Motorola sbg6580 and wireless issues

[bravodown]

this is wireless connectivity issue.
i purchased a motorola sbg6580 last year. i didn't want to rent a modem for 7 dollars a month from charter communications. i thought going with a modem with built in wireless would be the way to go and would eventually pay itself off. the wireless worked fine without any issues for the first few months. after that the wireless connection would have intermittent drops. the drops are random and usually happen every few min but sometimes will last an hour or two without dropping again. i spent hours reading forums, calling both charter and motorola customer support (each equally worthless in resolving the issue and both tried to pass the buck to the other...). i eventually just caved in and moved my computer to the downstairs living room where the modem is set up. the hard wire connection has and currently does work great. if you do a search of sbg6580 and intermittent drops you will see many users of this same product with the same problems. interestingly enough, both motorola and charter denied that there was such a problem with this product despite my telling them to do a simple search of the issue and they would find almost everyone with this same problem. there is a lot of talk about firmware updates being a cause of the issue and these firmware updates are controlled by the isp. the only thing i could think of that would have stopped my wireless from working properly (like it had for 2-3 months) is a firmware update. my firmware is up to date. i am not sure this is the reason, simply speculation.
fast forward to today...
my gf thinks that my computer table 'takes up too much space' and wants me to move the computer back upstairs. the only 'solution' to the sbg6580 wireless issue that i know of is to bridge to a different wireless router. she said she is willing to buy the router (i refuse to since i paid like 150 or more for the gateway with modem and supposed wireless in one).

i have two questions:
1) is anyone familiar with this issue and/or had success in making the wireless aspect of the sbg6580 working without intermittent drops from the wireless connection?

2) does anyone have a suggestion for a good and not overly expensive wireless n router that i can bridge to the sbg6580?

 

[box2384]

I just finished live chat with Motorola support. They had me go to the Wireless - 802.11 Radio page and click on the "Restore Wireless Defaults"
This put the wireless back with the original factory settings. Then I had to use a wireless device (my Android) and look for the MOTOROLA-A1D79 WiFi.

They said that the SSID had stopped broadcasting and therefore the WiFi had to be reset.

You will need to go back and change the name of your Primary and Guest WiFi along with encryption and password.

I had success and hopefully you will too!

FYI: These units do not have 2 yr warranty (newegg has shown this on their website); but live chat was free for me today!

 

[rimmidi]

Try disabling IPv6 by doing the following.

Start > Control Panel > Network and Internet > View Network status and tasks > Click on your Wireless Connection > Properties > Uncheck Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6).

Make sure your Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) is checked.

It worked for me and hope it works for you.

 

[impatient]

Access the router at http://192.168.0.1/ and click on the Wireless Tab, and click on WMM on the left side of the control panel. Disable WMM and Apply. That's it. WMM is a power management routine on this modem that can cause the kind of intermittent signal loss and lower range.

Thank you. I signed up just to say that. I have been having the same intermittent problem and it was getting worse. You solution worked great and was easy to do. Thanks again.

 

[hdanh00]

Access the router at http://192.168.0.1/ and click on the Wireless Tab, and click on WMM on the left side of the control panel. Disable WMM and Apply. That's it. WMM is a power management routine on this modem that can cause the kind of intermittent signal loss and lower range.

Just registered to say this too. I'll try this out. Been having the same issue as a lot of people here. Hope it works! THANKS!

 

[luc1955]

Access the router at http://192.168.0.1/ and click on the Wireless Tab, and click on WMM on the left side of the control panel. Disable WMM and Apply. That's it. WMM is a power management routine on this modem that can cause the kind of intermittent signal loss and lower range

NEED HELP: When I click on the Wireless tab I have 7 different menu to choose and none show WMM directly. The only way to find WMM is under QUALITY OF SERVICE and then I can see WMM support...Is it the same one?

lucclaisse@hotmail.com

 

[mustang69hm]

By getting a wireless N router asnd bridging it in place of the old wrt54g maybe you would get a constant higher transfer speed ? I had previously said that I would not be doing that myself as I would want the device that is not functioning properly to be removed from my network but if your saying that the bridging with the slow router is working then it may work with a newer N router also.

I don't think you quite understand what the OP is saying, he shut the wireless off on the Modem SBG6580 and then plugged the router physically into it and then turned the wifi on that router on. I'm having the exact same problem and so are alot of my friends that have time warner cable and this modem. The wifi on it just basically drops packets randomly so the only fix so far is to "bridge" read connect, he's not doing a true wireless bridge here or you would still see the same issues, to an external wireless router.

