Cable modem spontaneously rebooting

squealy · 07-02-2005, 20:12

Hi there. For the past week I've had serious problems with my cable modem rebooting itself. An engineer visited today and said the problem was that the signal to the CM was too strong (46-47 whatever that means) He fitted two "attenuators" to the back of the CM. However, my CM has already rebooted itself 3 times since the engineer left 5 hours ago (which is a slight improvement - it rebooted itself 117 times in 2 days last week according to broadband tech support

)

The problem seems to get worse at "busy" times i.e at weekends and the evening up until about 10pm, after which it only reboots itself once every hour or so.

Any of you techies got any suggestions as to what the cause of these reboots might be as the engineer seemed to think that he'd solved the problem but clearly hasn't.

The modem is an Ambit 100 and I'm on the 300k connection and running XP Pro.

(I will be ringing to arrange another appointment as soon as the CM reboots itself again and I have a few days to spare hanging on the phone at my own expense. It might be nice to have some possible causes to make to the next engineer).

Sorry if I've asked a stupid question or asked in the wrong place.

07-02-2005, 20:28

hiya

you might like to have a read of one of Robin Walkers superb pages from his website

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robin.d...al.html#reboot

which shows how to get to the modem diagnostics & gives some advice on what the range the results for power level etc, should fall into.

Note also that he lists a number of other potential causes for this behaviour, including that the modem itself may be faulty - let us know how you get on

squealy · 07-02-2005, 20:37

Hi homealone. That's all greek to me I'm afraid, but I did manage to get this:

Cable Modem Configuration
Type : Ambit ETH/USB Combo Cable Modem
Cable modem : Ambit Cable Modem
Downstream Receive Power Level : 0.99 dBmv
Downstream SNR : 32.88 dB
Upstream Transmit Power Level : 43.00 dBmv

They all appear to be (just about) within the specified ranges as far as I can see. But then again you could write what I know about cable modems on the back of a very small stamp.

Chris W · 07-02-2005, 20:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by squealy

Hi homealone. That's all greek to me I'm afraid, but I did manage to get this:

Cable Modem Configuration
Type : Ambit ETH/USB Combo Cable Modem
Cable modem : Ambit Cable Modem
MAC address :
IP address : 10.186.xx.xx
Downstream Receive Power Level : 0.99 dBmv
Downstream SNR : 32.88 dB
Upstream Transmit Power Level : 43.00 dBmv

They all appear to be (just about) within the specified ranges as far as I can see. But then again you could write what I know about cable modems on the back of a very small stamp.

First of all... if i was you i would edit your post to remove the mac address and ip address for security reasons

Secondly, call tech support regarding your problem.... 0845 650 0121 because it looks like you need an engineer visit
NB- don't call tonight because of systems maintenance... anytime from tomorrow morning and they will be able to get it booked in.

07-02-2005, 21:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by monkeybreath

First of all... if i was you i would edit your post to remove the mac address and ip address for security reasons

Secondly, call tech support regarding your problem.... 0845 650 0121 because it looks like you need an engineer visit
NB- don't call tonight because of systems maintenance... anytime from tomorrow morning and they will be able to get it booked in.

er - yep, what he said, especially edit out your mac & IP.

- shame the systems maintainance had to be tonight, though.

squealy · 07-02-2005, 21:25

Silly me. Thanks for that monkeybreath.

Is there some way I can phone tech support from work to rearrange my appointment? Last time I tried they told me I had to be at home because they had to run two tests before they could give me an engineer appointment, but is that necessary in this situation? I mean I've already done these "tests" twice now. Of course the cable modem appears to be working fine - it's an INTERMITTENT problem.

Chris W · 07-02-2005, 21:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by squealy

Silly me. Thanks for that monkeybreath.

Is there some way I can phone tech support from work to rearrange my appointment? Last time I tried they told me I had to be at home because they had to run two tests before they could give me an engineer appointment, but is that necessary in this situation? I mean I've already done these "tests" twice now. Of course the cable modem appears to be working fine - it's an INTERMITTENT problem.

ah hah... if you have an appointment booked already then tech support won't need to run any tests to rearrange it

same number as above and same problem with systems being offline so not being able to do it tonight

squealy · 07-02-2005, 21:40

No, I don't have an appointment arranged.

edit: oh soz you were being sarcastic, I'm afraid this whole episode has sorely tested my sense of humour.

