Is it possible to change channels on a cable modem?

[composition]

Hi,

I purchased my own cable modem Motorola SB5101U. I am with Time Warner and their standard plan of up to 15 Mbps. I am able to achieve that during non-peak hours, but during peak hours I get as low as 3 Mbps. I was told by two of their techs that I can switch the channel to my modem during these peak hours to find a less congested channel. He suggested switching to channel 6, 11, or 1. He said that I would have to figure out how to do it myself since I own them modem, but I if I rented one, they could do it remotely to their modem. I am connected directly to my computer using ethernet.

After unsuccessfully trying to do this going to the following address, http://192.168.100.1/, I am wondering if it is even possible to do to with my modem?

 

[riahc3]

Hi,

I purchased my own cable modem Motorola SB5101U. I am with Time Warner and their standard plan of up to 15 Mbps. I am able to achieve that during non-peak hours, but during peak hours I get as low as 3 Mbps. I was told by two of their techs that I can switch the channel to my modem during these peak hours to find a less congested channel. He suggested switching to channel 6, 11, or 1. He said that I would have to figure out how to do it myself since I own them modem, but I if I rented one, they could do it remotely to their modem. I am connected directly to my computer using ethernet.

After unsuccessfully trying to do this going to the following address, http://192.168.100.1/, I am wondering if it is even possible to do to with my modem?

OK, several things.

Your cable modem is kind of out-of-date at this point. Is renting the modem from them much more expensive? I recommend it for technical support.

Most cable modems do something I believe called Dynamic Channel Change or DCC. This means that they find the best channel for you.

Do NOT confuse this with your wireless channel. It is something compatible different. I say this because 1, 6 and 11 are typical wireless channels that are recommended for usage. But since you say you are using Ethernet (wired) it doesn't/shouldn't affect you.

Another thing, 192.168.100.1 is a internal LAN address. We cannot access that. The only person that can is you. Never give our your WAN address. EVER.

My best recommendation is to rent the modem from your ISP. This way you will have guaranteed tech support. I have a feeling it might come in handy for you.

 

[JackMDS]

OP you are Mixing two separate issues.

1. Bandwidth as provided by the ISP (TWC).

2. The Channels ( 1, 6 ,11 as mentioned above) are the typical channels used by your Local private Wireless Router (if you have one).

In principle one has nothing to do with the other.

First you should establish the Actual Bandwidth that you get from the Motorola Modem.

The only countable way to do so is by connecting a computer with via Ethernet cable to the Modem (or the Wireless Router).

That said it is a typical issue with many busy locations (usually when people come home from work and start streaming from Netfix and the like).

During Peak time TWC bandwidth falls dramatically in many geographical locations and there is nothing that you can do about short of changing ISP.

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P.S. The tech support person was either BSing you or he/she does not really know better.

However, he/she was Right about the Buying vs. Renting a Modem. Since you bought your own it is your responsibility to find out what is going On pass the end of TWC outside cable.

 

[alkemyst]

I started having low bandwidth issues with my DOCSIS 2.0 modem. Upgrading to 3.0 solved that problem.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I started having low bandwidth issues with my DOCSIS 2.0 modem. Upgrading to 3.0 solved that problem.

So did my friend. OP, if your service provider supports Docsis 3.0 (and they should, these days), then it might be a good idea to upgrade. Docsis 3.0 modems have more channels to choose from, and adapt better. (However, should they need to re-train, they do take longer than the single-channel Docsis 2.0 modems to re-train and acquire a signal.)

 

[composition]

Thank you for your responses. I am going to try one of their Docsis 3.0 modems.

I was on the phone with their tech support just now, and I was running a test from speedtest. I was using the server assigned to me that is located where I live. I was getting low speeds. The tech asked me to ping from the city of their server, and the speeds got back to normal. Which would be an accurate reading of my speed, the server closest to where I live or theirs?

@alkeymyst and VirtualLarry Could you please tell me up to how many Mbps your internet plan is?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Mine is 50/25, I have FIOS. I get 58/39.

My friend had 24/2, but he was getting 12 or less with Docsis 2.0. He upgraded to a Docsis 3.0 modem, and got Blast! service from Comcast, and now he gets 80-90MBit/sec down.

 

[alkemyst]

I am at 50/25 on regular cable

I am hitting 29/23 but I think i have people on my pipe "messing" with the download speeds.

Much of the time I am at 40-50/23-25.

 

[composition]

Thank you for your replies.