Wierd Problem! Please Help (long)

[MIKEJ@COMCAST]

Hi,

I am a Comcast internet customer in the Philadelphia area. Up until 3 days ago (Monday) my connection has been great (1.3Mbps/125K). On Monday around Noon time I noticed the internet was not working so I went down to the basement and Low and behold my Toshiba PCX1100U cable modem was not Synching up(cable light was blinking every 3 minutes or so). I tried a few power cycles but the modem would not synch up. I left for work and came home that night and noticed the internet was working at 11:00PM!! Next day I went to get on the internet around 12:30pm and once again no internet! I tried powercycling and still no synching. I came home from work on tuesday night and the internet was working AGAIN!
Today before trying to get on the internet at 11:30pm i took a trip to the basement first, ONCE AGAIN my cable modem was not synching up. This time I had some extra time so I disconnected the cable running to my 1 Ghz splitter and connected it directly to the cable modem and the modem synched up.
Now normally I'd say it was a bad splitter BUT since I lose Synch only during the 9:00am-9:00pm time frame I have to believe it is something else causing me to lose connection. I can tell you that on Monday a heat wave 95+ temperatures. At night time is when my internet seems to return. Can the Sun or heat cause noise in the cable lines or cause a weak signal on the cable line? Or could it be that everyone is using thier televisions on the block and there is not enough signal by the time it gets to me?? Unfortunately I can not measure the DB and SNR with my current modem. I can tell you that my cable television works fine so what gives? If possible I'd like to try to correct this problem myself without haveing a cable guy come out and charge me $150. If anyone has any idea why my connection is dropping during 9:00am-9:00pm time frame please reply, I am out of ideas.

Thanks in advance,
Mike

[cyberskye]

Have you called support? If you aren't receiving service, the onus is on your provider to fix your problem.

By the way - is it 95+ in your basement or just outside. I am in the DC area and the heat has been pretty damn nasty this week, for sure.

Skye

[MIKEJ@COMCAST]

Hi

I did talk to helpdesk at comcast. They had me go through all of that horrible junk they have to read out of books. Like renew my IP address even though there was no Synch with the modem LOL. Pwercycling all that fun stuff It's rather cool in the basement probably around 75-80 during the day. that what i originally thought maybe the cable modem was overheating however i don't believe this is true since i left it off for a few hours today and plugged it back in at 2:00pm and still no synch (modem was very cool) If anyone has any other ideas I'm all ears

thanks ,
Mike

[cyberskye]

This doesn't sound like a user-serviceable problem. Kinda like trying to troubleshoot your phone line from your house.

Someone else might pipe up with an idea, but I think you should call back and demand (politely, but firmly) that they send someone on their nickel.

I used to be a comcast customer and they came out twice without charging me. Was a problem with their equipment (upstream of my router) both times.

Skye

[Kip Patterson]

What is the picture like on your TV at the times when you have no modem connectivity?

thanks,

Kip

[MIKEJ@COMCAST]

Hi Kip,

The TV works all hours of the day, however the lower channels(channel 2 is worst) aren't as clear as the other channels Thats another reason why I am a little confused, if it were the cable line the cable TV should not work either. On the other hand if it was the splitter then none of the Television sets in the house should work. The modem I have is a modem i bought, a Toshiba PCX1100U, I thought that may be the problem but it always works at night, very WIERD! If I called Comcast back and they send out a cable guy will he take measurements of the line quality (SNR/DB) and if so does anybody know what those values should be?

Thanks Again,
Mike

[Kip Patterson]

Sun, wind, and rain can all cause cable problems.

Aluminum is a great material, mostly. It corrodes almost as quickly as Sodium in air, but the oxide adheres tightly and protects the material underneath from further corrosion. The bad side is that aluminum oxide is chemically the same as sapphire, and you can get into all kinds of connection problems. Moreover, water can get into the coax a lot easier than you might think.

My guess is that there is a marginal connection in the cable plant, just good enough for TV but not good enough for modems. It could also be a problem in the upstream path, a bad amplifier or node, for example.

I'd try to get them out there when it isn't working. At least, call them when it isn't working and get them to see if they can see your modem. Almost certainly the cable company's problem, but when you consider that a typical node has several amplifiers and perhaps 100 coax connections downstream of it, finding and fixing a problem like this is not easy.

Kip

[MIKE2319]

Hi,

Thanks for all the help. Right now my cable modem is synched backed up and working as usually does around this time of night (it's 2:17 am right now). If it is a problem with an amplifier or the cable outside the house I should not have to pay for the seeking and repairing of the problem right? I still can't understand why I can get a connection at all during the day but at night it works?
O well I'm not gonna call comcast yet since it is working but i'm sure in about 10 more hours my connection will be down again and i will be mad as usual

Thanks,
Mike

[cyberskye]

If it is a problem with an amplifier or the cable outside the house I should not have to pay for the seeking and repairing of the problem right?

Absolutely. If it turned out to be a problem with your pc, then you just cost them money for nothing. If it is a problem with their equipment, the line from outside your house up to your place, or their network in general - you should not pay one penny. That's the service you're paying for. Bandwidth isn;t a widget, it's a service.

Skye

[fredsanford]

Have you checked your power voltage? when air conditioners are running, they often pull the voltage down to below spec for electronic equipment, and the longer home electrical circuits can make it worse.

just something else to check...

[legalmind]

Tell them you need new cable.
Lower channel TV problems most of the time is the cable itself.
Have digital cable? Do you have tiling problems?
Tell the cable company to ground you! I have seen that Cox out here in Phoenix is not to good at grounding.

[MIKEJ@COMCAST]

Hi,

I don't have digital cable yet but I can tell you the lower channels are definately a bit snowy. Before I call the cable company I am going to purchase a monster 2Ghz splitter to definately eliminate the splitter as the problem. Although it doesn't make much sence that it would only work at night if the splitter was the culprit. BTW I took a look at the cable lines outside that run from the pole, OMG I'm surprised I've had internet this long. Very thin, old, painted over looking cable !

Thanks for all the help,
Mike