No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out

I have also had these same issues and have received the same error messages but use a SBG6580 which is only about 9 months old. I lose my internet connection on a daily basis and sometimes it does not come back for HOURS. Every time I call customer service, they suggest it is my coax lines that is the issue but my cable comes through on the same line and I have had no problem with the cable. Last week, 66% of the 9 homes (with Cox) on my street were out (again cable worked just fine) but other homes with Cox(higher speeds) internet still worked. During my last call with customer service, I was told that the slower speeds do tend to have more outages than the higher speed connections and suggested that I upgrade my service. Sorry Cox... but I am NOT upgrading my service if I cannot guarantee my internet connection in the first place.

@Josiok

I'd suggest staring off with the simplest troubleshooting first and checking to see if you can duplicate the issue without the router attached.  This will help confirm or eliminate whether we are having a problem with the Internet connection or internal LAN.

@Stickanie

I wouldn't say there's a connection between speed and outage frequency necessarily.  I did take a look from this end and the modem appears healthy as far as I can tell.  I'd suggest trying some testing with wired devices to see if you have the same problems.

Hi Chris-  Thanks for your help.  

So I'm connected straight from my laptop to the modem.   The modem has always had a direct connection to the cable coming into the house (no splitters, attenuators, etc.).  I've reset the modem to factory default settings and let it re-establish the connection.  Here are my results:

Time	Priority	Code	Message
Oct 15 2014 16:15:39	3-Critical	R06.0	Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=00:23:74:f2:d1:64;CMTS-MAC=60:73:5c:72:a5:9d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Oct 15 2014 16:15:39	3-Critical	R03.0	Ranging Request Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=00:23:74:f2:d1:64;CMTS-MAC=60:73:5c:72:a5:9d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Oct 15 2014 16:15:38	3-Critical	R02.0	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=00:23:74:f2:d1:64;CMTS-MAC=60:73:5c:72:a5:9d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Oct 15 2014 15:14:25	6-Notice	I401.0	TLV-11 - unrecognized OID;CM-MAC=00:23:74:f2:d1:64;CMTS-MAC=60:73:5c:72:a5:9d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Oct 15 2014 15:14:25	5-Warning	Z00.0	MIMO Event MIMO: Stored MIMO=-1 post cfg file MIMO=-1;CM-MAC=00:23:74:f2:d1:64;CMTS-MAC=60:73:5c:72:a5:9d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Jan 01 1970 00:00:13	6-Notice	N/A	Cable Modem Reboot from GUI/Configuration page ;CM-MAC=00:23:74:f2:d1:64;CMTS-MAC=00:00:00:00:00:00;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Downstream	Bonding Channel Value
Channel ID	92	89	90	91
Frequency	393000000 Hz	375000000 Hz	381000000 Hz	387000000 Hz
Signal to Noise Ratio	35 dB	34 dB	35 dB	35 dB
Downstream Modulation	QAM256	QAM256	QAM256	QAM256
Power Level 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	4 dBmV	5 dBmV	5 dBmV	4 dBmV

Upstream	Bonding Channel Value
Channel ID	3	1	2	4
Frequency	26000000 Hz	17800000 Hz	21100000 Hz	32500000 Hz
Ranging Service ID	7	7	7	7
Symbol Rate	5.120 Msym/sec	2.560 Msym/sec	2.560 Msym/sec	5.120 Msym/sec
Power Level	39 dBmV	38 dBmV	38 dBmV	41 dBmV
Upstream Modulation	[3] 16QAM [3] 64QAM	[3] QPSK [5] 16QAM	[3] QPSK [2] 16QAM [3] 64QAM	16QAM
Ranging Status	Success	Success	Success	Retries Exceed

Signal Stats (Codewords)	Bonding Channel Value
Channel ID	92	89	90	91
Total Unerrored Codewords	177388858	177388980	177388102	177388984
Total Correctable Codewords	12	0	0	1
Total Uncorrectable Codewords	656	528	1409	527

It looks like I'm still getting errors.  What next?

The status looks mostly good, what where your speed test results when you try connecting directly?

