Matty-CT
asked on
DOCSIS cable Internet connectivity issue
Hi all,
This question is really a shot in the dark, and I merely pose it as a sounding board rather than expecting a definitive answer. Here we go...
I have business cable modem Internet service from Charter Spectrum. I've had it for about oh 15 years or so. Not that it matters much, but it's static IP service with a /27 network which my company uses for hosted Internet services such as email, web sites, online backup, DR and some hosted virtual machines. In the past, whenever there have been connectivity problems, the problem has always been at the cable network "node" which services about a quarter of my town. About 8 years ago, Charter ran new construction to my office. New underground conduit, new cabling, etc.
Approximately two weeks ago now, I started to notice random Internet disruptions lasting about 1-2 minutes per incident, anywhere from 2-5 times per day. The frequency is random and there doesn't seem to be any pattern or causation. Charter has checked signals at their "demarc" and found no issue. They replaced the splitters, ran new cable inside the office from the demarc to the modem, replaced the cable modem with a different model, replaced the grounding wire to outside, re-terminated all the cabling. Nothing in the office seems to be the culprit. The underground conduit is not large enough to accommodate a mouse or other critter to get in there and chew on the cabling. I moved the AC/DC adapter of the modem from one Smart UPS to another and then at their request bypassed any power protection equipment and plugged it directly into wall outlet. No difference. I set up a PRTG alert sensor to generate an email if pings to 8.8.8.8 or the Charter modem/router's static IP address fail. Since the equipment is in my server room I don't always get visual on the modem during an outage. Usually, the modem is rebooting during the brief outage and reacquiring signal upstream/downstream by the time I get to see the diagnostic LEDs on the modem.
Charter claims that none of the neighboring customers are having any issues and that it's just at my office as far as they can tell. However, there is practically nothing left to replace here. I have two RG6 lines (run by Charter) in the conduit. One goes directly to the modem. The other goes directly to my Charter telephone unit. These random outages seem to last as long as it takes for a cable modem to reboot and resync. Charter says the signal is excellent both in the office and at the demarc. The only thing I haven't done (as they have asked me to refrain so far) is to swap the cables going to the Internet modem and the phone device, since each has a dedicated cable to the demarc. The only other variable I can think of is that a little over two weeks ago we had a power transformer blow in the area which resulted in a power outage. I heard the darn thing go boom. These problems seem to have started after this power incident. I told the techs this and they replaced the splitters/attenuators thinking that maybe they got damaged.
So, might anyone have advice or theories on what might be happening here? My money is that this issue is somewhere else on the network but no one can find a problem anywhere...
Thanks for any thoughts!!
Sincerely,
Matt
This question is really a shot in the dark, and I merely pose it as a sounding board rather than expecting a definitive answer. Here we go...
I have business cable modem Internet service from Charter Spectrum. I've had it for about oh 15 years or so. Not that it matters much, but it's static IP service with a /27 network which my company uses for hosted Internet services such as email, web sites, online backup, DR and some hosted virtual machines. In the past, whenever there have been connectivity problems, the problem has always been at the cable network "node" which services about a quarter of my town. About 8 years ago, Charter ran new construction to my office. New underground conduit, new cabling, etc.
Approximately two weeks ago now, I started to notice random Internet disruptions lasting about 1-2 minutes per incident, anywhere from 2-5 times per day. The frequency is random and there doesn't seem to be any pattern or causation. Charter has checked signals at their "demarc" and found no issue. They replaced the splitters, ran new cable inside the office from the demarc to the modem, replaced the cable modem with a different model, replaced the grounding wire to outside, re-terminated all the cabling. Nothing in the office seems to be the culprit. The underground conduit is not large enough to accommodate a mouse or other critter to get in there and chew on the cabling. I moved the AC/DC adapter of the modem from one Smart UPS to another and then at their request bypassed any power protection equipment and plugged it directly into wall outlet. No difference. I set up a PRTG alert sensor to generate an email if pings to 8.8.8.8 or the Charter modem/router's static IP address fail. Since the equipment is in my server room I don't always get visual on the modem during an outage. Usually, the modem is rebooting during the brief outage and reacquiring signal upstream/downstream by the time I get to see the diagnostic LEDs on the modem.
Charter claims that none of the neighboring customers are having any issues and that it's just at my office as far as they can tell. However, there is practically nothing left to replace here. I have two RG6 lines (run by Charter) in the conduit. One goes directly to the modem. The other goes directly to my Charter telephone unit. These random outages seem to last as long as it takes for a cable modem to reboot and resync. Charter says the signal is excellent both in the office and at the demarc. The only thing I haven't done (as they have asked me to refrain so far) is to swap the cables going to the Internet modem and the phone device, since each has a dedicated cable to the demarc. The only other variable I can think of is that a little over two weeks ago we had a power transformer blow in the area which resulted in a power outage. I heard the darn thing go boom. These problems seem to have started after this power incident. I told the techs this and they replaced the splitters/attenuators thinking that maybe they got damaged.
So, might anyone have advice or theories on what might be happening here? My money is that this issue is somewhere else on the network but no one can find a problem anywhere...
Thanks for any thoughts!!
Sincerely,
Matt
ASKER
Thanks for the input. Like I wrote originally, I wasn't expecting any substantive diagnostic help, particularly, but I do appreciate your comments. For the business class devices, I don't believe Charter allows BYOD. If it did, I'd probably have my own. Maybe their policy has changed so I'll look into it. There is a downside to this path, though. I've seen all too often that service providers like to blame the customer for equipment issues when they don't use ISP supplied equipment.
"It might be worth the effort to put the modem/router in Bridge Mode and add your own router. That will separate router issues from modem issues."