The NTL engineer came earlier today and said to phone tech support and get another appointment if it went wrong again after he'd gone. I explained this to the bloke on tech support earlier but he insisted I had to run the tests again and then after the tests had been done he told me that he couldn't book an appointment because the systems were down!!

What exactly goes on with tech support anyway? First time I phoned I got to speak to a nice lady in Swansea, this time I suspect I was speaking to someone in India (not that I have anything against India or Indian people). Am I selecting the wrong option on the phone? (I selected 5 - any other queries, rather than 2 - CM not working - I mean technically speaking it is working it just stops working every now and then

).

Chris W · 07-02-2005, 21:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by squealy

No, I don't have an appointment arranged.

sorry i gathered from the fact that you said you wanted to rearrange an appointment that you already had one booked

Quote:

edit: oh soz you were being sarcastic, I'm afraid this whole episode has sorely tested my sense of humour.

i was?? could you point out where please because i didn't realise i was!!

Quote:

The NTL engineer came earlier today and said to phone tech support and get another appointment if it went wrong again after he'd gone. I explained this to the bloke on tech support earlier but he insisted I had to run the tests again and then after the tests had been done he told me that he couldn't book an appointment because the systems were down!!

What exactly goes on with tech support anyway? First time I phoned I got to speak to a nice lady in Swansea, this time I suspect I was speaking to someone in India (not that I have anything against India or Indian people). Am I selecting the wrong option on the phone? (I selected 5 - any other queries, rather than 2 - CM not working - I mean technically speaking it is working it just stops working every now and then

).

I know what the problem is because i ran a test on the modem from the mac address that you posted. (oh btw i work in tech support

)

There are two langley broadband tech support call centres, one in india, one in swansea, and the calls are shared between them. All of the options on the phone could route to either call centre.

squealy · 07-02-2005, 22:03

[QUOTE=monkeybreath]
I know what the problem is because i ran a test on the modem from the mac address that you posted)

Now here you're being sarcastic right? Because if not, fer Christ's sake tell me what's wrong with it and I'll tell the engineer monkeybreath says to do this. They do know you as monkeybreath in the office right?

paulyoung666 · 07-02-2005, 22:10

[QUOTE=squealy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by monkeybreath

I know what the problem is because i ran a test on the modem from the mac address that you posted)

Now here you're being sarcastic right? Because if not, fer Christ's sake tell me what's wrong with it and I'll tell the engineer monkeybreath says to do this. They do know you as monkeybreath in the office right?

dont ever doubt the great monkeybreath

, now i wonder if he will tell you at all

07-02-2005, 22:20

[QUOTE=squealy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by monkeybreath

I know what the problem is because i ran a test on the modem from the mac address that you posted)

Now here you're being sarcastic right? Because if not, fer Christ's sake tell me what's wrong with it and I'll tell the engineer monkeybreath says to do this. They do know you as monkeybreath in the office right?

no, the notion of Cable Forum members who 'happen' to work for NTL, being known at work by their forum names, should not happen.

- or vice versa, of course

squealy · 07-02-2005, 22:24

Bows to the great monkeybreath. I'm not worthy.

Does that help?

Seriously though, any help you guys can offer me is much appreciated. As you may have gathered I'm not much of a computer genius.

Chris W · 07-02-2005, 22:34

There is nothing that you can do to fix the problem, you will need to contact technical support and have them book another engineer for you.

All the information that the person you speak to will need is in the "bluetools report" so if they are not sure then ask them to check that, or consult a level 2 for further advice if they are still stuck

Any relevant information from this report can be passed to the engineers when the fault is booked in so the engineer should be able to fix it. As for how to fix the problem, i honestly have no idea... i am here to diagnose connectivity issues... i leave the fixing to the engineers

squealy · 07-02-2005, 22:50

Thanks monkeybreath.

Hmm, I'm wondering how to put this when I phone up. I can just hear the conversation:

Me: All the information you need is in the "bluetools report"
Tech Support: How do you know that?
Me: Errr, mmm, errr, a nice man on NTHellWorld told me.

I'm thinking that won't go down too well for some reason or do NTL not mind their tech support providing help via here anymore? I thought that was the reason they bought out the dot com site and then ditched it.