Internet Keeps Cutting Out

[aedan929]

(Don’t know if I’m posting in the right section) Hi, I am Currently subscribed to Mediacom for my ISP. Although Mediacom is notorious for outages I feel like it’s no in their end as my friends internet is usually fine when mine is out, and he has Mediacom as well. I inspected the exposed cabling and it all checked out good. I have experience with networking inside and outside the home or business but need a second opinion. The stretch from my cable box to house is about 80 feet which is pretty long. My internet is cable internet. I was looking at amplifiers for the solution but I don’t want to dump money on one if it’s not gonna fix it. Would you reccomend I get one? My modem is a Thomson something and my Router is a nighthawk, reboots never fix the problem. Any recommendations? I’m probably gonna call out a technician soon anyways but would rather have me try first. I’m at work all week and they usually refuse to come on weekends which stupid. I don’t want them there when I’m not, my network setup is too complicated for me to trust anyone by it! Thanks!

[aedan929]

The outages usually last a couple of hours btw.

[AskTJ]

I doubt it is a problem with your internet setup. Get into contact with your Internet Service Provider or ISP, and ask them why you are getting shortages. If these are frequent, get compensation or switch providers.

[Donut417]

7 hours ago, aedan929 said:

(Don’t know if I’m posting in the right section) Hi, I am Currently subscribed to Mediacom for my ISP. Although Mediacom is notorious for outages I feel like it’s no in their end as my friends internet is usually fine when mine is out, and he has Mediacom as well. I inspected the exposed cabling and it all checked out good. I have experience with networking inside and outside the home or business but need a second opinion. The stretch from my cable box to house is about 80 feet which is pretty long. My internet is cable internet. I was looking at amplifiers for the solution but I don’t want to dump money on one if it’s not gonna fix it. Would you reccomend I get one? My modem is a Thomson something and my Router is a nighthawk, reboots never fix the problem. Any recommendations? I’m probably gonna call out a technician soon anyways but would rather have me try first. I’m at work all week and they usually refuse to come on weekends which stupid. I don’t want them there when I’m not, my network setup is too complicated for me to trust anyone by it! Thanks!

AMPs will not help you. Cable modems have to stay with in a certain signal spec. While you might help your down stream signal with an AMP is will surely fuck the upstream signal. My guess is your modem is running out of spec. The easy way to check it is to go to 192.168.100.1 in a web browser. That will be the modem diagnostic pages, then compare to this site: https://www.dslreports.com/faq/5862

 

You might be droping in and out of the acceptable range, if your modem is running at the edge of what is acceptable. Signal levels can change as much as 3db during the day due to temperature. If you notice your self out of the range then you might have to call the ISP. Other things you can do is make sure all connection are good and tight. When you look at your modem signal pay close attention to the uncorrectable errors. Its ok to have a few, hell I got a few hundred on mine. But if you notice that you have much much more that could indicate some form of interference on the cable system. Again you would have to call the ISP so they could troubleshoot that. 

[aedan929]

14 hours ago, AskTJ said:

I doubt it is a problem with your internet setup. Get into contact with your Internet Service Provider or ISP, and ask them why you are getting shortages. If these are frequent, get compensation or switch providers.

I live out in the country and there are only two options. I had AT&T Uverse before they only offer a max of 13mbps which isn’t enough for my network of 31 devices average (without guests connected) plus servers. They haven’t fixed or updated their lines since 2006, those old copper dsl lines are damaged or something, they could barely hold a 13mbps download stably. My only other option is Mediacom (260mbps down my current plan) or god for bid satellite which is 1mbps download ?. I will give them a stream of calls if anything Donut says is happening.

[aedan929]

On 5/11/2018 at 7:14 AM, Donut417 said:

AMPs will not help you. Cable modems have to stay with in a certain signal spec. While you might help your down stream signal with an AMP is will surely fuck the upstream signal. My guess is your modem is running out of spec. The easy way to check it is to go to 192.168.100.1 in a web browser. That will be the modem diagnostic pages, then compare to this site: https://www.dslreports.com/faq/5862

 

You might be droping in and out of the acceptable range, if your modem is running at the edge of what is acceptable. Signal levels can change as much as 3db during the day due to temperature. If you notice your self out of the range then you might have to call the ISP. Other things you can do is make sure all connection are good and tight. When you look at your modem signal pay close attention to the uncorrectable errors. Its ok to have a few, hell I got a few hundred on mine. But if you notice that you have much much more that could indicate some form of interference on the cable system. Again you would have to call the ISP so they could troubleshoot that. 

Ok, so my forward path maximum is 37db minimum is -0.6dbmv while my return is 39.8dbmv. It looks healthy to me but Ill provide a picture. I don't know what forward path or return path is, but im guessing forward is download while return in upload. One thing I noticed is that the days it's been going out are usually hot about 75-80 and I usually don't turn on my A/C until it gets 81. So overheating could be a possible cause, I ordered a Arctic USB fan in case. 

[Donut417]

2 minutes ago, aedan929 said:

Ok, so my forward path maximum is 37db minimum is -0.6dbmv while my return is 39.8dbmv. It looks healthy to me but Ill provide a picture. I don't know what forward path or return path is, but im guessing forward is download while return in upload. One thing I noticed is that the days it's been going out are usually hot about 75-80 and I usually don't turn on my A/C until it gets 81. So overheating could be a possible cause, I ordered a Arctic USB fan in case. 

Wow only 1 upstream channel. You live in the dark ages. The modem could be over heating, but its hard to know. 

[aedan929]

Just now, Donut417 said:

Wow only 1 upstream channel.  

LOL thats what I thought!! Welcome to country life!

[aedan929]

1 minute ago, Donut417 said:

Wow only 1 upstream channel. You live in the dark ages. The modem could be over heating, but its hard to know. 

I'll check the db's again when it gets hot out. I got the overheating idea from Mediacom's site on their "21 things to do for stable internet." I doubt it is as well but just to be safe. My router and modem are stacked in my fanless server cabinet, and they are at the top where all the heat is. They rest on top of my network switch and have a PoE switch next to them for my AP's. All this stuff packed together closely could possible cause it. So hopefully the fan does something! 

[aedan929]

Good news! Sorta! Spent a couple of hours with Mediacom on the phone last night, convincing them it wasn’t my setup thanks to you awesome guys! Driving home today and saw a technician working on the line straight to my neighborhood, and my internet is out right now! This could be great!