dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
15840
KodakMoment
join:2010-02-16
North York, ON

KodakMoment

Member

[Modem/Router] Rogers connection drops frequently DNS

Okay so for the past few months my connection has been very unstable. I was using the rogers cisco dpc3825 modem/router combo. I am on the extreme service and randomly my connection will drop and then the message from network and sharing will state "Your computer appears to be correctly configured, but the device or resource (DNS server) is not responding" This happens 5-20x per hour takes around a few seconds upwards to 3-5mins for it to reconnect

Steps I have taken so far are:
I have tried setting the DNS manually to google or another name server. I still get the same issue.
Put my modem/router into bridged mode still the same issue
Call rogers to make sure everything is fine they said on their end everything looks fine.
They send a technician over he checks the cables and says everything is fine.
I exchange the modem for another cisco dpc3825 and have the same issue

Called another technician he checks the connection again and says it's fine then hands me the Hitron CDE-30364 and tells me to try it out stating it has less issues than the cisco. I try out this modem out and eventually I get the same issue where the connection drops for 5-10seconds then reconnects. It's very frustrating having this happen more than 20x an hour. I've also tried putting this new modem into bridged modem.

I don't know what to do at this point and i am looking for suggestions

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook

Mod

What are the modem signal readings?
cepnot4me
join:2013-10-29
L0C 1K0

cepnot4me to KodakMoment

Member

to KodakMoment
If you have to call in again, tell the Rep to check for Flapping on the SMT or Node. It sounds to me like flapping which is basically just fast disconnects/reconnects that don't show in the light pattern. Techs aren't trained to look for this, and most don't have access to the tools to do so. The call Centre should check on every call, but I doubt 80% of them know where or what to look for.
KodakMoment
join:2010-02-16
North York, ON

KodakMoment to sbrook

Member

to sbrook
Had another tech come Sunday didn't want to post until I tested out a bit. He said the signal was poor and changed some wiring and amplified the signal from my isp. Anyway my connection was fine that day Sunday.

Monday woke up noticed my wifi on my phone was on but couldn't get a connection. All the lights on the modem were on went ahead and turned on my computer ran network and sharing diagnostic nothing came up but I wasn't getting any webpages to load. Ended up restarting the thing and it worked fine. Later that day I was playing an online game and then tabbed out to browse the web and noticed I couldn't load any web pages with Chrome. I tab back into the game and i'm still connected then tab back out open IE and try load web pages and notice they won't load there either. Open up steam and I lost connection there also. Tabbed back into the game and noticed I was still connected. Eventually had to restart the modem again for my web pages to load.

Today the same thing with the wifi happened wasn't getting anything to load on my phone. Had to restart the modem again. Start playing an online game again and then d/c all the lights on the modem are on network and sharing doesn't have the little caution sign. I open up network and sharing run diagnostics and get "windows can't communicate with the device or resource dns" I open up ipconfig/all in cmd and notice my dns is pointing to my routers address 192.168.0.1. I check my ipv4 config everything is set to automatic. Then I check the setup page of my router and it is configured to the default dns for my isp. I then try to manually input 8.8.8.8 into ipv4 didn't make a difference. Open back up cmd and run ipconfig/release, renew, /flushdns, /registerdns nothing changes after running these commands still no connection. Then I restart my modem and I get connection again. The only change is now i'm not getting the small disconnects every few minutes but random disconnects that require me to fully reboot the modem. Yet again i'm confused at what is going on
said by sbrook:

What are the modem signal readings?

I've uploaded the a screenshot of the signals here

»i.imgur.com/iw7Nh7w.png
said by cepnot4me:

If you have to call in again, tell the Rep to check for Flapping on the SMT or Node. It sounds to me like flapping which is basically just fast disconnects/reconnects that don't show in the light pattern. Techs aren't trained to look for this, and most don't have access to the tools to do so. The call Centre should check on every call, but I doubt 80% of them know where or what to look for.

I need more information about what to ask them because let's face it they will respond with what is that or i've checked the signal, etc

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook

Mod

Your downstream signal strengths are too low and your upstream are too high. that's going to cause all kinds of problems. Time to call Rogers ... and show him that screenshot in case it's intermittent.
KodakMoment
join:2010-02-16
North York, ON

KodakMoment

Member

said by sbrook:

Your downstream signal strengths are too low and your upstream are too high. that's going to cause all kinds of problems. Time to call Rogers ... and show him that screenshot in case it's intermittent.

