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GACharterUsr
@50.20.4.x

GACharterUsr

Anon

[HSI] Business Class Internet:No support unless you buy their router?

My wife and I are current Charter Business HSI customers (she works from home) and ever since we got the service, the network has gone down for about an hour every week, if not more frequent. Daily outages are common, although they are usually ~10 minute "blips" (which are not really blips when you are working from home).

Every time she calls for support to ask what is going on, the CSRs flat out refuse to help her because we "do not have their router". Is this right? I have checked on our router (Buffalo WHR-G300N) and the router is fine. The modem itself loses connection and goes through a power cycle.

This just doesn't seem right -- we are supposedly getting "better support" by paying for BCI yet they refuse to help because we don't have their router?

defiant
Former Charter lackey
join:2013-03-22
Monroe, MI
ARRIS TM1602
Asus RT-AC68
Netgear WNDR3700v4

defiant

Member

You should have a router provided, typically an SMC D3G or D3GN2 cable modem/router.

If the provided equipment is losing sync or rebooting for some reason, they should be able to determine that fairly easily, without eliminating your own router.
mttcrlsn
join:2005-03-29
La Crosse, WI

mttcrlsn to GACharterUsr

Member

to GACharterUsr
Charter supplied modem yes, Charter supplied router no.

DLow
join:2013-11-16
Waxahachie, TX

DLow to GACharterUsr

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to GACharterUsr
Are you connected direct to the charter modem when its dropping?
kayfouroh
join:2014-03-18
Roswell, GA

kayfouroh

Member

said by DLow:

Are you connected direct to the charter modem when its dropping?

No, we are running through the router, which is connected to the modem. A lot of the time the connection is fine, but when it goes down, the Online and Uplink lights flash then it cycles.

I told my wife to plug her computer into the modem directly the next time this happens, that way they can't say anything. But I don't think the connection would drop at the modem if the router was really at fault, otherwise it would be doing it WAY more often.

defiant
Former Charter lackey
join:2013-03-22
Monroe, MI
ARRIS TM1602
Asus RT-AC68
Netgear WNDR3700v4

defiant

Member

You most likely need a service call to resolve the issue - sounds like the modem is dropping sync.

Can you aaccess the modem's diagnostics (via the following link) and post the signal levels shown? »192.168.100.1
kayfouroh
join:2014-03-18
Roswell, GA

kayfouroh

Member

Just went out again 30 minutes ago. Asking my wife (who is home) to check the signal levels.

TheTechGuru
join:2004-03-25
TEXAS

TheTechGuru to GACharterUsr

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to GACharterUsr
They need to replace modem with a Cisco DPC3008 and replace the drop and wiring to get a good baseline.

Most likely the drop is bad and you're loosing signal as it flexes swinging in the wind.
mj3431
join:2003-04-21
STL, MO

mj3431

Member

said by TheTechGuru:

They need to replace modem with a Cisco DPC3008 and replace the drop and wiring to get a good baseline.

Pretty sure CBN still deploys the SMC combo unit. They don't put in standalone modems AFAIK.

JimE
Premium Member
join:2003-06-11
Belleville, IL

JimE to GACharterUsr

Premium Member

to GACharterUsr
If the modem is losing sync, then that is what you/she should be telling tech support when calling. They can't argue router issues when the modem is losing sync, and they can/should be checking that anyway.

TheTechGuru
join:2004-03-25
TEXAS

TheTechGuru to mj3431

Member

to mj3431
said by mj3431:

said by TheTechGuru:

They need to replace modem with a Cisco DPC3008 and replace the drop and wiring to get a good baseline.

Pretty sure CBN still deploys the SMC combo unit. They don't put in standalone modems AFAIK.

Should be a way around that because there are certain businesses with certain security requirements that can not allow ANYTHING with wireless ability to be connected to the network at all.
mj3431
join:2003-04-21
STL, MO

mj3431

Member

Give me an example of one of these businesses with such tight security but that would also be using ONLY a cable modem. I can name several, and they are all fiber fed.

In addition to that, the SMC unit can be put into bridge mode in these situations rendering wireless unavailable. I've never seen a CBN install without the SMC unit in my area and remember Charter corporate was here for quite a while.
InTheKnow
join:2013-12-17

InTheKnow to GACharterUsr

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to GACharterUsr
It would not be unusual to see a residential modem used for an in home business installation.
If the OP comes back, please check your modem logs if the show the modem dropping the a trouble call would be necesary for proper diagnosis.

