Question Running out of leads for troubleshooting Motorola MG7550 Modem Router connection issues ?

todafoa

Commendable
Apr 10, 2021
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1,510
I'm about at my wits end, I'm beyond the typical troubleshooting steps, but I'll still list here what I've tried:

  • rebooting the modem from the software admin,
  • rebooting by using the power button or plug,
  • hard-resetting using the small button at the back,
  • trying a separate SSID for 2.4GHz and 5GHz or both mixed together in one SSID,
  • tried guest SSIDs,
  • tried different configurations for what I understand,
  • tried clearing cache and cookies on each app on each device (desktop or mobile),
  • tried calling Comcast support multiple times and going through their steps...
I need something more than basic troubleshooting steps. I need something to track and tell me when the problem is happening and what is happening and why as much as possible. I don't care if it's through the modem software or other hardware or whatever. The modem logs are sparse and only indicate an occasional T3 timeout maybe every two weeks, but my connection losses are happening dozens of times per day now for several seconds each (has been getting slightly worse over the last 3 months), and I just don't know what else to do.

I'm trying out some WiFi analyzers on my phone (Android), but they're not really even indicating an issue nor what. Every time I do a speed test when it happens, they typically look OK (34-60Mbps which is usual). The issue's interrupting my work, games, communication through phone, text, chat, video... I now can't do business meetings without losing what someone is saying randomly even though everyone else hears it.
 
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So how much packet loss does the router show.
Most have a screen that shows the power levels and correctable and uncorrectable errors. Uncorretable means packet loss and if you get too much you might drop your sessions.
Search for the recommended levels, it varies a bit depending on the type of docsis so I won't cut and paste it here.

You will always see T3 timeouts now and then. Mine will do it about a hour after your see it run DHCP to renew the modem address every couple weeks.

What I would do next is the fairly standard testing.

Run tracert to some IP like 8.8.8.8. This will likely show no issues the goal is to get the IP of the routers in the path.

What you now want to do is open multiple CMD windows. You want to leave a constant ping run to hop 1 (your router) hop2 (the first ISP router for most people) and some other IP like 8.8.8.8

You are better off testing on ethernet because wifi issues in hop 1 will affect every other hop.

So if you see issues on hop 1 it is inside your house either the pc or the router or if you are using wifi very likely the wifi.

If you see no issues on hop 1 but issues on hop 2 there is likely some issue with the internet connection to your house. If both hop1 and hop 2 are good but you see loss to 8.8.8.8 then there is a issue farther into the ISP network.
 

todafoa

Commendable
Apr 10, 2021
17
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1,510
I find the Uncorrected errors in the Downstream Bonded Channels section, and they show between 3000-9000 across 16 channels; Corrected shows 4000-10000. I can't tell how many are too many Uncorrected. What do you think?

Most of the time a Comcast tech has checked the Downstream/Upstream Bonded Channels, they say everything looks fine, and to look at SNR (dB) (in Downstream), which should be between 40-45, which they've been every time I've checked since they last fixed everything (a bad splitter in the wall, which was removed, after which I had no problems for months). Downstream Pwr (dBmV) is between 1.7-3.8 (only 1 channel is below 2).

When I look up recommended, I see "For SNR downstream it should be greater than 33 db. For upstream channel the accepted range for power level is +45 to +51 dbmv." Upstream Pwr (dBmV) shows between 43-45.

Whenever I have intermittent connection issues with this modem, it's always been with the modem (not WiFi), always had log lines mentioning T3 timeouts, always been around 10-15 blackouts (typically every 2-6 weeks), and was always fixed with a Comcast senior tech replacing something in the wall or outside.

With this latest issue, it's very different; intermittent but much shorter internet/WiFi disconnects, across any device or operating system (OS) or app... and every time I've called Comcast, there's only been one time over the last 3 months (when this started) where they had an outage, which lasted for an hour, and was apparent that I'd lost even wired internet.

