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Cable internet -- how reliable? (1 Viewer)

Maurile Tremblay

Maurile Tremblay

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Staff member
I get my internet through Time-Warner Cable.

I lose my internet connection for 1-2 minutes at a time pretty frequently. Some days are worse than others, but I'd say I average having it go out roughly once per hour. This is bad enough when I'm just trying to post in the FFA or stream Game of Thrones, but it's especially frustrating when I drop a phone call because of it. (I don't have a land line and my cell phone reception is bad where I live, so I use VoIP through Google Hangouts to carry my phone calls at home.)

The cable company said that replacing my modem would help. So they replaced my modem and it didn't help.

Is this a very common thing, or am I being singled out by the internet gods for poor treatment?

 
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I used to have similar problems with Charter, but it has gotten better over the past couple of years. Now, it rarely goes out. But when it does, it's out for hours.

 
I'm in Milwaukee and I had Time Warner for the last year (50 up/10 down) and RARELY had any issues ever. I had my own modem too - the Motorola Surfboard SB 6141.

But seems like there is definitely something wrong with your service. That's not normal at all.

 
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Courtjester said:
Is it just wireless drop out or are you seeing wired devices (like a desktop) go as well?
Click to expand...
Not just wireless. The routers seem to work fine (as long as the modem is feeding them a valid connection). When it goes out, I lose all connections from all devices, including wired desktops.

 
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Maurile Tremblay said:
Courtjester said:
Is it just wireless drop out or are you seeing wired devices (like a desktop) go as well?
Click to expand...
Not just wireless. The routers seem to work fine. When it goes out, I lose all connections from all devices, including wired desktops.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's on your cable provider. I am no expert, but it sounds like a wiring issue coming into the house from the box. I would complain and ask for bill credit and a tech visit. They

can remotely track the signal, so it should be easy for them to see the problem.

 
Maurile Tremblay said:
Courtjester said:
Is it just wireless drop out or are you seeing wired devices (like a desktop) go as well?
Click to expand...
Not just wireless. The routers seem to work fine (as long as the modem is feeding them a valid connection). When it goes out, I lose all connections from all devices, including wired desktops.
Click to expand...
Does your device/workstation show a loss of connection or you just lose Internet? LAN connection work fine? Have a ping running continuously to your router to ensure it isn't cutting out.

Have always had cable for Internet and never had this problem.

 
Post your modem's model and router's model number. Also, try setting you IP manually in the adapter configuration settings on your computer, and test that out for awhile and see if it alleviates the problem.

 
Also, the next time it happens, check the lights on your modem, and see if the one that indicates internet connectivity is up. Also, see if you can notice whether the lights a blinking normally or if they are doing something different than normal on either the router or modem (trying to determine if either device is resetting).

 
Any neighbors having issues? We're at the end of a long run and as people added service TV channels would drop out or internet service would die or slow down. Since it was more than just one house they came out and did some testing and ended up putting in a signal booster up the road.

 
I had a similar problem....twc showed up and after me not letting them leave until it was finally fixed they ran a new outside line, problem solved.

 
captain_amazing said:
Post your modem's model and router's model number. Also, try setting you IP manually in the adapter configuration settings on your computer, and test that out for awhile and see if it alleviates the problem.
Click to expand...
The modem is actually a gateway: Technicolor TC8715D.

Router is Mikrotik Routerboard RB2011UiAS-2HnD-IN.

 
Cliff Clavin said:
Does your device/workstation show a loss of connection or you just lose Internet?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what the difference is. When I lose the internet connection, the icon for Internet in my desktop's task bar (I'm running Windows 7) says "Network 5: No Internet." (Going from memory because I'm connected at the moment.) When that happens and I try to use PdaNet to provide internet to my desktop through my cell phone, it will say something like "Network 3: Internet access" (though the signal is often so weak that, when I try to load a webpage, my browser still gives me the same error as if I had no internet connection).

I don't really have a LAN set up for local file-sharing or printer-sharing or whatever apart from the internet.

 
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I have Time Warner Cable in NE Ohio. No troubles with connections. Your issue can not be normal. And if you are paying anywhere near what those thieves are charging me, you should raise hell until it is functioning consistently

 
Maurile Tremblay said:
captain_amazing said:
Post your modem's model and router's model number. Also, try setting you IP manually in the adapter configuration settings on your computer, and test that out for awhile and see if it alleviates the problem.
Click to expand...
The modem is actually a gateway: Technicolor TC8715D.

Router is Mikrotik Routerboard RB2011UiAS-2HnD-IN.
Click to expand...
Without even googling the modem's mode number with "dropping," I got this: http://forums.comcast.com/t5/Home-Networking-Router-WiFi/Technicolor-TC8305C-WARNIING-wireless-gateway-not-working/td-p/1932557. I understand that this happens on LAN too, but I'm guessing you have a faulty modem. Another test to determine whether it's the modem and not the router is to plug directly into the modem for a day and see if the problem occurs. If it does, bingo. If it does not, then there is something up with your router.

