Question The impossible internet problem of 3 years

[vguy95]

Hi, I'm going to do my best to explain what I know about this situation I'm in. I would really appreciate if the Networking genius' could help me figure this problem out, since we've had this similar problem for 3 years. Its a direct ethernet connection, not WiFi. Its 1 GB down and 100 upload from Shaw here in Canada. I have ran tests on other computers in the household, with different ethernet cables and ports and created the same situations. The modem/router is the same device.

It all began 3 years ago, out of no where between like 2 am central to 11 am, the internet would spike and lag on things like live streams. I complained many times, and eventually some guy on the forums said they found the problem and patched it, seemed to work. About 3 months later, the problem was less specific to time, but my upload would spike downwards to 49 Kbps or so. Because I'm a live streamer on Twitch.TV its important to have a good connection, so when I was running Streamlabs OBS, I noticed I was dropping 3-5% of my total frames, which is very bad for streaming. In order to see what exactly was going on, I went to inspector twitch TV and graphed my upload. It showed what I suspected, the upload kept spiking downwards to 49 Kbps, sometimes 1 Mbps, sometimes 2 Mbps, sometimes 3 Mbps -- and you need about 6 Mbps upload to maintain a 1080p stream. I also tested other twitch servers, the same thing.

When I contacted Shaw they did the typical hey, I did a speed test it looks fine. They hooked up their equipment to my cable modem, said hey it looks fine. In the past, they had sent a total of 10+ techs out, and locally they could never find an issue. About a year later, someone working internally at Shaw almost instantly found a problem in the node. He called me personally, and let me know that he found the problem. The problem was like 90% better. He then found some other problems, but it was still doing this weird spiking stuff once in awhile. It was never completely fixed, but I was somewhat satisfied and just accepted it.

Some months later pass, I end up with the exact same problem. The upload is spiking downwards again. Because Shaw didn't believe my Streamlabs OBS and inspector Twitch, I decided to watch my Streamlabs OBS live information, and when it would begin lagging I would immediately go do a test on testmy.net, with a dummy file upload. This way I could try to rule out whether its a specific server, or if its just like this across the entire internet for me. Well, when I did that and plotted the graph there too, it showed my average upload was 8.8 Mbps, and the graph showed spikes downwards to 1 Mbps (as my other applications were reading).

I showed Shaw all of this. They keep saying it looks fine, no matter what I do. So, my next step was I was going to try to find even more evidence to show a problem exists. So, I downloaded pingplotter and did some tests. It showed at 10.0.0.1 (my local modem) has a constant 50% packet loss. When I do pings to google, theres many hops that have a constant 50-70% packet loss too. I notified Shaw of this, and they said they dont trust 3rd party software for their diagnostics.

One thing I'm questioning, is that theres a cable line going directly to my house, which is close to my modem, that looks frayed. The tech was up there just the other day, I'm not sure how he didnt notice that, or maybe its not a big deal and I'm wrong about that.

Here are some of the images I have. (? when I try to upload it says contact admin something went wrong)...

https://imgur.com/oOXXyXF

View: https://imgur.com/oOXXyXF

https://imgur.com/jmQ7Nxf

View: https://imgur.com/jmQ7Nxf

https://imgur.com/SOZtis7

View: https://imgur.com/SOZtis7

https://imgur.com/nRIPRUb

View: https://imgur.com/nRIPRUb

https://imgur.com/rR5pcrG

View: https://imgur.com/rR5pcrG

 

[vguy95]

Very likely that the problem's cause is beyond you and Shaw.

However, there may be more to be learned.

Are you able to login to the Shaw modem?

https://support.shaw.ca/t5/internet-articles/how-to-log-in-to-your-shaw-wifi-modem/ta-p/6468

https://support.shaw.ca/t5/internet...teway-xb6-xb7-xb8/ta-p/5114#content-section-0

Just to look. Do not change anything.

Any logs to be seen?

And, just to be sure, no un-terminated (versus dust caps) coax ports on your side?

They have looked at everything local (so they claim). I am going to repeat myself again, we had like 10+ techs here denying this problem existed before, and I got so angry I contacted management and they eventually found many problems in the node, which basically fixed it at that time. Nothing was done in my house, all was fixed through the node. I feel like this is the exact same situation again. Even 2 months ago, my internet was much faster than it is today, its like 1/4th as fast now.

