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tractor's avatar
tractor
New Contributor

Power levels too low on SB6183

Looking at some of the previously answered questions here, it looks like the upstream bonded channel power levels on my SB6183 modem are way too low and could be the cause of my connectivity issues.

My power levels are showing about 37 dbmv, which is way below the recommended for this modem.  The upstream channel power level for this modem should be at least 45 dbmv.  see http://forums.cox.com/forum_home/internet_forum/f/5/t/13163.aspx for reference.

A technician is scheduled for tomorrow to address my connection issues.  Should I simply ask the technician to install an attentuator when he arrives, or should I call into the phone support?

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  • ChrisL's avatar
    ChrisL
    Former Moderator
    @tractor

    Taking a look at the modem from this end I'm not that concerned about the transit power levels. While they may look a little low they're transmitting to us just fine. When I look at the Ethernet connection however I suspect you're trying to figure out a performance issue. On that topic the Netgear is only establishing a 100Mbps link to the modem. If the router does indeed have gigabit Ethernet ports the 6183 does require a CAT6 Ethernet cable to establish a gigabit link.

  • grymwulf's avatar
    grymwulf
    Contributor II

    I've got TX levels in the 31 to 33 range, but no serious upload issues at all - most consumer modems even at that signal level produce speeds fast enough to reach the QoS cap even at the low-power QAM speeds.  Just because the power levels show slightly off doesn't mean that it is affecting your speeds.  Granted, I keep meaning to ask for an attenuator every time I see a Cox truck in the neighborhood...

    Oh and btw here's the normal power level distribution - 35 is supposed to be the lower bound (non-docsis 3.0) or 40 (docsis 3.0), not 45: http://www.dslreports.com/faq/3692