| [AZ] modem takes 15-20 minutes to connect This problem began circa 4 months ago. When I turn on the computer and modem in the morning, it takes 15-20 minutes to connect. From once every few weeks, the problem has slowly worsened. During the last two weeks, it's been every morning. The modem lights very slowly progress from 1 through 3 on steady with the fourth blinking, then about every 5 minutes, it's back to one light, etc. It cycles through this several times before finally all 4 lights are on steady and the internet is connected.
My modem and router are both wired, and were replaced 2005 when a bolt of lightening struck the cable in our front yard and took them both out.
First I checked with a different computer. Same problem.
Second, called Cox tech support. The woman told me I can't connect to the internet because one of my neighbors is using a wireless router to tap into my wired router to use my internet. (?!) She did reluctantly set up an appointment for a technician to come to my house.
Third, at the first visit the technician came and replaced all the connectors. At the second visit he replaced the 6 year old modem. At the third visit, he replaced the 25 year old cable in the house. The problem persists.
On my end, I unplugged the modem from the router and plugged it directly into the computer. Same problem.
The technician said the next step would be to dig up the cable from the road to the house and replace it. Because we have a very long driveway, we have the thick cable, usually only used under roads, leading to my cable box. I am reluctant to have Cox go to so much trouble and expense for something that may not resolve the problem. Any ideas what could be causing this problem? Could the cable to my house have a problem? Could the lightening strike in 2005 take this long to cause a problem? Is it something else entirely?
I saw this post: »[AZ] Internet Outage every morning which makes me wonder if this is related. I generally turn the computer on at about 6:15 a.m. and the internet finally comes on just after 6:30 a.m.
Karen |
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| what are the signal levels? what model of modem? |
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| The old modem was a Motorola SB5210. The new modem is a Cisco DPC 3010. Where can I find the signal levels? The technician said the signal was fine. |
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| reply to KarenZ
said by KarenZ :This problem began circa 4 months ago. When I turn on the computer and modem in the morning, it takes 15-20 minutes to connect. From once every few weeks, the problem has slowly worsened. During the last two weeks, it's been every morning. The modem lights very slowly progress from 1 through 3 on steady with the fourth blinking, then about every 5 minutes, it's back to one light, etc. It cycles through this several times before finally all 4 lights are on steady and the internet is connected.
Karen
Do you mean you turn off the modem when you also turn off the computer?
Type in 192.168.100.1 into the browser and it should show your modem status page. |
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| Yes, we always turn everything off and always have.
Model: Cisco DPC3010
Vendor: Cisco
Hardware Revision: 1.0
Serial Number: 235153454
MAC Address:: a4:a2:4a:2e:0d:8a
Bootloader Revision: 2.3.0_R1
Current Software Revision: dpc3010-v302r12901-091119a
Firmware Name: dpc3010-v302r12901-091119a.bin
Firmware Build Time: Nov 19 2009 22:12:51
Cable Modem Status: Operational
Downstream Channels
Power Level Signal to Noise Ratio
Channel 1: 1.7 dBmv 39.0 dBmv
Channel 2: 1.8 dBmv 39.0 dBmv
Channel 3: 1.2 dBmv 38.3 dBmv
Channel 4: 0.7 dBmv 38.6 dBmv
Channel 5: 1.4 dBmv 39.1 dBmv
Channel 6: 1.8 dBmv 38.8 dBmv
Channel 7: 1.8 dBmv 38.1 dBmv
Channel 8: 2.1 dBmv 38.6 dBmv
Upstream Channels
Power Level
Channel 1: 40.2 dBmv
Channel 2: 0.0 dBmv
Channel 3: 0.0 dBmv
Channel 4: 0.0 dBmv |
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| you need to leave the modem on so it can get updates from cox. there's no benifit to turning the modem off. |
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bdnhsv
join:2012-01-20
Huntsville, AL | reply to KarenZ
your signal levels look good. Is it just that it takes a while to acquire when you power it up? It runs ok once it's connected? and like the other poster mentioned - you should leave the modem on all the time so it can get updates, etc (plus you wouldn't have to wait for it to boot and acquire). |
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 odogCable Centric Vendor BiasedPremium,VIP
join:2001-08-05
Atlanta, GA
kudos:5
 ·Comcast
| reply to KarenZ
said by KarenZ :Yes, we always turn everything off and always have.
Stop doing that. When you power it down, the modem is misses the nightly firmware upgrade maintenance window. Speaking of which I just upgraded your firmware, but in the future leave it on each night so this will happen automatically. |
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| Be that as it may, it shouldn't take 20 minutes to connect. We've had cable for over 10 years and it has always connected by the time the windows welcome screen comes up. The question is, why does it all of a sudden take 20 minutes? There's no problem once it's on.
