dave.m
21-07-2004, 16:04
Hi,
I've been a contented NTL BB user for over 3 years now (since the service went live in my area) and over that time I've had very good service from them. Unfortunately that's changed now, and I'm getting a repeated problem which is really annoying me due the time spent explaining the same problem to CS and then having a service/installation engineer out only to find there is nothing wrong with the cable modem or connections but Network problems.
My re-occurring problem is the falling downstream Signal to Noise ratio, I check it through my Surfboard 3100 or docsisdiag util. Currently the level is fluctuating between 21 and 26db (21-24 overnight/morning. 23-26 during the day), anything below 24db and I get no service which sometimes causes the cable modem reboots itself too. The last visit from the Network Engineer fixed the level at 27db(UBR change I think), but this was only with a -12db(out) attenuator attached. A month has now passed and the level has fallen back down to its current state and I'm now having to go through CS trying to explain the problem again which they always think lies with my PC due to the connection being intermittent (CS did a test from their end which supposedly came back ok). When the Network Engineer was here last, I asked him why the levels would drop like that, the two reasons he gave me were either network re-balancing or fluctuations in temperature (outside I presume). The later explanation does make sense somewhat because the SNR level drops a few dbs overnight and then picks up during the day again, although I don't think temperature is causing the overall drop. As I'm one of the early few that bought my cable modem, I wanted to make sure there wasnâ₠¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t anything wrong with it (causing me to pay extra for the rental only scheme if there was), so I took it to my brothers house which is in the next town. He also has a Surfboard 3100 with a healthy SNR of 36db. I swapped my cable modem with his to see if I would get the same SNR as his, mine also showed 36db which to me confirms its not the problem and still must be a Network problem.
What I'd like to know is whether this kind of problem is happening to other people and if so why don't NTL have the ability to detect this problem when they do network re-balancing. It makes me think this problem will get worse when they upgrade service speeds in August.
TIA
Dave
Kettering (Northants) area.
I've been a contented NTL BB user for over 3 years now (since the service went live in my area) and over that time I've had very good service from them. Unfortunately that's changed now, and I'm getting a repeated problem which is really annoying me due the time spent explaining the same problem to CS and then having a service/installation engineer out only to find there is nothing wrong with the cable modem or connections but Network problems.
My re-occurring problem is the falling downstream Signal to Noise ratio, I check it through my Surfboard 3100 or docsisdiag util. Currently the level is fluctuating between 21 and 26db (21-24 overnight/morning. 23-26 during the day), anything below 24db and I get no service which sometimes causes the cable modem reboots itself too. The last visit from the Network Engineer fixed the level at 27db(UBR change I think), but this was only with a -12db(out) attenuator attached. A month has now passed and the level has fallen back down to its current state and I'm now having to go through CS trying to explain the problem again which they always think lies with my PC due to the connection being intermittent (CS did a test from their end which supposedly came back ok). When the Network Engineer was here last, I asked him why the levels would drop like that, the two reasons he gave me were either network re-balancing or fluctuations in temperature (outside I presume). The later explanation does make sense somewhat because the SNR level drops a few dbs overnight and then picks up during the day again, although I don't think temperature is causing the overall drop. As I'm one of the early few that bought my cable modem, I wanted to make sure there wasnâ₠¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t anything wrong with it (causing me to pay extra for the rental only scheme if there was), so I took it to my brothers house which is in the next town. He also has a Surfboard 3100 with a healthy SNR of 36db. I swapped my cable modem with his to see if I would get the same SNR as his, mine also showed 36db which to me confirms its not the problem and still must be a Network problem.
What I'd like to know is whether this kind of problem is happening to other people and if so why don't NTL have the ability to detect this problem when they do network re-balancing. It makes me think this problem will get worse when they upgrade service speeds in August.
TIA
Dave
Kettering (Northants) area.