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HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt

Premium Member

T3 timeouts

I'm at my wits end here with these errors.

2010-10-13 10:51:55 3-Critical R005.0 Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out

I had a tech visit here, they replaced the Webstar with another Webstar. It continued to do it. Today I went to Rogers video and asked for an old Motorola SB5100, luckily they had one in stock, Tech on the phone said that they are better than webstars. So I bring it in hook it up, works fine. no more than half hour later, poof, internet cuts for a couple minutes, and there's that stupid error in the log, just like in the webstars.

I've been having an issue with these errors for a while... »Strange glitches this morning...

Any idea what the hell they are? Signal is perfect. Rogers doesnt seem know know what to do, since it's intermittent, but it's extremely annoying as it cuts off FTP transfers which are important here at work. It happens several times a day.

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook

Mod

Every "T4" seconds the Cable modem (CM) looks for a "Maintenance Ranging Request". This is essentially to check levels and ensure that everything's in sync.

When a Ranging Request is issued by the CM it starts a timer in which it expects a range reply from the head end CMTS. If it doesn't get a response, it does a T3 timeout and tries again. If the response is not received within the retry limit, then the fault is deemed Critical, the modem is declared offline and does a reset.

The most common reason is an RF problem on the cable, usually impacting the upstream, but may be on the downstream. It may be low signal, or high noise. It may be a problem at the CMTS, but in that case more users on the same segment would be reporting problems.

HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt

Premium Member

How do I escalate this with Rogers? When the tech was here to swap the first webstar, he checked the signal but he did it all of 5 seconds.

But it was one of those contracted techs that know fuck all, i showed him the modem log and he looked at me like it went right over his head.

I wonder if I can push for a proper Rogers internet technician that knows how to diagnose it or repair it.

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook

Mod

If you've had a couple different techs out there and a couple modem swaps, then I'd be invoking the need to talk to a customer service manager.

elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
Premium Member
join:2006-08-30
Somewhere in

elwoodblues to HiVolt

Premium Member

to HiVolt
My modem log is full of those messages,but I'm not seeing any drops in the connection.
elwoodblues

elwoodblues to HiVolt

Premium Member

to HiVolt
The other thing I'll say is why (besides cost) are you using a consumer based service with no SLA's to conduct "important" business.

If your need for FTP is that high, it's time to shell out some serious cash and get a real provider. Rogers doesn't distinguish between you at home or your business. You get the same morons on the phone and coming to your home/shop.

HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt to elwoodblues

Premium Member

to elwoodblues
said by elwoodblues:

My modem log is full of those messages,but I'm not seeing any drops in the connection.
You might not even notice them... But I listen to streaming radio all day at work, so anytime it cuts out I know it. That's how I started to notice it, and looking at the logs the time always matches when it stops...
HiVolt

HiVolt to elwoodblues

Premium Member

to elwoodblues
said by elwoodblues:

The other thing I'll say is why (besides cost) are you using a consumer based service with no SLA's to conduct "important" business.

If your need for FTP is that high, it's time to shell out some serious cash and get a real provider. Rogers doesn't distinguish between you at home or your business. You get the same morons on the phone and coming to your home/shop.
Yes, I know, but we're not a huge shop and can't justify $1k+ per month business connection.

We make due with Rogers as the main line and Bell as backup DSL. Rogers has been great for 5 years, this only started to happen a few months ago...

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook

Mod

You can get those errors when you get T3 timeouts but don't exceed the retry count. The modem will reset when you get too many retries.

HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt

Premium Member

I had another tech come in yesterday. This guy actually followed the wire up to the pole, re-did the connectors on both ends, and changed it to another plug on the tap.

So far since 4pm yesterday there hasn't been one of those errors in the modem log.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
duesling
join:2010-10-14
Stittsville, ON

duesling

Member

Let me know how that turns out for you. I'm having the same problem. A tech was out, measured signal strength, which was ok, stuck around for 30 minutes to catch the modem reset, which didn't happen. He then gave me a new modem and left. Since then it has reset a number of times with a log similar to yours and these as well.

