US Cable Support > Time Warner Internet Services > [TWC] packet loss / service degraded - amp in rockaway park, ny

reply to kilrathi

Re: [TWC] packet loss / service degraded - amp in rockaway park,

reply to kilrathi
pattern is same with this problem:
during the night around same time as streetlights are on one of the upstream channels (4 bonded) goes out of spec on SNR(as told by escalation center and confirmed for 3 different nights vs days) while all other signal specs are within or close to perfection. This causes error rates that cause upstream drops and packet loss in range of 5-10% entire night or 9pm - 5am.

during the day between 5am-9pm that one upstream channel goes close or within snr and while according to escalation center there are still uncorrectables occuring its minor and thus connection during the day is pretty much smooth, can stream broadcast at 3000kbit without drops.

I thought this maybe temperature related but during last 3 weeks there were days when it was quite cool and hot and pattern never really break. So this is either related to interference such as streetlights or something that goes on at night every time, or maybe sun?

Either way this is clearly issue with interference at the pole either directly where I am hooked up or on the way to the node. I hope to get a plant tech to attempt to fix this. Its so frustrating when every day after 9pm (which is peak time for gaming especially when I am to broadcast and spectate clan matches etc....) I am unable to use connection as I normally would.

reply to kilrathi
8:49pm tonight right before street lights inculuding the light on the pole where my cable is hooked to tw cable line

»/pingtest/3656···/2913350

8:52pm about a minute after street light went on, packet loss and noise is instantly on:

»/pingtest/9969···/2913352

The thing is this will get worse by 10pm, its possible that noise builds up not sure, but its been like this for past 3 weeks and I got he pattern down now.

Here is heart of the night:

»/pingtest/6c56···/2912964

Again, upstream is where the noise occurs and errors.

Again, every day 1 or more upstream channels go out of spec as far as upstream SNR (according to escalation center tech) while power levels are right i the middle, downstream is perfect.

Anyone have idea why would possibly street light cause this? Of course it could be something else thats related but basically as soon as street lights are on my internet is useless when it comes to gaming as this upstream packet loss grows up to as high as 10-15% between 10-11pm and 4am EVERY NIGHT.

reply to kilrathi
download is unaffected in this? but upload is? It sounds like the bonding isn't configured correctly. Provisioning the modem with dual speed at the same frequency will cause a "Hiccup" on most streams. It seems that's when the modem goes into "Off-Peak" mode. Street lights come on (aka offpeak hours) tend to mean they have a feral switch that is time delayed for settings. Usually done through networks to shut down certain spots, or relieve some of the stress on others (think a flood gate in terms). With the bonding it's tricky though, if your settings are set a specific way, it will kick you in the rump, otherwise you won't see or feel a damn thing if they are offset correctly. I would call up the modem manufacture and ask them what the proper bonding frequency for your area is, if time warner won't lol, especially since it's "Secret"

reply to kilrathi
Considering this problem and this pattern started when upstream channel bonding was enabled there is possiblity that something is not configured properly for the area here but I still feel there is some ingress/leakage maybe on the pole where I am connected or in local area that cauases this. I am trying to find out more information today and see what can be done... further the 6141 I called to have provisioned on thursday last week is still not provisioned, was told takes max 72 hours been longer than that so I will try to get that looked at in today as well. Priority though is the issue with upstream packet loss every night for past 3 weeks.

update

Just spoke with client relations and was told that need a supervisor to come out again to check the pole and it seems I will have to wait entire week for him to come out friday, however based on the notes and what is known I was also told this maybe resolved from plant side(no promises were made but was told its possible). I hope noone has to go through this kind of problem as me because its definitely frustrating. I really hope this week will be the week this is resolved.

I spoke with escalation center, and yes I know it takes few minutes to get it down, I was told it should be done by end of today....

