Forum Discussion

Jersnav's avatar
Jersnav
New Contributor II
2 months ago

Tucson: cable modem drops connection a couple times a day

Greetings Everyone, 

I'm in midtown Tucson and my Arris TM3402A has been losing connection a couple or more times a day for the last couple of months.  I've had two techs visit in the last month, on December 5 and January 4. The first visit the tech replaced the modem and replaced a splitter.  The second visit the tech replaced the line running from the outside main box to the cable modem (and I found out this morning that Cox is charging me $75 for the visit).

I am still getting the dropped connection even after yesterday's visit.

I looked at the modem event log and it seems that the drops seem to coincide with a "profile assignment change" and then an "event type code 5"

Also I noticed that Downstream 13 has a large number of "correcteds" and "uncorrectables"

Any thoughts on what might be going on? Since Cox charged me $75 they seem to be pointing the finger at me for the issue. I kind of wonder if there's a problem on Cox's end.

Thanks for any feedback!

  • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
    WiderMouthOpen
    Esteemed Contributor II
    2 months ago

    Can you show your upstream levels? Your signal levels look off. First there is a wide separation between the highest power downstream channel and lowest. Should be no more then 1-3dB. Second, there seems to be some noise on channel 13(873Mhz). How does the coax get from the street to the room the modem is in? You mention a splitter. How many and what kind? Do you have TV service? Any amps or filters?

  • Jersnav's avatar
    Jersnav
    New Contributor II
    2 months ago

    Thank you for the reply!

    Here are the upstream numbers:

    As far as how the coax gets from the street to the modem:

    1) Drop from street arrives at box and then hits what seems to be a filter that was installed by one of the recent techs. Here's a photo of the filter.

    2) The coax goes from the filter to this splitter.

    The white cable out goes to room with modem. The black goes to another room with a TV cable box.

    3) In the room with the modem there is one more splitter. 

    The silver cable goes to a mini cable TV box. The white to the modem.

    So in total it seems like there is one filter and two splitters.  Both splitters were replaced by the first tech that came about a month ago.

    • Allan's avatar
      Allan
      Moderator
      2 months ago

      Hello. I recommend sending us an email with your full name, address, and a brief description of this concern to cox.help@cox.com 

      • Jersnav's avatar
        Jersnav
        New Contributor II
        2 months ago

        Thank you for this recommendation. Someone got back to me quickly after I wrote to that address.  They are sending another tech to take a look tomorrow.

    • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
      WiderMouthOpen
      Esteemed Contributor II
      2 months ago

      The filter is a MoCA filter. Technician probably put it on in hopes it would stop ingress they suspected. Should have scanned for ingress though and put in a ticket to get it fixed. SO probably no helping but not hurting either.

      If possible, I would suggest bypassing all the splitters and filters and seeing what your upstream is. It seems to be really low if it's in the 30's even with 2 splitters. Should be in the 40's.

      Also, do you have a section in the signal levels for upstream OFDMA channel?

      Either way, I suggest working with the moderators to look at the signal levels around you and probably get another tech out there.

  • Jersnav's avatar
    Jersnav
    New Contributor II
    2 months ago

     

    Thanks for the helpful input!

    I'll email the cox support address as suggested and consider getting another tech. 

    Here are the upstream levels I can find:

     

  • Jersnav's avatar
    Jersnav
    New Contributor II
    2 months ago

    Also I'll work on seeing if I can bypass the splitters temporarily. Thanks again!

  • Jersnav's avatar
    Jersnav
    New Contributor II
    2 months ago

    Update: A team of Cox techs came today.  They confirmed a problem down the line somewhere, external to my home. Another team will be coming to assess and repair it at some point in the next several days I understand.  Meanwhile, the noise on Downstream 13 seems to be getting worse.  The SNR is now below 30 and # or uncorrectables is greater than the number of correcteds. SNR was above 30 in original post and correcteds out-numbered uncorrecteds.  Thanks for all the input!

     

    • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
      WiderMouthOpen
      Esteemed Contributor II
      2 months ago

      I hope you got the ticket number for follow up. If it was a contractor, they have a habit of saying they escalated the issue when they really don't.

  • Jersnav's avatar
    Jersnav
    New Contributor II
    2 months ago

    Update.  A Cox worker driving a Cox truck with a cherry picker attached came this morning. I didn't get a notification about the visit beforehand that I can find.  Anyhow the truck doesn't fit in the utility easement so the worker had to lug a huge ladder down the driveway into the easement.

    He replaced what I think is called the "tap" on the pole. He showed the rectangular box to me that he took off the pole. The contacts were quite corroded.

    Anyhow, after the tap was replaced now different downstream channels seem to have problems. Here's my current readout. The issue on Downstream 13 seems to have cleared up but now there are new issues on Downstream 4, 5, and 24.  My download seems limited to 30mbps now (before it was over 100mbps).

    So far I haven't lost my internet that I can tell, although I haven't used it much. It does seem pokier. 

    All the Cox workers have been great. I could be wrong, but I am still feeling like there is another issue down the line that still hasn't been found.