US Cable Support > RCN > [Connectivity] Ongoing problems in the Lehigh Valley

[Connectivity] Ongoing problems in the Lehigh Valley

I've noticed the problems are ongoing to. The problem is, whenever a tech takes a look at the modem, the modem is working properly. I don't think it has anything to do directly with the gateway to the internet. Since i've switched my DNS servers to two opendns addresses, the issue has gone away. I was getting VERY long pauses with service. I feel the DNS cache is to high on their DNS servers and they need to be flushed, but hey, what do i know? I only have a degree in Computer Networking. The techs in the NOC don't believe me when I was able to get a hold of them about the issue. So I just switched to an opendns address... and bam, no issues with websites.

reply to LPZ
I have had similar problems where the modem stops working; you cannot access it with the browser (192.168.0.1), the 4 green lights are solid green, and the orange light is also solid orange (not blinking, as in normal operation).

The problem started to be seen about the time I reconfigured the equipment closet so that the modem and the wireless router were physically very close together. I had read somewhere that if a modem and router are too close to each other, they may interfere with each other.

Several days ago I moved the two units so that they are a little over a foot apart. I have not had the problem since. Did that solve the problem? Time will tell. But you may want to look into it.

reply to shadyman777
I have been using OpenDNS for a long time already. The issue I reported seems to have nothing to do with DNSs.

reply to LPZ
Well, all I can say is that each time I had a similar issue, it really was the modem. My first modem lasted a few years. It was a Toshiba model. When it started to go, it would run very very slow, and drop many times. I would power cycle and it would work for a short time, but then back to the slow behavior. RCN then gave me a used Moto modem. That one was a problem from day one. They then gave me a brand new Scientific Atlantic modem. That's been rock solid since. When the modems go, it's not like they just power off and that's it. If you are renting the modem from RCN, then just request a new, and I mean NEW, modem.

reply to LPZ
Having this problem here in the LV also, gonna go with the suggestion of getting a new modem. My connection is very slow and many pages won't load all the way. It happens periodically- the connection would be fine for 12-24 hours, and then afterwards another 12-24 hours of slowness. No matter how many times I powercycle it, the problem doesn't go away.

I'm currently using the Toshiba PCX2600 supplied by RCN, had it since 2004.

Can I just buy a new modem myself and return my old modem to RCN?

I think I will get the D-Link DCM-202 modem, which was recommended by another post.

reply to LPZ
Well, my problems continue. Modem is dropping offline, maybe twice daily. I suppose I could buy a new modem and see if that resolves the issue, but I'd prefer to know that this isn't an RCN problem before I do that.

Was hoping for some expert help, but I guess the RCN engineers no longer monitor this site.

reply to LPZ
I'm betting 10 to 1 it's your modem.

-Derek-

OK, I've discovered how to obtain my modem's log file. Here is the portion that leads up to my having to reboot the modem early this morning. Can anyone explain what it means?