 

[vguy95]

@Ralston18 is there a way that I can graph and plot an upload to drop box? That way I could say its not just testmy.net, and not "just my applications" and show that the upload is bad in more than a few places

 

[Ralston18]

Yes. You can graph and plot a upload. Then, if and as necessary, post a screen shot or some other applicable image here via imgur (www.imgur.com).

Be very clear about the test environment and how the data was collected. What tools or utilities were used.

Also keep an eye on your computer via Task Manager or Resource Monitor. Watch for what changes if the upload performance/speed changes.

[And as side note, if it has not already been recommended and done, then IPv6 should be disabled to eliminate potential issues due to IPv6 being used.]

= = = =

Referencing the network topology as I understand it. Please feel free to edit and correct as necessary.

Shaw-ISP === Coax ===> Modem(XB7 ?) ----Ethernet cable ---->[WAN port] Router [LAN port(s)] ------ Ethernet cable--> Your PC.

Viewpoints:

1) You can only see what is happening in your network and up to Shaw-ISP

2) Shaw can only look at and see what is happening between Shaw and the XB7 modem. Shaw cannot see in beyond your modem.

3) Anything happening beyond Shaw is not correctable by Shaw or you.

Following up:

Are you able to access the XB7 (configured as modem only - correct?) and the router via the applicable admin logins and passwords?

For example:

https://support.shaw.ca/t5/internet-articles/how-to-log-in-to-your-shaw-wifi-modem/ta-p/6468#:~:text=on your keyboard.-,You will be presented with your WiFi modem login page,or side of your modem.

Based on the Shaw link and earlier postings I believe that the modem's IP address is 10.0.0.1

The router's IP address should be easily discovered via "ipconfig /all" and the indicated IPv4 address show for the Default Gateway.

Either one or both may have some table(s) showing upload and download results. Signal strengths. Communication logs. Or errors that may be occurring.

Do you have the router's User Guide/Manual? You will need to access the router's admin pages to check the various admin configuration settings.

There are quite a number of router admin configured settings for home routers. For the most part, the default settings should not effect upload and/or download speeds. However, if there is some mis-configured setting then that mis-configured setting could be contributing to the problem(s). Perhaps for the modem as well.

The troubleshooting process must evolve away from showing that there is an upload speed problem. The process needs to refocus on discovering the source and cause therein of the upload slowdowns.

And there may be other ideas and suggestions as to how that testing and discovery can be done.

 

[vguy95]

I can login to the router, and have recently. I found nothing there that was of interest to me, seemed quite limited in its information actually. Ill see if I can post pics

 

[vguy95]

@Ralston18

https://imgur.com/YxLeyVb

View: https://imgur.com/YxLeyVb

https://imgur.com/y3J9qFs

View: https://imgur.com/y3J9qFs

 

[vguy95]

https://imgur.com/xceP4tm

View: https://imgur.com/xceP4tm


most errors on the 18th, but dont think this is the problem anyways.

 

[vguy95]

https://imgur.com/h2LPJEK

View: https://imgur.com/h2LPJEK

 

[Ralston18]

Yes: do post pictures from the router. The information there may not be of interest to you but the technical information/data presented may provide some additional insight into what is happening.

As for the Shaw modem there were a few things that caught my eye:

1) The Channel Bonding Values for downstream all appear consistent with format and magnitude.

The upstream values show much the same expect for Channel 2. Modulation and frequency being the outliers.

2) The logs show some critical errors (82 and 24) related to IPv6. They are errors and they are critical per the modem's viewpoint and must be resolved as to meaning and consequences.

3) The Firewall logs show multiple (INPUT = 287, FORWARD = 285) blocks involving IPv6.

Overall all it appears that IPv6 is playing some role. If Upload speeds are being limit but not completely blocked that may somehow involve Channel 2.

Far out of my comfort zone there and I will defer to others who are full knowledgeable of the technical details regarding Channels and configurations.

Does Shaw provide IPv6 support? If not, then for the purposes of future testing, I would disable IPv6 as a matter of elimination. And probably leave it disabled anyway.

Other notes:

You do not need to redact private IP addresses. Those addresses are used in thousands of home networks. My router's IP address is 198.162.1.1

FYI:

https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-...vate IP address is,a home or business network.

Feel free to look for other similar links.

MAC addresses may be of concern and unless fully relevant to the problem should probably be redacted at least in part.

The image in Post #55 shows your WIFI SSID and Passkey. If the Shaw modem is being used as a modem then I believe that that the Wifi functions should disabled and instead be being handled by the network Router. The image is also flagging some error with respect to MOCA and Low Security (perhaps the passkey because the passkey is not at all strong.).

