Cox → [LA] Randomly Losing Modem Signal...

After thinking I resolved my internet connection problems with Cox (by way of using the services of the Better Business Bureau) about a year or two ago, I am finding myself in the unfortunate position of having to ask the good people here for your input.

For the last month or so, I have been getting random modem disconnects. At the time, originally, I had an old DOCSIS 2.0 modem, and all of the lights on the modem would go out, except for the power button. When they would come back on, I would have all the appropriate lights lit except for the SEND light and of course the connection light. The SEND light simply kept blinking and I was unable to log onto the internet.

These disconnects happened at random points during the day. Sometimes, they wouldn't happen at all for a day or two...but, inevitably, I would get booted off again completely.

So, I called Cox Cust. Svc and explained to them the problem as best I could. They immediately informed me to switch modems, because according to them the "signals were fine," between myself and them, and they said it might be a bad modem.

They sent out a technician who looked at the line inside the apartment for less than 5 minutes. He said that the signal was fine, etc.. I tried to explain that usually the signals ARE fine, but when things happen, I lose connection COMPLETELY and RANDOMLY. He left saying that since he couldn't see the problem then, there was nothing he could do.

To eliminate the possibility of them continuing to say it was "my modem and router," I got a brand new DOCSIS 3.0 Motorola Surfboard SB6121 AND completely disabled my router (it is no longer even connected to the power supply. I furthermore replaced the Cat5 cabling between my modem and computer, just in case. I even got them to force a firmware update onto my new modem.

Well, lo and behold, the modem ...NEW MODEM...did the same thing as my old modem did, and my computer wasn't even on. I saw it drop as I was just getting home.

I called the service person and explained to him the ongoing drops I have been experiencing and he explains to me that they just got a service flag that the node in my area was undergoing "repairs." I asked him the time...5:50 PM CENTRAL time today. Thats about 5 minutes into my call to him.

I dont know what it is. I scanned for viruses, I got a new modem, I removed the router from the equation and I got a firmware update on said modem. I replaced the cabling, and still noticed the connection drops even when the computer isn't ON.

Please, review this information and see what you think. If you need signal levels on my modem, I would be happy to provide. Pingtest results, same. Pingplotter, same. When the internet works, it works VERY well. The problem is that when it doesn't it falls flat and takes me with it.

Please give me your opinions...Cox reps...I'm definitely interested in hearing from YOU.

By any chance are you using the power supply of the older modem? A couple of years ago I had a similar situation, nothing made sense, then I discovered that the SB5100's power module -supposed to be 12 Volts - was delivering 16 Volts, and the darned SB5100 was messing up from heat. My 6120 power supply is better behaved.

Yessir, changed the power supply to to the one that came with the new modem. I wish it were that simple! :\ Thank you though.

Please PM your Cable Modem MAC address and your physical address and I will check on this for you.

Please check your mail sir, I think I managed to send it to you.

I got your email. I am checking on this now.

Thank you sir.

Its doing it again right now. All the lights go out except the power light. It did this twice in quick succession,a nd was working this morning perfectly until that point.

It sounds like an intermittent problem, and those are the hardest to resolve. There is a bad connection somewhere, to help eliminate your house wiring, take your Modem to the closes Cable Connection where it comes into your house. Then see if you still get the failed light indications. If you do get the Tech back and tell him what you found. He will have to take some Meter readings and go back on the Cable until he finds the problem. If you don't then it's in your house and you will have to find the bad connection.

According to the cox reps I called today, it is an "outage" in my area. As far as the wires? I replaced the coax cable between the modem and wall outlet. I don't know what else I can do. New modem, new coax, removed the router, scanned for viruses, did anything I could think of.

Another total blinkout. Middle of the day. No warning. There is no "outage" in the area today.

I was talking about the Coax in the wall, if Cox won't check that out then you or someone you Contract has to check it out. There is a location outside your house where Cox comes in with their Drop and connects to your House Coax. Now a good solid connection would be Home Run from there to each room in your house. So they will have some Main Splitters there and Coax coming out to each room. What happen most of the time on these Coax Runs, is they Split them even further to accommodate more Jacks in your house. This of course cuts down on the Signal, and on bad connections causes problems. These Splitters have to be properly Terminated on open Outlets. So all this has to be checked out with a good Tech that uses a proper Meter.

The unfortunate thing is, this is an apartment. And the property owners, 1st Lake, are notoriously cheap. They are likely old connections inside the walls. In fact, I am almost sure of it. But, at this point, I have no way to determine if it is that small section of connection between me and plant (I don't have the tools, if I did, I would do this on my own). The fact of the matter is, it could be outside...water getting into a line, a loose cable from the pole down, a chewed cable from a rat or squirrel, someone messing with the cable box on the bldg (which I have seen happen recently, and made a call about it).

So, while I agree that it could be the apartment managers problem (cable in the wall being bad), I can't rule out the very likely possibility it still is cox's issue simply because they have NOT investigated it properly at this point to where anything can even remotely be stated to be the likely culprit. The one time they came out, the guy spent a grand total of 5 minutes, hooked up an old meter to the splitter (tv and internet), and looked at the connection long enough to say "good signal, now it's time for my lunch break!" and he was out the door.