Hello. I am currently having the same exact problem at my home and have reported it to Cox several times. It even prompted me to purchase a very expensive cable modem, Motorola SBG6782-AC. I have this modem hooked up directly to the wall, no splitters, and my laptop is connected directly in via Ethernet. I can run a speed test and get 50 or so MB down which is great however, my connection literally drops constantly and is more prevalent in the evening (when I need internet the most). When I unplug from ethernet and hit the wireless, I am getting 20 to 25 MB down which is absolutely fine but 20 minutes later, I get 1mb down or all my web pages come up with "page cannot be displayed." This happens on both wired and wireless so the problem is signal related for sure. I have had technicians come out and test the signal strength and we are getting decent signal. They even came out and changed the splitter in the attic, the signal booster in our attic, all of the coax from the wall to the cable boxes and wall to our cable modem. Everything was done by COX and was done by an actual COX technician (not a contractor). We are at our wits end with internet and with my oldest having exams all week and it taking hours for him to research stuff with slow, undependable internet, I have no choice but to post here and hope someone from Cox can help. Below is a snip from the logs in my modem and as you can see, I am getting the exact same errors that everyone else is complaining about. I tried to update the firmware but of course, there is NOTHING online with the firmware and it appears that the cable provider handles that (even though I own the device and don't rent). Please let us know what else we can do besides going to AT&T and no, hard wiring the house with CAT5 is not an option. Wed Oct 08 20:47:01 2014 Critical (3) Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=b8:16:19:e8:19:f7;CMTS-MAC=50:57:a8:88:fb:77;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; Wed Oct 08 20:47:01 2014 Critical (3) Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b8:16:19:e8:19:f7;CMTS-MAC=50:57:a8:88:fb:77;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; Wed Oct 08 20:33:33 2014 Critical (3) 16 consecutive T3 timeouts while trying to range on upstream channel 2;CM-MAC=b8:16:19:e8:19:f7;CMTS-MAC=50:57:a8:88:fb:77;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; Wed Oct 08 20:33:33 2014 Critical (3) Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=b8:16:19:e8:19:f7;CMTS-MAC=50:57:a8:88:fb:77;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; Wed Oct 08 20:33:33 2014 Critical (3) Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b8:16:19:e8:19:f7;CMTS-MAC=50:57:a8:88:fb:77;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; Wed Oct 08 20:20:06 2014 Critical (3) 16 consecutive T3 timeouts while trying to range on upstream channel 2;CM-MAC=b8:16:19:e8:19:f7;CMTS-MAC=50:57:a8:88:fb:77;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; Wed Oct 08 20:20:06 2014 Critical (3) Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=b8:16:19:e8:19:f7;CMTS-MAC=50:57:a8:88:fb:77;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; Wed Oct 08 20:20:06 2014 Critical (3) Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b8:16:19:e8:19:f7;CMTS-MAC=50:57:a8:88:fb:77;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; Wed Oct 08 20:06:39 2014 Critical (3) 16 consecutive T3 timeouts while trying to range on upstream channel 2;CM-MAC=b8:16:19:e8:19:f7;CMTS-MAC=50:57:a8:88:fb:77;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; Wed Oct 08 20:06:39 2014 Critical (3) Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=b8:16:19:e8:19:f7;CMTS-MAC=50:57:a8:88:fb:77;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; Wed Oct 08 20:06:39 2014 Critical (3) Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=b8:16:19:e8:19:f7;CMTS-MAC=50:57:a8:88:fb:77;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; Wed Oct 08 19:53:26 2014 Critical (3) 16 consecutive T3 timeouts while trying to range on upstream channel 2;CM-MAC=b8:16:19:e8:19:f7;CMTS-MAC=50:57:a8:88:fb:77;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0; Wed Oct 08 19:53:26 2014 Critical (3) Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=b8:16:19:e8:19:f7;CMTS-MAC=50:57:a8:88:fb:77;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

I reset the modem and ran the speed test and, at present, am seeing download of ~60 mbps and upload of 5.8 mbps.  As this test is a single snapshot, I don't think these results really tell us much.

