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cathyy
join:2000-11-30
30000

cathyy

Member

Broadstripe issues

WOW has bought out Broadstripe here in SW Michigan, and is in the process of "upgrading" our service. So far the "upgrade" consists of frequent, short periods of time where the Internet quits working, a drop in speed from 16 to 12 meg, and lots and lots of small glitches with the Internet - pages not found, messages not delivered, posts not posted.

I had WOW while I lived in SE Michigan and liked it. What is actually going on here in SW Michigan/Broadstripe that is making things worse rather than better? They said all the work would be done "late at night" so it wouldn't interfere with normal use. Um, really? Not that I have noticed.

mix
join:2002-03-19
Romeo, MI
GL.iNet GL-B1300
Netgear CM500

mix

Member

Sounds more likely you have a signal issue with your modem that is messing with your internet connection intermittently, possibly causing packet loss. If your problem seems to get worse with wild swings in the weather (heat wave), I'd say you have a bad connector somewhere that needs to be replaced. Your best bet is to contact customer service and describe your problem. They will probably send out a tech. to search for the issue.
cathyy
join:2000-11-30
30000

cathyy

Member

I will pursue the bad connector issue, once the long holiday weekend is over and they will answer the phones.

There is a packet loss issue, per a ping test, and it *seems* to be WOW servers doing the packet dropping. (I did not bother to make myself pingable for this)

ae-8-8.car1.Detroit1.Level3.net 10% 54 60 60.98 66.52 213.85
ae-11-11.car2.Detroit1.Level3.net 7% 56 60 60.99 85.61 262.27

mix
join:2002-03-19
Romeo, MI

mix

Member

Don't know what servers you are pinging, but you need to ping a site like google.com and not the hops (routers) between you and your destination, as they are designed to drop and deprioritize icmp requests.
uteck
join:2009-12-30
Elgin, IL

uteck to cathyy

Member

to cathyy
You could also try different DNS and see if that fixes the problems. Try OpenDNS or Google's DNS, both are free to use, and if the problem is a configuration or caching issue caused from the conversion this will give you noticeable results right away.
cathyy
join:2000-11-30
30000

cathyy to mix

Member

to mix
said by mix:

Sounds more likely you have a signal issue with your modem that is messing with your internet connection intermittently, possibly causing packet loss.

I just got confirmation that it is not just me experiencing these issues, so not just my modem.
cathyy

cathyy to uteck

Member

to uteck
said by uteck:

You could also try different DNS and see if that fixes the problems.

I was using Open DNS, and switched to the ISP's DNS to see if it would have any effect. It did not.
cathyy

cathyy

Member

So today it went out entirely (again) but for several hours. We saw them digging up something a couple blocks away - so here's hoping my issues were caused by whatever they just had to fix!

Just_Dan
Premium Member
join:2011-03-24
Denver, CO

Just_Dan

Premium Member

Hopefully the work they're doing locally will resolve it. If not, please let me know and I will see what I can do. I don't have full access to all the old Broadstripe systems yet, but I should be able to check it out.

quicksticks

Anon

I spoke with my local broadstripe helpdesk yesterday. It appears WOW does not work with some modems. Mine is the motorola sb6120. I was told the firmware needs to be updated. I have been having the same issues as you cathyy.

RootWyrm
join:2011-05-09

RootWyrm

Member

said by quicksticks :

I spoke with my local broadstripe helpdesk yesterday. It appears WOW does not work with some modems. Mine is the motorola sb6120. I was told the firmware needs to be updated. I have been having the same issues as you cathyy.

Hahaha that's a good one.
Also it's total BS. The SB6120 is the only non-Arris WOW supports on DOCSIS 3.

Broadstripe systems are essentially in transition at the moment. Expect frequent outages and poor performance during integration. Chances are that the headend has actually been unmaintained and left to fall apart since Broadstripe decided to sell - that's standard practice in the industry and on Broadstripe, not WOW.

quicksticks to Just_Dan

Anon

to Just_Dan
Thanks Dan will do.
Aravan24
join:2012-05-31
Mason, MI

Aravan24 to cathyy

Member

to cathyy
I'm also a Broadstripe customer and have been down since last Thursday when they switched over to the WOW network. I spoke with the tech support personnel at Broadstripe tonight and was told that since I also have a Motorola SB6120 it's a firmware issue with my modem. They tried to push the new firmware remotely but apparently it can't hit the modem so they're saying a tech needs to come out. I'd like to avoid the $36 fee if at all possible.

Is it possible to update the firmware myself and see if that fixes the issue? I did PM WOW_Dan my info so if you can look at it from your side I'd much appreciate it.

Thanks!

mix
join:2002-03-19
Romeo, MI
GL.iNet GL-B1300
Netgear CM500

mix to cathyy

Member

to cathyy
What firmware revision are you guys with the non functioning sb6120 using? You can view this information at »192.168.100.1 . WOW has unofficially been able to update the firmware in the past for these modems to a version that works with WOW's DOCSIS 3.0 implementation.
Aravan24
join:2012-05-31
Mason, MI

Aravan24

Member

I'm at:

SB5101NU-2.1.7.0-GA-00-388-NOSH
Aravan24

Aravan24

Member

I should point out that since the overall transition to WOW as the service provider is still in progress, Broadstripe is still the one doing the tech support. This may be part of the issue as they may not have full knowledge of how the WOW personnel are performing the firmware upgrades for these specific modems.

quicksticks to Just_Dan

Anon

to Just_Dan
Ok, so the tech was out today, was going to swap out my modem for a rental while on the phone wit the "ladies" as he told my wife then found out it had been configured wrong at their end. Supposedly ran the firmware update and left. Wasn't there 10 minutes. Wife reports it is still doing the same thing it was doing before he got there...not happy.
quicksticks

quicksticks to Aravan24

Anon

to Aravan24
It was a WOW guy that came to my house today. And fixed nothing!
quicksticks

quicksticks to quicksticks

Anon

to quicksticks
Actually the term he used was provisioned wrong.
quicksticks

quicksticks to RootWyrm

Anon

to RootWyrm
Nice, well great example of the out-going not knowing what the incoming has to offer...customers get caught in the middle. I've been a week with very limited internet access. Good thing I don't do work out of my home!
quicksticks

quicksticks to Aravan24

Anon

to Aravan24
Same thing I was told Aravan. Let me know if you hear from Dan.