This is an intermittent, random and frequent problem (its happened 5 times in 4 hours today...I sat here and WATCHED it. I am logging EVERYTHING...here:

»forums.cox.com/forum_hom ··· spx#1496

Living in an Apartment makes it a little more complicated, but all you can do are test your Jacks. The only Tool you have is your Modem with the Light Indications. You can test all the Cable Jacks in your Apartment and see if they all fail. If they do then the failure is outside your Apartment. Then it's up to Cox to test the Drop and see if they get a failure there, but you have to tell the Tech it's intermittent and if he doesn't have the time to wait, he will have to rig up a monitor to check later. The failure has to be isolated in order for it to be fixed. If the Drop is good, and it only fails in your Apartment, then it sounds like the Apartment Cable. You are right, Apartment Owners don't like to spend extra money. So for your sake, let's hope it proves back into Cox.

Well the technician was out here today (I took off to see him), and he noticed some bad wiring outside at the box, replaced that and reseated and tightened up the connections in the box. He came in and ran some tests and he said that it was a "big problem," even though the wiring issue looked minor.

He checked the connection and it seemed fine. He left...20 mins after he left, the cable blinked out, and has done so 3 times since he left about an hour and a half ago. I am almost sure it will happen again, but, later this evening it will get better too. I am keeping a close eye on it in the interim and seeing what is what.

EXTREMELY frustrating.

How many Cable Jacks do you have in your Apartment, and have you tested them all? Because if you happen to find a good one you can put a Temporary Fix by running a long Coax Cable back to the original location. Then you can call Cox and get a Tech out there and tell them what you found. The Tech should be able to fix the problem. Just don't let him leave until your Jack is tested.

I just post here but don know where it go?

anyway yeah I have same problem 7 years ago at my old house. no solution. weird. I also have another similar problem as of now in new house. connection drop for 50sec and back and forth and it happends during the day.

do you live near schools or any tall building?

Same thing for me been happening for over a year, swapped out a number of modems thinking they were the problems. Have used RCA, Toshiba & Motorola, I have a few models of each manufacturer and even some models I have 2 or more of so I have found out so far that I had the least drop outs when I was using the old RCA's, but they were used first off when the drop-outs were less often. I then went to the Motorola due to the Cox support advising me to do it, a compatibility issue with the old hardware was what I was told. Immediately I saw more problems than ever, switched back to RCA, but still was having problems. I then blamed the most recent wired Netgear Firewall router I was using, 1 of about 6 models that are good pieces and were up to date, (again I have 2 or 3 of some models with a total of 10 routers), and switched to a different one of the same model, no change. I then started a musical chairs of routers, both wired and wireless combo pieces, several D-links, Belkin, a few newer Netgear wireless that ended up not being able to even log on after a while! I disconnected the router and went straight to the comp, leaving other comps out of the picture completely. I then started to run all new wires and splitters but for the testing phase I would just use 1-5 port high quality high gain splitter that I grounded properly, and connected only my cable box and my TV on 1 port and my modem and comp on another port. When I was doing this I had the TV on and was connecting the cables to the splitter for the modem and noticed if I just touch the cables on the outside jacket and moved it I would loose my TV signal! The signal is so weak that any tiny disturbance in the flow will cause problems! I found out that there is more information going back to Cox than there is coming in! This causes your input to drop to allow the feedback signal priority on the cable. If you Google it you will find tons of info on this. I asked Cox about this and they confirmed it, saying it is to provide better service through monitoring usage and providing updated data if needed! I then found out that there are devices made that block or lower the feedback signals to allow more input signals through the lines. They are mostly intended for satellite and DSL signals but have Cable style connections and require 12v DC power inputs into some of the cable connections, I have 1 that is used and don't have all the parts for it. I noticed less drop outs with it, but not the solution. I ended up tossing my Belkin router across the room convinced it was to blame, now have a D-Link Giga Wireless DIR-655 and still have some drop outs. I do think that it's a combination of the modem losing signal and also the router loosing DNS causes them both to do a search. The router will be able to reconnect as soon as the modem does but the problem again lies with them both not having access until the modem can connect. So the modem will again start checking all points that it needs to connect again while the router waits for the modem to finish. This is when the internet connection is completely lost and pages time out, (Motorola is extremely slow at reconnecting compared to my RCA models) sometimes the router will not loose DNS and will recover with out loosing pages. I have concluded that it's a Cox problem due to their own feedback signal hogging the bandwith of the poor quality cabling systems they have outside your home and there is very little you can do about it!

"he explains to me that they just got a service flag that the node in my area was undergoing "repairs."

I believe you answered your own question.. COX will never admit any problems (specific ones anyway).

I too had a long standing issue, replaced all, etc.

What does your modem logs show? The new modem that is.

Check on the Cox support forums, I posted the information there, along with a recommendation that people contact the BBB to put some fire under the Cox reps' feet. It worked for me last time.

»forums.cox.com/forum_hom ··· 568.aspx

Just wanted to update...been having inet drop all afternoon, and according to the cox customer support line, there is "an outage in your area."

Same report yesterday. "There is an outage in your area." This is almost comical.