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mattGPT's avatar
mattGPT
New Contributor II
2 years ago

up to 25% packet loss between 11pm-8am

It usually starts dropping packets late in the evening and the problem persists until morning. 300/10 service, download doesn't seem to be affected, only packets sent out. Cable modem signal is pretty hot here and increases as the temperature drops or sun goes down, some channels can see as much as +15db, running a -9db attenuator on it now to keep the levels closer to optimal but this doesn't seem to have any affect on packet loss during the hours specified. Router/modem is fairly new, purchased within the last year I believe, Arris SB8200. 

The upload almost never reaches 10Mbps , usually around 5-7.5Mbps depending on the time of day but I rarely see it dropping packets during daylight hours, only at night. I can run back to back tests during the hours it starts dropping packets and see upwards of 25% at the worst.

  • Battlefieldpack's avatar
    Battlefieldpack
    New Contributor II

    This is standard for Cox.  They refuse to lay more cable, a few of us even tried to complain to the FCC, but Cox just comes back at you with standard corporate lawyer trash, "It is acceptable enough, and works a "MAJORITY" of the time."  The worst offender is anything traveling down like what, 1 of 2 cables, on the route to the regional AWS.  

  • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
    WiderMouthOpen
    Esteemed Contributor

    First, does the packet loss happen if you connect your PC direct to the SB8200? Next, can you post your upstream levels? Last, besides the attenuator, can you describe the coaxial setup from the street to the room the modem is in?

    • mattGPT's avatar
      mattGPT
      New Contributor II

      I'll do that this evening when it starts acting up. Do you want the levels without the attenuator in line or with? Here is it now with the -9db attenuator. Usually drops about 3-4db on the upstream at night, without the attenuator it can dip into the high 20's range.

      Coax comes from high on a pole outside to the back of the house into a box with a coupler adapter, then down into a hole drilled into the brick and I'm guessing under the house then up through the floor into the room with the cable modem. I'll get a flashlight and see if there are any adapters of any sort in the line under the house. Only the cable modem is connected to the coax from Cox..

      • WiderMouthOpen's avatar
        WiderMouthOpen
        Esteemed Contributor
        Usually drops about 3-4db on the upstream at night

        Does the dropping of the upstream relate directly to the time you start to get packet loss? Anything in the logs around the time of the packetloss or do you show any uncorrectables on the downstream channels? So far I am thinking it is weather/temp. related to something outside, maybe your tap.

  • I am experiencing this exact same issue between 7/8pm and 7/8am. I run a PingPlotter to track activity 24/7 and see 10-30% packet loss during these hours as well as T3-timeouts in modem logs.

    Any suggestions on how to get Cox to resolve this when it happens outside their field techs hours?