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View Full Version : Dying modem or something else?


Boody
03-07-2010, 13:22
Over the last few days I've been having problems with my internet connection, initially low speed and webpages would randomly take a long time/several attempts to load, now they don't load at all. Power cycling the modem seems to fix things for maybe 15-30 minutes. After a reboot I have no problems with ping or traceroute but once it appears I see 60+% packet loss and trouble from the second hop (modem) onwards.

I'm located in Belfast, the support guy I spoke to this morning was very helpful confirmed no issues locally, that upstream/downstream power levels were okay and after some testing wasn't sure what issue was but suggested replacing modem (it's an old AMBIT one). Seems this is going to take at least 3-5 days, so I'd like to be as sure as I can that replacement will fix the issue. Has anyone encountered anything like this before and/or does anything below look out of place.

Status

Acquire Downstream Channel 402750000 Hz Locked
Connectivity State OK Operational
Boot State OK Operational
Security Enabled BPI


Downstream

Downstream Lock : Locked
Downstream Frequency : 402750000 Hz
Downstream Modulation : QAM256
Downstream Interleave Depth : 32
Downstream Receive Power Level : 3.4 dBmV (usually around 5.0)
Downstream SNR : 30.3 dB


Upstream

Upstream Channel ID : 4
Upstream Transmit Power Level : 42.0 dBmV
Upstream Symbol Rate : 2560 Ksym/sec
Upstream Frequency : 37500000 Hz
Upstream Mini-Slot Size : 2


I've tried connecting directly to the modem, replacing ethernet cables and the USB connection on the modem but all show the same issue. I don't mind waiting for the new modem but I need to organise a new place to live within the next week or so, no internet access is going to make that a lot harder to do.

pip08456
03-07-2010, 13:34
Those modem stats look fine so it looks as if he was right and a new modem is in order.

Peter_
03-07-2010, 13:42
Your SNR is a bit low but within operational parameters.

You should only be using an Ethernet connection as we no longer support USB connections and the modem you receive may or may not have a USB port but the will be no drivers for it anyway.

Try the new modem and take it from there.

Boody
03-07-2010, 13:51
Those modem stats look fine so it looks as if he was right and a new modem is in order.

Thanks, from reading threads here the power levels seemed to be okay which he agreed with but wasn't sure how to interpret the modulation and symbol rate. I've seen a few posts where people have been able to diagnose issues based on those but not obvious what is good/bad.

Slightly concerned that the support guy wasn't able to determine the exact cause of the issue. Plugging the ethernet connection into the modem did something unexpected with his tests, so replacing the modem is the best course of action but might not resolve things. Just so strange that everything works for a while then dies.

Related question, do the current modems have integrated wireless or is that a separate box? I've had my current modem for 5 years and been using my own WRT54G but noticed that VM seem to be giving wireless devices to customers now.

pip08456
03-07-2010, 15:03
VM are giving wireless routers to new customers so you'll have to carry on with your WRT54G