This current issue is making me think either:
  • the modem-router's hardware has an issue, such as getting old or having some sort of dust/overheat issue;
  • I have some sort of virus somewhere... yet I've already scanned every device that connects to it, and I don't have the foggiest clue how to scan the modem for malware, or maybe even check traffic to it that could be clogging things up or contain malicious URLs or commands or hacks etc;
  • Some really weird issue is now happening with Comcast's equipment (the modem isn't leased)... meaning I'll have to have another senior tech come out and try to spot-check it, but I've already gotten charged unjustifiably by one tech that just lied.

tracert tests:
  • everything looks fine (6-18 ms) on my WiFi computer (W10 Pro) when I test it, whether the problem is happening or not.
  • on the wired computer, when the problem happened (all WiFi devices lost connection for about 10 minutes, while wired had internet), Windows 10 Pro CLI tracert hung on the first hop, including through my WiFi devices reconnecting... I had to hit Enter to make the next hop, but got 5-17ms... so far this isn't really telling me anything.
  • The output shows one domain as being [my state].comcast, which looks normal... the 10th hop is dns.google [8.8.8.8] of course.

Trying tracert 8.8.8.8 on my WiFi computer had some odd output... the first hops were different, one was a 10.0.0.1 number and the other was a 192.168 number... why would that be?

I tried ping -t 8.8.8.8, and everything looks as normal as I can imagine except that sometimes for the 2nd hop, it showed 'Request timed out' in chunks multiple times... and I lost internet temporarily... the 1st hop (modem) continued fine. That of course wouldn't explain the random WiFi disconnects I get across any device (and there's a clear difference between an internet disconnect and a WiFi disconnect on Android).
 

todafoa

Commendable
Apr 10, 2021
17
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1,510
OMG I did the wired modem ping wrong 😆 I accidentally pinged to 8.8.8.8... so the Request Timed Out from that were due to Google.

OK, so comparing almost an hour of logging, looks like the only Request Timed Outs I get are from the WiFi laptop's internet pings... all pings to the modem from anywhere never timed out on Windows.

Considering I had my two Android phones both drop internet or WiFi twice during this time period, maybe something is just wrong with the router (I have an iPad but I know that Apple covers up issues much better so it just looks like something took a little longer)...
  1. maybe it has a virus, how would I discover that anyway?
  2. Maybe it's dying... anything I can do to troubleshoot? Should I pull the modem apart and blow dust out of it with compressed air?
I'm trying to do anything I can to prevent having to buy yet another modem, but these WiFi issues are driving me crazy. Nothing I'm doing on the devices nor in router admin is fixing it.
 
So uncorrectable errors mean you are getting packet loss, the correctable ones the modem fixed and passed the good data to you. It depends on how much time passed, I know my modem keeps these numbers for many weeks, not sure when it gets reset. So 3000 in a month is not a issue 3000 in a couple hours is. Pretty much if you check and you can actually see the numbers changing over a short time there is a problem.

The other number seem fine to me.

What you want to do is ping your router IP like you have been. In addition you want to run a ping to the ISP first router at the same time. The ISP router should be the IP you see in hop 2 on your tracert. What you want to do is show the ISP you are getting no loss inside your house but as soon as you go to them you see problems. This is not generally a cable modem issue espeically if you have replaced it once before. This is generally the ISP equipment but it is not simple issues since your signal levels are good. It is more going to be they have some kind of interfernce on the wire. Some neighbor for example maybe sending garbage into the wire with defective equipment. In general if the loss is very random the ISP is going to have trouble finding it. They will come out and check and if it doesn't happen in the 15 minutes or so they test it they will declare it a non problem.
 
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todafoa

Commendable
Apr 10, 2021
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I can't tell how much time has passed in the Uncorrected column, but I found a good doc for modem spec ranges:

https://motorolacable.com/whitepapers/cable-connection

Everything else looks fine according to the docs except for 2 things, but the document appears to contradict itself on one of them:

"In summary, you have a possible connection problem if any of these conditions is true:

[1] - Large numbers of uncorrected packets (thousands or more) are reported, and this is a significant fraction (20% or more) of the corrected packets.
[2] - For a locked channel, downstream signal to noise ratio is greater than 33dB, or 30dB for power levels from -6 to +15 dBmV as described above."

