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
So I speak with client relations again, mention the fact tier 3 techs send in notes regarding clear upstream snr issue and logs, all that information is available for my modem on their end, I was clearly told all the daily weekly hourly logs are there and they clearly show upstream snr for my upstream channels dropping below accepted levels every night and even some days, also logs show uncorrectable codewords at high numbers daily for the upstream(this can only be seen on plant side) as well indicating noise. T3 even told me for few nights average packet loss on the upstream to my modem was 8-25%.

However, even based on all of this client relations scheduled another tech to visit me(even though t3 tech said that really a plent tech should look into this). Now, I had about 10 tech visits over past month+ 1 of them actually did take readings at the tap/pole and found issue(plant tech supposedly supposed to do something about that but I never received confirmation anything was ever done regarding this). All other techs basically rewired my apt. Not sure how many times you can drop new wire but I already have 2 new wires running to the house, 1 of them is disconnected at the house but basically 1 running from each pole/tap on the street. All the wiring is new, connection is only on 1 splitter(+8dB/out) installed by tw tech due to signal being too strong and thats it. Client relations told me tech has to come again because then only he can recommend plant to do something.... SO even though all the data is there indicating upstrean snr issue, its all logged its all in logs at t3/plant side a service tech is the only one that can recommend plant tech to look into the issue.... mind boggling. I hope the tech they send actually knows difference between what ping and packet loss is, because some that have been to my house did not know it.

Verizon confirmed they can run fios to me since its available but would have to run a new line and install box at side of the house because phone lines are ran from the back and from that side fios is not available. This would cost me extra and thus I am trying to avoid it but tw may truly give me no choice here.

By this point have you even asked for service credits because you have had so many problems? I would

Yes althogh I wanted to ask once its fixed so that I could clearly ask for how many days but since its beyond a month and not fixed I will receive 50% off for last month but as for future I will not be paying until something is done and how that will go I dont know.

reply to kilrathi
I am pretty confident the noise that causes problems on upstream resulting in constant packet loss occurs only on those 2 channels that lock at 64QAM at 30.6megahertz and 23.8megahertz. Those are the 2 channels that t3 techs told me drop in upstream snr the most but those 2 channels lock 64QAM as soon as upstream snr is higher after 5 am until 8pm. During this time there is constant packet loss on the upstream to the tune of 2-4%. During the night as long as upstream snr dont drop below 22 or 23 things are kinda ok since all channels drop to 16QAM but some nights such as tuesdays snr drops below 18 causing internet to actually stop working.

However, I have manipulated adding more splitters to the point where the 2 channels with higher modulation get T4 time out and I am left locked only at 19000000 Hz channel which uses only 16QAM modulation. When only this channel is operational I have no packet loss (did numerous tests on pingtest and visualtrace). Things are great with only that channel working on the upstream and I still hit max upstream speed. However, as soon as i remove splitters and allow the modem to lock on all channels operating including the 2 channels ATDMA locked at 64QAM there is constant packet loss.

Tier 3 tech understands it but how do I get client relations or tech to explain to plant tech and have someone trace where the noise occurs, I wish there was a way for them to send a custom config to my modem so it only locks at the 16QAM channels, that would solve my issue it appears.

I am really pissed because when I hook up bunch of splitters and get only the 1 or 2 16QAM TDMA channels locked for upstream i have no issues, but that only lasts so long before modem reboots due to t4 for the other 2 atdma channels and once those channels are locked 64QAM I have constant upstream pacekt loss.... I seriously wish there was way to downgrade to only using those 2 lower modulation channels.... its clear the lines here locally are not read for 64QAM upstream modulation just yet.

reply to kilrathi
Just called level t3 tech, a guy who already knows me to check upstream snr because i lost internet(modem stayed locked but actual data was not flowing due to upstream problems).

Now its back in limited capacity and this is what is happening, different day same story for past 1 and half months on time warner ultimate internet:



All that packet loss is on the upstream. Level 3 tech told me upstream snr on all 4 channels for the upstream is dropping below 19 and the worst is the 30.6mhz and 23.9mhz channels(higher modulation ones). Its friday I supposed to stream and cast few coh and dow2 matches and cannot do jack, i cant even browse sites normally. Tech forwarded information again to supervisor and hope to get new client relation rep as last one just wants to send normal techs to me after about 10 of them already confirmed for past month that my wiring is good, cable was replaced twice, its not on my end that the problem lies.

Seriously by this point is it really worth all this pain to continue trying to work with TWC?

Just drop them since they aren't doing their job and switch to FiOS. I would make sure to get another big credit out of it before you call to cancel with TWC.

reply to kilrathi
twc called me today on satruday with new client rep assigned to me, seems t3 emailed supervisor and send all the logs to someone and now i am supposed to get tech along with plant tech to come on wed. As for verizon fios yes its available but only in the form of having coaxal ran and doing vdsl or whatever its called plus they would have to do some work at the house etc and earliest i can even get it i was told would be after september, but with vdsl the speeds from what i read are not that great, anyways i am gonna see what happens this week.

reply to kilrathi
I have the tech and supposedly plant tech supposed to be on call to coordinate today. I called tonight to escalation t3 tech and spoke to the same tech I have for past 2 months asking him to double check the logs, and yep nothing have changed same pattern. Upstream snr on my modem drops below 24dB every night as low as 18. The worst is around midnight, but the upstream snr is below 24 between 8pm and 8am every day more or less for past 2 MONTHS. (during that time modem is full of T3/T4 errors, no suprise of course). Regional/node upstream snr is fine there is no drop. Issue been verified many times that it does not occur at my house or wiring. So basically I hope they actually bring someone who can take readings and trace at the poles and lines themselves. I thought maybe its some cable thats no longer used hanging near street light etc as there are few I have seen as I walked around. I will ask them to check but they should do their job not me.

