Connection Dropping - Help Please (long)

sheppy99 · 30-08-2005, 12:18

Hi,
I have been having intermittent connection dropping problems for several weeks now and have tried in vain to get a fix from NTL. So far my Surfboard has been swapped for a NTL 100, the engineer has adjusted the gain in the cabinet and confirmed the received signal is good, in desperation I've plugged a TV into the cable outlet and the TV picture is good with no interference or co-channel interference. My received signal levels are 7.2dBmV with SNR of 31.0dB, upstream power is 37.50dBmV and the modem has the firmware update with the NTL logo. I have Microsoft ISA 2004 as a firewall and have allowed DHCP packets through as well as ping's. ISA attempts to contact specified hosts on the internet every couple of minutes and sends me an email when they are down, I get several of these per day and can't get on the net / MSN drops often.
Any clues how I can persuade tech support that something isn't working or do I just have to give up and move to ADSL?

Chris W · 30-08-2005, 12:33

When the connection drops, check the power levels and SNR then, do they change?

Does the cable modem lose the sync and rdy lights when the connection drops?

sheppy99 · 30-08-2005, 14:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris W

When the connection drops, check the power levels and SNR then, do they change?

Does the cable modem lose the sync and rdy lights when the connection drops?

Sync and ready lights stay on, it just dropped out several times and I had to restart the modem each time to restore service. Signal levels were S/N 31dBmV, Rx Power 6.0dB, Transmit Power 34dBmV.

Earlier I did a traceroute from elsewhere on the internet and when the system was down I couldn't ping anything from my end including what I think is my UBR.

Any idea how I can make the nice people in Bangalore or whereever they are send me an engineer who knows what he is doing???

carlingman · 31-08-2005, 02:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheppy99

Sync and ready lights stay on, it just dropped out several times and I had to restart the modem each time to restore service. Signal levels were S/N 31dBmV, Rx Power 6.0dB, Transmit Power 34dBmV.

Earlier I did a traceroute from elsewhere on the internet and when the system was down I couldn't ping anything from my end including what I think is my UBR.

Any idea how I can make the nice people in Bangalore or whereever they are send me an engineer who knows what he is doing???

HI sheppy,

SNR of 31 is fine.

Also downstream of of 6 is within the range.

The upstream although within the range at 34 seems a little low would expect to see it in the 40s and above.

Any other errors from the config tab on the diagnostics ???

sheppy99 · 31-08-2005, 08:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by carlingman

HI sheppy,

SNR of 31 is fine.

Also downstream of of 6 is within the range.

The upstream although within the range at 34 seems a little low would expect to see it in the 40s and above.

Any other errors from the config tab on the diagnostics ???

No errors at all, in fact after a record of working for 1 1/2 hours yesterday after my last call to them it packed up and refused to work overnight, I had to change my MAC Address this morning before it would work again. Thats a first. Wonder if I have 2 faults now

sheppy99 · 31-08-2005, 13:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheppy99

No errors at all, in fact after a record of working for 1 1/2 hours yesterday after my last call to them it packed up and refused to work overnight, I had to change my MAC Address this morning before it would work again. Thats a first. Wonder if I have 2 faults now

Update, it packed up again, usual thing lights fine but no data transfer, noticed the odd rubbish packet was still arriving in the firewall logs but no connectvity, rebooted modem and it worked for about 5 minutes before packing up again. Surely this is a cabinet problem???? Oh yes wasted another 30 minutes or so on the phone to india but apparently I'm getting a call from a level 2 tech, I'll not hold my breath.

Saneboy13 · 31-08-2005, 13:04

Hi Sheppy,

Can you PM me your modem MAC address, I will try and have a look on the system to see what's happening for you

sheppy99 · 31-08-2005, 13:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saneboy13

Hi Sheppy,

Can you PM me your modem MAC address, I will try and have a look on the system to see what's happening for you

Done, thanks for taking a look, this really is an odd one!! My money goes on a piece of kit dieing in the heat as it always packs up when its hot. The last engineer who arrived told me someone else around the corner had the same problem...

Saneboy13 · 31-08-2005, 13:24

SheppyCan you just confirm the last 2 digits of your MAC address for me please? In your PM it came out with an emoticon for the last but one digit

sheppy99 · 31-08-2005, 13:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saneboy13

SheppyCan you just confirm the last 2 digits of your MAC address for me please? In your PM it came out with an emoticon for the last but one digit

D6

Saneboy13 · 31-08-2005, 13:31

Sheppy,

Thank's for that. The trace went through fine, but I will pm you over something I have spotted. It's a little concerning, and I don't want it broadcast here.

Don't worry, it's nothing that can not be sorted out *fingers crossed*

Saneboy13 · 31-08-2005, 14:05

Sheppy,

I have just pm'd you because I have spotted something I need clarifacation with

sheppy99 · 31-08-2005, 14:42

Cheers for that, was eating lunch, off out briefly now but will try and log in from elsewhere.

sheppy99 · 31-08-2005, 18:00

Saneboy13 has very kindly taken a look at my modem and can't see anything wrong. As its an intermittent problem I have, can anyone suggest how I can get an engineer over here when it fails again? Its been working flawlessly since 13:00, something of a record recently.

Saneboy13 · 31-08-2005, 18:23

Hi Sheppy,

I have just sent you some other suggestions to look at and try. If you fail with those, can you tell me what area you live in and when I get in to work tomorrow I will see if I can contact an engineer myself and get his views and a bit more info. on what they have tried/done themselves