 

[vguy95]

Yes: do post pictures from the router. The information there may not be of interest to you but the technical information/data presented may provide some additional insight into what is happening.

As for the Shaw modem there were a few things that caught my eye:

1) The Channel Bonding Values for downstream all appear consistent with format and magnitude.

The upstream values show much the same expect for Channel 2. Modulation and frequency being the outliers.

2) The logs show some critical errors (82 and 24) related to IPv6. They are errors and they are critical per the modem's viewpoint and must be resolved as to meaning and consequences.

3) The Firewall logs show multiple (INPUT = 287, FORWARD = 285) blocks involving IPv6.

Overall all it appears that IPv6 is playing some role. If Upload speeds are being limit but not completely blocked that may somehow involve Channel 2.

Far out of my comfort zone there and I will defer to others who are full knowledgeable of the technical details regarding Channels and configurations.

Does Shaw provide IPv6 support? If not, then for the purposes of future testing, I would disable IPv6 as a matter of elimination. And probably leave it disabled anyway.

Other notes:

You do not need to redact private IP addresses. Those addresses are used in thousands of home networks. My router's IP address is 198.162.1.1

FYI:

https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-private-ip-address-2625970#:~:text=A private IP address is,a home or business network.

Feel free to look for other similar links.

MAC addresses may be of concern and unless fully relevant to the problem should probably be redacted at least in part.

The image in Post #55 shows your WIFI SSID and Passkey. If the Shaw modem is being used as a modem then I believe that that the Wifi functions should disabled and instead be being handled by the network Router. The image is also flagging some error with respect to MOCA and Low Security (perhaps the passkey because the passkey is not at all strong.).

I disabled IPV6 before and that made no difference for my upload. How can we plot a graph when uploading to drop box? This would show at minimum 3 different complete sources where my upload is slower than it should be if it shows the same thing.

 

[vguy95]

@Ralston18 by the way, I changed the modem to a completely different model in the past when I was having these same issues, it made no difference. Again, it was a problem in the node before. I'm just convinced its still in the node.

 

[Ralston18]

Are you saying that the table in Post #55 is from a different modem? Changing the modem is moot if the replacement modem remains improperly configured for whatever reasons. I am not sure what the proper Download/Upload configuration should be and that is what I have been delving into.

= = = =

It does not matter that you changed modems if the table is from the current modem.

In the Downstream portion all Channels are QAM256

In the Upstream portion, all Channels are 64QAM except for Channel 2.

Channel 2 being 8QAM vs 64QAM for Channels 1, 3, 4, and 5.

Why is or why would Upload Channel # 2 be different?

Details:

https://www.electronics-notes.com/a...ypes-8qam-16qam-32qam-64qam-128qam-256qam.php

Some Channel 2 problem or misconfiguration likely impacting both Upload transfer speeds and being affected by Signal to Noise Ratios.

Hopefully someone else will be able to look at it all and correct any errors of omission or commission on my part. Getting into technical weeds beyond my comfort zone. Still curious about it all. Maybe firmware?

= = = =

You are able to access the Shaw Modem. Determine you have the admin ability to make changes to Upload Channel #2. Do not make any configuration changes now. Just learn what you can view and configure. "Cancel" is your friend.

If there is an applicable, configurable, and End User permitted change that can be made in the modem then I would expect that the Upload Speed would increase and improve per the graph show in Post #37.

How much of an increase that might be I do not know.....

Once outside of our own configurable network devices there is almost nothing that can be done to improve speeds with the possible exception of something within the control of and configurable by the ISP.

Channel #2 may be the problem unless it is shown or proven that the current configuration is correct.

If incorrect, the configuration must be changed and if that is not possible then a replacement modem may be needed. There could be some modem fault or problem causing the Channel to default to the indicated configuration settings.


As for graphs:

Simply pause the uploads or otherwise take some screen shots during the process. Post the results. Yet if all the graphs can continually do or show is that the experienced upload speeds(i.e., My Upload Speed 8.3 Mbps) is slower than the comparisons being made - well that is already established.

Key is to find some other way(s) to observe what else may be happening and that will lead to the culprit.

Leave the admin window into the Shaw Modem open. Try uploads etc. at various times and under different circumstances. Keep notes. Watch/check if the table or log changes.

If you know other people in your area with the Shaw Modem ask them to check their Shaw table and logs. Compare configuration settings.