So, for [1], my Uncorrected count across all channels looks to be about 50% of Corrected, and the Total row shows ~123K Corrected and ~77K Uncorrected (greater than 50% overall for whatever the time period is). While I don't know if this is anywhere normal over the years of having this modem, even when I had no trouble, I probably have screenshots somewhere I may be able to dig up for comparison.

The 2nd point [2] contradicts what the doc says earlier:

"The Signal to Noise ratios should also all be within three dB of each other. Recommended Signal to Noise ratios are:

Power level (dBmV) | SNR
[x] -15 to -6 | 33 dB or higher
[y] -6 to +15 | 30 dB or higher"

My Pwr (dBmV) is 1.7-3.8 [y], and my SNR (dB) is 40.2-42, all within the document's 1st stated range which states it's "OK", but also within its 2nd stated range which states it's "not OK" 🤦... so, I think maybe the 2nd stated range is misworded, where for words "greater than" they meant "less than". Otherwise I don't know how to reconcile the two specifications. All channels show locked.

So, right now, I'm not sure how to figure out what's causing all of the Uncorrected numbers, or fix that.

I started up the ping tests this morning again, but got some odd output from my WiFi laptop tracert to Google's DNS:

Code:
C:\Users\wireless>tracert 8.8.8.8

Tracing route to dns.google [8.8.8.8]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     1 ms     1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.0.1
  2     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  3     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  4     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  5     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  6     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  7     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  8     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  9     *        *        *     Request timed out.
10    10 ms    10 ms    11 ms  dns.google [8.8.8.8]

Trace complete.

The wired computer showed a normal trace this morning, though I ran it before the wireless one. I had to look up my DNS router and use that IP, though my hop 2 number was the same 🤷. Maybe Google's DNS has blocked my laptop trace?! This is just getting stranger.

Anyway, having them run this morning while noticing disconnects on my phone (Android 12) and laptop (WiFi), the wired connection hop 1 and 2 have no Request Timed Outs. The laptop WiFi has many again only for hop 2. This means again that I'm losing connection randomly and for short periods only through WiFi internet connection. Could this mean that the router is breaking?! I wish I could troubleshoot better.

I'm gonna test pings on my work Mac, since that one's been having disconnection or network reset issues etc, and it only connects through WiFi.

I just can't imagine how I'm getting connection issues only for WiFi/internet (?) across multiple devices with different operating systems and manufacturers... does this whittle out Comcast as the issue, and could it mean I have a virus in the modem/router, or somehow on the three wireless Windows/Android/macOS devices I use?! I just find this whole situation kind of preposterous.
 
Last edited:
You are reading the table backwards. It says if you have lower power you need higher snr. Any internet connection that has less than -6db is going to be very marginal.

You want the number as close to zero are you can get. Your numbers are actually really good.

That is a very strange trace almost looks like a firewall but it could a strange nat issue in the router. Not sure why it would only happen on wifi. You have already tried the hard reset on the modem so it is not some strange firewall config in the router.

If you have no loss on wired pc then your network is likely ok. Why the wifi has a issue on hop 2 is strange. Most times it is on hop 1 and is due to interference.
When you do tracert do you see the same exact hop2 for hop 1 and hop 2 on both wired and wireless. Could you have a second router/repeater in the path for wifi.
 

todafoa

Commendable
Apr 10, 2021
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1,510
I didn't read the table to mean that if I have higher power I need higher SNR, or anything other than lower power needs higher SNR... it's obvious in the table. I was just stating that the later bullet point appears to contradict that, by saying there's a problem if SNR is greater than 30 or 33 dB for the Power levels... when the table states it's recommended to have an SNR greater than 33 or 30 depending on Power level 😆 Which is it, docs?! I'm guessing the table is correct. Maybe you can explain how I'm misreading the bullet point?! I think it's just miswritten.

