10 Meg Problem With Motorola Modem

[rashid]

Hello everybody ,

Er and a specially big hello to Ignition as he appears to have immense knowledge, depth and drive to help people here!

I am a new Telewest 10meg Broadband and Supreme TV customer. I bought this on 16th November but only started to use it since last week.

I bought the 35£ broadband elite option just because it was 10meg connection. I have checked my speeds because it appeared to be slower than the 2meg NTL connection i previously had at my previous place.

I have called TW customer support many times but they are totally unwilling to help, dont even like to hear about speed tests and say that they can only test speed from their server offering evaluation games. Even that was slow.

I have checked my cable modem which is a Motorolla SURFboard cable modem and following is the detail:
=================
Downstream Value
Frequency 331000000 Hz
Signal To Noise Ratio 41.2 dB
Power Level 0.4 dBmV
The Downstream Power Level reading is a snapshot taken at the time this page was requested. Please Reload/Refresh this Page for a new reading
=================
Upstream Value
Channel ID 2
Frequency 29000000 Hz
Power 54.0 dBmV
=================
The Upstream power was 55.5 dBmV 3 hours ago.

Following are the cable modem's logs:
=================================
Time Priority Code Description
2005-12-06 21:53:22 4-Error E107.0 SW upgrade Failed after download - Incompatible SW file
2005-12-06 21:53:21 6-Notice E102.0 SW Download INIT - Via Config file cm-10240-384
2005-12-06 21:53:21 6-Notice I401.0 TLV-11 - unrecognized OID
1970-01-01 00:00:13 3-Critical D003.0 DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response.
2005-12-06 20:14:36 6-Notice E102.0 SW Download INIT - Via Config file cm-10240-384
2005-12-06 20:14:35 6-Notice I401.0 TLV-11 - unrecognized OID
1970-01-01 00:00:15 3-Critical D003.0 DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response.
2005-12-05 19:48:06 6-Notice E102.0 SW Download INIT - Via Config file cm-10240-384
2005-12-05 19:48:05 6-Notice I401.0 TLV-11 - unrecognized OID
1970-01-01 00:00:10 3-Critical D003.0 DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response.
2005-12-05 18:16:42 3-Critical R005.0 Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out
2005-12-04 08:31:46 5-Warning D103.0 DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response
2005-11-28 19:25:18 4-Error E107.0 SW upgrade Failed after download - Incompatible SW file
2005-11-28 19:25:16 6-Notice E102.0 SW Download INIT - Via Config file cm-10240-384
2005-11-28 19:25:15 6-Notice I401.0 TLV-11 - unrecognized OID
1970-01-01 00:00:14 3-Critical D003.0 DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response.
2005-11-25 21:08:22 4-Error E107.0 SW upgrade Failed after download - Incompatible SW file
2005-11-25 21:08:20 6-Notice E102.0 SW Download INIT - Via Config file cm-10240-384
2005-11-25 21:08:20 6-Notice I401.0 TLV-11 - unrecognized OID
1970-01-01 00:00:18 3-Critical D003.0 DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response.
1970-01-01 00:00:08 3-Critical R002.0 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2005-11-16 15:08:52 6-Notice E102.0 SW Download INIT - Via Config file cm-10240-384
2005-11-16 15:08:52 6-Notice I401.0 TLV-11 - unrecognized OID
1970-01-01 00:00:18 3-Critical D003.0 DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response.
1970-01-01 00:00:10 3-Critical R002.0 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2005-11-16 15:03:40 6-Notice E102.0 SW Download INIT - Via Config file cm-10240-384
2005-11-16 15:03:39 6-Notice I401.0 TLV-11 - unrecognized OID
2005-11-16 15:03:37 3-Critical D003.0 DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response.
2005-11-16 15:03:29 3-Critical R002.0 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2005-11-16 15:03:21 3-Critical T002.0 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2005-11-16 15:03:08 3-Critical T001.0 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2005-11-16 15:03:08 3-Critical T002.0 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2005-11-16 15:03:06 3-Critical T001.0 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2005-11-16 15:01:56 3-Critical R004.0 Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance o
2005-11-16 15:01:56 3-Critical T001.0 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2005-11-16 15:01:42 3-Critical T002.0 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2005-11-16 15:01:34 3-Critical T001.0 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2005-11-16 14:59:35 5-Warning D103.0 DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response
2005-11-16 14:29:38 4-Error E107.0 SW upgrade Failed after download - Incompatible SW file
2005-11-16 14:29:37 6-Notice E102.0 SW Download INIT - Via Config file cm-10240-384
2005-11-16 14:29:37 6-Notice I401.0 TLV-11 - unrecognized OID
1970-01-01 00:23:12 3-Critical D003.0 DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response.
1970-01-01 00:23:08 3-Critical D001.0 DHCP FAILED - Discover sent, no offer received
1970-01-01 00:21:58 3-Critical R002.0 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
1970-01-01 00:21:47 3-Critical D001.0 DHCP FAILED - Discover sent, no offer received
1970-01-01 00:18:35 3-Critical R002.0 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
1970-01-01 00:18:28 3-Critical T002.0 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
1970-01-01 00:18:16 3-Critical T001.0 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
========================================
Can anyone, specially Ignition please help as the CS staff and the second line female engineer were useless and could not offer me any support?