 

[vguy95]

@Ralston18

https://imgur.com/BiWRvIw

View: https://imgur.com/BiWRvIw


I scrolled to the very right so you can see this, its for upload, the very last channel is listed as this too.

 

[vguy95]

@Ralston18 the tabs showing this information, its listed under "Shaw Network" there is no option to change anything that I can see in this area.

 

[Ralston18]

Still showing Upstream Channel 2 as different from the other channels.

I would not expect that there would be options within the logs to make changes if changes are indeed possible.

More likely the configuration changes would be under some Advanced setting.

Key is to discover what the correct settings should be and if not as they should be then how to correct or change. Again, if even possible to change. The last thing Shaw (or any ISP for that matter) wants is for end users to be tinkering with the settings according to some YouTube or other Internet "advice". Often does more harm than good.....

If the current shown Upstream configuration settings are the default values then those values are likely what Shaw has chosen. Maybe via firmware.

From Post #27:

"If that was the case then why dont other Twitch streamers who use the same software as me, same modem as me, have the same problem as me? Whom are in my city, just outside of my node? "

Ask 3 or 4 of them to share their respective Shaw Modem Downstream and Upstream tables with you. Especially those Twitch Streamers who have higher Upstream rates.

What differences, if any, exist?

 

[vguy95]

Still showing Upstream Channel 2 as different from the other channels.

I would not expect that there would be options within the logs to make changes if changes are indeed possible.

More likely the configuration changes would be under some Advanced setting.

Key is to discover what the correct settings should be and if not as they should be then how to correct or change. Again, if even possible to change. The last thing Shaw (or any ISP for that matter) wants is for end users to be tinkering with the settings according to some YouTube or other Internet "advice". Often does more harm than good.....

If the current shown Upstream configuration settings are the default values then those values are likely what Shaw has chosen. Maybe via firmware.

From Post #27:

"If that was the case then why dont other Twitch streamers who use the same software as me, same modem as me, have the same problem as me? Whom are in my city, just outside of my node? "

Ask 3 or 4 of them to share their respective Shaw Modem Downstream and Upstream tables with you. Especially those Twitch Streamers who have higher Upstream rates.

What differences, if any, exist?

I am trying to get information on this today, other people in my city who also stream and who are also with Shaw.

That table looks like its possibly set by Shaw itself, not something that I can tinker with. It doesnt look like I can really change much in the advanced settings eithers.

https://imgur.com/TfZQYDJ

View: https://imgur.com/TfZQYDJ

 

[Ralston18]

Set Port Forwarding aside for the time being.

Port Forwarding is a router function and the Shaw modem is not being used as a router.

And the issue is Upstream Speeds which are likely to be much the same, all other things being equal, regardless of the targeted IP : Port

Remember: Uploads are working despite not being as fast as you expect and would like.

If Port Forwarding is misconfigured then uploads may not work at all.

 

[vguy95]

@Ralston18

testmy.net and inspector twitch tv are programs are sites that provide me a graph when I do an upload to their site or the twitch servers. I do not know how to plot a graph to dropbox or see an average speed like that.

 

[Ralston18]

The graphs are useful only if they provide some sort of visual data that helps identify where the Upload Stream is being slowed or limited.

5.8 GB is slower than the other comparative data being presented. That is established.

You do not need a graph, for example, to compare the Upstream speeds of other Shaw users.

Just obtain copies of their Downstream and Upstream configurations. They do not even need to be identified by any means. Just label their tables as Comparison A, Comparison B, etc..... Just to have some way to reference any given comparison table.

Regarding testmy.net and twitch TV:

If some graph is provided by the target website just take a screen shot. Then post that screenshot via imgur as you have done with other images.

However, if you upload to various sites and the Upstream speeds are faster or slower then that is more likely a function of the website itself. Upload speeds can only be as fast as the slowest link in the process.

No harm in testing Upload speeds to various sites as long as you are as consistent as possible. For example, be sure that you Upload the same file to all targeted websites.

If the Upload speeds continually vary and change along the way then again that is out of both your control and Shaw's control.

 

[vguy95]

@Ralston18

I feel like you aren't listening to me. Virtually every application that I use, shows that my upload speeds are slower than normal. Testmy.net even shows that my upload speeds are SLOWER, WITHIN my CITY, ON THE SAME PROVIDER, than average, by over 70%. And I have the fastest connection with this provider, IN THE CITY! Which means I should be ABOVE that average, not BELOW.