RootWyrm
join:2011-05-09

RootWyrm to cathyy

Member

to cathyy
Welcome to a transitioning system. I'm sure Dan will do his best, but there's only so much he's able to do in this situation. He probably still doesn't have full access or full information on these areas as of yet.

First, Broadstripe isn't fully integrated yet most likely. Which means they may have completely different equipment than WOW. It's not like WOW just swoops in with a brand new Arris C4 CMTS and drops it in. Cable plants are rather complicated beasts.
Second, Broadstripe went into Chapter 11. Which means that they haven't spent a penny on maintaining their cable plants in close to a year, possibly longer. Cable plants require active maintenance, so WOW is probably still repairing basic transmission systems, much less DOCSIS related systems.
Third, Broadstripe support is about as useful as hitting your head against a rock at this point. They don't have access to some systems any more, and others they're not allowed to fix because that would be spending money. (Plus based on the reviews I've seen, they've always been about that useful.)

So, if you're a former Broadstripe customer, the best advice I have for you is to be patient. Dan will get to things to the best of his ability, but it's an uphill battle for him as well, and it'll be a while before things stabilize again.

Just_Dan
Premium Member
join:2011-03-24
Denver, CO

Just_Dan to Aravan24

Premium Member

to Aravan24
said by Aravan24:

I should point out that since the overall transition to WOW as the service provider is still in progress, Broadstripe is still the one doing the tech support. This may be part of the issue as they may not have full knowledge of how the WOW personnel are performing the firmware upgrades for these specific modems.

I responded to Aravan privately, but I believe I was able to resolve his issue. Waiting for confirmation from him. I needed help from a few other departments, because I don't have access to everything that was needed, but after an hour or two, I was able to get his modem to a working state. I can't guarantee I will be able to fix all issues for former Broadstripe customers at this time, but I'm open to doing as much as I can if anyone else needs help.
Aravan24
join:2012-05-31
Mason, MI

Aravan24

Member

I also responded to WOW_Dan privately but wanted to also post my thanks for all his help, as well as the help of the engineers and account personnel who assisted him, here publicly. All the extra effort payed off and my modem is back online and functioning perfectly. Given that I'm an IT professional who occasionally has to work remotely this is a huge win.

I think that the fact that this forum has the support of such a skilled and helpful technician is truly a credit to WOW and I am beyond thankful for all the help.

Thanks again Dan!
quicksticks
join:2012-06-01
Portland, MI

quicksticks

Member

That is awesome...now if I could get mine going!! What did he do?
quicksticks

quicksticks

Member

Mine seems to be working today. Not sure how. The only thing is my send/recv lights are staying blue and normally are green. But I am staying connected.

Just_Dan
Premium Member
join:2011-03-24
Denver, CO

Just_Dan

Premium Member

said by quicksticks:

Mine seems to be working today. Not sure how. The only thing is my send/recv lights are staying blue and normally are green. But I am staying connected.

The blue lights indicate that the modem is bonding channels. I don't believe Broadstripe had launched DOCSIS 3.0 yet, so with only 1 channel each way, the lights would be green. When we took over the internet traffic recently, the CMTSs were configured for DOCSIS 3.0, so your upstream and downstream should now show as blue lights, this is a good thing
cathyy
join:2000-11-30
30000

cathyy

Member

We lost all signal, TV and Internet, for about 3 hours again. (on Monday?) I don't have the Motorola modem, I have an Arris CM550A, and it is obviously old and was obviously used before it was given to us.

It really does seem like simple lack of maintenance. We've only had Broadstripe/WOW since early December, and even then, before the WOW upgrading began, the signal was weather-dependent. Rain, snow and wind all degraded the signal significantly. So I am pretty sure this is all just a manifestation of long term poor maintenance, and it will take WOW some time to repair and replace all that needs repairing and replacing. It beats satellite and DSL.
cathyy

cathyy

Member

We had the cable guy out about 10 days ago. Our signal is good, he put the connection outside into an nice little plastic box enclosure instead of being in the weather, and he said he'd get my modem swapped out in case that's the problem. He could find *no reason* for my Internet to be so slow, but he witnessed the 4 meg speed himself.

So as of today I still have no new modem, and my speeds still drop from 15 to as low as 2 (but never over 8) in the evenings and on weekends. I've not heard back from Broadstripe/WOW since the visit, even though I specifically told the guy not to mark the problem as solved, since it wasn't.

All this is NOT ACCEPTABLE to me. I can't raid or run dungeons in World of Warcraft in the evening because I get disconnected so often. It's been 2 months since they began the transition work; at this point it begins to look like what I have is what I will always have. Our contract and the lack of an alternative cable TV provider is the only thing keeping me from dumping WOW at this point. I'd even go dish to replace the cable and get plain DSL - it would be both faster and more reliable - but my husband refuses to go dish for TV.

mix
join:2002-03-19
Romeo, MI
GL.iNet GL-B1300
Netgear CM500

mix

Member

If you are getting disconnected, I would suspect a packet loss problem. On the windows command line, run this command during one of your crappy connection times:

ping -n 100 www.google.com

At the end, it will give you some statistics. Copy and paste them to this thread.