Leaving computer equipment on during monsoon season is asking for trouble. One lightening hit was enough for me to learn to turn off and unplug everything each night and when no one is home to watch for thunderstorms during the monsoons. Turning everything off, (though not unplugging), has become habit year round. |
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bdnhsv
join:2012-01-20
Huntsville, AL | It could very easily take 20 minutes for a modem to sync. Just because it didn't take that long 5 years ago doesn't mean it won't today. Today we have docsis3 and many different other protocols running in a cable network. Today the modems are also much more sophisticated and search for more signals than in days gone by. If your concerned about lightning then just disconnect the cat 5 cable from the back of your modem each night, but leave it connected to the coax and powered on. |
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odogCable Centric Vendor BiasedPremium,VIP
join:2001-08-05
Atlanta, GA
kudos:5 | reply to KarenZ
If you don't ever let the firmware get upgraded? Then yes... that is a plausible outcome.
It might be faster after the firmware upgrade, can you check how long it takes now? |
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| Okay, makes sense.
Thanks for the firmware upgrade. I'll check the next couple of days to see if it makes a difference, then keep it on at night.
Good idea to disconnect the cat 5 cable instead when a storm is brewing.
Thanks for the help. |
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| reply to KarenZ
said by KarenZ :Leaving computer equipment on during monsoon season is asking for trouble. One lightening hit was enough for me to learn to turn off and unplug everything each night and when no one is home to watch for thunderstorms during the monsoons. Turning everything off, (though not unplugging), has become habit year round.
A good UPS backup with coax protection or a quality surge suppressor with same coax protection would be a better alternative. It will protect the equipment and at worst sacrifice itself. Your modem would be able to stay upgraded. Just a suggestion. |
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| Also forgot to mention. If you are just turning off without unplugging the equipment with no type of protection then it won't make a difference if it is on or off. Electricity surge can still come through the power line as well as the coax and phone lines and cause damage. |
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| reply to odog
I checked if it's any faster now with the updated firmware. No. Actually it took longer, but I did turn it on earlier. It finally connected at the same time it always does, just after 6:30 a.m. It is still suspicious that it always connects at the same time, no matter when I turn it on, and that later in the day, I don't have any delay in connection. |
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bdnhsv
join:2012-01-20
Huntsville, AL | If you're rebooting it later in the day, the modem is remembering the last frequencies used, and the CMTS is remembering the modem. If you leave it powered off long enough (an hour or a few) then both the modem and the CMTS "forget" the parameters they had previously used to communicate and must re-establish them which involves ranging starting from the very first defined frequency. |
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| reply to Beezel1
I do use a good UPS, and a surge suppressor for the peripherals that don't fit. I pull the plug in bad weather anyway. Turning off everything during good weather is more a power saving thing. |
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| I had cable service in North Carolina. Lightning was a well-known problem maker. I had top-of-the-line surge arrestors. It made no difference. I had a few things destroyed before I learned my lesson.
I've seen the effects of lightning in MSO's, MTSO's, etc. Halo grounding, thick copper plates several feet into the ground, with lightning rods every 18 inches all over the roof... made no difference.
If you have to use commercial power for you modem, you are st risk. If you don't have fiber optics into you home, you are at risk.
I guees it's the Devil-you-know versus the risk. |
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| reply to KarenZ
said by KarenZ :I do use a good UPS, and a surge suppressor for the peripherals that don't fit. More important is modem status from 192.168.1.100 when the modem has not yet established an internet connection. Get the report just after power is connected. And again after the modem is connected to cable but is not yet connected to the internet.
Meanwhile, a UPS or power strip recommendation is bogus. One need only read manufacturer specs to see each provides near zero protection. Lightning is quite correct. No protector does protection. Even lightning rods do not do the protection. Protectors and lightning rods are only useful when connected short to what does the protection – single point earth ground.
Your cable already has the best protection. A wire connects that cable low impedance (ie 'less than 10 feet') to single point earth ground. Beezel1 has accurately described a most common reason for modem damage. Surges are a current that obtains a connection to earth. If not earthed before entering a building, then that surge will find earth destructively via appliances inside. For example, a best and destructive path was incoming on AC mains, through the modem, and then to earth via the properly protected (earthed) coax wire.
A surge is electricity. It was incoming to every appliance. But it only does damage to appliances that also make another connection to earth.
