Could a faulty power strip/surge supressor cause these problems?

[vapidtransit]

Problem 1: Cable modem temporary loss of connectivity (i.e. Cable light is "on," computer has an IP addy but no pings are getting through) Power cycling the cable modem restores normal connectivity.

Now...I had been having the aforementioned cable modem problem all night last night. It's a new cable modem and I was attributing it to the fact that the downstream signal on my cable signal is slightly out of spec (it's 18 dBmV when it should be no higher than 15 dBmV)

I had plugged the modem into my secondary power strip (the one I use only for my desk lamp and clock radio) since my primary one is way way under my desk and I was too lazy to crawl under there to plug in the modem.

Then I remembered (Problem 2) that my router had also been plugged into that same strip. When that router was in service it was nothing but trouble...it rebooted for no reason and it frequently crapped out and had to be rebooted. I attributed it to the fact that it was a piece of crap router.

So I switched the cable modem to my primary power strip...i'll wait and see if the connection problems go away.

I had heard that cable modems and routers are really picky about getting a stable power supply. Could a crappy surge supressor really cause them to bug out?

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

i highly doubt the surge bar is a problem. try it on a new bar for a week and see though just incase.

do you happen to have a toshiba cable modem?

 

[vapidtransit]

No, its a motorola SB5100 (purchased to replace my old Toshiba) and I'm 99% sure that the flakiness is due to the high downstream signal level. It's just that the router screwyness made me think twice about that theory.

The toshibas (especially the old ones) were designed to tolerate the downstream high signal, however my old modem was dropping packets and being erratic overall so I decided to upgrade.

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

the old Toshibas are prone to failure with time, and your symptoms are similar. they were all around crummy modems.

how is your cabling to the modem? cable can make a HUGE difference. i recently called my cable company to redo the house's wiring. an all around amazing difference in all TV quality and even internet speed. most cable companies include this service free of charge.

 

[vapidtransit]

The cabling looks to be in good shape. My in-house cabling is only 2 years old...its free of kinks and sharp bends.

The outside cabling runs up the side of the building (5 floors) directly from the building cable box into my jack. It looks to be in good shape.

I would imagine that a problem with the coax would result in a low downstream signal below -15 dBmV but I'm not an expert so that's purely speculation.