Cable Modem Errors

[Mr-Protocol]

So lately I've been getting a lot of these errors in my cable modem logs. If anyone out there who make work in the field of such, I would like an explanation of why my modem does this 2-3 times ever hour-ish. During that time, my internet goes completely unresponsive and all connections are dropped. I am having a technician come out on Saturday and I plan on showing the logs and getting an answer. But let's see what the community has to say about them. (For those wondering, it's Time Warner Cable)

Time                    Priority	Code	Description
2013-07-24 19:08:09	5-Warning	B502.6	TEK Invalid - Invalid Key Sequence Number
2013-07-24 18:56:57	5-Warning	D003.0	DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response ;CM-MAC=***REMOVED***;
2013-07-24 18:56:49	3-Critical	R002.0	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2013-07-24 18:56:39	3-Critical	R004.0	Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance o
2013-07-24 18:55:26	3-Critical	R002.0	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2013-07-24 18:55:16	3-Critical	R004.0	Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance o
2013-07-24 18:54:07	3-Critical	R002.0	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2013-07-24 18:53:48	3-Critical	R004.0	Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance o
2013-07-24 18:52:37	3-Critical	R002.0	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
2013-07-24 18:52:28	3-Critical	R004.0	Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance o
2013-07-24 18:47:19	6-Notice	M572.0	T4 No Station Maint Timeout - Reinitialize MAC...
2013-07-24 18:47:19	3-Critical	R004.0	Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance o

[no42]

Sometimes the cable modems need a reboot now and then, it could be the clock is slightly out of sync. Which a reboot will fix.

It that doesnt solve it? is there a diagnostic panel with the signal to noise ratio and locked channels?

Could be a small amount of noise of distortion on the line; a simple 5 dB booster screwed onto the cable can solve this, or it involves recalibration the SNR at the street-box or server.

[digip]

If your ISP is Comcast, we've been having similar issues. We have a 55mbit account, and at times, speeds cap out at 1mbit down. I usually change the mac address on my router, then power cycle the modem to get a new DHCP lease and that also usually sends a new config and re-provisions the modem, which can either make things worse, or clear up some of the issues. Either way, a reboot usually helps, but if not changing your MAC on the route(if not capable), leave the modem off for like 15 minutes and your lease will usually time out and then you can power it back on and get a new external IP. This seems to be happening a lot in the past few weeks, but I think its more my area and weather related due to the rain, heat and power outages, although cable will work if you have a generator or battery backup, you can still stay on line if the modem, router and PC maintain power during power outages, which I thought was cool since we could still be online when the power was out..lol.

[Mr-Protocol]

Sometimes the cable modems need a reboot now and then, it could be the clock is slightly out of sync. Which a reboot will fix.

It that doesnt solve it? is there a diagnostic panel with the signal to noise ratio and locked channels?

Could be a small amount of noise of distortion on the line; a simple 5 dB booster screwed onto the cable can solve this, or it involves recalibration the SNR at the street-box or server.

Reboot doesn't solve the issue. The booster wont help since they have had to pad the signal down coming to my house.

The following does not reflect with the log erros posted above:

Downstream	Value
Frequency	615000000 Hz
Signal To Noise Ratio	35.3 dB
Power Level	-4.1 dBmV
The Downstream Power Level reading is a snapshot taken at the time this page was requested. Please Reload/Refresh this Page for a new reading

Upstream	Value
Channel ID	6
Frequency	32000000 Hz
Power	42.4 dBmV

If your ISP is Comcast, we've been having similar issues. We have a 55mbit account, and at times, speeds cap out at 1mbit down. I usually change the mac address on my router, then power cycle the modem to get a new DHCP lease and that also usually sends a new config and re-provisions the modem, which can either make things worse, or clear up some of the issues. Either way, a reboot usually helps, but if not changing your MAC on the route(if not capable), leave the modem off for like 15 minutes and your lease will usually time out and then you can power it back on and get a new external IP. This seems to be happening a lot in the past few weeks, but I think its more my area and weather related due to the rain, heat and power outages, although cable will work if you have a generator or battery backup, you can still stay on line if the modem, router and PC maintain power during power outages, which I thought was cool since we could still be online when the power was out..lol.

Was formally Comcast a good amount of years ago, Time Warner currently. I have done MAC cloning to get a new IP but the reboots dont help the situation. It takes 3 days for the lease to run out on the modem without MAC Clone + Reboot. The weather may have had a hand in it, but this has been an ongoing issue for multiple years. I guess they were working on the lines all day today while I was at work. We shall see what tomorrow brings.

[digip]

Your power level, seems really low. Like as if you have interference or impedence from the street to the house, which we had here due to lightning hitting the pole outside our apartment and verizon, comcast, and everyone else who had used the pole basically had to come out and run new lines due to the damage, but I would say, check your connections outside, see how good the cable itself is. You may be able to change the splitter mounted outside and even one of the coax cables coming into the house to see if that helps, but you seem like you need a boost in signal, and if you're already using one, that could make things worse if its not rated for the hrz of the cable you're using. I know good RJ6 works a lot better since its plenum rated for fire and also more insulated from EMI, but if you have like thin, 20 year old cable from the road to your house, call the ISP to run a new line and that should help.

Here is a screen shot of my signal, nice and strong(on most days) and I get 55mbit down and anywhere from 10-25mbit up depending if I am on the VPN or off the VPN.

I'd say its not your modem, as your upstream looks really strong, so I'd say its your cable coming to the home from the pole or oursite where it meets the house to the modem that is the main culprit. Something that might help though, not sure if you are using ISP modem or your own, but buying a Docsis 3.0 modem, if Time Warner does channel bonding, will def increase speeds, even if downstream signal is weaker, 4 bonded weaker channels will be faster than one single downstream channel. Ask them for an upgraded modem if using their equipment and if you use a UPS, make sure its always on the UPS batter backup with the PC and Router so its power levels are always the same. If like our electric company in the summer, lowers your area or you get lots of power losses and brown outs, you could end up damaging the modem over time too, but if its theirs, no biggy, but if yours, protect it.

Edited July 27, 2013 by digip