Also I was informed there was plant tech to visit me tomorrow regarding issue with the pole and upstream signal noise at night but then that was canceled and supposedly someone will investigate this issue at the plant and area, supposedly this could be some "high voltage interference" as I was told.... I supposed to get update during the week.

reply to kilrathi
Problems continue.... still nothing fixed, today things got so bad pages stop loading and on speed tests after it got going i would hit close to max download speed but upload test would just say connecting..... and never even start. On my broadcasting software xsplit and wirecast when i tried to do stream and test upload i would hit 0kbps.... 0kbps.....




Barely able to browse internet.... 50/5 package

»/pingtest/33c3···/2913958

Escalation center told me upstream SNR is again below specs, he said its dipping below 18 while by their spec upstream SNR in my case should be at least 24 for upstream. Horrible situation. Waiting to talk to client relations again tomorrow whether anything was attempted by plant tech yet or whats going on.

Escalation center tech also told me that plant tech really should trace upstream frequencies on poles and locally see where the noise occurs because clearly its something on the poles/lines locally.

However, the way this is treated so far is that nothing is really done where the problem clearly is occuring at the tw line here locally maybe the pole where i am hooked up or maybe on the next one, either way clearly something here locally causes very bad noise and thus large upstream snr drop. Talking to client relations and escalation techs back and forth is getting really tiring... i am waiting for time warner to actually fix the problem, signal quality and noise on their lines is their responsibility.

I am really trying and I mean really trying to do everything I possibly can to help tw fix this, I am patient and in contact, techs did all that can be done on my house wiring and I think I now have best wiring in the neighborhood, the only problem is that solution to this upstream noise can only be found on the tw line locally here. I have been unable to broadcast/cast many games for past 3 weeks due to this, not to mention play games, and now I just lost a bid to run upcoming coh tournament and cast it live. Very dissapointed but still trying to have hope for future....

reply to kilrathi
So tech hooked up my line to another pole/tap today.

Now things are good so far tonight....

However, I think I may know also why at least for the moment....

Before today constant upstream snr problems and here are the signal stats for my modem during that time more or less:



And here are signals tonight after techs hooked me up to different pole and tap:



Now notice the upstream modulation all 4 channels currently have maximum modulation of 16 QAM but before my modem would have 2 channels locked with modulation of 64 QAM. Now based on this chart:

»/r0/download/2···20PM.png

Now for 64 QAM modulation upstream SNR minimum is 24dB and recommended 27dB while for 16 QAM minimum is 18.... thats a big difference.

Considering tech told me yesterday that my upstream snr would drop below 20 that definitely caused modulations with 64QAM not working properly too much noise but for 16 QAM modulations thats fine it seems.

Of course one would wonder why hooking up the modem to differnet pole and tap would make modem receive different modulation config/ranging so I also think something was done on the plant side. I am pretty sure this was reason for the problem but I also wonder if this will stay this way. Either way I am pretty sure that if I see upstream modulations go to 64QAM again I will have problems based on what upstream SNR is on lines here for those frequencies.

I looked into the other thread and there is someone who posted his upstream modulation stats in nyc:

»Re: upstream bonding in NYC

In that his max for upstream channels is also 16QAM so I am not sure why my modem was locking 64 QAM before when clearly upstream snr here is too low for that to operate.

Either way tonight for the first time in 3 weeks I have no upstream issues with packet loss or speed but I also clearly see why. I really hope they keep maximum modulation for upstream channels here at 16 because upstream SNR in my area is simply too low(I was told about 18-20).

reply to kilrathi
Noticed a pattern this seems to be some kind of load balancing or adjustment based on conditions, every night form 8pm till 5-6 am all my upstream modulations are max 16QAM, but other time of day 2 of them go up to 64QAM. I have no problems with connection since that kicked in as well, however same day I was hooked up to another tap and pole so not sure what really did it.

reply to kilrathi
I am not 100% sure the problem is fixed by hooked up to other pole, things are definitely better during wed, thrs, friday but saturday night there was slight upstream error rate that occured between 10pm and 4 am.