Protection means every incoming wire (phone line has two; AC electric has three) every wire must connect to earth before entering. Well, phone wires already make that connection via a 'whole house' protector installed for free by the telco. Why free? Because the best protectors also cost the least. But only you are responsible for installing a 'whole house' protector on AC mains. Then no surge is inside destructively hunting for earth.
A surge is hundreds of thousands of joules. How many joules does that magic power strip or UPS claim to absorb? Hundreds? IOW near zero. Why are they sacrificial? Grossly undersized. A surge too tiny to damage a computer, furnace, dishwasher, or modem will destroy a grossly undersized protector. Then the naïve credit the protector rather than superior protection already inside every appliance.
Your best solution is always where utility wire enter a building. Connected low impedance (ie 'less than 10 feet, no sharp wire bends, not inside metallic conduit, etc) to the only thing that does protection - single point earth ground. Your TV cable wire must always make a short wire connection to earth before entering. That wire is the best surge protector.
Meanwhile, get the modem's status, as described, when it has not yet made a connection. Software updates are a rare event. Do not happen daily. Do not explain your long connection times. |
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| said by westom:Meanwhile, a UPS or power strip recommendation is bogus. One need only read manufacturer specs to see each provides near zero protection. Lightning is quite correct. No protector does protection. For excellent information on surges and surge protection try:
»www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_lhm···uide.pdf
And also:
»www.nist.gov/public_affairs/p...···sfnl.pdf
Both the IEEE and NIST surge guides say plug-in protectors are effective. The same protection is probably always included in UPSs. High ratings are easier to find in plug-in protectors.
said by westom:Even lightning rods do not do the protection. Protectors and lightning rods are only useful when connected short to what does the protection a single point earth ground. Plug-in protectors do not work primarily by earthing a surge. As explained in the IEEE surge guide (starting page 30) they limit the voltage from each wire (power and signal) to the ground at the protector.
said by westom:Your cable already has the best protection. A wire connects that cable low impedance (ie 'less than 10 feet') to single point earth ground. Cable entry is protected by a ground block that connects the shield to the earthing system (if cable is properly wired). The IEEE guide says “there is no requirement to limit the voltage developed between the core and the [shield]. .... The only voltage limit is the breakdown of the F connectors, typically ~2–4 kV.” And "there is obviously the possibility of damage to TV tuners and cable modems from the very high voltages that can be developed, especially from nearby lightning."
said by westom:For example, a best and destructive path was incoming on AC mains, through the modem, and then to earth via the properly protected (earthed) coax wire.
The NIST surge guide does suggest most damage is from high voltage between power and phone/cable wires.
So when using a plug-in protector (or UPS) all interconnected equipment needs to be connected to the same plug-in protector. And external connections, like cable, also need to go through the protector (as Beezel1 wrote). Connecting all wiring through the protector prevents damaging voltages between power and signal wires.
As Beezel1 wrote, turning equipment off does not protect from high voltage on the cable. And when you turn a lot of equipment off, it isn't really off.
said by westom:But only you are responsible for installing a 'whole house' protector on AC mains. Then no surge is inside destructively hunting for earth. Service panel protectors are a real good idea.
But from the NIST guide:
"Q - Will a surge protector installed at the service entrance be sufficient for the whole house?
A - There are two answers to than question: Yes for one-link appliances [electronic equipment], No for two-link appliances [equipment connected to power AND phone or cable or....]. Since most homes today have some kind of two-link appliances, the prudent answer to the question would be NO - but that does not mean that a surge protector installed at the service entrance is useless."
A service panel protector, by itself, does not limit voltage between power and signal wires. A service panel protector is very likely to protect equipment connected only to power wires.
said by westom:A surge is hundreds of thousands of joules. How many joules does that magic power strip or UPS claim to absorb? Hundreds? IOW near zero. Why are they sacrificial? Grossly undersized. Because he doesn't understand how plug-in protectors work westom apparently thinks they are magic.
Neither plug-in protectors or service panel protectors work by absorbing surges. (They do absorb some energy in the process of protecting.)
The author of the NIST surge guide looked at the amount of energy that could be absorbed in a plug-in protector. With branch circuits 10 meters and longer and power line surges up to 10,000A (the maximum that has any reasonable probability of occurring) the largest energy was a surprisingly small 35 joules. In 13 of 15 cases it was 1 joule or less. Plug-in protectors with far higher ratings are readily available.
Would seem like Cox tech support would know if your long connect times are normal or not, and would have troubleshooting equipment they could connect to your cable determine if there is a problem.
If you don't want to leave the modem on, another trouble shooting step could be stringing a cable connection across the ground temporarily. Cox could re-spool the cable and use it elsewhere. |
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