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June 23, 2009 12:56 p.m. Jensenman MegaDork

Yeah, I know it's a real short trip. I'm using a Motorola SurfBoard that's about 5 years old. I have a Linksys router attached to that.

For a year or two, randomly the 'online' light would go off, poof no int3erweb. I did all the usual indiginities such as resetting it and unplugging it and the damn thing refused to start working again until I disconnected the cable from the splitter behind the TV and then connected it directly to the wall connection. Then it worked perfectly again- for a while. It happened a couple more times, then it started happening pretty much every day.

Comcast said the cheap splitters would do that and during a phone call they said it showed interference in the line which disappeared as soon as I bypassed the splitter connected the cable directly to the wall outlet. So I got an expensive one, same problem. Ran the diagnostic prgram for the modem, it says eveything is rosy and sweet. Comcast pinged the modem, said the same thing (of course it was working at the time).

Since the modem worked fine as soon as it was plugged into the wall connector, I got the bright idea of gutting a splitter, dumping the cheapo circuitry and replacing it with straight copper wire. Still the same problem.

Okay, I am open to suggestions. I am not nuts about replacing the modem, not so much for the $ (~$50) as having to listen to Comcast whine because I won't rent one from them for whatever per month.
June 23, 2009 1:08 p.m. EastCoastMojo Dork

Have you checked for updated drivers for the router? How old is the router?
June 23, 2009 1:11 p.m. Grtechguy UltraDork

5 year old modem? leased?

Replace it. somehow "break it" if leased
June 23, 2009 1:21 p.m. Jensenman MegaDork

The modem is connected directly to my big desktop via an Ethernet cable. I ran it through the router as well, same problem.

The modem is mine, I bought one for ~$50 rather than paying $3 a month. Had I leased it, by now that $50 modem would have cost me about $200.00. Comcast whines and complains if you don't lease one, they make it sound like the end of the world. If it turns out to be the modem, I will buy another one rather than lease.
June 23, 2009 1:32 p.m. EastCoastMojo Dork

Yeah, it soulnds like new-modem time.
June 23, 2009 2:14 p.m. Grtechguy UltraDork

yeah....time to buy.
June 23, 2009 2:38 p.m. wherethefmi Dork

Is there a battery in the modem, the voip modems have a battery, i took mine out and have no problems since (except for the letters from comcast informing me that the battery is out of my modem).
June 23, 2009 2:43 p.m. Jensenman MegaDork

AFAIK there's no battery in this one. I don't use VOIP so maybe that's why.
June 30, 2009 6:37 p.m. Jensenman MegaDork

Update: $70 for a new modem, same damn problem. I guess it's gonna take some diggin' in the house wiring.
June 30, 2009 7:49 p.m. P71 SuperDork

Might be the router. LinkSys stuff does some weird heebee jeebies to modems, signals, and connectivity. Been there, done that.

Also, the ComCrap $3 modem rental is great for me because I force them to replace it a lot. They keep sending letters saying that ComCrap is faster!!1! but the modem doesn't match their claims, so I make them replace it. I'm on #3 for the year already.
June 30, 2009 7:54 p.m. Tifosi2k2 New Reader

Where does your router sit?

My parents had the same problem. Router was placed on top of their crt monitor... monitor warmed up, router warmed up, internetz goes awry.... I relocated their router and voila', not a problem since. YMMV.....
June 30, 2009 8:25 p.m. EastCoastMojo Dork

If your computer is plugged directly into the modem then we should be able to rule out the router. The constant degradation of the signal over time seems to point to a bad connection or a splitter, or possibly a break in the line out in the yard. We ended up having our cable from the street to the house replaced after a constant struggle to keep the internet going. The cable TV still worked fine, but the internet was S L O W.
July 2, 2009 7:32 a.m. GameboyRMH SuperDork

Yeah it could be something with the wiring in or leading to your house, and the splitter is the straw that breaks the camel's back. Also routers run cooler if you stand them up vertically, I know some of them get hot as hell.
July 2, 2009 7:51 a.m. CoryB Reader

Is that the ONLY splitter in the line before the modem? When I had Comcast I had similar problems and ended up rerouting some of the cable in my house so there was only one splitter between where the cable came in and where the modem was plugged in.

Also, have you replaced the jump cable between the splitter and the modem?
July 2, 2009 8:06 a.m. bludroptop Dork

J-man, I have essentially the same setup as you and a very similar problem. In my case, the internet goes away around mid-day during hot weather. It comes back an hour or two later. I dismissed the cable company's diagnosis of a bad splitter or bad wiring, because it was reliable and uninterrupted service except near lunchtime!

However I'm reluctantly coming around to see it their way. I bought a 25' coax and when it happens now, I go directly from the wall outlet to the modem. That cuts off CATV to three television sets and bypasses various splitters, home-spliced cables and so forth - but makes the internet work. A couple hours later I revert back to the normal wiring to bring the TVs back on line, and the internet works just fine.

