Question Modem has intermittent issues ?

[emitfudd]

I have been using a Netgear CM1000 since about 2019. I have Spectrum internet. It has worked fine with no outages since I moved to my new home in February. Yesterday I got up and had a text from Spectrum saying there was an outage and it would be fixed by 11am. It was sporadic all day and around 2pm I called Spectrum and told them it wasn't fixed. They are sending a tech on Friday.

I have rebooted my modem and router 20 times today. Right now I have internet. It usually goes out within anywhere from 1 min to 10 min. I watch the lights on the modem and sometimes the internet light flashes (it should be solid), other times all the lights are out except for one orange light with the others being completely off. Spectrum says there are no outages in my area right now. I think this is very fishy. Is it a coincidence and is my modem finally dying after all these years of use or are they just playing stupid and leaving it up to a tech to blame my equipment since I don't use theirs.

Also it usually requires a reboot to get it working again but for the last couple of hours it seems to be going out and then the lights go through a sequence as if it was rebooting and then it works again for a short time. When I say reboot I have done everything from disconnecting power from the back of the modem to just using the power button on the back. Doesn't seem to make any difference. Tech support at Spectrum keeps telling me they are seeing time outs on their end.

 

[punkncat]

I can feel your frustration...(probably should edit out the cuss word).

We had an intermittent issue with our ISP a while back where I was also randomly losing signal and it turned out to be the modem itself. Generally speaking, where it comes to repairs to the network, I see texts indicating when things are completed.

 

[emitfudd]

I can feel your frustration...(probably should edit out the cuss word).

We had an intermittent issue with our ISP a while back where I was also randomly losing signal and it turned out to be the modem itself. Generally speaking, where it comes to repairs to the network, I see texts indicating when things are completed.

A buddy of mine who did PC stuff for the military suggested updating the firmware. It appears you cannot update the firmware on this modem. I have done a reset. Not holding out too much hope that will fix it. I may just buy a new modem. The CM1000 is rated a gig speed but nowadays there are fiber companies offering 2 gig or even higher. It almost feels like the modem is going through a self diagnosis routine.

 

[Bob.B]

I have been using a Netgear CM1000 since about 2019. I have Spectrum internet. It has worked fine with no outages since I moved to my new home in February. Yesterday I got up and had a text from Spectrum saying there was an outage and it would be fixed by 11am. It was sporadic all day and around 2pm I called Spectrum and told them it wasn't fixed. They are sending a tech on Friday. I have rebooted my modem and router 20 times today. Right now I have internet. It usually goes out within anywhere from 1 min to 10 min. I watch the lights on the modem and sometimes the internet light flashes (it should be solid), other times all the lights are out except for one orange light with the others being completely off. Spectrum says there are no outages in my area right now. I think this is very fishy. Is it a coincidence and is my modem finally dying after all these years of use or are they just playing stupid and leaving it up to a tech to blame my equipment since I don't use theirs.

Also it usually requires a reboot to get it working again but for the last couple of hours it seems to be going out and then the lights go through a sequence as if it was rebooting and then it works again for a short time. When I say reboot I have done everything from disconnecting power from the back of the modem to just using the power button on the back. Doesn't seem to make any difference. Tech support at Spectrum keeps telling me they are seeing time outs on their end.

Check your internet plan it might include a modem.

If it does have spectrum send you one your paying for it.

 

[emitfudd]

Check your internet plan it might include a modem.

If it does have spectrum send you one your paying for it.

The modem is mine.

 

[emitfudd]

Knock on wood. After pressing the rest button on my modem it is working so far. It went through a second cycle of rebooting but since then my internet has been good.

 

[Misgar]

The modem is mine.

At nearly $200 on Amazon.com that's not cheap. Is there any reason why you don't use the modem/router that might be an option with Spectrum? It can make life "easier" when your ISP owns all the gear. They can't blame anyone else. If anything dies, they replace it free of charge.

I've been using the broadband routers supplied by my various ISPs for years, the most recent being a fibre-to-the-premises installation. I disable the WiFi and firewall in the ISP's router and connect my own WiFi AP on the other side of a separate hardware firewall.

It almost feels like the modem is going through a self diagnosis routine.

If there's something wrong with the ISP's cable up to your modem, that might explain the problem. When I had cable or phone line broadband, water in the inspection pits caused intermittent faults when it rained heavily.

 

[bill001g]

I would see if you can get into the modem. A very common IP is 192.168.100.1

Most modems have a log so you can see if you are getting errors of some kind. Most modems also have a way to display the signal levels. You can look up what these values should be.

