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WiFiTech
join:2012-05-26
Rogers, AR

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WiFiTech

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[AR] Documenting Cox Internet Performance March 1st 2015 to resolution.

 
Problem - 8-9 PM until 7-8 AM throughput drops considerably (.81/2.4 mbps)
Service - Ultimate Internet (150/20 mbps), Premier Phone (TV non functional)
Equipment - Netgear Wireless Cable Gateway CG4500BD N900
---- (Modem w/ built in Router) (first call to supports solution)
---- (Modem SB6180, Router WNR1000v3 - changed during Truck Roll)
Computer - Windows 7 Pro, i5 3570, 16GB RAM
Location - Rogers, AR (Fiber > Coax > Home)

I am going to document this service complaint and resolution here. This same problem was present when we moved into the home March of 2011. It took a year and a half for the problem to resolve. We moved from basic speed package to Highest speed package hoping for an improved experience. During the process of resolution, Cox ran two new RG6 Lines (one to modem which never had problems - Arris, and one to the Motorola Modem - Netgear) and we had to drop Television Service as it was never able to be resolved) also, two new drop lines (pedestal to side of home) were installed with no improvement in service. The only thing that I am able to confirm about Network is that anytime the downstream dBmV was outside -3 to +3 we were unable to receive content/data. According to Cox, they found an inverted tilt on the line and an amplifier that was performing erratically. No mention of any correction or fix that relates to the problem being resolved. We used a small union that drops the dBmV by about 3.5 and would install or remove it to keep the -3 to +3 signal. We are now at +4.5 with the union and speeds drop to unbearable shortly after 9 PM and return just before 7 AM on average.

I will be posting my Experience here and would be open to any ideas on how to resolve this problem as I don't have any faith in a resolution through Cox's Technical Support Service as the service works during the day when they can roll a truck, thus no problem to fix.

This is the Speedtest.net run to be used as the control (9:05 AM 03-05-2015
»www.speedtest.net/result ··· 2990.png (image)

Also added image of the Modems Connection (note that we a bit over the +3 and still have decent performance although latency is above the normal 15ms and DL speeds are about half the usual)

Here is my speedtest.net (Full Record of all tests when logged in)
»www.speedtest.net/result ··· 99&ria=0
WiFiTech

WiFiTech

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Just posting the current Modem Connection and Speed Test Results.

»www.speedtest.net/result ··· 4020.png (image)

Also posting a speed test from the evening when things were not doing well. Modem Connections were at 7-8 didn't do a SNIP IT, sorry.
shads
join:2015-03-05
Wichita, KS

shads to WiFiTech

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Just a suggestion, I have found that using speedtest.net I get wildly varying test results depending on the server it picks and the time of day, try using Verizon's speedtest or at&t's speedtest, I think you will get better data to prove your point when your reaching the same server consistently

Hard Harry7
join:2010-10-19
Narragansett, RI

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said by WiFiTech:

Equipment - Netgear N900 (Modem/Router) (first call to supports solution)

.
said by WiFiTech:

and one to the Motorola Modem)

What model modem and router do you have? WNDR4500? Also, anything in the logs?

Also might want to check out Cox's own speed test at link below

»www.cox.com/residential/ ··· test.cox
WiFiTech
join:2012-05-26
Rogers, AR

WiFiTech to shads

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to shads
I use several different Speed Test Sites, I have had the most consistency with Speedtest.net as long as I pick the right server, and I usually use two others at the same time. Host.net (Private), Cox.com Residential (Private) and a few others when things go wrong. Just FYI the speedtest.net a few minutes ago showed my service working at peak levels and the Att.com/speedtest shows (Download Test Error) Socket Error Occured. Thanks for your input the more information the better. Just worried as service works great during the day and my Appt window is 1-3pm today and we don't have troubles during the day.
WiFiTech

1 edit

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to Hard Harry7
I am sorry I will edit the original post with that info. The Model is Netgear Wireless Cable Gateway CG4500BD w/ N900 (assume the N900 is the Router designation of the all in one unit). The Cox.com speed test doesn't always show up. Top half the page loads and if it does load the speedtest often never goes beyound the Ping test (the download doesn't begin before I reload page 60-90 seconds). Also I edited the "Motorola Modem" to Motorola Modem / Netgear. Sorry original post was done in the evening after several hours of trying to rectify the problem, and having to reload the page many times for posts to actually work.
WiFiTech

WiFiTech

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Here are the morning posts of service - Speeds are as they should be and ping is good. Even the Modem dBmV levels are under 5. All things are working as they should be @ 7:50AM. It was not performing properly last night 8pm to around 11pm (went to sleep so don't know when it cleared up).