If anyone does find a newer f/w update let me know since i can update mine as I purchased it seperate of TWC's rental program. Thanks

 

[nevereven]

Have same modem and issues. I just called my cable company and the tech was really helpful.

Go into your modem settings (192.168.0.1). Default login is admin/motorola.

Go to Wireless at the top and towards the bottom should be something called Control Channel. By default it's set to Auto and next to that it will show you the Current Channel.

The Tech told me you should always set it to either 1, 6, or 11. If it's currently on one of those, change it to the other two. I don't want to get too detailed about it but he says all the other people in your area are bogging down the wireless but the modem has a function to automatically select the best channel to use. However, it doesn't always work well so choosing one of those 3 channels should solve the issue.

Article that explains it a bit more (however it does contradict the tech by telling you NOT use channels 1, 6, or 11): http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/21132/change-your-wi-fi-router-channel-to-optimize-your-wireless-signal/

Good luck!

 

[ewlynch3]

update: when my computer was downstairs and only about 5-10 feet from the sbg6580, i was getting higher speeds at about 20mbps and consistent speed test results. after moving my computer upstairs i was getting inconsistent and slower speed test results. it would be anywhere from 3mbps to 15mbps. i was getting 4-5 bars for signal strength but perhaps the sbg6580 wireless suffers more from interference with other wireless networks at this range? i really dont know.

on the sbg6580 i disabled wireless, enabled bridging and plugged in my old wrt54g. the g doesnt give me the speed i want or should be getting, but at least im consistent at around 10mbps. the inconsistent performance of the sbg6580 wireless is completely unacceptable imo, especially in games.

My problem was similar in that I would get very good www.speedtest.net results, 16Mbps download. Then gradually and now consistently I get only 2Mbps download.
I think you're on the right track in suspecting interference with other wireless networks. What I did was to change the Channel Control from the Auto (default) of channel 11 to 4 in my area. To do this you need to use your internet browser to access the SBG6580 cable modem. The URL is 192.168.0.1. Just type this in and hit enter/return key. I think the default username is admin (or just leave this blank) and the default password is motorola. The first page you see is the Status page. Click on the Wireless tab at the top. You should now be at the Wireless Basic page. Near the bottom is Control Channel. Note the Current: value. Click on Scan Wireless APs. Look at the Strength and Channel columns. If the channel your modem is set for has yellow asterisks for the strength, you should change the Control Channel to one that doesn't show up in this scan or one that has green asterisks. Don't forget to click on Apply.
Now run speedtest.net and see if you get a much better result.

Thanks. I changed the Control Channel on my Wireless Configuration and it took care of my problem 100%. I went from getting .5 Mbps to getting 35 Mbps (which is the same that I get when plugged into Ethernet.)

The result was instantaneous and indisputably signigicant. Night and day.

 

[atwitsend14]

this is wireless connectivity issue.
i purchased a motorola sbg6580 last year. i didn't want to rent a modem for 7 dollars a month from charter communications. i thought going with a modem with built in wireless would be the way to go and would eventually pay itself off. the wireless worked fine without any issues for the first few months. after that the wireless connection would have intermittent drops. the drops are random and usually happen every few min but sometimes will last an hour or two without dropping again. i spent hours reading forums, calling both charter and motorola customer support (each equally worthless in resolving the issue and both tried to pass the buck to the other...). i eventually just caved in and moved my computer to the downstairs living room where the modem is set up. the hard wire connection has and currently does work great. if you do a search of sbg6580 and intermittent drops you will see many users of this same product with the same problems. interestingly enough, both motorola and charter denied that there was such a problem with this product despite my telling them to do a simple search of the issue and they would find almost everyone with this same problem. there is a lot of talk about firmware updates being a cause of the issue and these firmware updates are controlled by the isp. the only thing i could think of that would have stopped my wireless from working properly (like it had for 2-3 months) is a firmware update. my firmware is up to date. i am not sure this is the reason, simply speculation.
fast forward to today...
my gf thinks that my computer table 'takes up too much space' and wants me to move the computer back upstairs. the only 'solution' to the sbg6580 wireless issue that i know of is to bridge to a different wireless router. she said she is willing to buy the router (i refuse to since i paid like 150 or more for the gateway with modem and supposed wireless in one).

i have two questions:
1) is anyone familiar with this issue and/or had success in making the wireless aspect of the sbg6580 working without intermittent drops from the wireless connection?