2010-10-14 18:13:25 6-Notice M573.0 Modem Is Shutting Down and Rebooting...
2010-10-14 18:13:25 3-Critical R004.0 Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance o
2010-10-14 18:12:53 3-Critical R005.0 Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out
2010-10-14 18:08:29 3-Critical D003.0 DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response.
2010-10-14 18:08:16 6-Notice M572.0 T4 No Station Maint Timeout - Reinitialize MAC...

elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
Premium Member
join:2006-08-30
Somewhere in

elwoodblues

Premium Member

I get this every single day

DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response
5-Warning B605.10 Map Reject - Downstream Traffic Flow Not Mapped to BPI+ SAID (EC=8)

Still works fine for me.. I own the modem(Rogers gave it to me years ago has part of a win back promo),so I'd have to find another Motorola Modem on Ebay (I can't get 3web to tell me if they'll support the 6120.. I figure if I have to buy a new modem might as well be a Docsis 3)

HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt to duesling

Premium Member

to duesling
said by duesling:

Let me know how that turns out for you. I'm having the same problem. A tech was out, measured signal strength, which was ok, stuck around for 30 minutes to catch the modem reset, which didn't happen. He then gave me a new modem and left. Since then it has reset a number of times with a log similar to yours and these as well.
So far I haven't had any issues since the tech visit. So it was signal or noise related, even though the modem stats were fine.

You seem to have a worse issue, since your modem is actually rebooting. I've never seen that message in my modem log.

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook to duesling

Mod

to duesling
duesling, you've got a definite problem things are timing out. Either your segment is horribly congested, or you've got a signal problem.

elwoodblooes, your problems are non critical ... the DHCP server is dishing out a field in the response to the renew request that it doesn't understand (possibly a TOD field, or a field for one of the other modems. This won't cause a problem. The second warning is a security response that your modem is expecting BPI+ security info and not getting it. Probably because it's not fully implemented at the CMTS. Warnings usually don't result in connectivity problems unless you get lots of them within a particular tiimeout period.
duesling
join:2010-10-14
Stittsville, ON

duesling

Member

Ok, I'll keep a watch on this to see if it's time of day related but I don't think it's a congestion issue based on the people I know on my segment.

As for signal level, when I got the cable service last weekend, a tech came out and rewired my cable run such that its split off, one directly to my modem and the other off to the basement to be distributed to the TVs. And then the tech that was here today measured the strength a few times and each time said it was perfect. Of course, it never went down when he was here so maybe it goes low at the time of the modem reboot. I would expect that when the cable signal is good it should always remain good except for things like when a backhoe chews through it. But I'm no cable expert.

I don't imagine this can be any way related to the wireless router I have plugged into the SB5101 modem. I assume not since the messaging that the modem is complaining about is messaging between the modem and Rogers IT center.

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook

Mod

Actually cable can vary without the help of a backhoe ... usually caused by poor connectors, or heat, or moisture getting into the cable. These can do many things, but the most common is to get noise (called ingress). Go to an analogue TV (disconnect the STB) and go to analogue channel 4 (or several other channels between 2 and 13) ... when the modem's misbehaving ... and look to see if there's another TV channel in the background messing up the picture ... if there is, that's ingress. Look also at times when your modem's happy ... and see what the channels look like then.

Can't do it with the digital TV - gotta be analogue)

HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt to duesling

Premium Member

to duesling
No, a wireless router wouldn't cause those errors.

As for the signal, the techs who were here before measured the signal, but of course at that given moment it was OK and the signal was great. They just left without even looking at anything else. My last tech did something and checked the signal at the pole, inspected the wire itself, and re-crimped the connectors to make sure the signal was clean.

That seems to have done the trick.
duesling
join:2010-10-14
Stittsville, ON

duesling

Member

This story has a happy ending.

A third tech came out after logging my third service call. This guy was an independent contracted by Rogers. The guy appeared to know his stuff and showed good initiative. I showed him the logs and then off he went, in the rain, to check the line exterior to my home. He says he found two couplings which showed their age, i.e. rusting or whatever. He was surprised that one of the other techs hadn't noticed this. He replaced them and I've been running now for 24 hours without a single error log. Normally, I would have had hundreds of error logs by now and a few modem resets. Not only did this tech fix my problem but he gave me his personal home phone number to call if the problem continued. He said if it did then he'd log some sort of other ticket that would get a more extensive investigation done. As it turns out, no need for that. I'm happy that he resolved it.

All in all, not bad service. My only really bad experience was my online chat with Puneet who recommended that I swap my modem out. When I told him I had already done that three times, he asked me if he could do anything more for me. I replied that he hadn't fixed my problem yet. His response was to close the online dialog box. At first I was miffed but then I had a good chuckle over it.