It is in bridge mode, Basically, it's just handing off the /27 to our internal equipment. Years ago, the old Motorola modems allowed the customer to access a diagnostics page which showed cable signal data. Can't access that stuff anymore with the SMC or other brands I've had over the past 10 years or so.
"monitoring devices ..."
I did ask about that but haven't received an answer yet. That would be very helpful, like a heart monitor for a cardiac patient!
"Do your phones experience problems..."
Good question. Not that I have noticed. Often when we've had area outages, both services have been affected to varying degrees. Thanks for taking the time to providing some input. Generally, I'm the guy with all the IT answers but it's always good to get some other opinions!
"It might be worth the effort to put the modem/router in Bridge Mode and add your own router. That will separate router issues from modem issues."
It is in bridge mode, Basically, it's just handing off the /27 to our internal equipment. Years ago, the old Motorola modems allowed the customer to access a diagnostics page which showed cable signal data. Can't access that stuff anymore with the SMC or other brands I've had over the past 10 years or so.
"monitoring devices ..."
I did ask about that but haven't received an answer yet. That would be very helpful, like a heart monitor for a cardiac patient!
"Do your phones experience problems..."
Good question. Not that I have noticed. Often when we've had area outages, both services have been affected to varying degrees. Thanks for taking the time to providing some input. Generally, I'm the guy with all the IT answers but it's always good to get some other opinions!
My comments were pretty general as your situation doesn't have an obvious cause.
What about:
"I set up a PRTG alert sensor to generate an email if pings to 8.8.8.8 or the Charter modem/router's static IP address fail."
What are you seeing when the disruption occurs? Do both pings fail at the same time?
I would expect that if this were a general line problem (poor physical connection, etc.), you'd notice problems on the phones as they're not very forgiving. As often as it has been happening, you'd expect that there would be active calls at least some of the time.
"Since the equipment is in my server room I don't always get visual on the modem during an outage. Usually, the modem is rebooting during the brief outage and reacquiring signal upstream/downstream by the time I get to see the diagnostic LEDs on the modem."
Consider putting a camera on the modem and store the data somewhere. It would confirm what appears to be the case, that something is causing the modem to reboot.
Does the modem have any logs you can access? It sure sounds as if there is either a problem in the modem itself or that Charter has a problem causing the lost connection. I would push Charter hard on this.
You are correct that ISPs love to blame customer-supplied equipment for any issues. If they did allow you to install your own modem, it would be a good test in any case, especially if you found a modem that allowed you to do diagnostics.
What about:
"I set up a PRTG alert sensor to generate an email if pings to 8.8.8.8 or the Charter modem/router's static IP address fail."
What are you seeing when the disruption occurs? Do both pings fail at the same time?
I would expect that if this were a general line problem (poor physical connection, etc.), you'd notice problems on the phones as they're not very forgiving. As often as it has been happening, you'd expect that there would be active calls at least some of the time.
"Since the equipment is in my server room I don't always get visual on the modem during an outage. Usually, the modem is rebooting during the brief outage and reacquiring signal upstream/downstream by the time I get to see the diagnostic LEDs on the modem."
Consider putting a camera on the modem and store the data somewhere. It would confirm what appears to be the case, that something is causing the modem to reboot.
Does the modem have any logs you can access? It sure sounds as if there is either a problem in the modem itself or that Charter has a problem causing the lost connection. I would push Charter hard on this.
You are correct that ISPs love to blame customer-supplied equipment for any issues. If they did allow you to install your own modem, it would be a good test in any case, especially if you found a modem that allowed you to do diagnostics.
There really should only be three times your modem reboots: 1) you doing it, 2) power failure, 3) when they send a signal for it to reboot.
I would push them to check all the way back to their node, but also to get senior technicians involved. If you have to, write a certified letter to Charter. That tends to get their attention.
You're correct that the situation makes no sense, given what you're described. But it is very interesting that things started when the power transformer blew.
I would push them to check all the way back to their node, but also to get senior technicians involved. If you have to, write a certified letter to Charter. That tends to get their attention.
You're correct that the situation makes no sense, given what you're described. But it is very interesting that things started when the power transformer blew.
ASKER
Experts Exchange is reminding me to post a follow up regarding my question. I cannot say that Charter went "above and beyond" in either keeping me informed or on what they've been doing, however Charter did send their regional field manager out which was nice. Rather than calling the national tech support number he directed me to contact him directly regarding outage issues. Without any updated information from Charter or changes to equipment on my end, the problem mysteriously disappeared (or hibernated...) last week. This doesn't give me the warm and fuzzies as I'd like to know what changes (if any) Charter performed on their network. For the time being, at least, the whole thing is inconclusive in either cause or resolution. Being in IT, like most here, this is incredibly frustrating. I'll leave this open for a few more days before closing it, in case someone has some insight into systems at Charter or other cable operators that they'd like to share.
Thanks for your time,
Matt
Thanks for your time,
Matt
This question needs an answer!
Become an EE member today
7 DAY FREE TRIALMembers can start a 7-Day Free trial then enjoy unlimited access to the platform.
View membership options
or
Learn why we charge membership fees
We get it - no one likes a content blocker. Take one extra minute and find out why we block content.
It might be worth the effort to put the modem/router in Bridge Mode and add your own router. That will separate router issues from modem issues.
"I set up a PRTG alert sensor to generate an email if pings to 8.8.8.8 or the Charter modem/router's static IP address fail."
What are you seeing when the disruption occurs? Do both pings fail at the same time?
"Charter has checked signals at their "demarc" and found no issue."
This may be an issue where the signals test well except for the brief times when it fails. They wouldn't find any issues unless they are doing the tests while the problem occurs.
Do they have any monitoring devices they could install (or monitor from their end) so that they can see what was going on when the problem occurs? If it is happening daily, they shouldn't have to test for very long.
Do your phones experience problems at the same time as the network?