Example:

12 am night or so - some upstream issues, and yes that packet loss is only on upsteam.
»/pingtest/6294···/2915219

during day everything perfect -
»/pingtest/5ac5···/2915332

Its not that big of a deal, mostly no dropped frames when broadcasting game casting, however if I was playing serious fps gaming there be definitely disadvantage sometimes with 1-2 % loss here and there.

What worries me is that upstream snr supposedly is much higher now for me(27-28dB) which should be good enough for 16QAM(at night). However, this problem still occuring which means there is some egress possibly from lighting during the night thats causing reflections on the 16QAM somewhere or noise.

Sure connection is fine for use mostly but since this problem is obviously not truly fixed it means that it may return sometime in future. Last time the techs were here to run a new line to another pole they were very annoyed that they had to do it, and basically said to me, "hey since other customers near you dont complain there is no reason to think you really have a problem or we should even do this for you". It may not be exact quote but its pretty much what they told me.

So I am afraid to pursue for tw to truly fix this noise/egress/ingress issue on the line here thats clearly present, and if tw ever wants to use higher modulations for upstream and bandwith here.... well I got news for them unless something is done, frequencies traced and cause of noise solved it wont work well or at all.

I will monitor again over sunday night see if cooler temperatures overnight play a role since it supposed to cool down even more. If problem gets worse or returns to state how it was for 3+ weeks before last wednsday I will have to pursue the matter or simply drop package to docsis2 and possibly go with the multi dwelling verizon vtol solution here(which only offers like 25/5 thats why I am trying to stay with tw).

reply to kilrathi
Unfortunately same problem that existed month ago is still present, upstream snr on channels starting to drop to 20dB and even 1 channel below 20..... tonight i lost connection or barely operational as upstream has a ton of errors. upstream snr I was given by escalation center that I called tonight. Basically they are shocked nothing was still done about my issue on the plant side or plant techs as at this point clearly the issue lies there or locally in area. Supposed to speak to client relations again thursday... nightmare continues. Just as I thought maybe things are fixed problems strike over and over and its always same thing.

upstream channels drop modulation from 64QAM to all 16 at night when the upstream snr drops but once the upstream snr drops below 20 nothing helps.... one of the channels with 30600000 Hz frequency drops the most in upstream snr.

I am wondering at this point do I even have a chance to get time warner to fix this problem or will I be dragged like this for months over and over.

If I could find out what upstream channel frequency and modulation time warner uses for the slow packages maybe I could switch to that so I can have working connection and no packet loss until they fix their lines/plant here or I switch isp.

update constantly losing internet tonight sigh

wow, I am really sorry mate to hear that you have been having such bad chronic problems. In my area I work with what is called the "Customer Advocate" team. Is that the same thing as what you call escalation?

reply to kilrathi
Yes its similar and i know like 4 guys at the escalaton cause i call so much and problems been going so much, they all see the problem clearly and basically say plant tech should trace frequencies or check plant side because at this point thats where thhis problem lies. However, they cannot force this i have to then talk to client relations who is not available past 5pm and only that person can get plant tech or team to do something about, of course 2 weeks ago i was told by client relations that plant tech was looking into it and someone said that noise was caused by high voltage at night but nothing returned to client relations yet abuot whether anything was done about it, clearly based on situation nothing has. I paid my bill again and $100 just for internet is a lot but considering nothing is being done to fix my internet and its clearly upstream snr issue every day this is definitely last time i ever pay the bill till this is fixed or canceled.

I am suffering from the same problem. Almost two months now
Plant was supposed to come out 2 days and both days they didn't fix anything.

reply to kilrathi
And yes the problem is basically still same thing as the day upstream channel bonding came into effect, packet loss on the upstream is always present except during the day is minimal, after a lot of talk with l3 escalation center techs upstream snr on all upstream channels goes above 25 during day but during night dips below 18dB especially on the 2 channels that lock at 64QAM(although they drop to 16QAM during night, must be some smart docsis 3 thing). 18dB is not enough for 16QAM not even mentioning 64QAM.