Every Twitch server I have tried to stream to, has this problem where the upload spikes to 49 Kbps, 1 Mbps, 2 Mbps, 3 Mbps and so on. Testmy.net uploads (of 100 MB files) show this EXACT same issue. Inspector twitch, shows this exact same issue in the form of a graph. My Streamlabs OBS (streaming software) shows my upload in live action, dropping to 1 Mbps and records the frames dropped (because a 1080p stream requires 6 Mbps constant upload) so if it drops to like 1-2-3-4 bam, you drop frames.

Dropbox uploads are slow too, way slower than they should be. How much more evidence do I need, to show that my speeds are consistently very slow? Ookla software is the only speedtest that doesn't show an issue, and that connects to local servers within the city, uses multithreading, and the software discards 30% of your slowest speeds.

Why is this taking so long to diagnose? And why do people keep talking about my hardware, my modem, etc, when historically, I have told you and others, that I had this exact same problem in the past, and after talking to 10+ different technicians who couldn't find the problem, a plant specialist who works on the infrastructure admitted that he found problems in the node, and immediately, those graphs that I had problems with (like now) cleared up the second he said he found the issue.

I am not convinced by anyones comments so far that any of this is related to my hardware, my home, anything in my home at all. Nothing anyone has said has convinced me otherwise, what I want to know is how do I show that the problem is in the node and NOT at my computer.

It is getting EXTREMELY tiresome slugging along uploading all this information and it just seems like you guys ignore the history of the problem when I keep telling you 100% of the time, yes 100%, do you understand, 100% of the time I have had a problem with Shaw internet, it has been in the node. Not ONE time, EVER, was there a problem locally within my home.

I believe the threshold for what their people think is "acceptable" for spikes is not acceptable for things I do, such as LIVE STREAMING. For me, it matters if there are spikes downwards to 1 Mbps, for other people, that doesn't usually matter. The issue is, as a consumer, I am not allowed to talk to the people who monitor the network.

 

[vguy95]

@Ralston18 Twitch servers are extremely clean and VERY fast btw. If Twitch servers had a problem, there would be THOUSANDS of people complaining all at once. These are very fast servers. People rely on these servers for very large incomes in some circumstances.

 

[vguy95]

https://imgur.com/rfX69As

View: https://imgur.com/rfX69As


Do you know how bad this is? This shows my connection is terrible, to like every single server on twitch. When my internet was working properly, all of those servers were fine. This is unbelievable that techs can come here and turn a blind eye to this issue thats literally everywhere on the internet for me.

 

[Ralston18]

The Upload Stream speed from an earlier post was 8.3 Mbps.

An "eyeballed" average of the above Twitch Bandwidth Test results is noticeably less than 8.3 Mbps.

That said, it is not helpful to continue demonstrating that your Upload Streams are slower than expected.

You must do some tests or look for other information that may be helpful in discovering the reason(s) that Upload Streams are slower that expected.

I am no longer sure what Upload Stream speed is expected. Shaw may be claiming some guaranteed Upload speed but such guarantees have all sorts of caveats and loopholes.

Just, for the record, what Downstream and Upstream performance does yourShaw plan/contract include? Are the speeds stated and with what caveats?

3 Points:

1 ) If the reason is within your system or network you may be able to do something to fix the problem. A bad Ethernet cable or misconfigured network adapter as simple reasons.

2) If the reason is between your system's modem or router and Shaw 's servers then there may be something that can be fixed if that "something" can be discovered. A problem coax splitter or rodent chewed cable with exposed conductor as simple reasons.

For example the Upload Channel Configuration, Channel #2 in particular, seems not to be what I would expect. I have no idea what to expect and it is in your hands to get some comparison screens from other Shaw Modem users that you know and have faster Upload Stream speeds per their respective Twitch Bandwidth Test results.

3) Any problems beyond Shaw (including Twitch) are out of both your and Shaw's access and ability to fix. No matter how simple the reason....
And, in full agreement, as with any service thousands of people complaining would clearly indicate a problem on Twitch's end. But not on the ISPs sending traffic to Twitch.

Also:

"What is a good upload speed for streaming?"

Check the speeds listed about halfway down the link.

Also, from the link:


"💬 FAQs
What is a good upload speed for Twitch streaming?
A good upload speed for Twitch streaming is between 5 Mbps and 7.4 Mbps. The exact speed you need depends on which resolution and frame rate you stream with, as well as the type of content you’re streaming."

Likewise:

https://golightstream.com/upload-speed-for-streaming/

From the link:

"Twitch
This is a video streaming platform predominantly used for gaming purposes; however, users have the ability to live stream any type of content. The recommended upload speed for Twitch is 3 Mbps at a minimum.