2) does anyone have a suggestion for a good and not overly expensive wireless n router that i can bridge to the sbg6580?

Hi, I have the exact same problem it's like your'e telling my version. I just went to Best Buy and bought a wifi range extender to no avail because the modem keeps dropping the signal, don't spend the extra money. Everyone that has this problem should protest . Let me know if you found a solution.

 

[terrykav61]

I just wanted to say that I have had exactly the same experience with the SBG6580. It was working fine for months and then I started to get intermittent drops. Sometimes 10-20 a day, sometimes one drop in three days. If I rebooted it, it seemed to be stable for a while and then get wonky after a day or three. I exchanged it, thinking that perhaps the router went bad. The new SBG6580 does the same thing! It's even flakier than the first one. I am going to return it as soon as I'm done with this message. I just wanted to first see if I was the only one having this problem. Based on your experience and mine, I'm concluding that this router is crap and I'll be looking for another.

 

[mascott77]

Access the router at http://192.168.0.1/ and click on the Wireless Tab, and click on WMM on the left side of the control panel. Disable WMM and Apply. That's it. WMM is a power management routine on this modem that can cause the kind of intermittent signal loss and lower range.

Holy Cow! I have been so frustrated the past 3 months trying solve this problem, and your solution just fixed it. I cannot thank you enough! I was ready to throw the SBG6580 out the window. Thanks again! MA

 

[bob1024]

Access the router at http://192.168.0.1/ and click on the Wireless Tab, and click on WMM on the left side of the control panel. Disable WMM and Apply. That's it. WMM is a power management routine on this modem that can cause the kind of intermittent signal loss and lower range.

Thank you. I signed up just to say that. I have been having the same intermittent problem and it was getting worse. You solution worked great and was easy to do. Thanks again.

Same here! No real issues but I noticed streaming video was suffering on this link as opposed to my older slower link from another provider. This seems to have resolved it, thank you greatly. World Cup in hi-def, here I come.

 

[MattCrossette]

Have same modem and issues. I just called my cable company and the tech was really helpful.

Go into your modem settings (192.168.0.1). Default login is admin/motorola.

Go to Wireless at the top and towards the bottom should be something called Control Channel. By default it's set to Auto and next to that it will show you the Current Channel.

The Tech told me you should always set it to either 1, 6, or 11. If it's currently on one of those, change it to the other two. I don't want to get too detailed about it but he says all the other people in your area are bogging down the wireless but the modem has a function to automatically select the best channel to use. However, it doesn't always work well so choosing one of those 3 channels should solve the issue.

Article that explains it a bit more (however it does contradict the tech by telling you NOT use channels 1, 6, or 11): http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/21132/change-your-wi-fi-router-channel-to-optimize-your-wireless-signal/

Good luck!

I have been having this problem for several months now. at one time a tech had me do this too and it worked great for a little while but the problems came back. Some of the other solutions on here I have not heard before. Can anyone verify that a solution they've tried is still working and doesn't just solve the problem temporarily? It seems that every solution I've found is no better than just resetting the modem. It will work fine for a while and then the problems come back.

 

[MattCrossette]

So I changed my channel yesterday and it worked good, but as suspected today I am back down to around 2mbs. Ironically I changed it back to what it was yesterday and it's coming in at over 20mbs again. I am confident however that by tomorrow it will need to be changed again as I have been down this road before. Everything on this thread short of replacing the modem with 2 devices seems to be a temporary fix... at least for me. If someone has tried one of these solutions and it is still working I'd love to hear it.

 

[bravodown]

Have same modem and issues. I just called my cable company and the tech was really helpful.

Go into your modem settings (192.168.0.1). Default login is admin/motorola.

Go to Wireless at the top and towards the bottom should be something called Control Channel. By default it's set to Auto and next to that it will show you the Current Channel.

The Tech told me you should always set it to either 1, 6, or 11. If it's currently on one of those, change it to the other two. I don't want to get too detailed about it but he says all the other people in your area are bogging down the wireless but the modem has a function to automatically select the best channel to use. However, it doesn't always work well so choosing one of those 3 channels should solve the issue.

Article that explains it a bit more (however it does contradict the tech by telling you NOT use channels 1, 6, or 11): http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/21132/change-your-wi-fi-router-channel-to-optimize-your-wireless-signal/

Good luck!