If you received that modem from TW and pay monthly service charges, just dump it and buy your own. TW will have a list of compatible modems somewhere, and you can get them decently cheap on Amazon. Way better than whatever your ISP is going to give you (most of the time), IMO.

Also, I doubt this is an ISP problem (not counting out). The fact that it takes a few minutes to reestablish connection is telling, which lead me to believe it's a modem having gateway issues.

 
captain_amazing said:
Another test to determine whether it's the modem and not the router is to plug directly into the modem for a day and see if the problem occurs. If it does, bingo. If it does not, then there is something up with your router.
Click to expand...
I've done this before. Connecting the modem directly to a PC without going through a router gives the same result: the PC has no internet connection.

That makes me pretty certain that it's not the router -- along with the fact that I've changed routers a few times and got the same result.

(On the other hand, the modem was also changed about a month ago, which did alleviate the problem for a bit, but now things are back pretty much to how they were before.)

If you received that modem from TW and pay monthly service charges, just dump it and buy your own. TW will have a list of compatible modems somewhere, and you can get them decently cheap on Amazon. Way better than whatever your ISP is going to give you (most of the time), IMO.
Click to expand...
Yes, the modem has always been supplied by Time Warner. I'm not sure if there's a marginal cost for that or if it's included. Either way, I'll look into dumping it and getting my own.

 
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I had an issue like this an I swapped modem and routers and nothing helped. Basically had to beg comcast to come out and they found a physical problem with the connector coming out of the wall. (apparently it was very old hardware that was not used since 90's)

 
Maurile Tremblay said:
Cliff Clavin said:
Does your device/workstation show a loss of connection or you just lose Internet?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what the difference is. When I lose the internet connection, the icon for Internet in my desktop's task bar (I'm running Windows 7) says "Network 5: No Internet." (Going from memory because I'm connected at the moment.) When that happens and I try to use PdaNet to provide internet to my desktop through my cell phone, it will say something like "Network 3: Internet access" (though the signal is often so weak that, when I try to load a webpage, my browser still gives me the same error as if I had no internet connection).

I don't really have a LAN set up for local file-sharing or printer-sharing or whatever apart from the internet.
Click to expand...
On a windows desktop, you'll see an X show up over your network icon if it is the router. If it is the modem, it'll say 'limited or no internet access' (or something similar)

On a windows computer, open a command prompt start pinging your router.

ping 192.168.1.1 -t

Note: replace the IP address with that of your router.

Leave that window open and check it when you lose connection. A no reply will mean your router is the problem.

 
Had the same issue with TWC... It always appeared worse when the weather got very cold. I was using a brand new modem and still decided to buy another new one. Haven't had any issues since the new modem, but this problem was identical to mine.

 
If you are going to buy your own modem I suggest this one. Look for it "used" through Amazon Warehouse deals. Bought mine for $45 and my son got his for about the same price. They charge you $8 a month for modem rental.

http://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-Motorola-SurfBoard-SB6121-DOCSIS/dp/B004XC6GJ0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1431909552&sr=1-1&keywords=sb6121

Now that being said, don't buy a personal modem until they fix this problem. The minute you introduce a non Time Warner modem they will blame the modem.

They need to check your outside lines. Sometimes squirrels will chew on the lines or they just degrade over time. My buddy had internet issues with Time Warner recently and they ended up having to change a filter on the line at the pole.

 
top dog said:
If you are going to buy your own modem I suggest this one. Look for it "used" through Amazon Warehouse deals. Bought mine for $45 and my son got his for about the same price. They charge you $8 a month for modem rental.

http://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-Motorola-SurfBoard-SB6121-DOCSIS/dp/B004XC6GJ0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1431909552&sr=1-1&keywords=sb6121

Now that being said, don't buy a personal modem until they fix this problem. The minute you introduce a non Time Warner modem they will blame the modem.

They need to check your outside lines. Sometimes squirrels will chew on the lines or they just degrade over time. My buddy had internet issues with Time Warner recently and they ended up having to change a filter on the line at the pole.
Click to expand...
I have this same modem, which just rocks. Have Comcast Blast and you need the Docsis 3 for the fastest capabilities. I would rather pay the one time charge and own my modem then give these bloodsuckers an extra $8 a month to rent a sub $100 item for the rest of my life.

 
The Big Guy said:
top dog said:
If you are going to buy your own modem I suggest this one. Look for it "used" through Amazon Warehouse deals. Bought mine for $45 and my son got his for about the same price. They charge you $8 a month for modem rental.

http://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-Motorola-SurfBoard-SB6121-DOCSIS/dp/B004XC6GJ0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1431909552&sr=1-1&keywords=sb6121

Now that being said, don't buy a personal modem until they fix this problem. The minute you introduce a non Time Warner modem they will blame the modem.

