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Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
TP-Link Archer C7
Linksys WRT54GS
Linksys WRT54G v4

Bill_MI

MVM

Modem Data for 2012

Click for full size
Modem Data for 2012
During the year we added phone which changed modems, had a power outage for several days and saw downstream channels being added.

EXCESSIVE CHANNEL CHANGING continues - more than a dozen times per day. On DOCSIS 2 this means internet goes away for several seconds each time.

Otherwise, stability is very good, based on the data. This is my first complete year of WOW which we started Jun 2011. Only a minor seasonal affect is noticeable.

BTW, Happy New Year!

C1K
@comcast.net

C1K

Anon

I have a TM502G on Comcast and would love to be able to collect data like that. How do you do it?

Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
TP-Link Archer C7
Linksys WRT54GS
Linksys WRT54G v4

Bill_MI

MVM

A bash script (Linux) grabs and formats all the data into a daily CSV file via cron job every 5 minutes. I'm no expert, just hack at it. An expert would roll their eyes. I've set up Excel (Windows) to import and plot it.

C1K
@gm.com

C1K

Anon

Let me know where to get the script and I will see if I can get Linux going in a VM or something. My power levels fluctuate a lot and I would like to understand how frequently and how much.

I would really appreciate it!

Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
TP-Link Archer C7
Linksys WRT54GS
Linksys WRT54G v4

2 edits

Bill_MI

MVM

Attached right here. I'll bring up my Windows VM to edit up the compatible Excel file if you like (Excel 2000 so should work in any version?).

Warning. The script has some legacy going back to DSL service. Much junk remains in the data, only to be compatible with old modems and data. If that makes sense. There's also commented-out lines to grab the log and I've "XXX" out some device identifying numbers I shamefully hard coded.

But I might be able to help with questions fairly well. I did this only last June. Good luck!

EDIT and Warning #2: Remember, this is a script written by a hardware guy that dabbles in code (me!).

EDIT and Warning #3. See... it's NOT bash. It's sh!

C1K
@comcast.net

C1K

Anon

If you can easily work up an Excel file that would be better for me. But if not I will give this a go...

I have Excel 2010, BTW.

Thanks,
C1K

Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
TP-Link Archer C7
Linksys WRT54GS
Linksys WRT54G v4

Bill_MI

MVM

No problem. I go there most days to catchup on current data.

Attached is a daily one, for yesterday. I left a little of my data as a reference. It has a macro Ctrl+U (update) to import the data. It can span any time frame by rescaling, of course. Even the yearly one is much the same. How's it look in Office 2010?
clocks11
join:2002-05-06
00000

clocks11 to Bill_MI

Member

to Bill_MI
said by Bill_MI:

EXCESSIVE CHANNEL CHANGING continues - more than a dozen times per day. On DOCSIS 2 this means internet goes away for several seconds each time.

My internet used to drop a lot(maybe 3x per week), which would require a reboot of my modem/router. A couple months ago, I switched to the 30meg plan, and bought a Docsis 3 modem. Since doing so, I have only had one drop. I suspected it was do to having 4 channels instead of 1.

Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI

Bill_MI

MVM

Hi clocks11, Yes, DOCSIS 3 solves the drop during channel changing, probably replacing it with a momentary drop in speed. But requiring a reboot is a far more drastic issue I've not seen. Glad you're ok, now.
clocks11
join:2002-05-06
00000

clocks11

Member

Part of my problem is my signal has degraded over the years. This winter, I getting around -10dbvm. Over the summer it was -13 to -15. I suspect I may still have some issues when it warms up and the signal drops, but hopefully the 4 channels still help. I'm assuming if 1-2 channels drop, 1-2 will likely stay connected.

Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
TP-Link Archer C7
Linksys WRT54GS
Linksys WRT54G v4

Bill_MI

MVM

You can see the slight seasonal affect on my graph so yes, a few db drop is expected in the summer. Cold copper conducts better.

Somewhere around -10dBmV starts the gray area as I recall. Hope it works out. Automatic software is one thing but you can always keep a log.

I'm looking for that unexplained sudden shift which MAY indicate a bad connection, inside or outside. But it can be a system change, too, or the result of maintenance. Every channel isn't exactly the same level, either, so there's a lot of interpretation going on.

I think my plot indicates a very stable example. But it's only one customer on one system.

I know, if I were engineering a proactive maintenance system, I'd be monitoring these levels at key spots. Not sure if they do that or not. Heck, they have data available at every customer modem - not laboratory measuring devices but heck... they're free!

C1K
@gm.com

C1K to Bill_MI

Anon

to Bill_MI
Thanks so much for the Excel file! I will have to try it when I get home tonight. I have been offline the past couple days.