Why is my cable modem going "out of sync" with my provider?

One time my whole connection went out and lasted a week. I had DSL. So we called the company and someone came to check it out, and the dude said he was going to change the box. And we got a new one, this time it was from AT&T.
He said the Internet wasn’t working because the box gets old and needs to be replaced every few years.

Data is shared with the television data, it has to “sync” to not interfere. Often when there is a particularly popular program on and all the local users who are sharing you connection tune to it it can slow your internet right down. That is the main problem with cable – it cannot always supply full bandwidth.

Have you updated the firmware on the router?

@pdworkin i have, but i don’t think the router is the issue. Even when the internet goes down, the router continues to work; i can still access the other machines on the network, no problem. It’s an Apple Time Machine 500GB, btw. Would the router be causing the “out of sync” for some reason?

Go into the menu and look at the modem’s logs. It should give you an idea of what is happening. You can also change the channel while in there – try a few other channels.

Oh, I’m sorry, most home installations are not as sophisticated as yours. Generally the Cable “modem” acts as the router. You are correct. it is the Cable “modem” that likely has the issue, and if there is no new firmware for it, you may be able to talk a sympathetic tech support person into issuing you a replacement (although I hear that ComCast has shitty customer service.)

@pdworkin well, for one, yeah, comcast is not an all-star when it comes to customer support. secondly, it’s my own modem; i purchased it at best buy. they’ve hiked the rental on their modems to the point ($5–6/month), that you’re equal at the end of the year to buy one right out. so i either have to get a replacement or figure out how to fix it. how would one go about checking/updating the firmware on their modem? (i’m more software than hardware – pardon my asking)

@DarkScribe how can i view the modem logs?

Go to the site, and then usually firmware upgrades are found in “Support” or “Downloads”. Generally you just punch in the model number and they’ll give you access to installation software, drivers, .pdf versions of manuals, and the latest firmware update.

@pdworkin ahh, gotcha. like a router. will i have to direct connect via USB to upload any patches?

@eponymoushipster how can i view the modem logs?

Open a browser and type 192.168.100.1 and it will take you to the modem setup. I think from memory that the user has to be admin, and the password motorola.

@DarkScribe ok. i’ve done similar to get into the router before. thank you.

it may already have a local ip address which would obviate the necessity for a usb connection.

@eponymoushipster

One point – that is for the Surfboard with WiFi – not sure about the straight modem – but it will be similar.

@DarkScribe no, it worked. thanks.

I’ve accessed the logs. it looks like the modem keeps rebooting itself. also, it looks like the timestamp is resetting to 1970 and then correcting from the feed, perhaps?

should i post a snippet?

The surfboards will download and install updates by themselves if set to do so.
The timestamp is always 1970 unless the carrier has a time server.

@DarkScribe Ok.

here’s a snippet of the log. Where it says “Broadcast Maintenance Request” I’m assuming that’s when I was on the phone with Comcast, trying to figure this out.

Any hints?

1970–01-01 00:00:04 6-Notice M571.1 Ethernet link up – ready to pass packets
2009–09-28 18:46:13 6-Notice M573.0 Modem Is Shutting Down and Rebooting…
2009–09-28 18:46:13 3-Critical R004.0 Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance o
2009–09-28 18:45:40 3-Critical R005.0 Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging – No Response received – T3 time-out
1970–01-01 00:00:08 3-Critical R002.0 No Ranging Response received – T3 time-out (US 11)
1970–01-01 00:00:04 6-Notice M571.1 Ethernet link up – ready to pass packets
1970–01-01 00:00:02 6-Notice M571.4 Ethernet link dormant – not currently active
2009–09-28 18:34:53 6-Notice M573.0 Modem Is Shutting Down and Rebooting…
2009–09-28 18:34:53 3-Critical R004.0 Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance o
2009–09-28 18:34:21 3-Critical R005.0 Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging – No Response received – T3 time-out
1970–01-01 00:01:56 3-Critical R002.0 No Ranging Response received – T3 time-out (US 11)
1970–01-01 00:00:04 6-Notice M571.1 Ethernet link up – ready to pass packets
1970–01-01 00:00:02 6-Notice M571.4 Ethernet link dormant – not currently active
2009–09-28 17:51:36 6-Notice M573.0 Modem Is Shutting Down and Rebooting…—

I would disconnect power for at least half an hour, then power back up and see how it goes. The half hour ensures a new connection (IP address) and not the original and it will go through its auto processes for the best combination of channel and power.

@DarkScribe Ok. sounds good. i’ve tried doing the whole power down/reboot thing, but only within the range of, like, 5 minutes.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys!

good luck, keep us posted.

Not knowing how your ISP has set things up, the half hour might not be sufficient – it works for most here. If you can, power down over night and you can be sure of a totally fresh start-up/install. They hold the original setting for a while to cope with blackouts etc., and you need to get past that.

@pdworkin will do.

@DarkScribe that should be possible. ill just wait til bed.

thanks gents.

@eponymoushipster Also, Comcast has a twitter on which I’ve heard they’re really responsive.

@andrew oh, cool. thanks!