They need to check your outside lines. Sometimes squirrels will chew on the lines or they just degrade over time. My buddy had internet issues with Time Warner recently and they ended up having to change a filter on the line at the pole.
Click to expand...
I have this same modem, which just rocks. Have Comcast Blast and you need the Docsis 3 for the fastest capabilities. I would rather pay the one time charge and own my modem then give these bloodsuckers an extra $8 a month to rent a sub $100 item for the rest of my life.
Click to expand...
Another vote for this modem. I bought it a couple of years ago and it is rock-solid. Despite my cat sitting on it 24/7 and hindering ventilation.

As much as I want to join the internet hate for Comcast, their internet service at my house is faster than advertised and it never goes down. Never. Truly astonishing.

 
Long shot but the only time I had this issue it was a buried cable gone bad between my house and the cable company's box at the street.

None of my neighbors had issues (which is telling) and I tried everything cap_amazing is suggesting. I finally made them send a technician to test the signal both at the box and in the house.

If it's been a while since a technician has been to your house I'd suggest you make them come and test the signal to make sure it's strong and consistent entering the house so you can eliminate it being anything on their end.

 
Zasada said:
The Big Guy said:
top dog said:
If you are going to buy your own modem I suggest this one. Look for it "used" through Amazon Warehouse deals. Bought mine for $45 and my son got his for about the same price. They charge you $8 a month for modem rental.

http://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-Motorola-SurfBoard-SB6121-DOCSIS/dp/B004XC6GJ0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1431909552&sr=1-1&keywords=sb6121

Now that being said, don't buy a personal modem until they fix this problem. The minute you introduce a non Time Warner modem they will blame the modem.

They need to check your outside lines. Sometimes squirrels will chew on the lines or they just degrade over time. My buddy had internet issues with Time Warner recently and they ended up having to change a filter on the line at the pole.
Click to expand...
I have this same modem, which just rocks. Have Comcast Blast and you need the Docsis 3 for the fastest capabilities. I would rather pay the one time charge and own my modem then give these bloodsuckers an extra $8 a month to rent a sub $100 item for the rest of my life.
Click to expand...
Another vote for this modem. I bought it a couple of years ago and it is rock-solid. Despite my cat sitting on it 24/7 and hindering ventilation.

As much as I want to join the internet hate for Comcast, their internet service at my house is faster than advertised and it never goes down. Never. Truly astonishing.
Click to expand...
The SB6121 worked great for me.

I initially bought the SB6141 due to it being "better" and was on the approved supplier list for Time Warner. Could not get it working. They sent out a tech and he said.. "Oh.. you have that model.. That won't work with our frequencies. Not sure why it is on our approved list. It doesn't work in NE Ohio. He got his supervisor on the line to verify. He said. "Yeah.. That model won't work.". They suggested I get the SB6121 as it works great in the area. I sent it back and got the SB6121 and they had it configured and working like a champ in 15 minutes on the phone.

Stupid TIme Warner "approved" modem list..

 
Used to have Comcast cable internet in our old apartment. It would kick me off for a minute or so a few times a day. I noted this because my work VPN would require me to reconnect. It was really annoying.

Now we have Centurylink DSL at our house. I'll stay logged into the VPN for days at a time without a disconnect.

Downside: The DSL is like 10x slower than the cable was...

 
Where is the cable modem in relation to the incoming cable line to the house? If you have a bunch of splitters and such between the incoming line and where the cable modem is, these type of things can occur. Really what you'd want is one split with the wire right after it leaves the (likely) box on the outside of the house. One of the splits goes directly to the cable modem and then to your router - the other goes to feed all the TVs in the house. Also, how old are the coax runs in the house?

 
lumpy19 said:
I had a similar problem....twc showed up and after me not letting them leave until it was finally fixed they ran a new outside line, problem solved.
Click to expand...
Had a similar issue with Comcast/xfinity and it was due to squirrels that had chewed the feed from the pole to the house. It was spotty and slow....they replaced the line and problems were solved.

 
Your cable modem may allow access to a statistics/diagnosis web page that will show signal to noise ratios to see if you have a quality connection. Look at your router's setup pages for the gateway IP address. Then just try typing that IP address into your browser address bar something like this: http://10.0.0.1

Look at the signal level while the connection is up and then try to view the signal level while the connection is down to compare. You may have a marginal signal that is drifting in and out.

