My first suggestion of all is going to be:

DETERMINE WHETHER THE PROBLEM IS INSIDE OR OUTSIDE BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE

The easiest way to do this is by taking the cable modem out to the ground block (where the cable attaches to your house) and plugging the modem DIRECTLY into the drop (the line coming from the cable company). If you still have problems, you either have a bad drop (or bad ground block) or something is wrong in the plant (the cable company's system).

Yes, you will need to borrow a laptop, or run a long network cable to your computer to test the modem. Do NOT run a long cable wire from the ground block to the modem, unless it's 100% brand new.

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by Raydr