2009-06-28,04:50:52 Unicast Ranging Received Abort Response - Re- initializing MAC
2009-06-28,04:50:55 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,04:51:02 last event repeated 7 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:51:07 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,04:51:14 last event repeated 17 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:51:14 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2009-06-28,04:51:14 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,04:51:22 last event repeated 22 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:51:32 No UCD's Received - Timeout
2009-06-28,04:51:33 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,04:51:40 last event repeated 19 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:51:45 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,04:51:54 last event repeated 11 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:52:02 Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,04:52:18 last event repeated 6 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:52:19 Unicast Ranging Received Abort Response - Re- initializing MAC
2009-06-28,04:52:22 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,04:52:30 last event repeated 7 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:52:35 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,04:52:52 last event repeated 45 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:52:53 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2009-06-28,04:52:53 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,04:52:59 last event repeated 15 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:53:03 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,04:53:05 last event repeated 3 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:53:09 Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,04:53:27 last event repeated 7 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:53:30 Unicast Ranging Received Abort Response - Re- initializing MAC
2009-06-28,04:53:34 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,04:53:53 last event repeated 19 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:53:57 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,04:53:58 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2009-06-28,04:54:08 No UCD's Received - Timeout
2009-06-28,04:56:59 last event repeated 16 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:57:02 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,04:57:05 last event repeated 7 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:57:09 Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,04:57:29 last event repeated 9 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:57:33 Unicast Ranging Received Abort Response - Re- initializing MAC
2009-06-28,04:57:36 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,04:57:50 last event repeated 11 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:57:54 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,04:57:55 last event repeated 1 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:58:05 No UCD's Received - Timeout
2009-06-28,04:58:37 last event repeated 3 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:58:38 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,04:58:38 last event repeated 3 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:58:38 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2009-06-28,04:58:42 last event repeated 9 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:58:42 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,04:58:43 last event repeated 2 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:58:44 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2009-06-28,04:58:44 last event repeated 1 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,04:58:44 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,04:58:55 No UCD's Received - Timeout
2009-06-28,05:00:09 last event repeated 7 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:00:10 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:00:11 last event repeated 3 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:00:22 No UCD's Received - Timeout
2009-06-28,05:00:32 last event repeated 1 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:00:33 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:00:43 No UCD's Received - Timeout
2009-06-28,05:00:54 last event repeated 1 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:01:00 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,05:01:12 last event repeated 11 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:01:14 Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,05:01:21 last event repeated 3 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:01:34 Unicast Ranging Received Abort Response - Re- initializing MAC
2009-06-28,05:01:37 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,05:01:49 last event repeated 11 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:01:54 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:01:54 last event repeated 1 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:01:54 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2009-06-28,05:01:55 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:01:58 last event repeated 10 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:01:59 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2009-06-28,05:01:59 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:02:02 last event repeated 6 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:02:02 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2009-06-28,05:02:02 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:02:03 last event repeated 2 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:02:13 No UCD's Received - Timeout
2009-06-28,05:02:14 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:02:18 last event repeated 12 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:02:29 No UCD's Received - Timeout
2009-06-28,05:03:12 last event repeated 4 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:03:13 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:03:19 last event repeated 17 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:03:23 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,05:03:31 last event repeated 5 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:03:36 Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,05:03:39 last event repeated 2 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:03:53 Unicast Ranging Received Abort Response - Re- initializing MAC
2009-06-28,05:03:55 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,05:04:03 last event repeated 7 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:04:07 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:04:29 last event repeated 62 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:04:33 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,05:04:42 last event repeated 7 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:04:43 Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,05:05:01 last event repeated 5 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:05:05 Unicast Ranging Received Abort Response - Re- initializing MAC
2009-06-28,05:05:09 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,05:05:24 last event repeated 16 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:05:27 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:05:29 last event repeated 5 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:05:29 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2009-06-28,05:05:30 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:05:46 last event repeated 42 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:05:46 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2009-06-28,05:05:47 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:05:48 last event repeated 3 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:05:48 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2009-06-28,05:05:48 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:05:51 last event repeated 6 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:05:55 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,05:06:03 last event repeated 7 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:06:04 Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,05:06:15 last event repeated 2 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:06:23 Unicast Ranging Received Abort Response - Re- initializing MAC
2009-06-28,05:06:27 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2009-06-28,05:06:34 last event repeated 7 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:06:39 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:06:41 last event repeated 5 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:06:41 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2009-06-28,05:06:48 last event repeated 19 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:06:49 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:06:49 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2009-06-28,05:06:50 last event repeated 6 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:06:50 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:06:51 last event repeated 3 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:06:52 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2009-06-28,05:06:53 last event repeated 5 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:06:54 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:06:55 last event repeated 3 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:06:55 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2009-06-28,05:06:56 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:06:56 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2009-06-28,05:06:58 last event repeated 6 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:06:58 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
2009-06-28,05:07:00 last event repeated 3 times, up to this date/time
2009-06-28,05:07:00 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing
2009-06-28,05:07:01 last event repeated 1 times, up to this date/time

The tuner on your current modem went. Get new modem and stop whining :P

-Derek-
--
CHECK YOUR FSLC TAXES!!!

My, what a busy log you have! In contrast, here's the log on my Motorola SB5101 since June 15 (the second line is the final step of the initialization procedure; everything below the second line has been omitted, since it is all initialization reporting):

2009-06-29 03:28:29 6-Notice I401.0 TLV-11 - unrecognized OID
1970-01-01 00:02:44 3-Critical D003.0 DHCP WARNING - Non-critical
field invalid in response.

reply to LPZ
The modem you have is almost obsolete. RCN should swap it free of charge no questions asked.
You didn't mention what speed plan you have but I know for a fact the PCX2600 does not work on the higher speed plans.
Call and ask if they will swap it out for you.
--
c3-0.rdl-ubr1.trpr-rdl.pa.cable.rcn.com

Sorry meant to reply to the person with the PCX2600

reply to Coyotered
The Motorola SB5101 (which "LPZ" has) is still a current model, and is hardly obsolete. Perhaps you meant to reply to "john43", who has a Toshiba modem.

reply to LPZ
Yes, having a tech (equipped with the proper measuring equipment) come out would be a very good course of action.

reply to alanisrox69