Cable modem problems

[Firus]

I just moved a couple days ago and got hooked up with Shaw cable internet (Canada). I bought their cable modem. Now about every 5 minutes the modem cycles itself off and on. It's reallly annoying, its a Terayon cable modem. Any ideas what might be going on? My thoughts are that it is faulty hardware...the connection is really fast while it is connected, but it only stays up for so long then cycles again thus dropping the connection.

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

It's either hardware, or a bad connection on the signal cable. I'd check the cable, if not complain about the modem.

 

[Firus]

what kind of meter do you need to check the signal strength, or is there some kind of software that I can use on my end...I would really like to get to the bottom of this without having to wait days for one of their techs to get here, I have called so many times and cannot get thru to a human for the life of me, it's always the phone lines are busy

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

Some cable modems have diagnostics available to allow you to look at various values in the modem. Personally, I'd start with the basics, make sure that the cable to the modem comes directly from the 2:1 splitter at the entrance to the house, and no other splitters are in-line. Also, make sure the connectors are properly installed on the cable. This is the source of a lot of issues with cable modems. I installed low loss cable for my cable modem, made a significant difference.

 

[Firus]

ya thats the thing, I know there is more than one splitter, this is a rental house and it is old. I have had many more than just one splitter before and it has been okay though. My next question is can I get out the easy way and install a signal amplifier? I'm hoping so....thanks for the help!

Benson

 

[Soybomb]

An amplifier may make your problems worse. If it is a signal issue you're best to let the cable company deal with it unless they're going to charge, which they usually won't for that. Try going to http://192.168.100.1 and seeing if you can view any diagnostic information from the modem. If so post your signal strengths. 'til then call the cable company and they'll send a tech out with a very expensive tester

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: Firus
I just moved a couple days ago and got hooked up with Shaw cable internet (Canada). I bought their cable modem. Now about every 5 minutes the modem cycles itself off and on. It's reallly annoying, its a Terayon cable modem. Any ideas what might be going on? My thoughts are that it is faulty hardware...the connection is really fast while it is connected, but it only stays up for so long then cycles again thus dropping the connection.

I use Rogers Hi Speed with a terayon modem. I would suspect the modem is at fault. They have been having trouble with them for quite some time. They are no where near as good as the old Lan City jobs.

The best advice is to ask Shaw to come out and check the lines and the modem.

When it cycles, do you get a new IP address?

It could also be an IP conflict. I had one a couple years ago and it would lose connection every 5 mins.

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

Do NOT attempt to amplify the signal to the cable modem. Even amplifiers that claim to be bi-directional will frequently screw up the signal. I have one such amplifier that I attempted to use several years back during my cable modem education years. Once again, I recommend you obtain a quality 2:1 splitter with a 5-1000mhz bandpass, and run the cable modem line DIRECTLY from the service entrance to the cable modem, using a quality low loss cable, such as RG6U.

 

[Firus]

Ok thanks guys, the tech is coming out on Wednesday to check it out. I will keep you posted as to we he finds and recommends