Hey guys! What should I do?

[ewwatson]

I have a ARRIS / Motorola SurfBoard SB6121 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem, and ASUS RT-N66U Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router. When it works it works well. But for the last month or two I keep having to reboot both in order to get working wifi. Then Wifi will work for a few hours and then just die or crawl to a snail pase. I have fast wifi - 50 down and 5 up. Time Warner. The router firmware is up to date. However I don't know if the modem is up to date. Or if that has updates?

The same thing happened to my router/modem a few years ago. I replaced them and it fixed it. Now the same thing is happening again? Do you guys have any tips on fixing or trouble shooting my current setup? Or should I just replace them?

 

[Ferdowsi]

The Arris support site has some documentation on the SB6121 including- User Guide, Drivers & Firmware, FAQ's:

http://arris.force.com/consumers/pk...teways&s=N/A&m=SB6121&t=Please select a Topic

Maybe you can telnet or http into it to determine whether an update is available.

Yesterday my friend said he was going to plug a a device onto a timer so it reboots at 3:30 AM...LOL. I suppose you could try that.

 

[ewwatson]

The problem is I don't know where the hell the issue lies? With the modem? The router? The cable company? Or some other moving piece?

 

[Rankdropper84]

You need to bridge your modem to your router if thats a wifi model and if not then you need to go through and disable all security on your modem. Disable DHCP if it has that also. Kind of a short reply but it should get you started

edit: check your modem power levels at 192.168.100.1
Also check to verify the issue is only with wifi

 

[Deleted member 22229]

You need to bridge your modem to your router if thats a wifi model and if not then you need to go through and disable all security on your modem. Disable DHCP if it has that also. Kind of a short reply but it should get you started

edit: check your modem power levels at 192.168.100.1
Also check to verify the issue is only with wifi

The modem the op has is a straight cable modem no wireless. Also firmware for cable modems is pushed by the ISP there is nothing the op can do on his end to change it.

 

[antdes45]

Some firmware versions corrupted some settings in the NVRAM on the N66U if I remember correctly, and when you upgrade the firmware to a newer version you have to clear the NVRAM completely to get the router working properly again.

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/faq-nvram-and-factory-default-reset.22822/

 

[ewwatson]

The modem you cant update on your own right? Thank you I guess I'll try a factory reset.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

The modem you cant update on your own right? Thank you I guess I'll try a factory reset.

No your ISP takes care of any modem firmware upgrades.

 

[Ferdowsi]

No your ISP takes care of any modem firmware upgrades.

If I were to purchase a modem and register it with my provider, would they leave the firmware alone?

 

[Rankdropper84]

The modem the op has is a straight cable modem no wireless. Also firmware for cable modems is pushed by the ISP there is nothing the op can do on his end to change it.

He should still be able to login to his modem at 192.168.100.1 and be able to look through the settings and check for anything security related

 

[RMerlin]

He should still be able to login to his modem at 192.168.100.1 and be able to look through the settings and check for anything security related

Depends on the ISP. Over here, Vidéotron pushes a config that disables the web interface the first time the modem is seen on the network.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

If I were to purchase a modem and register it with my provider, would they leave the firmware alone?

Generally no your ISP will push what ever stable firmware they are using on any brand of modem on there network. The process is automatic and out of your control. This applies to rented modems and customer owned modems for most ISP's. There are some ISP's that will not include firmware upgrades for customer owned modems so you would have to call and inquire. I have Comcast here and they push firmware for both.

Also as Merlin stated some ISP's can and will lock out certain features and make them unavailable to the end user it really all depends on what the ISP's wants to do.

 

[netwrks]

Depends on the ISP. Over here, Vidéotron pushes a config that disables the web interface the first time the modem is seen on the network.

Thankfully, Rogers and Bell doesn't do that. however, they do dictate what router / modem combo goes on their networks..

 

[ChikkSpot]

If I were to purchase a modem and register it with my provider, would they leave the firmware alone?

no they would not. in fact when you register that's the FIRST thing they would do. those modems are designed so that it comes with basically no config and it's up to the ISP to flash it to work with their network, and have NO user firmware upgrade capability.

 

[jegesq]

TWC does not push firmware to privately owned cable modems. Rankdropper is also correct that the SB6121 is NOT user upgradeable.

The end user can, however, check the event and system logs for the SB6121 by accessing 192.168.100.1 in a browser of a computer connected to the modem (or the router connected to the modem). Depending on what they show, you can determine whether or not you're experiencing signal loss from your ISP or some other connectivity issue, or whether the problem lies elsewhere. (Try the forums at DSLReports.com to get more info about TWC and the Arris modems).

I assume you've also checked the event and system logs for the N66U?

What about a site survey of your environment to rule out interference from other nearby AP's?