| |
NYYANKEES2008
Anon
2008-Aug-13 2:24 pm
Speed issues Up and Down constantly with CharterIn my area, cable is the only connection option as DSL tops out at 384kbps, and Charter offers over 10mb/s.
I have had it since April 2008. Their modem connected to an Apple Airport Extreme. Usage at one time, 3 computers and one iphone. Anyway, every few weeks the same thing happens, speeds drop down to under 100 kb/s and stays that way.
(been using speedtest.net and speedtest.charter.com)
Right now this is going on 24 hours.
I have been in contact with them, but overnight I was getting the speed I pay for, then around 9am, the bottom fell out.
Is this a modem issue? My airport (which I've gone through everything with it )? or what?
Any suggestions would be appreciated. |
|
|
| |
What are your modem's signal levels (when the speeds are slow and when they are fast)? Improper signal levels can ruin your speeds. |
|
| |
NYYANKEES2008
Anon
2008-Aug-13 3:00 pm
How do I check the signal levels? |
|
| |
» 192.168.100.1Or register with DSLR and send your modem's cable/HFC MAC to me via personal message and I'll check for you. |
|
| |
NYYANKEES2008
Anon
2008-Aug-13 5:28 pm
Got it, what info do you need? |
|
pbarrow
Premium Member
join:2003-09-16
Montgomery, AL |
pbarrow
Premium Member
2008-Aug-13 6:01 pm
he wants to see the Downstream and Upstream power levels and the Downstream SNR and anything else in the Signal levels section.
The should be in the range:
Downstream power level (Receive): -12dbmV to +12dbmV
Upstream (Transmit): +35dbmV to +50dbmV
Downstream SNR: greater than 33dB |
|
 xmguy
join:2008-08-08
Middle TN |
xmguy
Member
2008-Aug-13 6:35 pm
said by pbarrow:he wants to see the Downstream and Upstream power levels and the Downstream SNR and anything else in the Signal levels section. The should be in the range: Downstream power level (Receive): -12dbmV to +12dbmV Upstream (Transmit): +35dbmV to +50dbmV Downstream SNR: greater than 33dB go to your web browser and enter 192.168.100.1 on AMBIT modems username and password are both "user" (no quotes). |
|
| |
NYYANKEES2008
Anon
2008-Aug-13 6:48 pm
I'm not seeing those options, here is what I have:
Cable Modem Operation Configuration
Network Access : Allowed
Maximum Downstream Data Rate : 11273000
Maximum Upstream Data Rate : 1049000
Maximum Upstream Channel Burst : 1622
Maximum Number of CPEs : 1
Modem Capability : Concatenation Enabled, Fragametation Enabled, PHS Disabled
Cable Modem Status
Item Status Comments
Acquire a Downstream Channel 643750000 Hz Locked
Connectivity State OK Operational
Boot State OK Operational
Security Disabled Disabled
Cable Modem Downstream
Downstream Lock : Locked
Downstream Channel Id : 1
Downstream Frequency :
Downstream Modulation : QAM256
Downstream Symbol Rate : 5360537
Downstream Interleave Depth : 32
Downstream Receive Power Level : 3.8 dBmV
Downstream SNR : 39.5 dB
Cable Modem Upstream
Upstream Lock : Locked
Upstream Channel ID : 3
Upstream Frequency :
Upstream Modulation : QAM16
Upstream Symbol Rate : 2560 Ksym/sec
Upstream transmit Power Level : 37.0 dBmV
Upstream Mini-Slot Size : 2 |
|
| |
Nothing to be concerned about there. Your signal levels are within spec. |
|
xmguy
join:2008-08-08
Middle TN |
to NYYANKEES2008
Those are better than mine. My speeds today have been in the crapper. 3mb MAX and I have the 10mb service. My line amp was just fixed by Charter yesterday. |
|
pbarrow
Premium Member
join:2003-09-16
Montgomery, AL
2 edits |
to defiant8
said by defiant8:Nothing to be concerned about there. Your signal levels are within spec. That said - I will say as I've said in the past here - The signals "looking file" mayb enot mean anything. Your signals can look fine at any given snapshot in time and you can still have cable plant problems. Most Charter people were telling me my signals looked fine - except some how investigated with DRUM and saw some issues with Upstream SNR. And as it turned out I DID have cable plant problems in differents areas of the cable plant - plus they replace a TAP outside my apartment which all solved most of my problems that were cable plant related. So your signals might be fine - and your cable plant may or may not be fine. All I'm saying si just because your signals looks fine - don't necessarily assume that everything IS fine. You need someone to look ant DRUM signal history and monitor it - especially Upstream SNR since you can't see that from your modem. When you are having the slow speeds - dos ome traceroute to Google and yahoo and to 4.2.2.2 and post the results. That might tell a lot. If you suspect cable plant problem - get PingPlotter and run it and see if you see ANY timeouts on the CMTS -there should be NONE. If you do see any on the CMTS then you can just about bet money that you hvae cable plant problems or there are headend problems. |
|
| pbarrow |
to NYYANKEES2008
Cable Plant problems - packet loss | 
Node overcapacity problems |
Here are examples of what you "might" see with PingPlotter if (1) you have cable plant or headend problems and (2) if you are on and oversold or saturated Node. |
|
| |
to NYYANKEES2008
Were the levels you posted measured during a fast-speed time or a slow time? What needs to be determined is how the levels compare when the speeds vary. |
|
pbarrow
Premium Member
join:2003-09-16
Montgomery, AL
1 edit |
pbarrow
Premium Member
2008-Aug-14 6:20 pm