There are other recommended speeds for Twitch depending on your video resolution. If you are streaming 720 p (or 60 fps), you’ll need 4.5 Mbps. The same goes for 1080 p (30 fps). If you are streaming 1080 p (60 fps), you will need at least 6 Mbps."

= = = =

Per the Twitch Bandwidth results etc. the current Upstream speeds might better be just accepted and everything left alone.

I no longer know what else to suggest.

 

[vguy95]

"I'm a DOCSIS/PON engineer for a different large ISP. This 100% sounds like an intermittent noise floor on your node, caused by some piece of failing equipment (usually an amp or an end of line terminator) in your neighborhood.

Download and run Pingplotter, ping a few different addresses (your router, and a few different websites) so you can clearly show when its down or when there's packet loss. Get a few days worth of data, call your ISP, request a tech come out, and show them your data. Request that they escalate to a mainatance/"outside plant" tech to check things out in your neighborhood again. It may take a few tries (a lot of their troubleshooting and repair is trial and error, replace a part and see if that helps), but they'll eventually find it. Just gotta get the right tech on the job"

This is what someone on reddit told me to do. This makes sense to me but I already did the pingplotter thing that showed some weird results, so I showed him and he said this:


"Sure, no prob!
The first few screenshots from Pingplotter show that the issue is between your modem and the first router at the ISP (a CMTS). This isn't concrete proof that it's a noise floor or a node issue, but this is what we would see with that type of issue.
Are you able to log into your modem and get screenshots of the DOCSIS levels page? You'll usually see a few big tables, with a list of frequencies and power levels. We'll want to check everything there, but I'm mainly concerned about the upstream side, particularly the SNR/MER if your modem will show it. If you're able to get screenshots of that when its working and when it's not working, that should give us our answer. I would expect to see SNR/MER tank when your connection drops out from a noise floor."

 

[Ralston18]

Very much what has been posted to date regarding pingplotter and all the other tests that have been run.

From the engineer:

" Are you able to log into your modem and get screenshots of the DOCSIS levels page? You'll usually see a few big tables, with a list of frequencies and power levels"

Yes. That information may be in the Shaw modem's logs.

As before: look for and post those DOCSIS level tables if available. Log into the modem as you did to obtain the Upstream and Downstream tables.

You will looking for tables and logs similar to what is shown in the following links:

https://www.howtogeek.com/240575/ho...ms-diagnostic-page-when-something-goes-wrong/

https://pickmymodem.com/signal-levels-docsis-3-03-1-cable-modem/

For comparison purposes ask the other Shaw users that you know to share their Shaw Modem DOCSIS tables with you. Compare.

I continue to wonder about the Upstream Channel 2 outlier. Has that engineer seen the Channel Bonding Values and commented? Send him a link to this thread. Noted that he commented "but I'm mainly concerned about the upstream side...."

Sidebar:

When it comes to modems, where can things go wrong?

https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/s...docsis/12199-initialization-pdf-wallchart.pdf

And that is just Initialization.

 

[vguy95]

Very much what has been posted to date regarding pingplotter and all the other tests that have been run.

From the engineer:

" Are you able to log into your modem and get screenshots of the DOCSIS levels page? You'll usually see a few big tables, with a list of frequencies and power levels"

Yes. That information may be in the Shaw modem's logs.

As before: look for and post those DOCSIS level tables if available. Log into the modem as you did to obtain the Upstream and Downstream tables.

You will looking for tables and logs similar to what is shown in the following links:

https://www.howtogeek.com/240575/ho...ms-diagnostic-page-when-something-goes-wrong/

https://pickmymodem.com/signal-levels-docsis-3-03-1-cable-modem/

For comparison purposes ask the other Shaw users that you know to share their Shaw Modem DOCSIS tables with you. Compare.

I continue to wonder about the Upstream Channel 2 outlier. Has that engineer seen the Channel Bonding Values and commented? Send him a link to this thread. Noted that he commented "but I'm mainly concerned about the upstream side...."

Sidebar:

When it comes to modems, where can things go wrong?

https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/s...docsis/12199-initialization-pdf-wallchart.pdf

And that is just Initialization.

I think some of the information is hidden from my side that hes requesting because I cannot find those specific things he was looking for. The thing I found interesting is he sees problems from the pingplotter I posted. I am still asking others about this, nobody replied to me yet... regarding the upstream channels on Shaw of people within my city