I don't really understand how the heat of the day affects cables in an air-conditioned room, but the problem does seem to be connected to the cables between the wall outlet and the modem. Obviously I need to do a more tidy job of re-routing and re-cable.

My point is that I thought a splitter or wiring issue would be pass/fail, but it turns out there may be some gray area in between.
July 2, 2009 8:28 a.m. Tim Baxter Online Editor

Not pass/fail at all, not for the internet. Net connections are MUCH more finicky about line quality than TV. I'm not sure if it's dropped packets, or your eyes adjusting for poor quality or what, but it's true.
July 2, 2009 9:25 a.m. rebelgtp Dork

Wish I had seen this earlier since I was a Comcast internet tech for years.

Anyway the problem only exists when you use a splitter yeah? Replaced the cheapy and got a good one still no joy. A splitter reduces your line signal to the modem sometimes as much as 10 points. A solid signal is going to range from 35-50 on their readings at the office. Internet is MUCH more picky about signal strength than TV is.

How old are the coax cables between the wall and the splitter and the splitter and the wall? When you look at the end of the cables are the pins sitting about flush with the outer edge of the fitting? Any kinks or cracks or evidence something heavy has been sitting on the cable that could cause an internal break? How old are they? They are not the ones that came with the modem right? Those are normally junk and we would toss those and put in new cables. If they are more than 2 or 3 years old or have any of the other problems I mentioned go to your local Comcast office and get new cables they are free.

If you still have no joy, start checking internal wiring though start at the box outside on the side of your house and make sure all of the fittings are tight and secure. Then make sure the connection to this outlet is direct from the main house split in the box and not split several times over.
July 2, 2009 12:51 p.m. Jensenman MegaDork

Hmmm. Pretty much all the cables are around 5 or 6 years old, that's everything from the outside connection box up to the modem. I'm beginning to wonder if there's something wrong there. When all this crap started, I gutted a cheap splitter, lost all the resistors and etc and replaced it with solid copper wire soldered in place. I configured the modem for 'direct wall connection', still the same crap.

It's inconsistent; for instance last night it went down for a couple of minutes while I was perusing gauges online (Summit Racing has some pretty reasonably priced VDO stuff, BTW ) then came back up by itself while I was over at the TV cussing and tugging at the bookshelf to get to the damn connector again. It worked perfectly for the rest of the night. Today I came home for lunch, it worked perfectly then too.

The router is on a shelf about 18" higher than the computer itself. I took it out of the system entirely, still no joy.
July 2, 2009 1:49 p.m. rebelgtp Dork

Sounds like wiring/signal issue to me. Well more than likely there is a signal issue to your home (or area) and older wiring is causing a deeper drop in signal than your modem can support. Signal always fluctuates do to many circumstances so old wiring can amplify the issues.

More than likely if replacing the lines and splitter to the wall don't solidify things and there are no additional splitters you may need to have a tech come out. make sure they check signal starting at the modem then working all the way back to the ped to isolate drops in signal.
July 2, 2009 3:17 p.m. Jensenman MegaDork

Hmmm... my problem does not seem to be temperature sensitive. It's happened in the middle of the day as well as at night. It has also happened, but much less frequently, for about the last year during both hot and cold weather.

I'm going to first replace the wall jack and the cables between it and the modem. If that doesn't fix it, I guess I'll have to go into the 160 degree attic and run new cable up there. :sweat: The cable in the house belongs to me, not Comcast, so it's my responsibility. If I still have a problem, jingle jingle hello this is Comcast how may I help you?
July 2, 2009 6:06 p.m. EastCoastMojo Dork

I want to know how you manage to keep your attic at a balmy 160*. I swear ours is just a few degrees cooler than the surface of the sun.

Good luck finding the problem somewhere inside the cooler regions of your abode.
July 2, 2009 7:08 p.m. wbjones New Reader

one more thing to consider is the over selling of the service in a particular area.... it then overwhelms the system.... then when customers get fed up and go off line the amount of signal is strong enough and you get surfing again... after enough complaints the provider will increase the capacity of the system and everyone will be happy again... for a while
July 4, 2009 6:16 a.m. Jensenman MegaDork

Last night I pulled the TV stand away from the wall (no small task, that) and took the wall plate off to eyeball the connection. It appears that whoever ran the cable was having a really crappy day. I thought I was a butcher. Anyway, I clipped off the ratty looking so called connector and used one of those threaded RG56 connectors which I then connected directly to my homemade gutted splitter thus taking took the wall plate completely out of the circuit. I think that's got it. (fingers crossed) I do not look forward to running new cable in the nether reaches of the sauna box, er, attic.
July 4, 2009 6:28 a.m. wherethefmi Dork

shouldn't be too bad, some cable, rope or yarn attached to the end of the old cable and pull it through from the comfort of your air conditioning, just make sure the cable is loose and free to move when you pull it.

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