Termites
@cox.net

Termites

Anon

Contact the FCC,
Cox has within 30-45 days to Resolve this issue Also file a Complaint with your State.

Document everything... calls service cox coming out etc, I dealt with this 1 year Cox HQ had to come to my house and it turned out to be a $49 wire, instead of $8000 on their part,,,,

am glad the FCC ruled the way they did.
WiFiTech
join:2012-05-26
Rogers, AR

WiFiTech

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Thank you for that Termites. That is what this posting is for. Wish they kept them a bit longer than 180 days as I could reference the last time this thing was going on.
WiFiTech

WiFiTech

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The Cox Appointment is a 1-3 PM window today. Posting the speed test and modem connection @ 1 PM and hope I can convince them to look at everything outside the home as service is perfect during the day. Will post more as the appointment and day progress.
WiFiTech

WiFiTech

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Okay, Cox Technician sub contractor Mil Tec showed up checked the tap, checked the line and said everything was fine. Picked up the CG4500BD we were renting and we put the SB6180 back in place and it is all good and no one is being scheduled to do anything as nothing is out of the spec. So here are the post appt speeds and signal levels.

Hard Harry7
join:2010-10-19
Narragansett, RI

Hard Harry7

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Junk gateway causes problem again? What a surprise.
WiFiTech
join:2012-05-26
Rogers, AR

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I am just waiting on the evening to progress as I am sure the speeds and quality will drop considerably.
WiFiTech

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The 9pm mark where it just gets worse rapidly.
150+/22+ Mbps mid day solid connection
39+/14+ Mbps mid evening spiking connection
Note ** all channels above 3.5 dBmV or higher and this is the point of misery
Now is when we all want to watch netflix or stream Directv or game and now is when the service is at it's worst.
whosmatt
join:2005-02-28
San Diego, CA

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Speeds drop at night with no other connection problems apparent? Sounds like a congested node.
WiFiTech
join:2012-05-26
Rogers, AR

WiFiTech

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Yeah but it just gets worse then comes back like nothing was wrong about 8AM.
Here are the 10:30 PM speeds and connection stats. I am calling it a night, because not worth the lag time to wait on web pages to load, netflix to buffer etc.
whosmatt
join:2005-02-28
San Diego, CA

whosmatt

Member

How about starting a smokeping test? Use the tools link on DSLR, make sure your router is pingable (in normal circumstances I'd recommend against that, but for quality testing it's a good thing) and give it a week or so. See if your slow speeds are accompanied by packet loss or increased RTT. That would be a start. The speed tests alone, ping time included, don't mean much. The fact that your signals don't seem to show much variation supports my theory of node congestion or at least a network problem upstream.

M
WiFiTech
join:2012-05-26
Rogers, AR

WiFiTech

Member

said by whosmatt:

See if your slow speeds are accompanied by packet loss or increased RTT

I did a line test back when things were working properly, I will try to remember to get a smoke ping done during the bad times. Just when it gets bad pages only half load, and clicking on things doesn't work about 80% of the time at that point.
»/pingt ··· /3305508
WiFiTech

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Once again it is morning prior to being able to get a truck roll, and the service is rebounding to fully functional. Kids aren't up yet so don't have their input on the status of the service after 10:30 pm last night. I did call the Cox Tier 2 Supervisor back and gave him all the info on the service call (everything checked out okay) and he said he would get the information to the local people and see if there was a way to look at the service during the crappy function times. So far only 7 days, 6 Phone Calls and 1 Truck Roll. Hopefully, it doesn't take 1 Year 6 Months, 40+ Phone Calls and 14 Truck Rolls and Changing to Directv to get TV working.
WiFiTech

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WiFiTech

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I am running a few test this morning (Service working)

SmokePing 24 Hour - started 3-7-15 8am
»/r3/sm ··· a8c85424

Speedtest (New dslreports.com/speedtest, compare to speedtest.net same time)
- dslreports - »[Cable Speed test: 79.90/9.39 52 ms]
- speedtest.net - »www.speedtest.net/my-res ··· 96118192
WiFiTech

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The speeds and the service worked beautifully again today. (NOTE - Modem is now a SB6180 and the Router is now a Netgear WNR1000v3 so wired speed cap is 100 mbps and WiFi is 54/150 mbps. The levels were at 1.2 -1.6 most of the day. Just doing the first speed check as it is starting to show signs of slowing again.
WiFiTech

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Here is the Normal Speeds and Levels during the day with the current equipment.
The Router is the reason for the less than Service Package rate. However, the performance is on target steady and everything is working. No partial browser page loads, no buffering in video and no 1-5+ second delays from action to first response.
WiFiTech

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I grabbed the cable modem from the shop, and put it on the house line. It has a package on it of 10/2 or 15/3. I will get that verified. The dBmV on it is above 5.7 and the speeds and latency all seem to be fine at the higher level (NOTE 3.5 dbmv attenuator is on the line, meaning signal on line is closer to 9.1 if I take it off)

As luck would have it, I have been so focused on getting the issue resolved that it seems I forgot to pay the cable bill. I think it was turned off last night around 11:20PM. So I will have to get that corrected before the 5pm appointment this evening. So no readings for last night either.
WiFiTech

2 edits

WiFiTech

Member

Just a quick Status Update.