Does this Motorola SURFboard cable modem capable of 10meg?
Modem details:
Motorola SURFboard cable modem
Software Version: SB5101E-0.4.1.4-SCM02-NOSH
Hardware Version: 1
MIB Version: II
GUI Version: 1.0

Thank you,
Rashid Khan

[Ignition]

o_O

Modem is fine, problem looks like an upstream issue and will probably need an engineer to check it out.

Most of the errors there suggest issues talking back to the kit at Telewest, the high power level also indicates this, if I'm thinking straight that power level is out of spec for the upstream type that Telewest use in some areas, which is probably the case for you.

Not unusual as Telewest have been known to upgrade areas in this way for the extra bandwidth and worry about the faults it might cause later.

[jubbly]

I am getting the same sw upgrade failed on my modem, I called support to see if I had been upgraded, they told me my area had but as I was a 256kb customer I wouldn't get any upgrade. Trouble is I'm on elite 2mb never been a 256kb customer they then told me to ring customer service, which I did and they are telling me my area hasn't been upgraded yet and there is no date for the upgrade yet.

Not the best customer service in the world! (Glad I left)

[sav112]

Downstream should be 331Mhz
Upstream 22-45mhz Frequency

power levels down -12 - 4
up 34 -56
SNR min 29 max 36 ( yours is 41) can effect conection quality.

[Ignition]

Originally Posted by sav112

Downstream should be 331Mhz
Upstream 22-45mhz Frequency

power levels down -12 - 4
up 34 -56
SNR min 29 max 36 ( yours is 41) can effect conection quality.

Upstream can be lower and higher than the frequency range you are suggesting, 45MHz as an upper limit makes no sense at all based on my knowledge of the kit (diplex filters, return path amps and lasers) that limits this band.

Power levels can go above +4dBmV with no issues. Telewest aim for +1dBmV. Modems should be ok between +15dBmV and -15dBmV, recommended between +10 and -10 though, +12 to -12 a good figure to allow some variation with the weather.

Upstream power of 55dBmV can be critically high depending on the modulations used in the upstream, it can infact be out of spec and cause connection drops. In some Telewest areas this will cause drops, in some it'll be about ok. Recommend this isn't any higher than 52dBmV for decent operation and some safety margin.

SNR there is no upper limit really, the higher the better. This is a measure of the average power of the wanted signal less the averaged power of the background unwanted noise - how can this be too high unless it's a ridiculous figure that's clearly a mis-reading?

29 is pushing it somewhat, really this needs to be upwards of 33dB if using (as the cable operators do virtually everywhere now where they are on DOCSIS) 256QAM downstreams.

NB using 'average(d)' for the sake of argument, it's actually not entirely accurate but I can't be bothered with explaining why it's not entirely accurate, it's good enough

EDIT: Bit of an old one to resurrect?

[Telewest_Ash]

The channel of the cable modem t gain accsess to the 10mb connection shud be channel 3.

Channel 2 is normally a busy Telewest server for 2mb and 4 mb customers

Channels 3 4 are reserved for 10mb customers.

Once the channel has been changed save the changes and press Restart cable modem.

The Cable Modem Restart can take from 5 mins 2 30 mins, depending on ho busy the servers are at Telewest

[roryf]

i some how dont believe the channel for 10mb users is #3, its just as bad as all the others mate.. average ping to bbc.co.uk is 44ms, been advised this should be a lot lower. downloaded from gamefiles.blueyonder.co.uk levelling out around 100k/sec - we had better speeds than this on the 2mb service

its a joke.