I have the following error / warning messages upon reboot:

Oct 17 2014 07:57:51	6-Notice	I401.0	TLV-11 - unrecognized OID;CM-MAC=00:23:74:f2:d1:64;CMTS-MAC=60:73:5c:72:a5:9d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Oct 17 2014 07:57:51	5-Warning	Z00.0	MIMO Event MIMO: Stored MIMO=-1 post cfg file MIMO=-1;CM-MAC=00:23:74:f2:d1:64;CMTS-MAC=60:73:5c:72:a5:9d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Jan 01 1970 00:00:25	3-Critical	R02.0	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=00:23:74:f2:d1:64;CMTS-MAC=60:73:5c:72:a5:9d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

Prior to reboot, I still seeing a bunch of critical errors:

Oct 17 2014 02:09:33	3-Critical	R06.0	Unicast Maintenance Ranging attempted - No response - Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=00:23:74:f2:d1:64;CMTS-MAC=60:73:5c:72:a5:9d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Oct 17 2014 02:09:33	3-Critical	R03.0	Ranging Request Retries exhausted;CM-MAC=00:23:74:f2:d1:64;CMTS-MAC=60:73:5c:72:a5:9d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Oct 17 2014 02:09:32	3-Critical	R02.0	No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=00:23:74:f2:d1:64;CMTS-MAC=60:73:5c:72:a5:9d;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;

ChrisL- can you comment on smtips suggestion that these are NOT modem issues but rather noise problems likely originating in Cox equipment?  Your help is greatly appreciated.

@llangley

I looked at your modem and from here it appears to be reporting lots of T3 errors which is a symptom of an upstream or return path problem.  This can be caused by a faulty modem or a signal quality issue between the modem and us.  I'd suggest checking all of the coax cabling in your home for loose connections or other damage as well as removing any extra splitters you may be using.  If that doesn't help it may be necessary to arrange for a technician to come troubleshoot further.

ChrisL said:
@llangley

I looked at your modem and from here it appears to be reporting lots of T3 errors which is a symptom of an upstream or return path problem.  This can be caused by a faulty modem or a signal quality issue between the modem and us.  I'd suggest checking all of the coax cabling in your home for loose connections or other damage as well as removing any extra splitters you may be using.  If that doesn't help it may be necessary to arrange for a technician to come troubleshoot further.

Chris, thank you for the feedback. We have had technicians out here at least a dozen times since I moved into this house in 2007. We have cable issues and have had the DVR's replaced (twice), constant problems with Internet to the point where I got so frustrated and just bought my own $200+ modem. I got tired of Cox telling me the issue with my internet was my separate wifi router so I purchased a combo modem and of course, still have problems. All the coax in this house was run, brand new, when we bought it in 2007 and a cox tech came about a year ago and changed out the splitter in the attic. I have even moved the modem from one room to another (to make sure the issue wasn't with the wall jack) but, in the six months it has been in the other room, the problems still occur. The issue is signal quality but until you guys come here and put some sort of monitoring device in front of my NIU to monitor the signal for two weeks, the issue will never get resolved. Sending a tech out here will not resolve the problem because the issue is random and the odds that the tech will be here at the exact time it happens is slim to none. Even if the problem is egress traffic, I cant fathom that the modem I have is bad since I had to swap out the other modem for the same problem. How about we be proactive and try to monitor the traffic coming into and out of the house. I'd like have a monitor in front of the signal booster and another behind it to see if the booster itself is causing the problem. But, until we actually do real troubleshooting, and establish a baseline, we will just keep putting Band-Aids on the cut rather than stitching it up. I don't expect this issue to be resolved in a hour, day, or even week. I am willing to work with you guys for a few months to properly troubleshoot so we can diagnose the REAL problem. Thank you again for your reply Chris and please don't hesitate to contact me personally to discuss. Please email me at llangley@outlook.com and I can give you my cell number from there. Lee

Hi Chris-

As I explained in my first post, I've already had a tech come out here who was unable to diagnose my problem, though there clearly is a problem.  Can you tell me how I can get the RIGHT person out here to fix it, i.e. how to 'elevate' the issue to get a tech that knows more than the basics?  Thank you for your help.

@Josiok

Did the technician try connecting a test modem to see if that worked any better?

@Josiok

The modem could indeed be a possible cause of this if signal problems have been ruled out.  Perhaps having another technician out and try a test modem would be the next best step towards getting to the bottom of this.