I actually called them yesterday and the rep said the signal was weak. What's funny is the tech that came Sunday said he fixed that issue guess I was lied to ;/ I requested for a senior tech to come out tomorrow
cepnot4me
join:2013-10-29
L0C 1K0

cepnot4me

Member

When the guy is there, check your signal page, what was 54, should be in the 40's, what was -11 should be closer to 0. Asking for a senior tech does nothing. The system just gives the call to anyone.
KodakMoment
join:2010-02-16
North York, ON

1 edit

KodakMoment

Member

Well the same tech that only replaced the gateway came again today. He opened the wall unit and it looked like the end of the cable was corroded so he ended up changing that. Here is a snapshot of my signal page now. I'll report back if I have further issues

»i.imgur.com/UVd3BWj.png

Update*

Well back to square one. Still having the same issue I noticed during the outages the upstream spikes up to the 50s

»i.imgur.com/uWxecea.png

I have to reboot the gateway when I do the thing fails to connect and I have to reboot it again. The downstream light will blink once green then stabilize, upstream will blink a bit green, then the online will blink green a bit, then the online and upstream lights will go off and it will repeat this pattern until I reboot the modem again;/

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook

Mod

Call and ask for a senior tech. This guy clearly doesn't know what the hell he's doing. With signals like that, something is wrong.
cepnot4me
join:2013-10-29
L0C 1K0

cepnot4me to KodakMoment

Member

to KodakMoment
I'm betting this is a maintenance issue, I'm also betting the guy isn't going to the tap. Are you aerial fed, or burial? If burial fed, did this guy bother locating the big green box out on the street underneath the snow?

Your RF is low, which means either the feed is low or the cable to the modem is toast and needs to be rerun, or there are too many splitters between the feed and your modem.

But ya Sbrook is right. This guy isn't doing his job. Call in, escalate. Like I said before asking for a Senior tech doesn't work, unless you go through the office of the president.

However while it is aggravating to continue waiting around for techs, every time you book a service call within 30 days of the lady one, the last tech gets hit with a performance repeat. So if this guy keeps coming.. your destroying his performance metrics.
KodakMoment
join:2010-02-16
North York, ON

1 edit

KodakMoment

Member

said by cepnot4me:

I'm betting this is a maintenance issue, I'm also betting the guy isn't going to the tap. Are you aerial fed, or burial? If burial fed, did this guy bother locating the big green box out on the street underneath the snow?

Your RF is low, which means either the feed is low or the cable to the modem is toast and needs to be rerun, or there are too many splitters between the feed and your modem.

But ya Sbrook is right. This guy isn't doing his job. Call in, escalate. Like I said before asking for a Senior tech doesn't work, unless you go through the office of the president.

However while it is aggravating to continue waiting around for techs, every time you book a service call within 30 days of the lady one, the last tech gets hit with a performance repeat. So if this guy keeps coming.. your destroying his performance metrics.

Burial fed. Not sure if he actually opened the green box. They usually do that before they call to say they are outside. He told me before he checked it and it was fine this was the first time when it was around -22 without windshield. He didn't ask to go to the backyard to check the lines nor the garage where the splitter is this time around. He barely spoke English. I had to keep repeating myself it was obvious he was a fresh immigrant not to put others down. It's true this time around you could see the panic when he realized he didn't fix it the first time around. Also forgot to add he used some device where it can be attached to a cable to read the signal. He shows me it says before it was 0 now it's 8 and the scale is 0-10.

I did end up calling yet again and the phone rep said something along the lines of okay its been more than enough visits its time we sent out a senior tech. They could have saved themselves money and time for me and them if they send out the Senior tech the 2nd time when I requested it. They said the boss and underling will be here so we shall see how that goes.

I did forget to mention my brother also had rogers extreme but hes on the 2nd floor of the house. He said he has 0 issues atm. So that probably narrows it down to the line between the splitter and the outlet where my gateway is
cepnot4me
join:2013-10-29
L0C 1K0

cepnot4me

Member

The meter he showed you signal on is the RF, +8 is good, if it's on the right channel.
We check the levels of 4/70/135, that gives us an idea of the slope.

Channel 4 will give an experienced tech an idea of TX issues. But that number could be 25 and the TX is still out of spec.

Channel 70 gives us an idea of the RX. Actually, channel 89 gives bus an idea but we rate it based on the number we get on 70.

135 is just for good measure to make sure the plant is sloping properly.

You say upstairs is another modem?

How many cable outlets are connected to the feed. (in use or not, modem, home phone lines included. )

If there are 2 houses worth of services, you need a 2nd drop.