Regardless, this may be a moot point if everything looks great... but...

So after tracking pings again this morning on the wired and wireless Windows computers, there's some interesting info... 0% reported packet loss on all of them, no timeouts on wired to modem, about a dozen on wired to internet (DNS hop 2 anyway), a handful on wireless to modem, and dozens on wireless to internet.

This is so frustrating 😆 I can't tell if it's a WiFi router problem (which could just be a hardware problem), a virus, or Comcast.

Code:
wired Windows desktop

2022-08-30

Ping statistics for 192.168.0.1:
    Packets: Sent = 16273, Received = 16273, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 57ms, Average = 2ms

Search "Request" found nothing for C:\Users\wired\Desktop\tracert ping\2022-08-30\ping -t [DNS IP hop 2] wired 2022-08-30.txt

Ping statistics for [DNS IP hop 2]:
    Packets: Sent = 16205, Received = 16192, Lost = 13 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 3ms, Maximum = 124ms, Average = 8ms

Search "Request" (13 hits in 1 file of 1 searched)
  C:\Users\wired\Desktop\tracert ping\2022-08-30\ping -t [DNS IP hop 2] wired 2022-08-30.txt (13 hits)
    Line  4483: Request timed out.
    Line  4484: Request timed out.
    Line  4485: Request timed out.
    Line  4486: Request timed out.
    Line  4488: Request timed out.
    Line  4489: Request timed out.
    Line  4656: Request timed out.
    Line  4686: Request timed out.
    Line  4687: Request timed out.
    Line  4688: Request timed out.
    Line  4689: Request timed out.
    Line  7295: Request timed out.
    Line  7296: Request timed out.

wireless Windows laptop

2022-08-30

Ping statistics for 192.168.0.1:
    Packets: Sent = 15504, Received = 15502, Lost = 2 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 1ms, Maximum = 263ms, Average = 4ms

Search "Request" (4 hits in 1 file of 1 searched)
  C:\Users\wireless\Desktop\ping -t 192.168.0.1 wireless 2022-08-30.txt (4 hits)
    Line  7042: Request timed out.
    Line  7087: Request timed out.
    Line  9032: Request timed out.
    Line  9077: Request timed out.

Ping statistics for [DNS IP hop 2]:
    Packets: Sent = 15382, Received = 15352, Lost = 30 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 4ms, Maximum = 249ms, Average = 10ms

Search "Request" (40 hits in 1 file of 1 searched)
  C:\Users\wireless\Desktop\ping -t [DNS IP hop 2] wireless 2022-08-30.txt (40 hits)
    Line   600: Request timed out.
    Line   880: Request timed out.
    Line   882: Request timed out.
    Line   995: Request timed out.
    Line  1206: Request timed out.
    Line  1636: Request timed out.
    Line  3931: Request timed out.
    Line  5403: Request timed out.
    Line  5621: Request timed out.
    Line  6991: Request timed out.
    Line  7036: Request timed out.
    Line  8010: Request timed out.
    Line  8253: Request timed out.
    Line  8401: Request timed out.
    Line  8402: Request timed out.
    Line  8404: Request timed out.
    Line  8406: Request timed out.
    Line  8409: Request timed out.
    Line  8410: Request timed out.
    Line  9039: Request timed out.
    Line  9084: Request timed out.
    Line 10058: Request timed out.
    Line 10301: Request timed out.
    Line 10449: Request timed out.
    Line 10450: Request timed out.
    Line 10452: Request timed out.
    Line 10454: Request timed out.
    Line 10457: Request timed out.
    Line 10458: Request timed out.
    Line 10623: Request timed out.
    Line 10624: Request timed out.
    Line 10647: Request timed out.
    Line 10648: Request timed out.
    Line 10649: Request timed out.
    Line 10650: Request timed out.
    Line 13194: Request timed out.
    Line 13249: Request timed out.
    Line 13250: Request timed out.
    Line 13553: Request timed out.
    Line 14852: Request timed out.
 