I also had a tech tell me hte exact same thing. It didn't resolve the issue for me. It's been quite awhile since i made the original post, but I've still just been using my older wireless router bridged to the modem. While the speed may be slower than the modem allows, its at least stable (15mbps vs 30 mpbs with intermittent problems). Also, my computer was moved within direct connect range to modem, so my primary computer still gets the full speeds. But still, no possible solutions have worked for me. I just accept my modem wireless as junk.

 

[sonnymiles6]

Have same modem and issues. I just called my cable company and the tech was really helpful.

Go into your modem settings (192.168.0.1). Default login is admin/motorola.

Go to Wireless at the top and towards the bottom should be something called Control Channel. By default it's set to Auto and next to that it will show you the Current Channel.

The Tech told me you should always set it to either 1, 6, or 11. If it's currently on one of those, change it to the other two. I don't want to get too detailed about it but he says all the other people in your area are bogging down the wireless but the modem has a function to automatically select the best channel to use. However, it doesn't always work well so choosing one of those 3 channels should solve the issue.

Article that explains it a bit more (however it does contradict the tech by telling you NOT use channels 1, 6, or 11): http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/21132/change-your-wi-fi-router-channel-to-optimize-your-wireless-signal/

Good luck!

I also had a tech tell me hte exact same thing. It didn't resolve the issue for me. It's been quite awhile since i made the original post, but I've still just been using my older wireless router bridged to the modem. While the speed may be slower than the modem allows, its at least stable (15mbps vs 30 mpbs with intermittent problems). Also, my computer was moved within direct connect range to modem, so my primary computer still gets the full speeds. But still, no possible solutions have worked for me. I just accept my modem wireless as junk.

I have had this modem for about a month now. My Kindle Fire gets about 15mbps to 27mbps depending on my distance and barriers to the modem. The ethernet connected devices get 64mbps. I use channel 3 and turned off WWM. I have had no intermittent problems.

 

[aroh]

I just moved into an apartment literally down the road from my old one. Same Complex. I had Metrocast, and they used the same router (except I rented). The tech set it up in 4 mins (90 dollar charge), and I had blazing fast wifi speeds. When I moved, I figured Id buy my own from Best Buy, which I did... THE WIFI IS TERRIBLE!!!!!!! But I don't get what they did.... Still trying to figure it out.

 

[Clcleveland22]

I tried to turn off WMM and thought all was well until I realized both my Laptop and my iPhone 5 were now connected only via 802.11a even thi both the devices and router are 802.11n capable. It turns out some devices require WMM to connect via 802.11n so beware of this if you try to turn it off to alleviate connection issues

 

[Mfrankl6]

thanks for the fast reply.

do you have any idea why im having intermittent drop issues with the sbg6580 to begin with?

why do you advise against using a wireless router with the sbg6580? from all that i've read on this model and people with similar problems is that everything about the sbg6580 is fine except the wireless portion of it. i'm not questioning your advice, i would just like to know why this would be a problem to bridge a wireless router to the sbg6580. thanks

I have the same issue with the same router. How is it this thing was working fine now all of a sudden I'm getting regular drops to the point my vonage phone goes in and out? I will have to blame comcast for this one. They approved the modem/router and know many customers went this route. All I can say is they're waiting for you to say where do I sign? Free wifi piggybacks off the back of the users router remember and you are holding up that big plan. Come over to the dark side (comcastic). Lol! Just know you are not alone!!

 

[uwcableguy]

I just bought one of these all in ones yesterday (against my better judgement) and I too had issues with the wireless. Using the default settings, all was good if the laptop and router/wifi were in the same room. Once I moved into another room, I started having sporadic issues. Using 'cmd' I ran 'ping 192.168.0.1 -t' and found every couple of minutes I would lose replies.

Here is what I did to fix it. Basically, I disabled all the bells and whistles:

Wireless - basic
disable N
hard set the broadcast channel (use inssider v3 or older to scan)
disable STBC

Wireless - primary network
disable WPS (automatic security config)

Wireless - advanced
use '54g Auto'
54g protect off
XPress technology disabled

Wireless - WMM
disable WMM
disable no-ack
disable power saving


I first hard set the channel, that did not work. I then tried WMM adjustments, that did not work. I then shut off STBC and that did not work. I then disabled wireless N and forced it to use G and I think that was the fix. I had noticed that my devices that were having issues were toggling between N and G (as seen in the Wireless - Access control tab). When connected to G, they were working, but when they went to N, they were having issues. After forcing everyone to use G, it seems to be stable now.