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook

Mod

Well done duesling ... glad you got somebody who was interested in solving the problem. This is the problem we seem to face so often with the first level people we meet in the field, on the phone and online ... to all of them, it's just a job, get the call closed as quick as possible.

HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt to duesling

Premium Member

to duesling
That's the exact same thing that happened to me with the last tech. The guy gave me his number as well.

No offense to anyone, but the first two techs that came were asian and didnt do shit beyond saying the signal is fine and swapping a modem.

The last tech was a young white guy in his mid 20s. did his job, took half hour, re-did all the connectors and stuff. I havent had any issues since.

Teknowiz
join:2010-06-21
Canada

Teknowiz to HiVolt

Member

to HiVolt
Click for full size
Interesting, my SB5100 log is full or the same timeout errors. Since I live in an apartment building, I wonder if Rogers tech would be willing to go through all of the building cable wiring to find the cause.

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook

Mod

I would imagine it would depend on how the building is wired. Some apartments have the cables dangling around window to window outside ... causes lots of problems.
tj_blues
join:2007-08-17
Mississauga, ON

tj_blues to sbrook

Member

to sbrook
Noise and ingress are the two different animals. You can have an ingress without noise and a noise without ingress. But of course on bad / damaged cable you'll have both Ingress is when foreign signal is getting into cable system -> over the air broadcast, CB radio, air traffic control. If affected you'll see: double picture, shadowing, horizontal or diagonal multiple lines (as opposite to hum - one or two horizontal slow moving lines). Sometimes you can hear a buzz or sound doesn't match a watched channel. Ingress can be found on any channel but it will affect single channel and not a whole band. So for ex. chnl 9 is bad but 8 and 10 are perfect, or chns 5 and 9 are affected by two over the air chns but 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12 are good.
Noise usually affects low and sub low bands (5 to roughly 50MHz). And is visible as a "snow" without any pattern. Noise can be caused by: lose connector(s), metal wall-plate, copper braided cable (common in older houses), rusted connection points, water damaged cables, bad shielding (also cause ingress), "Radio Shack" splitters and amplifiers, bad grounding (which also can cause a hum).
Checking channels from 2 to 13 is misleading because modems don't use those bands. Your troubleshooting scheme is perfect. It is good idea to check chnls 2 to 6 when modem is having troubles and when is OK. There is no point to check chnls 7 to 13 it is better to check 14 to 22. All is about bands:
Low band: from 54MHz to 84MHz -> channels 2 to 6
Mid band: from 121MHz to 169MHz -> channels 14 to 22
High band: from 174MHz to 211MHz -> channels 7 to 13
(some sources indicate slightly different border frequencies. The best is to use FCC as referral. I used: »www.jneuhaus.com/fccinde ··· ech.html )

So if there is a noise messing up then most likely it will not go higher than ~150MHz. Ingress from TV stations should not be a problem besides of harmonic frequencies. CB radio might be a bigger problem because it ranges from 26 to 27 MHz and it's very close to modems upstream frequencies 25 and 32 MHz (in some areas those freq might be different).

Above issues affect modems upstream. Downstream (around 600MHz) is usually affected by bad wiring or strong EM field from high frequency equipment and distortion. By bad wiring I mean for ex. lines made of different pieces of a cable with different values of VOP (velocity of propagation). Those mismatched pieces work similar to a prism "spliting" a light. In better piece the signal is accelerated and stretched then in worse one is squeezed. And when the signal reaches a modem, even if it has right strength, it's out of shape. Modem will see it as a "noise".

Sorry for long post in similar to English language

cheers

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

1 edit

sbrook

Mod

Duesling is in Ottawa region where we have a local channel on 4 and the TVguide ... if you're suffering ingress, that's where you usually see it! I had a terrible time with it a few years ago ... a bad old RG59 cable ... didn't affect the modem, but sure messed up the TVs!

For simple testing that's best around here.

As you say, low band channels are closer to the upstream frequencies so if you see problems there ... channel breakthrough on analogue, or snow on the analogue channels (grainy picture), then there's a likely problem on the upstream too.

While Ingress can create noise; but noise doesn't necessarily show as ingress as you point out.

Talking tech english can be real fun. I used to spend a good chunk of my working life translating it into something understandable!