modem keeps shutting down!! Advice needed

welshbhoy · 26-10-2005, 20:17

Over the past week I have been having problems with my PC. I am on the 2mb package and it was slowing down to a stop. I run various scans, spyware and anti virus, nothing found. Then my modem started shutting down, taking my PC with it.

I have the Terayon modem. On it are the power light, cable light and pc light. Whilst trying to identify the problem with my PC I phoned a friend who know's a bit and he asked if my modem had been shutting down. I did'nt know at this point, so started watching the lights on there. Sure enough the cable light would turn off and being connected to my PC via usb the PC would crash.

I have read a little bit on various forums looking for an answer and it seem's the slowdown and losing speed is affecting a lot of people. The complete loss a cable connection however seems confined just to me.

I rang NTL tech support and spoke to a chap named Julian who I have to say was really really helpful and impressed me. He said that he could see my speed had taken a dip at times but could not explain why I keep losing my connection. He said that it could be due to maintainence being carried out, or a hardware conflict. I explained that I had actually just formatted my machine because I thought there was a problem before I realised it was the cable modem and so have a fresh install and no hardware other then the cable modem connected.

Would any one here maybe be able to offer an explanation and a possible fix for this issue?

cheers.

Paul K · 26-10-2005, 20:20

Can you connect via ethernet as USB can be unreliable in this sort of case. Also what tools are you using to scan? Personally I would suggest Spybot S&D
Adaware
MS antispyware tool
at least one AV tool
but I'm thinking your problem lies in the USB connection and the dying modem connection.

welshbhoy · 26-10-2005, 20:36

I've had the modem for nearly 5 years now and cannot find the ethernet leads. I wondered if the modem needed replacing, but when I asked the tech support he said he doubted my modem would be replaced.

As for scanning. I used Norton,for AV, done an online scan with trendmicro. Spyware scan using adaware, webroot and giant. all returned no results!!

Paul K · 26-10-2005, 20:42

Didn't think you would find anything but thought I would check lol. Does the connection slow to a crawl after a certain ammount of time using the connection, at specific times of the day or is it random?
Also can you get into the SACMs config panel to check your signal levels before, during and after the problem occurs?

Chris W · 26-10-2005, 20:44

hmm are you running windows 98 by any chance?

welshbhoy · 26-10-2005, 20:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul

Didn't think you would find anything but thought I would check lol. Does the connection slow to a crawl after a certain ammount of time using the connection, at specific times of the day or is it random?
Also can you get into the SACMs config panel to check your signal levels before, during and after the problem occurs?

The connection slows randomly. No specific time, How do I check my signal levels??

@chris w. Running Windows XP

Paul K · 26-10-2005, 20:50

Dunno if these work on Terayons but
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...66&postcount=1

Chris W · 26-10-2005, 20:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by welshbhoy

The connection slows randomly. No specific time, How do I check my signal levels??

@chris w. Running Windows XP

you can't check the signal levels on a terayon

At a guess, it sounds like the pc is crashing because when the modem loses it's cable connection, windows sees it as a different kind of USB device, the "unsafe" disconnection of one device and then connection of another (as far as windows is concerned) is likely to be what is causing the pc to crash.

IIRC the problem was particularly prevalent with the following usb chipsets: sis 7001, Via 3038 and Ali M1543. Check in the device manager to see if you have any of these (navigate to the "Universal Serial Bus" category and expand it).

It would be advisable to switch to ethernet as this is a much more stable connection. If the ethernet cable is the only issue you have, send me a SAE and i'll pop one in the post for you (PM me for details).

However, the fact that the cable light is going out suggests that the modem is losing it's connection- most likely caused by a low power level, or low Signal to Noise ratio. Contact ntl and they should get an engineer booked for you. He may/ may not replace the modem depending on whether this is necessary or not.

hth
__________________

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul

Dunno if these work on Terayons but
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...66&postcount=1

nope doesn't work... sorry

welshbhoy · 26-10-2005, 20:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul

Dunno if these work on Terayons but
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...66&postcount=1

won't let me connect to the link, connection refused.

mmm · 26-10-2005, 21:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris W

you can't check the signal levels on a terayon
...
(

Not entirely true you can use Robin Walker's Docsdiag in client side mode

Code:

>jview /cp docsdiag.jar docsdiag -v
DocsDiag v030720 Copyright 2001-3 Robin Walker rdhw@cam.ac.uk

Terayon DOCSIS Cable Modem: <<HW_REV: 6.62; VENDOR: Terayon; BOOTR: NONE; SW_REV
: 1.7.14; MODEL: >>

System up time                       = 26 days 13h 42m 22.34s
...
IP address.192.168.100.1             = 192.168.100.1
Ethernet single-collision errs.1     = 1386
Ethernet multiple-collision errs.1   = 1411
Downstream channel ID                = 0
Downstream channel frequency         = 402750000 Hz
Downstream received signal power     = 5.5 dBmV
Upstream channel ID                  = 6
Upstream channel frequency           = 36784000 Hz
Upstream timing offset               = 13177 units of (6.25/64) microseconds
QoS max upstream bandwidth           = 100000 bps
QoS max downstream bandwidth         = 1024000 bps
SigQu: received without error        = 381661395 codewords
SigQu: correctable errors            = 0 codewords
SigQu: uncorrectable errors          = 0 codewords
SigQu: Signal to Noise Ratio         = 33.4 dB
SigQu: microreflections              = 23 dBc
Cable modem status                   = Operational
Upstream transmit signal power       = 39.5 dBmV
Number of interface resets           = 1
Downstream sync losses               = 0
Invalid MAP msgs received            = 0
Invalid UCD msgs received            = 0
Invalid Ranging Responses rcvd       = 0
Invalid Registration Resps rcvd      = 0
T1 timer expiries                    = 0
T2 timer expiries                    = 0
T3 timer expiries                    = 3
T4 timer expiries                    = 0
Ranging Aborts                       = 0
Tx mini-slots used (contended).180   = 0
Tx mini-slots used (dedicated).180   = 38959951
Tx data re-tries.180                 = 0
Tx data retry limit exceeded.180     = 0
Tx bandwidth req retries.180         = 23625
Tx bw req retry lim exceeded.180     = 42
Date and Time                        = 2005-10-26,20:10:16.0+00:00
Configuration filename               = cmreg-tera210x-light.cm

but only using Ethernet...

patrickp · 27-10-2005, 00:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris W

It would be advisable to switch to ethernet as this is a much more stable connection. If the ethernet cable is the only issue you have, send me a SAE and i'll pop one in the post for you (PM me for details).

See how nice and helpful people are here, welshbhoy? Welcome to the forum, too!

Not only is this sound advice, but it's very easy to change to ethernet once you've got the cable, as well. All you have to do is power down (PC and modem), replace the USB lead with the ethernet lead (different sockets, of course), boot the modem and let it settle, then boot your PC.

Probably a good idea to uninstall the modem USB driver, as well. Read through a few threads and articles: changing from USB to ethernet is definitely recommended.

jonbr · 27-10-2005, 13:19

Welshbhoy, I had the same problem with a Terayon modem. It turned out that it only happened when I put a heavy load on the modem by downloading a video clip or s/w update. I managed to get it to fail (no cable light) and called CS, they arranged an engineer as it was down when they looked at it.

When the engineer arrived, he just changed the modem for a new 250. He told me the old Terayon's suffered from power fluctuations and we had had many over the weeks before due to a short in the mains cable when it rained. Yeh, I know, sounds unlikely but that's what the electricity board told us!

However, do try the ethernet connection first, as it it much more reliable and removes the need for drivers.