Mediacom → Channel bonding?

What is this channel bonding of which you all speak so knowledgeably? How do I check mine? I just upgraded to Prime Plus and am anxiously waiting the end of the day to go home and check my speeds. I gather that the more channels bonded the better, but I have no idea what it actually is. Do I check via my cable modem, or is it like an external site such as Speedtest.net?

Channel bonding comes into play if you are using a DOCSIS 3 cable modem, which are typically the new cable modems being sold. I don't believe Prime Plus requires a DOCSIS 3 modem, although it can be used with one. The only way you will know if your modem is channel bonding is if you can access the internal status page on the cable modem, which for most users can be found at »192.168.1.1/ (although this can vary depending on modem and/or router being used).

What cable modem do you currently have - brand and model number?

I have a Mediacom supplied combo Netgear CG3000D (I think). It is Docsis 3. I know how to access my modem's admin page. Where do I find the bonding info?

It should be under your signal status page if you have one. If not, then I have no idea as my ISP (Charter Communications) stopped using combo modems quite a while ago. Mediacom may have those pages locked out from the user, but I doubt it.

I had to upgrade to a DOCSIS 3 to get the 50/5 Prime Plus speeds...

If the above ip doesn't work, try 192.168.0.1

I'll take a look when I get home. Thanks.

may also be 192.168.100.1

while the OP indicates they know how to access the admin page, im going to post this just in case some one finds this thread and needs a way to find it.

im going on the assumption that your not using your own router since thats a combo unit. and im assuming your using windows. i have no idea what the command is on mac or linux, to find the modems ip (again assuming your connected to it and not a router between) open command prompt, how to do this depends on windows version if its windows 8.1 right click start and select command prompt. type ipconfig and hit enter, you should see information about your network adapters. if your connected via ethernet look for the block below, if your connected via wireless look for the wireless connection, your looking for "default gateway", since im connected to a router its 192.168.1.1, however i can still access my modems admin page on 192.168.100.1 even with the router.

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:
 
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : [removed]
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.162
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
 
 

as for where to find the info, it depends on the modem, on mine its the "connect" tab, which apparently we have 8 channels here now :hmm: so it should look something like this.

Okay, so I can't figure out how to get a screen print of my combo page, but apparently I have 4 bonded downstream and 1 bonded upstream, as I saw 4 channels locked and 4 unlocked under DS and 1 channel locked under US. I assume this is not something I can influence, this is something Mediacom provides? I did a speedtest on the pc directly connected and it showed 48 mbps download, so it appears that I was given the speeed bump. But disappointingly, on all other devices, I am showing only 10-11 mbps download. Some devices are wireless and some are connected via Powerline adapter. Is this a pretty typical loss on everything that is not connected via lan? I expected better. Does this have anything to do with how many channels are bonded?

On the old 20-30 Mbps tier you'd be right but on the new 50Mbps and above they do required DOSIS 3

Also i've noticed that it seems in order to be the best performance out of the new speeds, Double what Mediacom says for channel's ie 50Mbps requires 2 channels bonded and 100Mbps requires all 4 on a SB6121 or lower but runs much better with 8 channel's
Which means that the 150 requires 6 hence 8 but would run better with 12.

So to me this 300Mbps tier in Cedar Rapids would be best with a 16 channel modem
Thoughts?

It sure sounds to me that your local network is not up to snuff for handling the higher speeds. It has been awhile since I've needed to ask someone about which protocol of wireless they are using. The 10-11 Mbps speed is what I'd expect for a device still connecting as the old Wireless B type, or as a Wireless G that can't handle the full 54 Mbps speeds due to distance or channel interference. And, yes, I don't believe that Powerline adapters can work at very fast speeds either.

Are you using your own wireless router or one built into your cable modem? And for what wireless connection types is it configured? And can you see if there are many other users local to you attempting to use the same wireless channel, such that you might have interferrence?

All good questions. I will do some investigating this weekend. I do know the modem is modem/router combo Netgear CG3000d. I know it is docsis 3, 102.11N, gigabit with 2.4 mhz wireless. My Powerline adapters are also supposed to be 200 mbps capable.

I wouldn't think my channel is overloaded, as I live in a semi-rural area and only see maybe two other wireless signals within reach. But I can try another channel. One thing I do have is a wireless bridge upstairs as I get too week of a signal without it. I have heard that this cuts down on the speed by (half?). But I was routinely getting 10-11 mbps before my speed boost, so I'd expect better now by at least double. Maybe my bridge has some sort of speed limitation. I need to investigate that. Although that doesn't explain the Powerline supplied devices also not seeing any speed boost.

Sounds like I need to do some more investigating.

Hi karrun , I'd be happy to help dig in when you do some troubleshooting. I don't have much experience with the powerline adapters, but I have used the CG3000D myself so if you need any input feel free to send me a PM. I'll be here throughout the weekend on and off, so just let me know.

Thanks Chad. I'll do some investigating myself first but will contact you if needed.

Sounds good!

oooo boy what a setup, thatl be fun to troubleshoot

some things to consider, power line networking can still be hampered by interference, i.e. noisy motor on the circuit, some electronic device not shielded correctly and injecting noise in to the line. just ask any one that uses X10 devices how much "fun" that can be.

as k9iua6 pointed out protocol matters, its an N router but is it set as mixed mode? i.e. B+G+N? if so, do you have any B devices any where in the home? if not move up to G+N.

is the wireless bridge all so N? if its only G that could be a problem, but id expect it to be closer to 30Mbps at least.

being stuck at 10Mbps sounds like a bottle neck of some kind some where. those power line adapters, can you try to do a file transfer between 2 power line connected pc's? (just use the network tab on task manager to see the transfer speed, and while your at it check the link speed, is it 100TX or 10TX?)

how is the wireless bridge connected? i mean, is it hard wired in to the network. or, is it acting as a signal repeater? (hard wired, your devices would "switch" to it for connection when they where close and data would go through the hardline. repeater, your devices would switch to it when in range but it all so needs to be in range of the wifi thus repeating a wifi signal)

check link speeds. if devices are only negotiating at a lower rate, they wont try to go faster than that rate. check wifi signals. of course this depends on the device, my tablet only shows a few bars and if its connected, but some other devices show the negotiated wifi speed.

basically, itl be a pain to figure out but no channel bonding wouldn't affect the speed of your internal network.

edit: and kinda OT, forgot to mention, you can google how to take a screen shot for your version of windows. but i use an app called "greenshot" »getgreenshot.org/ because i like its built in features. (such as being able to black out mac addys quickly before posting with out needing to open a separate photo editor)

Thanks for all the info. My modem/router is B, G, N but I don't see a way to set it to just N. I took a look at all the wireless pages and I don't see any way to change it. Here is a link to my user manual, if you have time to take a peak maybe you can look. It is on the Time Warner website, but this is definitely my hardware.
»www.timewarnercable.com/ ··· 2013.pdf

It is definitely an issue with the router side of the modem. If I hook up another pc directly via LAN to the r/m, I get full speeds (close to 50 Mbps. But connected via wifi right next to the r/m I only get half that. In other words, I am not accessing via Powerline or wireless bridge, just wireless directly off the router/modem.

Chad, I've sent you a PM to see if you have any idea what can be done to see if I can get better speeds.

page 13, wireless mode. they use speed instead of standard. if its set to default i "think" thats N, i was expecting something like this