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IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
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join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

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[Connectivity] Signs of a failing modem

I would like to know the signs of a failing modem. Modem is a Motorola SB6120 bought back in 2009.

It seems to drop connectivity now and then and calls to customer service and service calls are futile. They always try to blame my equipment/computer and I've taken college level courses in computers and networking so I know how to troubleshoot. Even after troubleshooting, I still can't pin down the problem.

If I do end up buying another modem, it'll be the Motorola 6141. We do have 8x4 channel bonding on our node.

EG
The wings of love
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join:2006-11-18
Union, NJ

1 edit

1 recommendation

EG

Premium Member

Most times it is very hard to narrow a connectivity issue down to a definite modem hardware malfunction without a outright swap of it as a test.

beachintech
There's sand in my tool bag
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beachintech to IowaCowboy

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College level courses != qualified to troubleshoot anything completely. FYI. I've worked with people with degrees in Computer Science that can barely troubleshoot network connectivity.

Anyway - what do your signal levels look like when you lose connection? What are the lights doing on the modem when you lose a connection? What do you do to resolve it?

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
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join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

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Signal levels.

These were taken at a time with poor connectivity.





EG
The wings of love
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join:2006-11-18
Union, NJ

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EG to IowaCowboy

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to IowaCowboy
No smoking gun there. You might want to call in for the uSNR (upstream Signal to Noise Ratio) number when you are experiencing the issue. This figure can't be read at the modem level. It should be at least 30 dB, and higher is better.

beachintech
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What were the lights doing?

The T4 timeouts in there would lead me to believe you could have a signal / wiring problem rather than a modem issue.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
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join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

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said by beachintech:

What were the lights doing?

The T4 timeouts in there would lead me to believe you could have a signal / wiring problem rather than a modem issue.

I've been through countless tech visits and they've all been futile.

Each time they say the signal is fine (which is basically they're way of saying we're not going to fix it).

I even called in and asked if they could put in a trouble ticket and not roll a tech and they could not do anything but roll a truck.

I even had one tech who could see the problem and his supervisor's response was "your meter is broken".

beachintech
There's sand in my tool bag
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beachintech

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Weird. There is a problem there but without a meter I can only speculate. My advice , and I know it may stink, is to keep calling. If too much time goes by between calls it won't get flagged as a repeat issue and no one higher up will really see it. Best of luck to getting a resolution - spending money on a new modem really won't help out much at all. You have to get the underlying problem fixed first.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
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join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy to EG

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Went to Best Buy today and bought a Motorola SB 6141 (and they price matched it to Amazon.com, although I prefer to shop at Best Buy) and I went home and activated it using the self activation.

Seems to be performing better.

Signal levels.



EG
The wings of love
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join:2006-11-18
Union, NJ

EG to IowaCowboy

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Hope things hold up for you !

At least you now have a modem that delivers more downstream channels !

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
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join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

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I figured it would hold up better during the peak loads due to the 8x4 bonding (8x2 in my area) as 8x4 modems are probably a fraction of the installed modem fleet on my node.

Anyways, I would have preferred the black casing but I think the white casing is a good idea to differentiate the customer owned vs Comcast leased modems. At least it matches my Apple AirPort Extreme.



Darknessfall
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join:2012-08-17

Darknessfall

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I wasn't a fan of the white case at first until I started to see more pictures of the modem itself. I then began to like the color more on it.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
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IowaCowboy

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For some reason, uploads to DSLR from iOS devices in portrait appear sideways.
jagged
join:2003-07-01
Boynton Beach, FL

jagged to IowaCowboy

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you can buy a black SB6141 but they're sold by third parties on Amazon and Ebay and their warranty is like less than a 1 year I think

I'm thinking of buying a white SB6141 and maybe spray paint it if opening the case won't void the warranty

beachintech
There's sand in my tool bag
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said by IowaCowboy:

For some reason, uploads to DSLR from iOS devices in portrait appear sideways.

That's because you are holding the devices camera sideways

YukonHawk
join:2001-01-07
Patterson, NY

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said by IowaCowboy:

I figured it would hold up better during the peak loads due to the 8x4 bonding (8x2 in my area) as 8x4 modems are probably a fraction of the installed modem fleet on my node.

Anyways, I would have preferred the black casing but I think the white casing is a good idea to differentiate the customer owned vs Comcast leased modems. At least it matches my Apple AirPort Extreme.

[att=1]

Nice set up. Very neat.
YukonHawk

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Disregard....my bad....

jaynick
lit up
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Sterling Heights, MI

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said by IowaCowboy:

For some reason, uploads to DSLR from iOS devices in portrait appear sideways.

I am having that same issue, haven't figured out a fix yet.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
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IowaCowboy

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This is what it looks like from my end.



beachintech
There's sand in my tool bag
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Heres the story for those who are confused about the picture thing. Your iPad camera is designed for you to hold the iPad landscape and take pictures. They encode some EXIF data to correct for this, that apple browsers (and some others) pick up on to rotate it for you when you are holding it wrong. DSLR and many other sites, don't know what that code means, so they post the image as you send it, sideways.

jaynick
lit up
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join:2001-02-06
Sterling Heights, MI

jaynick

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I have heard that explanation before but what is the fix? When I take a photo with the iPhone I hold it vertically.

PortraitMode
@comcast.net

PortraitMode

Anon

said by jaynick:

I have heard that explanation before but what is the fix? When I take a photo with the iPhone I hold it vertically.

You need to explicitly re-save the image in "portrait" mode either in your camera or with an external graphic viewer/editor program. Typically you would simply rotate the image 90 degrees (in the appropriate direction for the way you held the phone/camera) and then save the image again. I have done this using many different Windows and Linux applications, so I would think that at least some Apple applications would have this ability as well. Even my "not so smart" Samsung cell phone has this capability built-in.
PortraitMode

PortraitMode to jaynick

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to jaynick
said by jaynick:

I have heard that explanation before but what is the fix? When I take a photo with the iPhone I hold it vertically.

As I already mentioned (although my post has not shown up yet) you need to rotate the image 90 degrees and re-save the image. Here is what the OP's image looks like after that procedure:



chip89
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join:2012-07-05
Columbia Station, OH

chip89 to beachintech

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he needs to hold it sideways not right side up at lest it's that way in windows 8!
chip89

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chip89 to jaynick

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you need it turn it sideways and take it works right when it's sideways.

PortraitMode
@comcast.net

PortraitMode

Anon

said by chip89:

you need it turn it sideways and take it works right when it's sideways.

Or, instead of accepting the default mode offered by the phone/camera and becoming the slave of the technology; you can take your pictures using the mode and framing that looks best to you, and use the technology to save the image to look as you intended.

beachintech
There's sand in my tool bag
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said by chip89:

he needs to hold it sideways not right side up at lest it's that way in windows 8!

That's what I said