I miss these posts sometimes.

Running on wifi tends to not be a valid test since it can always randomly loose data. It does show the same problem as the wired connection but I would not even discuss the wifi results with the ISP because they will become sidetracked by the much more common wifi issues.

This does show packet loss on the connection to the ISP. The larger issue is will the ISP be able to see this loss with the tools they use to test from their office. It is hard to say what exactly is causing the loss. Generally a tech needs to come out, the first level guy likely will not find it unless it is simple like a bad cable connection. They many times must have a more senor tech that can do more looking at the main terminal. A lot of times this is some kind of interference from another house on the same network but it can be many things.....none of which you can do much about.
 

todafoa

Commendable
Apr 10, 2021
17
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1,510
Running on wifi tends to not be a valid test since it can always randomly loose data.

I did it to see if the problem was only happening with the WiFi connection from the computer to the router.

It does show the same problem as the wired connection but I would not even discuss the wifi results with the ISP because they will become sidetracked by the much more common wifi issues.

Fair enough, they never need to know about my WiFi connection anyway.

This does show packet loss on the connection to the ISP. The larger issue is will the ISP be able to see this loss with the tools they use to test from their office. It is hard to say what exactly is causing the loss. Generally a tech needs to come out, the first level guy likely will not find it unless it is simple like a bad cable connection. They many times must have a more senor tech that can do more looking at the main terminal. A lot of times this is some kind of interference from another house on the same network but it can be many things.....none of which you can do much about.

OK, so for packets: on wired, it shows router Lost 0 and internet Lost 13; on wireless, it shows router Lost 2 and internet Lost 30. So, yes to me also that indicates the problem is with the internet connection, by a long shot.

Whenever I call my ISP about internet trouble, 9 times out of 10 they says everything looks fine. I could bankrupt casinos if they bet against me here.

I have a bunch more tests, but I'll have to collate them first. This is painstaking but maybe worth it.

I've had several senior techs out over the years, and almost every time they found a problem with Comcast's infrastructure. Each time but 1 however was a long and arduous process of many calls and way too much time spent and pushing and arguing to get them to check for sure. Only 1 time out of 10 was it the modem/router's fault. Maybe this time I have data to show beyond modem logs stating T3 timeouts.

Thanks. I don't know how another home would be interfering with the infrastructure outside of WiFi though; my upstairs neighbor says he loses connection every week for an hour now, interrupting his meetings. I told him to use your method, and to get a senior tech out, but I honestly can't imagine how our wires are being interfered with randomly.
 

todafoa

Commendable
Apr 10, 2021
17
0
1,510
However, wouldn't a much higher count for WiFi to internet and back than WiFi to router and back be an indication that something is wrong with my WiFi as well?!
 
You very well could have issues with the wifi. It is extremely common to see packet loss and latency spikes. It is likely being caused by your neighbors using wifi in their houses on the same radio channels. There is no way to fix this issue since all channels are massively over utilized so your only option is to not use it for applications like online games. Pretty much every other application will tolerate the issues caused by wifi unless it get very large.

What is key is to show the ISP that you get no loss when you ping the router but you see loss ping their router. Also point out the good signals levels you have...which means your modem and cabling are good...but you see uncorrectable errors on one or more channels.

These errors are kinda the same as with wifi, some other signal is interfering but unlike wifi docsis just drops the data rather than delaying the data attempting to resend it.
 

todafoa

Commendable
Apr 10, 2021
17
0
1,510
I am curious about that "10.0.0.1 number ".

Wouldn't that indicate a virus?!