MooJohn
join:2005-12-18
Milledgeville, GA

MooJohn to mj3431

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to mj3431
My Charter Business connection uses the SMC combo unit, and the wireless is indeed disabled when the modem is bridged to my Untangle box. The modem was installed just a few months ago when I upgraded to 60 meg (now 80 meg) service and it replaced an older SMC that didn't have wireless capability.
kayfouroh
join:2014-03-18
Roswell, GA

kayfouroh to InTheKnow

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to InTheKnow
said by InTheKnow:

If the OP comes back, please check your modem logs if the show the modem dropping the a trouble call would be necesary for proper diagnosis.

I got caught up with home stuff yesterday and I will look at the modem logs tonight. I am really thinking it is a signal issue, but I would like to confirm. Charter has been less than helpful with this entire process. They won't send someone out to check the lines unless there is actually something wrong, otherwise they will charge us a service visit.
kayfouroh

kayfouroh

Member

Don't know if this helps, but packet loss spiked a bit when the outage occurred yesterday. Apparently the line monitor had no problems pinging the IP, though.

»i.imgur.com/tuaqoR7.gif
mj3431
join:2003-04-21
STL, MO

mj3431 to MooJohn

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to MooJohn
That's what I'm saying. I've yet to see a CBN install that uses a residential modem because it is standard for them to install hardware they can remotely manage and configure.

It just doesn't sound right to me that the OP is using a standard modem with CBN. The OP should just let them install the SMC in bridge mode so they quit giving him the run around with support. The device doesn't cost extra.
kayfouroh
join:2014-03-18
Roswell, GA

kayfouroh

Member

We have the SMC combo modem/router.

I tried the following IPs to get the modem signals:
192.168.100.1
192.168.44.1 (the default gateway when I connect to the router)
192.168.0.1

None of them gave me the modem login, I couldn't even get the SMC router config.

TheTechGuru
join:2004-03-25
TEXAS

TheTechGuru

Member

said by kayfouroh:

We have the SMC combo modem/router.

I tried the following IPs to get the modem signals:
192.168.100.1
192.168.44.1 (the default gateway when I connect to the router)
192.168.0.1

None of them gave me the modem login, I couldn't even get the SMC router config.

If it's in bridge mode I don't think you can access it at all.
kayfouroh
join:2014-03-18
Roswell, GA

kayfouroh

Member

said by TheTechGuru:

If it's in bridge mode I don't think you can access it at all.

So how can I pull the modem levels? They (Charter) refuse to come out without confirmation of an issue otherwise they will charge us $150.00 if there is no issue.

Huge outage last night so I re-configured our LAN and got the two main PCs directly wired into the SMC combo unit, and a secondary router behind that on another port (which is what we were on before) for some non-essential devices. This way we can call and say we are in fact on their router.

TheTechGuru
join:2004-03-25
TEXAS

TheTechGuru

Member

said by kayfouroh:

said by TheTechGuru:

If it's in bridge mode I don't think you can access it at all.

So how can I pull the modem levels? They (Charter) refuse to come out without confirmation of an issue otherwise they will charge us $150.00 if there is no issue.

Huge outage last night so I re-configured our LAN and got the two main PCs directly wired into the SMC combo unit, and a secondary router behind that on another port (which is what we were on before) for some non-essential devices. This way we can call and say we are in fact on their router.

Just guessing here since I've never messed with that model of device. But when a DSL modem is in bridge mode you have to master reset it with a paperclip to get it out of bridge mode to access the GUI. Maybe this works the same way?

defiant
Former Charter lackey
join:2013-03-22
Monroe, MI
ARRIS TM1602
Asus RT-AC68
Netgear WNDR3700v4

defiant to kayfouroh

Member

to kayfouroh
said by kayfouroh:

said by TheTechGuru:

If it's in bridge mode I don't think you can access it at all.

So how can I pull the modem levels? They (Charter) refuse to come out without confirmation of an issue otherwise they will charge us $150.00 if there is no issue.

Huge outage last night so I re-configured our LAN and got the two main PCs directly wired into the SMC combo unit, and a secondary router behind that on another port (which is what we were on before) for some non-essential devices. This way we can call and say we are in fact on their router.

When you call support, have them check the levels.
System

Anon

(topic move) [HSI] Business Class Internet:No support unless you buy their router?

Moderator Action
The post that was here (and all 2 followups to it), has been moved to a new topic .. »[HSI] Charter's enterprise internet