This is mostly so you can help the ISP do their job, they in theory at least should be able see this information remotely. Even though you own the modem the ISP is the only one that can upgrade any firmware.

Mostly the reason you owned a modem was to save some money and avoid a monthly rental fee. Now days they seem to bury the costs of the modem the in monthly plan and pretend it is free.

 

[punkncat]

We got the "new" Modem with better WiFi capability a while back. I previously had one of their older modems where you really could surf to IT. The new modem acts like you are surfing to it, but actually is an online script for your settings stored "there", not local. (I should also point out that many of the settings are in an app you have to download to your cell phone now) I preferred the older one. They had been hassling me for the better part of a year about a "free upgrade" but having spoken to some friends with the same ISP had already told me about this change. The ISP actually disabled my modem in the end, forcing me to go up and swap it out for the new one which was "free" (ish) and as a part of my plan can be updated "free" every few years.

I say "free" in that with my ISP you aren't getting a thing for free. (Comcast/Xfinity) but I will deal with this devil before ever considering going back to AT&T. Those are the only two meaningful offerings in my area. AT&T is technically faster, in particular on upload but I just cannot do it.

 

[bill001g]

I say "free" in that with my ISP you aren't getting a thing for free. (Comcast/Xfinity) but I will deal with this devil before ever considering going back to AT&T. Those are the only two meaningful offerings in my area. AT&T is technically faster, in particular on upload but I just cannot do it.

I have both spectrum and ATT, for a requirement that no longer is needed.
ATT is cheaper for more bandwidth for me. ATT fiber almost never goes down. Spectrum seem to have system issue all the time. Have had a number of long power outage recently. Spectrum seems to only have battery power for about 30 minutes. ATT outlasted my UPS which ran 10 hours just powering the router.

 

[punkncat]

I was nearly tempted to go with AT&T fiber as our cable provider was being long in bringing it to our street. I called AT&T and asked them if they could send over an installer, NOT a salesman, to discuss the install location. I am fully aware they prefer the absolute no effort route and were going to come drill through my garage wall and mount it out there with very little by way of options to bring my home network to it.

I have a piece of pipe that comes from the "service" side of the house down into the basement where most of my wiring infrastructure is. The other option would be to go around the driveway and come directly into the crawlspace off the back corner. They get talking about run lengths and extra charges and so on right off the rip. The only way they were going to send an installer was AFTER I had signed up for service of which I told them no, tried about five different ways to discuss with them that the installers preferred lazy option was not going to work for me...

I knew good and darned well not to sign up for them and THEN try to hash that mess out.

 

[kanewolf]

Knock on wood. After pressing the rest button on my modem it is working so far. It went through a second cycle of rebooting but since then my internet has been good.

A cable modem has the problem of poor cabling just like any other device. I would start by looking at EVERY cable crimp. Verify that the center conductor sticks out 1 cm or so beyond the threaded part of the coax fitting. Be sure there are no stay shield "hairs" to short something. Be sure the crimp is actually tight. A loose ground is just as bad as poor center conductor.
Most cable modems have status pages which show signal strength and signal to noise values. If possible, temporarily lay a brand new coax across the floor and outside to the cable POP. Connect the modem directly to cable company splitter. Recheck the signal and noise values. You could have a bad splitter or bad in-wall cabling.

 

[bill001g]

I was nearly tempted to go with AT&T fiber as our cable provider was being long in bringing it to our street. I called AT&T and asked them if they could send over an installer, NOT a salesman, to discuss the install location. I am fully aware they prefer the absolute no effort route and were going to come drill through my garage wall and mount it out there with very little by way of options to bring my home network to it.

I have a piece of pipe that comes from the "service" side of the house down into the basement where most of my wiring infrastructure is. The other option would be to go around the driveway and come directly into the crawlspace off the back corner. They get talking about run lengths and extra charges and so on right off the rip. The only way they were going to send an installer was AFTER I had signed up for service of which I told them no, tried about five different ways to discuss with them that the installers preferred lazy option was not going to work for me...

I knew good and darned well not to sign up for them and THEN try to hash that mess out.

I must have had a good installer. I was going to have them put their box in the garage. They said no because of the heat. I explained that this was temporary and I was going to extend the fiber to the location I wanted which was on a interior wall. When I told the guy I already had conduit with a pull string that went 2 stories up into the attic and back down where I wanted he agreed to actually run the fiber where I wanted using my conduit.