Here's my pingpath test (sorry that I'm masking IPs, I'm paranoid):

Code:
C:\Users\Me>pathping 8.8.8.8

Tracing route to dns.google [8.8.8.8]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
  0  [my laptop].hsd1.[my state abbr].comcast.net. [192.168.0.16] [hop 0 IP]
  1  192.168.0.1 [hop 1 IP (my router)]
  2  [##.###.##.### (ping hop 2 IP previously)] [hop 2 IP]
  3  po-[###]-[####]-rur[###].[my city].[my state abbr].[my state name].comcast.net [hop 3 IP]
  4  [##.###.###.##] [hop 4 IP]
  5  [##.###.###.##] [hop 5 IP]
  6  [##.###.###.###] [hop 6 IP]
  7     *     [##.##.##.###] [hop 7 IP]
  8  [###.##.###.##] [hop 8 IP]
  9  [###.###.##.###] [hop 9 IP]
 10  dns.google [8.8.8.8]

Computing statistics for 250 seconds...
            Source to Here   This Node/Link
Hop  RTT    Lost/Sent = Pct  Lost/Sent = Pct  Address
  0                                           [my laptop].hsd1.[my state abbr].comcast.net. [192.168.0.16] [hop 0 IP]
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  1    2ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  192.168.0.1
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  2   10ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  [##.###.##.### (ping hop 2 IP previously)] [hop 2 IP]
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  3    9ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  po-[###]-[####]-rur[###].[my city].[my state abbr].[my state name].comcast.net [hop 3 IP]
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  4   11ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  [##.###.###.##] [hop 4 IP]
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  5   11ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  [##.###.###.##] [hop 5 IP]
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  6   10ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  [##.###.###.###] [hop 6 IP]
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  7   12ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  [##.##.##.###] [hop 7 IP]
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  8   11ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  [###.##.###.##] [hop 8 IP]
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
  9  ---     100/ 100 =100%   100/ 100 =100%  [###.###.##.###] [hop 9 IP]
                                0/ 100 =  0%   |
 10   11ms     0/ 100 =  0%     0/ 100 =  0%  dns.google [8.8.8.8]

Trace complete.

Also run "arp -a" and "ipconfig /all" and post as well.

I'm not quite sure what I'm looking at here, but it looks like maybe too much identifying info that will take me a while to block out, and I'm not sure how much I need to block out, or if blocking anything out makes the output useless for you... so maybe you should tell me first what you're looking for.
 
The only IP that matters a lot is your wan IP. To a small extent hop2 partially identifies that but it just shows the subnet you are in which is going to be at least 250 other addresses and many times much more.
The other IP in the trace are ISP routers in the path. I guess if you are concerned about the city and state but I would assume you live in some very large city where nobody could identify you based on you.

Even posting your wan IP on this forum is not as huge risk. It is not like a game server where someone gets mad that you won or something and then does denial of service attacks against your IP. Hackers scan and attack every ip even if you don't expose them.

In any case this test shows no problems so it really doesn't matter where the IP are. You are getting good latency numbers and no packet loss.

This is a very common issue when you have a intermittent problem. This is also a problem for the ISP because their tools will also show no issues and because of how idiot ticket systems work they want to close them as fast as possible rather than spend the time to setup some longer term monitoring. It many times is the customer pc or software rather than their equipment so even when you have a case like yours where you know there is a actual network issue the ISP tech will not want to spend the time.

What might work is to keep calling in the same problem over and over. Most ticket systems the techs will get a bad rating after the fact for closing tickets that were in effect reopened.

You do have a actual problem but it is not obvious partially because of the way you posted the ping data. This actually is a much better way to represent it but most people do not know how to run filters.....well a lot of people are lucky if they can get the constant ping command to run.

Your test results show that you have almost 0% packet loss. You will always some I just stopped a constant ping I leave running all the time. I lost 772 out of 1685671 but it causes me no problem.
The key thing your test do show is this loss is very small but when it happens it is not randomly distributed in the test data. Your loss is happening in consecutive pings. Because there is delay between these test to not overload the network it means your connection is going down for a number of full seconds.