Here is some info on signal levels: http://www.dslreports.com/faq/16085

During a recent install a cable guy measured the signal quality before attaching the modem and said it actually was too high. I had never heard that being a problem. But he actually added an inline filter looking type device to dampen the strong signal before attaching to the cable modem.

 
top dog said:
If you are going to buy your own modem I suggest this one. Look for it "used" through Amazon Warehouse deals. Bought mine for $45 and my son got his for about the same price. They charge you $8 a month for modem rental.

http://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-Motorola-SurfBoard-SB6121-DOCSIS/dp/B004XC6GJ0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1431909552&sr=1-1&keywords=sb6121

Now that being said, don't buy a personal modem until they fix this problem. The minute you introduce a non Time Warner modem they will blame the modem.

They need to check your outside lines. Sometimes squirrels will chew on the lines or they just degrade over time. My buddy had internet issues with Time Warner recently and they ended up having to change a filter on the line at the pole.
Click to expand...
I got that modem. It works great except that I still have the exact same problem as before. I lose my internet connection for a few minutes here and there several times a day.

When I called Time Warner to give them that info, they said that they were running diagnostics as they spoke to me and everything looked fine, so they can't send someone out. Yeah, everything was fine right at that minute, but there are plenty of times when it's not fine.

They suggested that maybe it's some construction going on down the street that's causing the problem. No, that can't be it because I've had the problem for literally several years.

I checked with some neighbors and they also have connectivity problems.

Given that I've had the exact same problems regardless of which modems or routers I've used, and given that the neighbors seem to have the same issues as well, I'm pretty certain the problem is not coming from inside the house.

Still, the Time Warner guy said he can't create a work order and send someone out here until the diagnostics show a problem, so I guess I need to call back as soon as I lose the connection and hope that the connection stays down long enough for them to verify it.

 
MT, I think your best bet is to wait until Comcast and Time Warner merge. Then they will have your problem cleared up in a jiffy!

We are so lucky to have a free market economy here in the US, probably the reason we have the fastest and most reliable internet access in the world.

 
Maurile Tremblay said:
top dog said:
If you are going to buy your own modem I suggest this one. Look for it "used" through Amazon Warehouse deals. Bought mine for $45 and my son got his for about the same price. They charge you $8 a month for modem rental.

http://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-Motorola-SurfBoard-SB6121-DOCSIS/dp/B004XC6GJ0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1431909552&sr=1-1&keywords=sb6121

Now that being said, don't buy a personal modem until they fix this problem. The minute you introduce a non Time Warner modem they will blame the modem.

They need to check your outside lines. Sometimes squirrels will chew on the lines or they just degrade over time. My buddy had internet issues with Time Warner recently and they ended up having to change a filter on the line at the pole.
Click to expand...
I got that modem. It works great except that I still have the exact same problem as before. I lose my internet connection for a few minutes here and there several times a day.

When I called Time Warner to give them that info, they said that they were running diagnostics as they spoke to me and everything looked fine, so they can't send someone out. Yeah, everything was fine right at that minute, but there are plenty of times when it's not fine.

They suggested that maybe it's some construction going on down the street that's causing the problem. No, that can't be it because I've had the problem for literally several years.

I checked with some neighbors and they also have connectivity problems.

Given that I've had the exact same problems regardless of which modems or routers I've used, and given that the neighbors seem to have the same issues as well, I'm pretty certain the problem is not coming from inside the house.

Still, the Time Warner guy said he can't create a work order and send someone out here until the diagnostics show a problem, so I guess I need to call back as soon as I lose the connection and hope that the connection stays down long enough for them to verify it.
Click to expand...
I think I'd disconnect the line wherever it comes into the house, make the call, and then reconnect it before the guy gets there. From what I've gathered during service calls to my house, they can do more specific diagnostics at different locations in person than remotely, and they will replace old connectors and wires that may be causing any signal loss problems.

In my situation, they replaced some stuff and also installed a signal amplifier.

But mention to the service technician that your neighbors also mentioned issues, and they should check more outside as well.

Unless you get a dud of a technician, of course. I've had good luck with them - much better than with the phone operators.

 
I had a similar issue, though it didn't get that bad, and as others have mentioned, they replaced the physical line to the house and it resolved it.

 
I have Verizon Fios, which is fiber optic. No interruptions at all unless someone runs into a telephone pole down the street. That happened once.

 
Maurile Tremblay said:
Courtjester said:
Is it just wireless drop out or are you seeing wired devices (like a desktop) go as well?
Click to expand...
Not just wireless. The routers seem to work fine (as long as the modem is feeding them a valid connection). When it goes out, I lose all connections from all devices, including wired desktops.
Click to expand...
didn't read all the comments..

have you tried cutting out all wifi and just going wired to see if you still get drops

 
Did not read thread....but my two cents:

Been with Comcast,xfinity for several years. Maybe one or two electrical storms knocked out power in the area. Otherwise, cable modem has been extremely reliable.

 
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