[Ignition]

Originally Posted by Telewest_Ash

The channel of the cable modem t gain accsess to the 10mb connection shud be channel 3.

Channel 2 is normally a busy Telewest server for 2mb and 4 mb customers

Channels 3 4 are reserved for 10mb customers.

Once the channel has been changed save the changes and press Restart cable modem.

The Cable Modem Restart can take from 5 mins 2 30 mins, depending on ho busy the servers are at Telewest

What are you on about?

The individual 'channels' bear no relation at all to which tier of service a customer is on, nor is there anything enforcing channels on customers depending on their tiers.

Any perceived issues with a particular channel are down to either poor balancing or problems on one or more upstream channels causing modems to migrate to other channels.

The restart should take less than a minute generally. The load on Telewest's servers should never be so high that a modem will be waiting this length of time to be given an IP address. Modems should remember the last set of parameters they connected with and attempt to use those initially, and only if those fail should there be any reason for the modem taking the time to rescan frequencies. A full rescan can take hours.

A more likely course of events is that due to local network segmentation your modem is unable to use the requested upstream channel, so it'll give that a pop and after a little while give up and resynch to a different channel being offered by the Cisco uBR.

If Telewest's servers can take up to 30 mins just to look up a few details in a database, grant an IP address over DHCP and send a small config file with TFTP speed issues are the least of our worries.

Actually I see you work for BY support, or have it listed in your interests anyway. If you are interested in broadband tech support you need to get out more

Anyway http://www.cablemodem.com and the documents on there will provide a good grounding on cable modem standards and recommended implimentations.

The stuff you've provided above would waste so much bandwidth and cause so many issues it wouldn't even be funny.

[justamin]

Hmm well now he could work for the special BY TEC support, the ones you get to talk to who will advise you to format your P C, blame everything but the pope, then hear voices that tell them to read page 2 of the good BY support teams brief that says if all else fails and you can't blame the tec just say some areas are having problems at the moment and we are fixing it...

As for the real problem here, yep mostly right Ignition, now the speck is +3 to _7. taking into account the +7 db in a 256 area..

it still could be a modem fault here, as some will misread...and 56 is to high...
will still work but with slow speeds, loss of connection and finnally giving up and no connection at all...

channels are set and on some modems can be changed but may go back to whatever is available, yep sometimes they do get to busy and moving up will be a temp fix...

his high upstream could be anything from a bad connector, damaged drop, faulty modem, fault in the network..

A trace will tell you which hop is giving probs, and by how much..

people spend their time pinging places and just clog up the network, besides data that is being sent will move over them hence at times they will drop packets.. that is the way it is designed to be...


okies so far.. some here seems well informed and give out really good advice,
others well they are the reason I wake up smiling, there is nothing worse that putting something inprint that makes a fool out of the poster...


MY MOTTO, DON'T BEWARE THE MAD PEOPLE THEY WON'T HURT YOU, ITS THE SANE ONE'S YOU HAVE TO WATCH...

HAVE A GOOD DAY GUYS

[Ignition]

Originally Posted by justamin

As for the real problem here, yep mostly right Ignition, now the speck is +3 to _7. taking into account the +7 db in a 256 area..

Ooo that chap from my Digital Spy, hello sir.

The +7dBmV the power at the launch amp? Oki doki. Not essential but thanks for the info. You'll probably regret saying what your specs for power levels are now though, people will think they need to be in that range for it to work

Are you chaps running 16QAM on the returns in Rashid's area? If you are the 55.5dBmV is outside of the modem and DOCSIS specs

Hope I'm not one of the people who makes you laugh when you wake up

P.S. If you find out anymore about Zoltron let me know I post on there as well

[monkeyboy2222]

ok i'm a telewest engineer just thought i'd add my 10cents:

10mbs modem models - motorola surfboard 5100, 5200
webstar EPC2100 V2
there are others but we dont install them anymore so if u've got an old one ask for a new one or just "accidentally" break it! then make sure the tech gives you one of those models. if they try to give you a webstar dpx100 they're crap anyways so just aviod them.

signal levels - '-15' downstream is within spec?!? are you mad?! -7 is the lowest you can go and expect a serivce! even then you'll lose it completely at peak times.
upstream levels - this ones important -you can get away with 56, but again like the downstream you'll lose service at peak times. anything under 50 and your laughing.
you can expect to lose 1-3dB at peak times on the down which means a similar upstream rise.