Then again that is what your post says to begin with. You will not be able to see if you internet say goes down for 100ms but you will definitely see when it goes down for 3 or 4 seconds. You just now have test data that shows what you know is happening. Problem is it does not happen a lot.

Maybe try to load the connection to say 50% with a download where you can set the download rate. Then run the ping tests again to see if the problem is more common. Data load many times make issues worse. In some ways pathping should do that since it send much more data than simple pings but it is still a very small percentage compared to how large internet connection are now days.
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
10.0.0.1 does not indicate a virus.

And masking out the IPs only makes potential troubleshooting more difficult.

FYI:

https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-private-ip-address-2625970

What I am looking for is some mismatch within your network. For example if you had a router whose default IP address was changed to some end user/admin value then resetting that router will cause the router to revert back to its default IP. Perhaps 10.0.0.1

And then that router will no longer be able to communicate with other network devices.

"ipconfig /all" and "arp -a" simply provide more information about device and network configurations.

What make and model devices for modem, router, access points, etc.?

How are they all connected?

Generic line diagram (where ----> represents an Ethernet cable and ~~~> represents wireless devices):

ISP === (coax, DSL, fiber)===> Modem ----->[WAN port] Router [LAN ports] ----> Wired devices and ~~~> wireless devices.

Feel free to edit and correct my line diagram as necessary. Include any other connected network devices: other routers, access points, switches, etc..

Once the big picture is known then the next effort will be to discover where and when those 3 -4 second down times may actually be occurring.

Perhaps some more targeted pinging.
 

todafoa

Commendable
Apr 10, 2021
17
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1,510
And masking out the IPs only makes potential troubleshooting more difficult.

I think I know enough about networking to be able to figure out a mismatch with some learning, I'd just rather not post IPs that could identify me even over the internet, you know? Some of these IPs are not private, and a lot of the output contains MAC addresses, which I know I shouldn't be sharing.

So where would I look for mismatches? Maybe you have a link explaining that. Or maybe you can demonstrate where a mismatch would show on example output of your own run of ipconfig /all and arp -a on your computer? Then I could look for one on mine.

if you had a router whose default IP address was changed to some end user/admin value then resetting that router will cause the router to revert back to its default IP. Perhaps 10.0.0.1

The thing is that the 10.0.0.1 showed up just randomly on one tracert... I hadn't reset the router at the time, though maybe a T3 timeout or something else had? I have noticed a lot more of those, but most of them recently are not timestamped for some reason, maybe because I was doing reset/reboot/unplug/etc near when they wrote. Those only have popped up otherwise every several weeks.

The modem is Motorola MG7550... I'm not sure what you can do with that though. I've already scoured the docs and suggestions, and I posted some things with it previously in this thread.

My route is ISP -> coax -> modem/router (they're the same device) -> computers (ethernet cable or WiFi), very simple and standard I think. I have 1 Windows computer through ethernet, and a Playstation. The rest are WiFi. I've had obnoxious internet issues on all of them recently.

I think the issue is internet. I will have to run more ping tests to be sure. I gave the test advice to my neighbor but I haven't heard back yet. I just would like to get enough info to either tell the ISP to fix their issue, or to replace my modem router.
 
mac addresses are not actually unique. When you work for a large company that buys thousands of identical laptops you will many times get the same mac address. The manufacture has a limited pool and re uses them you just don't see it unless you buy lots of devices.

Generally if it is a actual modem problem you will see messages in the log around the times it has trouble. Uncorrectable errors or packet loss to the ISP first router (ie hop 2) tends to be some issue with there equipment or interference in their network.
I had a similar issue that pretty much only happened after normal business hours. They happened to be running late one day and saw the problem. Seems someone almost a mile away from house was getting home from work and turning something on that messed everyone in the neighborhood up. They basically disconnected the cable after they got no answer at the door.
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
"The rest are WiFi. I've had obnoxious internet issues on all of them recently. "

Explain more about those "obnoxious internet issues".