Sounds to me like they are sending you a supervisor. He will resolve it. However the solution I'm going to bet will require drilling one or two new lines to exterior of the house.
KodakMoment
join:2010-02-16
North York, ON

KodakMoment

Member

said by cepnot4me:

The meter he showed you signal on is the RF, +8 is good, if it's on the right channel.
We check the levels of 4/70/135, that gives us an idea of the slope.

Channel 4 will give an experienced tech an idea of TX issues. But that number could be 25 and the TX is still out of spec.

Channel 70 gives us an idea of the RX. Actually, channel 89 gives bus an idea but we rate it based on the number we get on 70.

135 is just for good measure to make sure the plant is sloping properly.

You say upstairs is another modem?

How many cable outlets are connected to the feed. (in use or not, modem, home phone lines included. )

If there are 2 houses worth of services, you need a 2nd drop.

Sounds to me like they are sending you a supervisor. He will resolve it. However the solution I'm going to bet will require drilling one or two new lines to exterior of the house.

There are 2 boxes 1 outside which can only be unlocked with a socketed screwdriver says bell on it. One inside by the breaker box. The one inside by the breaker box has a splitter with 3 cables on it 3.5/7/3.5 can't remember if these numbers are correct. Didn't really get a chance to see much of the one in the bell box there was a splitter in there.

3 outlets upstairs, 2 in the living room, and 1 in the basement. Don't quite follow on the home phone part do you mean telephone wiring?

I don't quite understand why they would need to route another cable? I've been using this line fine for a few years up until now.
cepnot4me
join:2013-10-29
L0C 1K0

cepnot4me

Member

It depends, if the feed is low. Then your wiring is ok. A proper install would see that the first splitter at the house, inside or outside. Is a 3 way (sometimes a 2 way).
The leg 3.5 will feed another splitter that feeds your TVs, the other 2 legs are marked 7, one would feed a Rogers home phone service if you ordered it, the other would connect to modem, uninterrupted no other splitters between the first one and your Internet modem.

The line would need to replaced if the network is in spec outside.

Which means.
The line has gone bad or is RG59.Or it is not a direct run from the first splitter of your account to your modem.

The splitter outside if a 2 way, is what is separating your account from the other account in the house. It won't count as my previously mentioned 1st splitter.

I am still leaning towards outside issue. From what you describe things are the way they should be.

Now keep in mind a bad line that worked for the last 10 years, is still bad. Just because it worked without incident before, doesn't mean it is still good. It just means it has degraded to a point that your noticing it in your service.

However, like I said. I bet it's an outside issue.
KodakMoment
join:2010-02-16
North York, ON

1 edit

KodakMoment

Member

Well the tech was scheduled for today. I waited between the hours and got a call telling me they will need another hour or so. Had to rescheduled because of this. I eventually got my connection to stabilize by resetting the modem when it kept dropping and got 1 upstream channel. Now if this thing reboots i'm probably screwed as it will reset back to 2-3 and keep d/cing. I'm guessing there is no way to pick how many channels you want to use?

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook

Mod

With a poor signal like you have the number of available channels won't matter. The disconnect will occur because of a loss of the primary channel. Loss of a non-primary channel doesn't always cause a disconnect.

TNK
join:2011-03-22
HNVION17

TNK to cepnot4me

Member

to cepnot4me
said by cepnot4me:

If you have to call in again, tell the Rep to check for Flapping on the SMT or Node. It sounds to me like flapping which is basically just fast disconnects/reconnects that don't show in the light pattern. Techs aren't trained to look for this, and most don't have access to the tools to do so. The call Centre should check on every call, but I doubt 80% of them know where or what to look for.

Just out of curiosity, what's the difference between an SMT and an SHUB?

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook

Mod

An SHUB is a secondary head end it houses CMTS's and CMTS router and forward the data to the nearest PHUB. A PHUB is a primary PHUB. Rogers has very few advertised SHUBS left on their network.

Don't know what an SMT is.
KodakMoment
join:2010-02-16
North York, ON

2 edits

KodakMoment

Member

There was a power outage during the scheduled time the tech was to come, but I got lucky because when he arrived power came back on. Anyway he checked the logs/work orders and couldn't figure out why so many techs were sent and said they should have run a temporary line. He opens up the green box out front and connects it to a big tablet device then goes to the side of the house where the first splitter is and opens that up and connects the device. He keeps going back and forth testing the signal of the green box and the one at the side of the house eventually telling me the signal is fine. He goes on to say one of the cables were connected backwards and in 13 years he has never seen that then says that is most likely causing the problem. He also offered me his number to call him if anything happens.

