US Cable Support > Time Warner Internet Services > Does the leased SB6141 only get firmware updated?

reply to DrDrew

Re: Does the leased SB6141 only get firmware updated?

reply to tonyram57
Long story short ..

In December, I bought a SB6141 .. it rebooted 10x per day. Had TWC out, and they replaced all the coax to the pole. The SB6141 then rebooted only 5x per day.

So I bought ANOTHER new SB6141. Same problem, rebooted 5x a day.

After many calls to TWC, I got a helpful tier 3 support guy. He sets me up with a TWC owned SB6141 on their dime.

I now have my SB6141, and a TWC owned SB6141 right next to eachother .. just a splitter separating them.

Guess what? The TWC SB6141 (new out of the box) NEVER reboots. The SB6141 I bought from Newegg a month ago .. reboots 5x a day.

The firmware for both is the same, the August 2011 version. -- TWC in my area reports they do NOT use the Aug 2012 firmware (yet).

The tier 3 tech does not have an answer to this.

There can only be a few explanations here. Either Motorola somehow provides different hardware to TWC .. or somehow the firmware (with the same version#) is actually different .. or TWC treats customer owned modems differently than TWC owned modems.

In the end, I'm pretty sure I'll just buy a venerable SB5101 and be done with this nightmare.

Can you post the firmware/hardware screenshots from both modems?

reply to tonyram57
Thanks. So a leased SB6141 has 1.0.6.3 from August 2011. The white retail I now have still has 1.0.6.8 from August 2012. So there is hope that TWC might push firmware updates to all SB6141's as I read on another post that they are currently testing 1.0.6.10.

reply to tonyram57
The SB5101U is a great modem except it is DOSCIS 2.0 does not have channel bonding or Gigabit Ethernet it still is a great reliable modem. I am still keeping mine as a backup.

reply to DrDrew
I have the same firmware everyone else has on both the purchased and TWC owned SB6141.

Model Name: SB6141
Vendor Name: Motorola
Firmware Name: SB_KOMODO-1.0.6.3-SCM03-NOSH
Boot Version: PSPU-Boot(25CLK) 1.0.12.
Hardware Version: 7.0
Firmware Build Time: Aug 18 2011 10:27:53

Bottom line : I don't think it's the firmware that's the problem, since two identical modems, same firmware, split off at the same point (with the same amount of new coax) .. one loses signal 5x a day, one does not.

reply to tonyram57
Wrong reply

reply to ltm320
Do they both have the same hardware version? There are several hardware versions of the 6141... nothing I know for sure is different between them, so it just may be different manufacturing line runs, Moto does that.

Which one is resetting, the one your computer is connected to or the one that is not? You may want to try swapping them if only one is connected to see if the problem follows the connection. It maybe an electrical issue if the one resetting is connected and the one not resetting is not connected. I've seen stray current from bad grounds, miswired outlets, surge protectors, etc. do odd things like that when they're connected to the (should be) grounded coax system. Disconnect the path to ground (ethernet connection to modem) and the problem goes away.

It may be a certain type of traffic or load doing it. I've previously seen that happen to Motorola modems years ago. Just visiting particular websites would crash the modem. Other modems I've seen crash under certain high loads, like large torrent swarms or heavy uploads.

Make sure the power adapter output is the same between the two modems, then swap them. See if the issue follows the power adapter. Again I've seen poor performing power adapters cause issues like this, especially when the output is low or the amp rating isn't enough.
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Two is one, one is none. If it's important, back it up... Somethimes 99.999% availability isn't even good enough.

reply to ltm320
don't use splitters or signal booster with this modem, it messes up your signal badly! it will drop your signal if you have it hooked up to a line with a splitter or sharing tv/cable box line.

Huh? That's not true! My leased 6141 is hooked to a splitter. How else could I hook it up since I also have a Samsung HD TV? We are allowed only ONE wall outlet per condo for cable in this building. I was having a lot of problems last year with my beloved SB 5100 which was almost 8 years old when Oceanic TWC replaced it with the 6141. The 5100 was tripping off line frequently. That stopped with the 6141. I also went from 15/1 to 20/2. (DOCSIS 3 modem is required for 20/2).
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When governments fear people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. Thomas Jefferson

reply to tonyram57
Indeed. Probably every household that gets cable has a splitter at some point, as they likely have more than one tv plus modem in their house. The splitter in my experiment was installed by TWC. Indeed, for this experiment, it's good to have one line, split immediately with modems side by side. Both get exactly the same amount of signal (or lack thereof) and noise.

Gentlemen .. all the easy and obvious stuff has been investigated. I've swapped AC plugs, ethernet cables, routers, coax. I've had data going across the modem, I've had it without data. It'll reboot without any PCs or routers hooked up to it while the TWC modem never reboots.

Besides having different serial numbers, their firmware and hardware info are exactly the same. Yet the TWC modem is rock steady .. the (two) SB6141s I've purchased myself reboot 5x a day.

reply to tonyram57
I too have the same T4 issue on my SB6141(1.0.6.3). Does anyone know of a step by step guide to updating the firmware on these? I really don't want to deal with these reboots for another year.

reply to tonyram57
I have no splitters hooked up since I don't have TWC TV service. My line is hooked up to a coupler.

reply to tonyram57
their sb6141 is locked as in u cant access it once provisioned? I wonder if the config they send alters something that causes this difference

I just read that someones SB6141 purchased modem was downgraded to 1.0.6.3. Bad enough they don't push firmware updates to purchased modems but to downgrade a better firmware for a buggy one that causes reboots is pathetic. If TWC downgrades my white SB6141 to 1.0.6.3 then I am going back to my reliable SB5101U modem and I will try to return the SB6141.

Look at all the 6120 modems people purchased. A huge amount of them had 1.0.1.8 or 1.0.3.3 because that is what came on retail 6120s, now they have 1.0.6.3.

The 6141 you're talking about got a firmware change. If TWC releases something above 1.0.6.3 it'll get it. As will the 6120, 6121, 6141, and 6181.

If you bought the 5101 retail, compare your purchase date with the firmware build date.
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Two is one, one is none. If it's important, back it up... Somethimes 99.999% availability isn't even good enough.

I understand but I read here that after a botched update for the 6120 that TWC was no longer going to update purchased modems.