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Peter_Stanley · 17-12-2005, 19:37

Okay, here's the problem. I'm on the 1Mbit service and 99.9% of the time all goes swimmingly (so much better than the ADSL line I just cancelled, but that's another story). However, every now and then strange dropouts occur when all internet requests go into a black hole. This can happen several times a day and lasts for anything from a few seconds to upwards of 5 minutes.

When the problem occurs, the ntl250 cable modem's POWER, SYNC and RDY lights remain solid. The ENET light remains solid except when data is being sent (e.g. I request a webpage), when both it and the SEND light flash briefly. However, the RECV light remain resolutely unlit.

During these periods, I can't ping any servers including NTL's DNS servers. Trying a tracert gives 30 reports of * * * Request timed out unless the connection recovers during the tracert, when it reports (for example):

1 * * * Request timed out.
2 * * * Request timed out.
.
.
.
30 16 ms 14 ms 13 ms cache1.ntli.net [194.168.4.100].

Power levels, especially upstream, jump around a bit, but I believe the steady SYNC and RDY lights mean my connection to the head end is okay, so what is the cause of this connectivity black hole?

I can still access the cable modem diagnostics during these dropouts, the problem occurs both with & without the router in the loop and on different pcs, so there is no connectivity issue on my LAN.

At the moment I can live with the minor inconvenience (chill pill taken, see below!) but does anyone else suffer the same symptoms or is this unique to me?

I don't relish the prospect of trying to explain this to NTL's Indian Support Centre, unless they've improved drastically in the last 9 months they don't understand intermittent. Seemingly the same problem (but more frequent/worse) was the reason I ditched NTL for ADSL early this year. That was an unhappy experience due to BT Wholesale and Aluminium phone cables

. So I'm back, tail between my legs with the same issue as before and would appreciate some guidance from the sages on here about likely causes and how to tackle this.

17-12-2005, 19:37	#1
Peter_Stanley Inactive Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Reading Services: NTL 1Mb, NTL 250 modem & Linksys router, Sky & BT Posts: 45	Occassional dropouts Okay, here's the problem. I'm on the 1Mbit service and 99.9% of the time all goes swimmingly (so much better than the ADSL line I just cancelled, but that's another story). However, every now and then strange dropouts occur when all internet requests go into a black hole. This can happen several times a day and lasts for anything from a few seconds to upwards of 5 minutes. When the problem occurs, the ntl250 cable modem's POWER, SYNC and RDY lights remain solid. The ENET light remains solid except when data is being sent (e.g. I request a webpage), when both it and the SEND light flash briefly. However, the RECV light remain resolutely unlit. During these periods, I can't ping any servers including NTL's DNS servers. Trying a tracert gives 30 reports of * * * Request timed out unless the connection recovers during the tracert, when it reports (for example): 1 * * * Request timed out. 2 * * * Request timed out. . . . 30 16 ms 14 ms 13 ms cache1.ntli.net [194.168.4.100]. Power levels, especially upstream, jump around a bit, but I believe the steady SYNC and RDY lights mean my connection to the head end is okay, so what is the cause of this connectivity black hole? I can still access the cable modem diagnostics during these dropouts, the problem occurs both with & without the router in the loop and on different pcs, so there is no connectivity issue on my LAN. At the moment I can live with the minor inconvenience (chill pill taken, see below!) but does anyone else suffer the same symptoms or is this unique to me? I don't relish the prospect of trying to explain this to NTL's Indian Support Centre, unless they've improved drastically in the last 9 months they don't understand intermittent. Seemingly the same problem (but more frequent/worse) was the reason I ditched NTL for ADSL early this year. That was an unhappy experience due to BT Wholesale and Aluminium phone cables . So I'm back, tail between my legs with the same issue as before and would appreciate some guidance from the sages on here about likely causes and how to tackle this.