SS of signals after the change



I'll report back because I haven't had enough time to see if my connection is stable yet.

sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook

Mod

Well, that probably means the modem was on a 7 db port not the 3.5
That will gain you at least somewhat better signal.
cepnot4me
join:2013-10-29
L0C 1K0

cepnot4me to KodakMoment

Member

to KodakMoment
44/ -5 I'd good spec. You should be stable now. Something connected backwards? Only thing I can think of is if the feed cable was into an output of the splitter, and the line out to the input. But.. we see that often so it's not likely.. (13 years experience he'd have seen it before). However a splitter backwards completely messes up a lot of things.
cepnot4me

cepnot4me to sbrook

Member

to sbrook
I'm not certain what the SMT acronym stands for. When we look at areas, we look at PHUBS or SMT's. Phub shows us larger areas.
SMT'S break it down to smaller sections, 1 PHUB had 8 or so SMTs on it. I'd almost want to say an SMT is our SHUBs by a different name.
KodakMoment
join:2010-02-16
North York, ON

1 edit

KodakMoment

Member

Well yet again i'm having the same issue. Called in again and they went through the usual process eventually got transferred to a higher up department then they told me they will keep in contact with me until this is resolved. The rep said he will send a specialist out if after plugging the gateways power cable directly into the wall didn't work which it didn't.

I've uploaded some ss of the event log when I had the cisco modem



signals


sbrook
Mod
join:2001-12-14
Ottawa

sbrook

Mod

The log shows definite signs a signal issue, and the signals show the primary channel signal levels, especially the downstream now to still be poor.
KodakMoment
join:2010-02-16
North York, ON

1 edit

KodakMoment

Member

Think I might have found the problem. I changed the cable that was connected between my gateway and the outlet and I've been stable for a few hours. Oddly enough I did this back in november and it didn't work. "EW3914072 comscope inc. 9900963 cm, cmg c(etl)us OR CATV (ETL)us 18 AWG" is what is written on the cable. It was the cable that rogers provided us if i remember correctly it was around 10 years ago i forgot;/ it's colored white. I replaced it with the same type of cable just another piece I had laying around not sure if this is rg6 or rg59? I'm looking around and it seems I should go with RG6 can someone link where I can obtain one around 8-16ft?
cepnot4me
join:2013-10-29
L0C 1K0

cepnot4me

Member

The cable your using now (commscope is ok).

Keep an eye on those signal pages. If the upstream and downstream levels climb again, disconnect just the cable from the modem, count to 20, screw it back on. Refresh the signal page.

If it drops back down to 40 and -5 like it was when the tech left, but starts to climb to 54 / -11 again. You have a capacitance fault on the cable outside the house or inside the house. It's somewhere between the modem and the street.

DONT buy a new jumper to go from the wall to the modem. Odds are it's not the problem. And the next tech to come out can give you a new jumper for free that is better than any piece you can buy.
KodakMoment
join:2010-02-16
North York, ON

2 edits

KodakMoment

Member

Did what you mentioned and the levels drop back down. Sometimes when I unplug the cable all the lights remain on(online/upstream/downstream stay blue this is after 30seconds. I have to reboot the modem at this point

You mentioned earlier that I should show the techs my signals. I've done this twice and the techs look at me like am I suppose to understand this? After I showed the last tech my signals he was like "okay is that good?" Seems these techs don't know how to interpret these signals. Other than looking at the signals on the device they use. I spoke to the rep on the phone and mentioned it and he told me they aren't trained to understand that terminology.

dabonz7
join:2012-05-17
Ottawa, ON

dabonz7 to KodakMoment

Member

to KodakMoment
get your own DNS # dont use rogers
Expand your moderator at work
cepnot4me
join:2013-10-29
L0C 1K0

cepnot4me to KodakMoment

Member

to KodakMoment

Re: [Modem/Router] Rogers connection drops frequently DNS

.. if they don't understand.. then they didn't pay attention in cable college.

The upstream and downstream represent what we call "mibs" as part of our job when we finish your order we run a tool called SQV, it gives us the mibs of all your equipment associated to your account. Your Set top boxes, emta and modem. Signing into the modem to see them isn't standard practice, but it's the same numbers.

Now, if you unplugged the cable line, then reconnected it, I'm curious what the change was.
Like if your upstream was 54 and downstream was -11, after you reconnect the cable and the modem syncs up are they 40 and -5, followed by them climbing back up to the 54/-11 or higher till it goes offline?

When is the next tech scheduled to come out?