What wifi frequencies and channels are being used? Have you tried other channels?

Ensure that any given network device is configured for only wired or wireless. Not both at the same time nor two of the same type (wired or wireless) adapter enabled for a single device.

= = = =

Understand that you are concerned about sharing network information. Fair enough.

Sketch out a full diagram of your network and include all devices, their IP addresses (DHCP or Static) , subnet masks. and mac addresses.

The diagram is for your own use. Then follow the wires to ensure that there is not some other unknown/unexpected device connected in somewhere. Perhaps the source of that 10.0.0.1 IP that briefly appeared.

Identify anything that you see as a mismatch or otherwise do not understand or expect.

Then post accordingly.
 

todafoa

Commendable
Apr 10, 2021
17
0
1,510
Generally if it is a actual modem problem you will see messages in the log around the times it has trouble.

The modem log errors are not matching up with anything so far. I see random T3 timeouts.

Lately, it seems to be on days and off days... typically now, when any problem happens, it's likely to happen a lot during the day. Today, I've had zero issues, and there's been several days like that. I just don't know how to explain it yet.

I talked to someone who said that they tracked pings over days to a file, sent it to a Comcast person, then had a senior tech come out and fix it. So I'm tracking per days now when I remember. So far the modem (wired) connection looks fine. The DNS connection is spotty, but never as bad as the issues I get on WiFi devices doing anything.

So, the issue happens most often on WiFi, even though the wired DNS pings are indicating a problem, that could still just mean that problem is just my coax cable to the wall. I'm not sure how to test any of that, though I could try replacing the coax cable, I don't think that would fix the overwhelming WiFi issues when they happen... that to me indicates a router issue, though I can't explain why some days are perfect...

Unless there's an interference issue, and I'm not sure how to test for that... I asked the neighbors if they had any 5GHz devices like woofers in the corner or motion detection devices, but they said no.
 

todafoa

Commendable
Apr 10, 2021
17
0
1,510
Explain more about those "obnoxious internet issues".

I've already described them. I don't know what else to say. I lose internet or WiFi for a few seconds randomly, sometimes seconds or minutes or hours apart. Sometimes a device's WiFi will just disconnect for several seconds and then reconnect.

Every time I try a speed test when an app says I lose internet connection, the speed test looks fine.

What wifi frequencies and channels are being used? Have you tried other channels?

The router is set to 5GHz. It looks like I can do 6GHz, but I read that can be interrupted by emergency channels.

Ensure that any given network device is configured for only wired or wireless. Not both at the same time nor two of the same type (wired or wireless) adapter enabled for a single device.

The only one running that's configured for both is the living room computer, and I disabled its WiFi, and I don't think that changed any behavior anywhere.


The only computer wired to the modem is the living room PC, and the ping results show it almost never has a lost packet.

I rarely have an issue with the PS4 wired connection, and it's mostly in rest mode anyway, but maybe I could try disabling its WiFi if it has one running... it's usually in rest mode though, and I've had it for years longer than I've had this problem for.
 
Until you get the ethernet connected devices 100% stable I would ignore the wifi.

There is massive amounts of stuff that use wifi....or at least uses the same radio frequencies. You have anything from security cameras to remote controls for tv. Only way you would be able to tell is with a spectrum analyzers and this does little good since a lot of these signals are intermittent so even if you change the channel on your router a day later someone could turn something on that interferes.

Can you really use 6ghz. That is a new radio band used by wifi6e. It has just recently started to be fairly commonly available and the pricing has dropped a lot. The problem is many devices you have no way to upgrade them and they will continue to use the 2.4 and 5g radio bands even with a wifi6e router.

There are actually fewer rules on the 6ghz band than on 5ghz. There also is a massive amount of new bandwidth available so it is less likely you overlap a neighbor....for a couple years and we will be back to over crowded I suspect.

If you can actually use wifi6e it should be much more stable. Not a lot of actual data from real home users yet so it is hard to say if it will live up to the hype.