 

[tjadam2]

@bravodown

I know this thread is old, but I felt I needed to add my 2 cents since I was able to solve this problem in my home. Before I begin, I will assumed that you have this modem and have it connected successfully to your cable provider (I have Charter) by providing them the MAC address and allowing them to provision it on their end. First, my symptoms were identical to bravodown. 1) Wired connection worked fine. 2) Wireless connection experienced intermittent drops ranging from a few minutes to hours. I will add that when I was connected to my wireless bandwidth I was at about an 1/8 of my wired bandwidth. The other symptom I had was that when I logged into the modem 192.168.100.1 I noticed that it was very slow maneuvering between screens and seemed very laggy.

Wired Speed Test (8 mbs down 3 mbs up)
Wireless Speed Test (1 mbs down .45 mbs up)

I download WIFI Analyzer and saw there were other signals in my area. I took my modem off of AUTO on the channel selection and chose a channel where other signals were not, but that only helped for a day or so. I watched the analyzer for an hour and watched that about every seven to eight minutes my WIFI signal would take a nosedive to -0 db.

First, I did my research on the web. Like, most people, I never found a solution. I found that the firmware for the modem was in the 6 series and mine was in the 3 series. I also discovered that since it's DOCIS then all firmware updates come from the provider; in my case, Charter. I called Charter. No firmware updates and all setting on their side tested okay. They were not able to ping into my modem due to the connectivity issues.

Second, I called Motoroala. The rep I spoke to was awesome. He didn't fix my problem, but he and I troubleshot alot of things over the phone. Near the end I told him that I was going to do a factory reset and the agreed that was probably the best bet. I had had the modem for nearly two years and I didn't expect him to offer to replace it.

I logged back into the modem and being the geek that I am I took a screenshot of every screen. What a waste of time. Why? Well, because, one, the modem allows you to save your current settings so you can load them later and, two, once the modem was connected back to Charter everything popped back up like the first time I connected it (except for my wireless settings). I logged back in the modem and selected "YES" under "Restore Modem To Factory Defaults".

After the modem was restored from reset I unplugged the cable, the power and ethernet cable. I let the modem sit for five minutes. First I plugged the power in. Next, the cable. Next the ethernet. I waited for all the icons to be green (exce[t for the icon that looks like a TV with a down arrow on it - that was turns blue) Immediately I could tell things were different. While logged into the modem I could tell the transition between screens was near instantaneous instead of the lag I experienced before.

I did a wired speed test and had 27 mb down and 11 mb up. Next I set my wireless channels back up (primary and guest - WPA2 AES 2.4 ghz since I have one device that won't work at 5ghz) and tested it.

Wireless Speed Test (17 mbs down 8 mbs up). Everything is all good now and i will remember what to do if it happens again. Good luck!!!!

this is wireless connectivity issue.
i purchased a motorola sbg6580 last year. i didn't want to rent a modem for 7 dollars a month from charter communications. i thought going with a modem with built in wireless would be the way to go and would eventually pay itself off. the wireless worked fine without any issues for the first few months. after that the wireless connection would have intermittent drops. the drops are random and usually happen every few min but sometimes will last an hour or two without dropping again. i spent hours reading forums, calling both charter and motorola customer support (each equally worthless in resolving the issue and both tried to pass the buck to the other...). i eventually just caved in and moved my computer to the downstairs living room where the modem is set up. the hard wire connection has and currently does work great. if you do a search of sbg6580 and intermittent drops you will see many users of this same product with the same problems. interestingly enough, both motorola and charter denied that there was such a problem with this product despite my telling them to do a simple search of the issue and they would find almost everyone with this same problem. there is a lot of talk about firmware updates being a cause of the issue and these firmware updates are controlled by the isp. the only thing i could think of that would have stopped my wireless from working properly (like it had for 2-3 months) is a firmware update. my firmware is up to date. i am not sure this is the reason, simply speculation.
fast forward to today...
my gf thinks that my computer table 'takes up too much space' and wants me to move the computer back upstairs. the only 'solution' to the sbg6580 wireless issue that i know of is to bridge to a different wireless router. she said she is willing to buy the router (i refuse to since i paid like 150 or more for the gateway with modem and supposed wireless in one).

i have two questions:
1) is anyone familiar with this issue and/or had success in making the wireless aspect of the sbg6580 working without intermittent drops from the wireless connection?

2) does anyone have a suggestion for a good and not overly expensive wireless n router that i can bridge to the sbg6580?