As I said throughout this thread, everything was verified on my end as being perfect shape, this problem is either not configured properly at plant side or something causes regular noise way more at night than day. The worst noise occurs on the upstream channel that locks at 30600000 Hz, tech told me this channel drops to such levels he rarely ever seen at his time working.

Since the infastructure here in rockaways, queens locally where I live is clearly not ready for higher modulations on upstream or bonding I am stuck with this bs connection. Since its been over a month and even though problem is clear and l3 tech did say that to properly trouble shoot this it would require plant tech to trace frequencies and look where noise occurs and/or check plant side in case something is not configured properly. I was told throughout this month over and over that plant tech supposed to go out and investigate but client relations never received any notes back, and nothing have changed, problems continue.

I am unable to broadcast/cast games on twitch due to this because upstream either craps out not enough to even have steady 1Mb rate or totally dies after 8pm est. Even throughout the game there is packet loss on the upstream.

Techs that were here last time to hook me up to a different tap/pole were bascially annoyed at having to come to me so often, so I am growing tired of this old routine of havin to call, being promised this will be fixed but no results indicating anything is fixed at all.

reply to kilrathi
In my case I discovered interesting thing, now based on talking with t3 techs the upstream channel with 30600000 Hz is the one that always drops below 20dB at night for SNR and even during day it causes packet loss. Ever since upstream channel bonding kicked in thats the first channel I believe or whatever it means, however when I added splitters to "make the signal bad" modem was forced to drop channels to 2 but only 1 really is working, then i removed splitters and modem stayed this way having only 2 channels locked but only one has ranging service id and I think only 1 is actually eing used, now in this case its channel at 23800000 Hz and ever since I did that I have no packet loss problems, I did try go back and have it lock all 4 channels with 30600000 Hz as first one and thats when the problems occur. Both 30600000 Hz and 23800000 Hz upstream channels are the higher bandwith 64QAM ones(5.120 Msym/sec) but the 23800000 Hz has no issues with SNR.

Now T3 techs already gave those notes to client relations but I wonder if client relations can forward that information to the plant because clearly the issue with noise occurs at upstream channel at 30600000 Hz.

So you are saying you are seeing a lot of packet loss caused when you are using a splitter?

Do you need to use the splitter to connect coax to more devices?

nooo.....

What I am saying that ever since upstream channel bonding started upstream snr for the 30.6 megahertz channel which by default is primary of the 2 higher QAM channels has a lot of noise and actual snr drops below 20 or even 18dB every day during the night, this causes a lot of packet loss and some nights total loss of connectivity. However, I found a trick to add few splitters reboot the modem and then the signal must be so weak that the modem only locks on 2 channels for upstream except only 1 of those channels gets ranging ID and its not 30.6 megahertz one. After this happens and without rebooting the modem i remove splitter, the main upstream channel that gets range id and seems to be operating is 23.8 megahertz and this way I have no packet loss.

T3 tech sees clear issues on 30.6 megahertz upstream channel and even told me it could be misconfiguration at the plant side, he continously sends notes to client relations who supposed to forward it to plant tech but nothing is ever done about this. For over a month same problem keeps going on and on, its not on my end(about 10 visits and running new lines verified this lol), when i was hooked up to different pole/tap the snr doesnt drop as much overall on all the upstream channels as before but the 30.6 megahertz upstream channel experiences excessive noise/errors and snr dropping below 18dB especially at night(verified by escalation t3 tech).

Escalation T3 tech told me that a plant tech should attend to this issue, trace the frequency and find where the noise occurs, plus the issue could also be fixable at the plant side... but so far no resolve.

I do see a lot of new scheduled work on rr network schedule page over the summer, I hope some of this will resolve the issue because currently upstream channel bonding only damages my connection.

WOW, what what a huge PITA.

Seriously by this point I would make sure to get a big credit for your services because they haven't been working right. Then looking into switching ISPs.

That is just way too much pain that you shouldn't haven't be going through and obviously they can't seem to get things fixed in a timely manner. Even through the "escalation" dept.