 9 cable has more shielding and the material
of the wire is better too. Also, if their are any splitters being
used. Make sure they are in good working order.
the fella used a 6 instead of a 9 (haven't got a clue what that means)
Most likely the number 9 cable has more shielding and the material
of the wire is better too. Also, if their are any splitters being
used. Make sure they are in good working order.
Lantec
Reply #12 Sunday, May 11, 2008 10:04 AM
My bad.........should have said kbs on the download side
Reply #12 Sunday, May 11, 2008 10:04 AM
Wow, that’s fast. I just upgraded to Road Runner Turbo and in my area they only offer 1mbs up and 8mbs down. I'm jealous.
My bad.........should have said kbs on the download side
Sarissi
Reply #14 Sunday, May 11, 2008 10:17 AM
Reply #14 Sunday, May 11, 2008 10:17 AM
I have Time Warner Cable with Digital Basic, 2 DVRs, and Roadrunner. I also have regular phone service (Embarq with 2 lines - formerly Sprint) and Verizon Wireless.
When RR was first installed, the Tech (idiot) placed an internal splitter to go to TV and RR, which brought the signal below the RR modem's threshold. The second tech (smart) who had to come and fix idiot's screwup(s) had a few things to say about those internal splitters. He replaced the main splitter outside to add another connection, and with some work, found the best position for the RR cable, which goes into the basement, along with a separate line for CATV. Three TVs: basement recreation room, back bedroom, and family room. At this point the cable modem was a Toshiba PCX1100U 10 mbps, which worked fine for several years.
Since then most repair calls have been due to totally insane gray squirrels with an appetite for cable insulation. The last RR repair call was that far too many packets were being dropped. Most of this was between the pole and the modem, and the modem, with some down the line from the pole. I even got the modem upgraded to a 100 mbps.
When the contractor came and installed the DVRs, he did everything right, but, I was having problems. It turned out that the main external splitter was on the flakey side (durn intermittent problems) and got replaced. Everything has been fine since then.
Most tech calls I make (rare) for RR, get bumped immediately to tier 1 (actual systems tech - UNIX admin), since I use multiple OSes and those problems show up in all of my OSes. The ones who take the initial call know that it is beyond their ability and hand me over to tier 1. Sometimes it is limited to the blade I am on, sometimes not, sometimes I simply have to reset my router and cable modem.
For me, Tech or repair calls are very rare.
When RR was first installed, the Tech (idiot) placed an internal splitter to go to TV and RR, which brought the signal below the RR modem's threshold. The second tech (smart) who had to come and fix idiot's screwup(s) had a few things to say about those internal splitters. He replaced the main splitter outside to add another connection, and with some work, found the best position for the RR cable, which goes into the basement, along with a separate line for CATV. Three TVs: basement recreation room, back bedroom, and family room. At this point the cable modem was a Toshiba PCX1100U 10 mbps, which worked fine for several years.
Since then most repair calls have been due to totally insane gray squirrels with an appetite for cable insulation. The last RR repair call was that far too many packets were being dropped. Most of this was between the pole and the modem, and the modem, with some down the line from the pole. I even got the modem upgraded to a 100 mbps.
When the contractor came and installed the DVRs, he did everything right, but, I was having problems. It turned out that the main external splitter was on the flakey side (durn intermittent problems) and got replaced. Everything has been fine since then.
Most tech calls I make (rare) for RR, get bumped immediately to tier 1 (actual systems tech - UNIX admin), since I use multiple OSes and those problems show up in all of my OSes. The ones who take the initial call know that it is beyond their ability and hand me over to tier 1. Sometimes it is limited to the blade I am on, sometimes not, sometimes I simply have to reset my router and cable modem.
For me, Tech or repair calls are very rare.