Approximately a year ago, the line had an inverted tilt and a weak amplifier. I was under the assumption it had been corrected and that is why service was working sufficiently over the last year +. It seems that currently we have an inverted tilt, weak amp and overall connection speed issue to the pedestal. The equipment, house lines all seem to be working properly, and there is some chatter regarding DocSis 2 vs 3 provisioning.

This means that the load (people moving in/out of the homes) probably had more to do with failure/function of service than any fix (as currently no cox representative can confirm any repair).

At this time I am being reassured by several representatives that there will be something done to correct the problem. Here are the people involved so far:

Cox Corporate Relations: James
Cox Communication: Jennifer
Cox HSI Technical Support Supervisor: Daniel
Cox Local Area Supervisor: Henry
Cox Technicians: Jake
Cox Sub Contractor: Mil-Tek; Kyle

I am not expecting a quick fix as I am sure this will take time for any permitting, equipment requisitions and financial oversight to be completed. If you wonder why we are putting up with all the issues over the last 3 years, wonder no more. Alternative services fall short on the demand we have for services (We stream 3 Netflix Accounts, 2 Avid Gamers, 1 Graphic Artist/Web Developer and view several world broadcast events (can't stand biased/half truth news from the US anymore).
ATT DSL 7.5 mbps
ATT Uverse is 18mbps
Cellular Data Cap is 10GB per month (we average 400-500 a month, 1-2 bars signal)
Direcway Satellite to laggy for our intended uses.
signcarver
join:2005-03-20
Phoenix, AZ

signcarver

Member

I did want to comment based on your previous readings... if I had to base a diagnosis solely on those and the times, I would say there is something that is going on/out as the temp approached freezing (based on the location below your username) as the time it was having serious problems the temp was about 34-36 (dropped like a rock at the hour you gave and perhaps your location was a couple of degrees cooler) and when it came back it climbed nearly as fast (here in phoenix I have often seen taps retain/amplify the heat from the sun... though no window behaves much like a car in the summer so even during the cold days it may have been warm enough in the box even when it was freezing outside during the day) I was really looking forward to the next days post as it was when DST started and thought it might shift instantly by an hour but also that day and the next, from what I saw the temp never did approach freezing again... I haven't looked at them since.

The change in levels do look that they are being caused by temp fluctuations but the modems should handle up to +10 without problem.

Termites
@cox.net

Termites to WiFiTech

Anon

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said by WiFiTech:

Okay, Cox Technician sub contractor Mil Tec showed up checked the tap, checked the line and said everything was fine. Picked up the CG4500BD we were renting and we put the SB6180 back in place and it is all good and no one is being scheduled to do anything as nothing is out of the spec. So here are the post appt speeds and signal levels.

That's what happen to me they found nothing for a year but i posted like you did, COX HQ got win of the thread and it was fixed..

I still have the 19 page thread bookmarked from here and copied/printed.
yes i (was) a member since 2001..

Good luck to you,
WiFiTech
join:2012-05-26
Rogers, AR

WiFiTech

Member

**************************************************************
ATTENTION FOLLOWERS of this POST!!!!!!!!!!!
**************************************************************
Status Update after all the back and forth phone calls and site visits

Our neighborhood (I walked around my 4 streets and 4 other streets that are across a larger roadway) and asked which Internet provider they had and their experience with the service.

AT&T Uverse - (Fiber to the Node with DSL to the home) 18/1.5 and TV Worked
Cox HSI - (Fiber in the area??, Phone works, TV not so much and Internet inconsistent and slow)

Uverse only in the area about a year at most.
HSI has been same poor quality and speed for 3+ Years.

***************************************************************
Current fix is a percentage discount off of the bill with a possible problem fix in 6 months.
Also the issue isn't a line problem it is due to over subscription.
***************************************************************

I don't know what to believe anymore as no stories seem to match up.
Either there is a problem with the equipment/line or you need more equipment/line to keep up with demand. One of these should be true or both or the problem is all just in my head and all of those around me.

PS We are still waiting on a DROP to be done at the office location (we moved end of Feb) and hopefully that will eliminate the issue we had with service at previous location... (as it is in the same Neighborhood as the currently over subscribed area)