said by daveinpoway:Were the levels you posted measured during a fast-speed time or a slow time? What needs to be determined is how the levels compare when the speeds vary. I'm sorry but that may or may not be relevant. During last year and this year that I had problems - looks at the signal levels from the modem status page was useless in that they were ALWAYS with spec. Some of the things that helped me "prove" that there were cable plant and Node problems were: (1) keeping records that showed my Upstream Power fluctuated up and down during the day and night from 39 to 50db - not frequent smooth changes but random jumps. (2) info from some tech here that my Upstream SNR was fluctuating and dropping below 22db (3) keeping records of packets loss and timeouts on the CMTS with pings and traceroutes and Pingplotter export files and graphs (4) records and JPG's of speed test results. So, DRUM graphs might very well provide useful information if he can get some. Him posting his model signal levels might be useful IF he sees them clearly near the spec limits or out of spec - other wise then being within spec doesn't necessarily mean much. Even the local techs and Plant Manager was insisting to me that my signal levels were within spec and "fine" - and it turned out NOT to be so - after they spent days and weeks monitoring - and Corporate getting involved - and some techs here helping. And this was on several occasions on the past year and a half up until the beggining and end of Spring here. Now if you have a Surfboard SB5100 or 5120 - then find the utility online Surfboard 5100/5120 Signal Monitor and run it to monitor your signals - you can set it from 1 second intervals to 60 second intervals. Also - thsi utility can creat a log file while it's running. Also I think it's on the Comcast Forum they have a link to a utility there that some tech wrote that can monitor more modems and I think has a Graphic chart of the results. |
|
xmguy
join:2008-08-08
Middle TN |
xmguy
Member
2008-Aug-14 6:52 pm
said by pbarrow:said by daveinpoway:Were the levels you posted measured during a fast-speed time or a slow time? What needs to be determined is how the levels compare when the speeds vary. I'm sorry but that may or may not be relevant. During last year and this year that I had problems - looks at the signal levels from the modem status page was useless in that they were ALWAYS with spec. Some of the things that helped me "prove" that there were cable plant and Node problems were: (1) keeping records that showed my Upstream Power fluctuated up and down during the day and night from 39 to 50db - not frequent smooth changes but random jumps. (2) info from some tech here that my Upstream SNR was fluctuating and dropping below 22db (3) keeping records of packets loss and timeouts on the CMTS with pings and traceroutes and Pingplotter export files and graphs (4) records and JPG's of speed test results. So, DRUM graphs might very well provide useful information if he can get some. Him posting his model signal levels might be useful IF he sees them clearly near the spec limits or out of spec - other wise then being within spec doesn't necessarily mean much. Even the local techs and Plant Manager was insisting to me that my signal levels were within spec and "fine" - and it turned out NOT to be so - after they spent days and weeks monitoring - and Corporate getting involved - and some techs here helping. And this was on several occasions on the past year and a half up until the beggining and end of Spring here. Now if you have a Surfboard SB5100 or 5120 - then find the utility online Surfboard 5100/5120 Signal Monitor and run it to monitor your signals - you can set it from 1 second intervals to 60 second intervals. Also - thsi utility can creat a log file while it's running. Also I think it's on the Comcast Forum they have a link to a utility there that some tech wrote that can monitor more modems and I think has a Graphic chart of the results. Is there an app like that to auto monitor the dbmv and snr levels and log them for me? My speeds are all over the place. I have an AMBIT modem current specs as of 5:52PM CT 8/14/08 Cable Modem Upstream Upstream Lock : Locked Upstream Channel ID : 3 Upstream Frequency : Upstream Modulation : QAM16 Upstream Symbol Rate : 2560 Ksym/sec Upstream transmit Power Level : 36.0 dBmV Upstream Mini-Slot Size : 2 Cable Modem Downstream Downstream Lock : Locked Downstream Channel Id : 23 Downstream Frequency : Downstream Modulation : QAM256 Downstream Symbol Rate : 5360537 Downstream Interleave Depth : 32 Downstream Receive Power Level : -4.3 dBmV Downstream SNR : 35.4 dB |
|
pbarrow
Premium Member
join:2003-09-16
Montgomery, AL |
pbarrow
Premium Member
2008-Aug-14 8:31 pm
I don't know of any utilities to monitor the Ambit modems. |
|
xmguy
join:2008-08-08
Middle TN |
xmguy
Member
2008-Aug-14 8:35 pm
said by pbarrow:I don't know of any utilities to monitor the Ambit modems. DARN! |
|
| |
to pbarrow
Even though checking the levels at fast and slow times wasn't relevant for you, it may provide a clue regarding "NYYANKEES2008"'s situation. Every problem is unique. |
|
pbarrow
Premium Member
join:2003-09-16
Montgomery, AL |
pbarrow
Premium Member
2008-Aug-15 9:57 am
I wasn't saying it wasn't relevant. I was just saying that even if they look good whenever he checks them that he "could still" have a cable plant problem and have signals that look "fine" (to use charter's oft used phrase).
That's why he needs someone to check his signal history (including Upstream SNR) and he needs to frequently trace and ping his CMTS (and other sites) plus watch his signal levels and use whatever other tools he can find if he is having speed problems but can see no "obvious" cause. |
|
| |
True, there are tons of posts in these forums from people with good modem signal levels, yet their service isn't working properly. Incorrect modem signal levels are definitely not the only thing that can cause poor speeds, but the levels are something that subscribers can check themselves, without needing expensive equipment or calling in a tech. |
|