angus1949
Reply #15 Monday, May 12, 2008 3:59 PM
I'm on Road Runner with BrightHouse (Tampabay area) also and have been having the same issues as you Lantc except for the phone. Internet down all day last Tuesday and then it popped back on for no reason. This was after 2 unsuccessful tech contacts with BrightHouse. On Friday it went down again. After going through 4 techs the last one finally decided my modem was bad and set up an appointment on Monday to switch out the modem. The connection popped back on again Saturday morning. My existing modem was an Arris, but they brought a brand new Scientific Atlantic 2203c (Cisco). Everything seems to be fine with the modem, but I'm only getting 11-12Mbps out of a 20Mbps service. Now I'm waiting for Linksys support on this issue. Man it never ends. (
Reply #15 Monday, May 12, 2008 3:59 PM
I'm on Road Runner with BrightHouse (Tampabay area) also and have been having the same issues as you Lantc except for the phone. Internet down all day last Tuesday and then it popped back on for no reason. This was after 2 unsuccessful tech contacts with BrightHouse. On Friday it went down again. After going through 4 techs the last one finally decided my modem was bad and set up an appointment on Monday to switch out the modem. The connection popped back on again Saturday morning. My existing modem was an Arris, but they brought a brand new Scientific Atlantic 2203c (Cisco). Everything seems to be fine with the modem, but I'm only getting 11-12Mbps out of a 20Mbps service. Now I'm waiting for Linksys support on this issue. Man it never ends. (
Piznit
Reply #16 Monday, May 12, 2008 4:14 PM
Reply #16 Monday, May 12, 2008 4:14 PM
My money is on them telling you they will be there between the hours of 12 and 6 PM. You'll take off work, and at 6:45 PM, some guy will call you "lost" for the last 2 hours and has been looking for your house.
Broosbee
Reply #17 Wednesday, May 14, 2008 2:12 PM
Reply #17 Wednesday, May 14, 2008 2:12 PM
You are lucky. I used to have RR, but they moved out of Houston and now I have Comcast. Typical service call goes like this. On hold for 20 minutes after going through their voice mail system. Then you get a script kiddie. They know absolutely nothing about the service but they DO have a list of troubleshooting tips. The first thing they want you to do is to disconnect everything. For me that is a router and three computers.
Never mind that everything was working fine until it just decided to quit. Then turn off the modem and computer and restart. (BTW, cycling the modem may work, but if you have the phone service modem it has a battery in it that needs to be unplugged). Only then do they try to ping the modem. When they can't see it they MAY admit that the problem might be theirs.
Then they schedule service within 48 to 96 hours. I've had squirrels munching on the line and a bad connection every time it rained. The tech found the squirrel problem on the first trip, but it took 4 to get the rain problem fixed. Seems like every time they came out it wsn't raining so no problem
The one that really got me mad was when the tech? insisted that I disconect everything while I was trying to tell her that I could see the line lying in the middle of the road in front of my house. I got so mad that I agreed. Naturally, since there was no way they could get the modem to respond, I didn't do anything. Told her I would and to hang on while I crawled around. I waited ten minutes and then got back on the line and told her I was through. It took two days to get that one fixed.
I had some problems with Road Runner, but they did actually have real techs answering the phone. So if you have RR instead of Comcast, count your blessings.
Never mind that everything was working fine until it just decided to quit. Then turn off the modem and computer and restart. (BTW, cycling the modem may work, but if you have the phone service modem it has a battery in it that needs to be unplugged). Only then do they try to ping the modem. When they can't see it they MAY admit that the problem might be theirs.
Then they schedule service within 48 to 96 hours. I've had squirrels munching on the line and a bad connection every time it rained. The tech found the squirrel problem on the first trip, but it took 4 to get the rain problem fixed. Seems like every time they came out it wsn't raining so no problem
The one that really got me mad was when the tech? insisted that I disconect everything while I was trying to tell her that I could see the line lying in the middle of the road in front of my house. I got so mad that I agreed. Naturally, since there was no way they could get the modem to respond, I didn't do anything. Told her I would and to hang on while I crawled around. I waited ten minutes and then got back on the line and told her I was through. It took two days to get that one fixed.
I had some problems with Road Runner, but they did actually have real techs answering the phone. So if you have RR instead of Comcast, count your blessings.
CommanderGizmo
Reply #18 Monday, May 19, 2008 2:10 PM
Reply #18 Monday, May 19, 2008 2:10 PM
AT&T told me the other day that I know more than any of their level 1 or 2 techs and that I should be elevated the moment I call. Wouldn't tell me how I'm supposed to get that to happen though. At least they recognize that it is true.
ZubaZ
Reply #19 Monday, May 19, 2008 3:06 PM
Reply #19 Monday, May 19, 2008 3:06 PM
AT&T told me the other day that I know more than any of their level 1 or 2 techs and that I should be elevated the moment I call
There's a flag on my Vonage account that does exactly that.
CommanderGizmo
Reply #20 Monday, May 19, 2008 7:02 PM
Reply #20 Monday, May 19, 2008 7:02 PM
Since I call about hundreds of accounts (wow! thats not an exaggeration!), one would think I could get a special code or something.
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Reply #1 Saturday, May 10, 2008 12:45 PM
Have you notice any strange vehicles on you street? Seen any men dressed in BLACK!?