as for changing upstream channels it can help lower ur upstream, but wont help download speeds - the main problem is people downloading huuuuuuuuuuuuuuge vast mahooosive amounts of data all day all nite!
and also remember that our networks were instaled a while ago - anyone remember analogue Cable TV?? hmm?? so a network primarily designed for analogue then being upgrade to digi is gonna give you issues eventually! its plain ol' common sense.
Especially with the amount of data they cram down a bit of coax into your house now.
and those people who say "i kno the advert says 'upto 10meg' but a service that only reaches 5-6meg??" STOP THERE YOU'VE ANSWERED YOUR OWN FRIKKEN COMPLAINT! UPTO! not garunteed at all.
anyway thanks for reading.

[r00]

[quote=Ignition]What are you on about?

The load on Telewest's servers should never be so high that a modem will be waiting this length of time to be given an IP address.
If Telewest's servers can take up to 30 mins just to look up a few details in a database, grant an IP address over DHCP and send a small config file with TFTP speed issues are the least of our worries.

n1, that answer for me why my modem takes so long to get an ip number when its been switched off a while. Even during the night. And Win Xp times out well before 30 mins and advises you to contact yr network admin

Actually I see you work for BY support,

BY afficionados will have no criticism of the it no matter what.

[justamin]

IGNITION..

sorry for taking so long to reply..just been a busy week..

Well havent looked there yet so no idea if he replied..he's proberly waiting to ask someone whats an OE and LD..

and nice to see you here as well...

Hmm yep well the spec does say between not smack on but yep peeps will insisit on it being right on pls right on..I did hear that NTL'S modems wil run at 58 up to 60 ours wont..thats from a network guy who works for them...

ok lets see what else hmm yessss.Mr monkey,

the Telewest engin..

if you are a Telewest eng whatever, telling ppl not to accept anything but this modem or that well you should know the tec's have nooo control over what Modems or dhts they carry, and seeing as I have DP 100 STILL RUNNING FINE, must be a fluke...yep they should be removed from service and are not issued anymore...but then I belive in if it works and it does leave it the hell alone...

as for sig levels.. nope your wrong the speck is between +3 and -7, but will run perfect at up to -11..just wont pass isa....will still run up to minus 15.

but then again depends on the drop off at night..ideally in the perfect world below 48 above 30...the real world however trying to achive this all the time well aint gona happen yet...

as for r00 well if its taking that amount of time to get an Ip addy then maybe you need a really good tec to find out why...even with the amount of traffic on the network no way should it take longer that a few mins...


okies hopefull no one person is offended I would sooner get you all in one go and get the crap outa the way before the weekend....

Opp neally forgot nope ignition not you that makes me smile however send your pics over and Ill share with the lads at work, we need a new dart board... and yesss I'm joking honest...

[monkeyboy2222]

JUSTAMIN,

i dont doubt that we have no control over stock (i personally hate being give pace DHTs at the mo lol their fault rates are astronomical), but if u recieve a dpx100 now the likelyhood is its a 2nd hand unit! the fault rate/return rate for those modems is much higher than any other! just speaking from experience thats all! i'm sure ur modem is fine and will continue to work fine.
under -7 on the downstream - how often is the modem goin to lose its lock on the 331 and search all over again? its a matter of QOS more than whether it'll work or not.
ok thats my 20cents now lol

[Stu038]

As an ntl bod soon to be working alongside you gents could one of you please answer a couple of questions?

Originally Posted by monkeyboy2222

-7 is the lowest you can go and expect a serivce! even then you'll lose it completely at peak times.
upstream levels - this ones important -you can get away with 56, but again like the downstream you'll lose service at peak times. anything under 50 and your laughing.
you can expect to lose 1-3dB at peak times on the down which means a similar upstream rise.

What??????
I'm missing somthing obvious here, why should a peak in traffic which I'm guessing your referring to as peak times ie early evening onwards course a fluctuation in RF Levels?

By channels I'm again guessing that your referring to the u/s ports on the uBRs? If so am I reading the posts correctly in that the config the modem recieves tells which port to log on to, seems an awful waste of possible bandwidth to me. Ours log onto any of the available ones in its group, which can number 3, 4, or 6 dependant on card type and RF segmentation.