reply to kilrathi
so an army of time warner techs arrived today at noon, 2 plant tech vans and 1 twc regular tech, of course i explained them whats going on and they confirmed it based on logs sent to them by supervisor and escalation t3 tech, plant techs actually understood what I was talking about and we discussed why some things are happening based on logs, but they ruled out the fact it maybe street lights and that most likely its someone everynight turning something on that is causing noise back to the tw line locally near me. However, I told this to the customer rep and t3 tech recommended a plant tech came after 8pm best time window wuold be 10pm to midnight. The plant techs that were here discussed the situation and tonight another plant tech supposed to come by after 9pm he will call me and monitor the upstream snr overnight he wants to be locally when the problem occurs thats the only chance he can narrow down where the problem occurs from. So tonight will be interesting finally a plan that actually may tackle the problem or at least narrow its origins.

update:

So I waited till past midnight and noone called and I have not seen any tw vehicles around.... so this whole visit during day where customer rep made sure plant techs would come turned to nothing.... plant tech told me they called in and scheduled another plant tech to come after 9pm EST tonight and even asked me if I allow them to call me that late which of course I said YES. The packet loss is occuring and upstream snr is down just as every night(verified by calling escalation t3 center) so this was perfect opportunity....

Not sure what to think of this but they promised to have a plant tech late tonight so he can try and find out whats causing the noise at night yet noone showed up.

Just when I think something is looking up....:(

reply to kilrathi
There is a plant tech tonight riding around blocks here cutting down old unused cables and using a meter to look for noise, I spoke with him already and he will give me a call later tonight when he is done doing some initial testing in area. I aleady told him my upstream snr dropped below what it should be (tier 3 provided the info) as in below 24dB and during day it was at 30, its gonna dip lower and lower so I hope when he comes around soon he can check the tap where I am hooked up to. He said that monitoring all the regional info all upstream snr there is in 30/green, he was unable to read my modem upstream snr in his van though so I may have to call tier 3 again later but he said he should be able to do that once he has account info once he is at my street. I am hoping he can find out the cause of this noise, took it nearly 2 months to get a plant tech here to try and find the reason for the noise so I will do whatever I can to not waste this opportunity, will update later.

reply to kilrathi
I also noticed this on network status page:

Degraded Service Outtages

7/19/2012 7:53:00 PM

QUEENS, THE 11700-12300 BLOCKS OF NEWPORT AVE THE 200 AND 400 BLOCKS OF BEACH 119TH ST THE 200 AND 400 BLOCKS OF BEACH 122ND ST

This is only 10 streets away from here, so I wonder if this is related at all.

live update lol: he just called me that he spot source of the noise and he just wanted to let me know that he is heading to its location but he will call me later at night he has to supposedly track it down fast before he loses it(something like that he said). This is great news I have to say, I told him he can call me all night if needed.

Same time as he called me my internet disconnected for moment, well modem lock stayed on but log is full of t3/t4 errors more than usual.

update The plant tech called again and said that something else came up and he is needed but he will be here tomorrow night to continue the work, he said that he tracked down the noise thats affecting me and its actually in their system on 115th street which is 3 streets away from where I live. He said he will call me again tomorrow with an update. I consider this a great news, waiting for tomorrow, cant wait for this to be finally fixed and looks like finally it may happen.

reply to kilrathi
Good news.

reply to kilrathi
update late night, i think maybe the issue plant tech found was resolved over night because at 1am strange stuff was going on with the modem partial channel service modem going crazy in the logs then at 2:54 am everyting cut off for brief moment twice and now 2 of the higher symbol rate atdma upsream channels actually show 64QAM which never happened at this hour in the night for past 2 months, also so far every test I ran shows perfect connection no packet loss, stuff I could only dream of for past 2 months.... gonna verify tomorrow whether they actually resolved the noise on the system that the plant tech found earlier in the evening, but so far things look that way.

I hope this is it!

Well do you have any updates for us on this epic thread?

reply to kilrathi
Yes, evertyhing is much better since friday 3am. Tech called mast night said they fixed the noise and it was quite bad but the reason it only magnified at night was due to balancing and more usage the noise was more visible but the noise occured all the time, and it was basically bunch of old wires hooked up to taps and not terimianted but instead some near electricity and causing a lot of noise into the system. There is clear difference right now since htat was done, no more t3/t4 errors upstream channels stay at higher modulation at night(2 that are higher) and upstream snr lowest it got last night based on t3 tech was 27, where before it would hit 18. Of course I am waiting full weekend to get more clear logs and data to look at.

Awesome, I'm really happy to hear that you finally got a resolution to your problem!

reply to kilrathi
Upstream SNR is now improved and while I was celebrating I noticed packet loss tonight in range of 2-3% and when I tried to broadcast and cast a game stream would be cut off every minute.

I called T3 and upstream snr is fine but they told me looks like the modem keeps hopping upstream channels and this is causing error rate, this is horrible, this is also why I think ever since upstream channel bonding kicked in I noticed packet loss issues. Now the lower snr magnified the issue but looks like the damn problem still exists and its direct result of upstream channel bonding and the way channel hop from one to another, I cannot play game and stream currently I simply get disconnected or lag badly when channels switch and stream gets cut off...

I am gonna try to find out if its possible for plant to push custom config so that it only uses 1 upstream channel for me(I will still hit 5Mbit upstream no problem, after all thats how it was until may) because currently time warner here the plant does not seem to have upstream configuration properly done, this kind of problem shouldnt happen, i am confident if I was only 1 channel upstream I would not have this problem.