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Jsc123's avatar
Jsc123
New Contributor

Lose internet at the exact same time every night

Hello,

We have been in our house for about 7 months and had no issues until about a month ago.  Every night at exactly 9:03 we lose Internet/experience extreme slowness for about 1 hour.   Websites load extremely slowly or not at all off and on during this hour period. There will also be periods, a few minutes at a time where it works perfectly.  Speed tests, when we are able to connect during this period, show up fine.  The lights on the modem and router show no indication of a problem.  It almost behaves as if cox was throttling my bandwidth or something huge was downloading clogging my connection, as far as I know nether is the case.  We have called cox multiple times, have had a tech out and had our own audio video person out to no avail.  We have replaced both our router and modem.  Our router is an AirPort Extreme so I am not sure how to show any logs.  The level 2 tech support suggested it could be interference from neighbors so we tried changing router Chanel's and that did not help.  Cox has said everything that they can see shows no problems.  I am out of ideas other than changing ISPs.  What could be causing service issues at the exact same time every night?  I am not an router/modem expert and I have a pretty complicated set up involving a control 4 set up by professionals.  The control 4 people have told us there is no issue with any of that equipment nor would it cause this type of problem even if there was.  I just don't even know where I can turn for help at this point.  The professionals we have talked to cannot even hypothesize what the problem is any more.

19 Replies

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  • Tecknowhelp's avatar
    Tecknowhelp
    Valued Contributor II

    When the speed slows down, is it still slow if you connect direct to the modem?

    Also, what modem and router do you have?

    Last, is it 9:03PM by the second? If so, sounds like something on your network set with a automatic backup or update at that time. And what results do you get from a speedtest?  

  • Jsc123's avatar
    Jsc123
    New Contributor

    We have an apple AirPort Extreme and a Motorola/Arris sb6190.  Yes, it's pretty much the exact same time every night, to the second.  It is slow with a direct connect As well.  My uneducated guess was also that it seemed like some kind of back up at that time.  But, we haven't added any devices recently and we really only use iPhones/IPads so I don't believe there is a backup every night at that time.  The control4 people said none of that equipment would be backing up every night like that either.  Speed tests, when they run are fine - the same as any other time of the day.  It's really odd behavior where one minute it's perfect and the next minute it won't load any webpages.  Is there some way I can see what my internet usage is during that time to see if there is a spike caused by a backup I don't know about.  However, given its still slow when I disconnect the router and directly connect it my work laptop it is still slow I don't think that is the problem (no other device could be closing the network without the router).

  • Tecknowhelp's avatar
    Tecknowhelp
    Valued Contributor II

    Jsc123 said:
    it's perfect and the next minute it won't load any webpages.

    When the issue happens, can you still ping the pages? Here are instructions if you use a Mac, and here are them if you have a PC. Do you get any error message?

    Also, what are the results of the speedtests? Can you include some of them?

    Last, when did this problem start? Anything match up with the time it started happening? For instance, did it start around the time you got the home automation? A storm? New modem?

  • Jsc123's avatar
    Jsc123
    New Contributor

    Speedtest will show between 8-12 ping, 50-60 download, and 5-8 upload (consistent with readings throughout the day).  We have had no equipment changes (other than buying a new modem and router in the past few days to see if that would help).  The home automation was installed when we first moved in and hasn't changed.  I live in Arizona so we don't get bad storms or anything like that.  One thought I had is that I know cox is converting a lot of stuff to gigablast in Arizona, so I don't know if there could be some upgrading or work going on that could be impacting it(I would think cox would tell us if that was the case).  I haven't seen any cox people around in the neighborhood either.

  • Tecknowhelp's avatar
    Tecknowhelp
    Valued Contributor II

    Jsc123 said:
    , so I don't know if there could be some upgrading or work going on that could be impacting it

    Maybe? But I somehow doubt that. Even the BEST technician will be hard pressed to begin a upgrade at EXACTLY the same time. Anything that exact isn't likly to be nature or human. It would have to be something mechanical.

    I think the first thing to work out is what the actual problem is. If speed tests and the latancy is good, then why can't you bring up websites? Maybe the DNS? Next time it happens, try entering in the IP for a website? IE 74.125.226.168 for google.com but take your pick. Also, see if other things work, like email or VOIP client (Skype). 

    Last, were those speedtest taken during the problem? If so, did you have issue getting to the speedtest site itself?  

  • Jsc123's avatar
    Jsc123
    New Contributor

    The speed tests were taken during that hour period.  It will work perfectly fine for maybe 1-5 minutes then not load at all.  I can't take a speed test during the intervals it's not working as the page won't load.  

    The other thought I had was could it have something to do with lease renewal.  Truthfully, I don't even know what that it, but  it's set to once a day by default, so maybe it's doing it at that time every day.  We have not changed any settings or anything like that so I don't know why suddenly the defaults wouldn't work.

  • Tecknowhelp's avatar
    Tecknowhelp
    Valued Contributor II

    Jsc123 said:
    The speed tests were taken during that hour period.  It will work perfectly fine for 1-5 minutes then not load at all.

    Could you explain? Does it start at 9:03p and not work for 5min, then start working for 5min and then stop for the rest of the hour? Or is it just random, but never starting BEFORE 9:03p? 

    Jsc123 said:
    he other thought I had was could it have something to do with lease renewal.

    A IP issue wouldn't cause a intermittent issue I don't think. It would just break and not work until you did something like reboot your modem or router. You can check the logs though, should be available here or somewhere at 192.168.100.1. Look for any logs from a bit before and after 9:03p. It will be military time, so 21:03. If you post any logs, be sure to remove the CM-MAC. 

  • Jsc123's avatar
    Jsc123
    New Contributor

    It's just random, but never starts before 9:03 and last about an hour (for as long as I've been tracking the issue, it never works at 903,and then is randomly unreliable for that time frame).  I checked the logs and there isn't anything for that time frame or even for the past several days.

  • We can check your area to see if there is anything that would be affecting services. To do so, we will need your home address. Please do not post any personal information here in this public forum. Email us at cox.help@cox.com  and include this link: http://bit.ly/1QDcwjr  along with your complete home address.

  • surfnet's avatar
    surfnet
    New Contributor

    Think god I am not the only one. I am here for the same issue exactly. At 9PM the internet starts cutting out and get DNS errors. Sometimes pages load and sometimes it times out. Sometimes  you will get where it works for 1-3 min then back to DNS timeout errors I am also in AZ in Queen creek area. Started 1 month ago. Using surfboard 6141 and latest Apple airport extreme