Spectrum service, not.

[ChuckTin]

This morning our spectrum service is out _again_. This is happening twice a week now and I'm betting that if I call tech support will blow me off with "no report of an outage in your area".
So I need some ammunition.
Other then a pen and ink diary is there a log in our router setup that records the signal outages?

 

[thiggins]

What router are you using?

 

[ChuckTin]

Linksys AC4000 MU-MIMO

 

[RMerlin]

I would check the state of the modem during the outage, just to confirm that the issue is indeed with the service or the modem, and not with your router.

 

[ChuckTin]

I looked at the router via the web interface and could not find anything like a service log recording uptime. Was I looking in the right source?

 

[RMerlin]

I looked at the router via the web interface and could not find anything like a service log recording uptime. Was I looking in the right source?

The router will not show any info about the modem itself.

 

[ChuckTin]

Well the signal is demodulized at the modem, split and then passed to the router and the TV, that's the moden's function, yes?
So I need to be able to show Spectrum that either their signal or _their_ Modem is faculty. Since the TV hasn't exhibited any faults I'm wanting to believe what is occurring is that the internet part of the signal is being blocked or turned off before it reaches the house.

 

[degrub]

you likely have to connect your pc to the modem LAN port directly using the same IP address range as the modem LAN (should be the WAN address in your router config page). There is usually a diagnostic page / logs/ etc available. May have to log in with a default account - maybe listed on the modem case ? or in your documents provided.

 

[ChuckTin]

you likely have to connect your pc to the modem LAN port directly using the same IP address range as the modem LAN (should be the WAN address in your router config page). There is usually a diagnostic page / logs/ etc available. May have to log in with a default account - maybe listed on the modem case ? or in your documents provided.

I looked first thing but did not find anything like a service log. Spectrum signal has been up all week _but_ Email have been blocked temporarily twice and for both my Android service and Wifie's iPhone. Weird.

 

[topazann]

Spectrum is losing customers in droves. They advertise that they're leading the way in technology and innovation, but the truth is, they're way behind. They bit off more than they could chew buying Time Warner Cable, Brighthouse, etc.. Fees have gone up on every product and there isn't one item in the system that has a $0.00 charge. I'm surprised they haven't implemented and entry fee to the retail stores. They're trying to bring in revenue wherever they can. A $1 added to this or that added to a monthly bill multiplied by 30 million customers.. you can see how a single dollar on every customers bill is a pure and simply money maker.
Regards, onplanners

 

[Klueless]

You might find something called PingPlotter useful? It's a combination tracert/ping package that graphically charts results that span hours and even days.

It will likely give you the "pen and ink diary" of failures that you seek. In addition it might even pin point where the failure is.

• Hop 1 is your router. If it fails there then it's you.
• Hop 2 is the first router in the Spectrum network. (There are several.) If it fails there then it's :
  • your router's WAN port
  • the Ethernet cable between your router and modem
  • the modem or the cables between the modem and Spectrum's first router. (I don't know where you live but where I am "squirrel chews" are common, they chew the cables. The resultant problems typically surface during bad weather.)
  • the Spectrum router
• Hops 3, 4 ... are also Spectrum routers. If it fails there it's all on them.)

This PingPlotter stuff just might provide the documentation you're looking for.

I've used it before. It found an intermittent problem with a router in my ISP's network. (I used the documentation to persuade the ISP to look closer. They then fixed it.) It even found a stink bug in one of my range extenders once.

 

[ChuckTin]

Thanks Klueless I'll give that a look!

 

[distilled]

If you can log into the cablemodem and look at diagnostic logs, you might be able to make your case with their own data.

There are a handful of different default logins for Spectrum/TW modems, the most common are:

admin / password
technician / C0nf1gur3Ubee#
technician / T!m3W4rn3rC4bl3

In my area it is admin / password and technician / Conf1gur3Ubee#

I read somewhere that in some places, the username is the last eight digits of the MAC without the : or -, and the password is c0nf1gur3m3

Spectrum customer service makes ISIS look good. You specifically said in the original post in this thread that you are looking for "ammunition". I want to suggest .50 caliber anti-aircraft rounds, but in today's violent, litigious world, even joking about that would be uncouth. So don't go above .223.

 

[Klueless]

Spectrum signal has been up all week _but_ Email have been blocked temporarily twice and for both my Android service and Wifie's iPhone.

It occurs to me when you say "spectrum signal" I'm not sure what you're trying to say?

And "E-mail blocked"? What does that mean? Everything works but e-mail?

In any case I worked a problem for a friend with similar symptoms. Intermittent outages Sometimes minutes. Sometimes hours. The ISP had done a fairly good job troubleshooting but was getting no where. I just happened to be over when the kids started screaming, "no TV". Everything was down.

I pinged by name (e.g., google.com). Nothing. I pinged by IP address (e.g., 8.8.8.8). Success! I loaded up something called dnsbench (or namebench?) It showed the ISP's name server was flaking out. I set my laptop to use a different name server and I started working while everyone else was still out.

While we were discussing what to do next things came back. They called the ISP the next day with what we had observed. It's been a couple of years now, ISP never called back but they haven't been down since.

It's a looong shot but, hey, ya never know.

 

[Klueless]

Spectrum is losing customers in droves. They advertise that they're leading the way in technology and innovation, but the truth is, they're way behind. They bit off more than they could chew buying Time Warner Cable ...

Part of me agrees with you. Part of me doesn't.

I'm sure, to some extent, regions vary. Things run fairly well in our area so we may just have a little less to complain about than you. Luck of the draw there I guess.

Time Warner in our area was bad. The only alternative we had was the local phone company with 7 Mbps DSL. TW simply priced a 7 Mbps service to drive out the phone company. Their "up to" 30 Mbps service was astronomical (no local competition) and you never saw the full 30 Mbps.

When the Feds got rid of analogue over the airwaves TW got a flood of business because they still ran analogue over their cables. (IMO one reason you only got "up to" speeds.)

When Spectrum came in they did everything they could to both give you the speed you paid for and to increase speed offerings. I signed up for 60 (and they gave me 70). The following Christmas they raised their base offering to 100. With little to no fanfare they simply told me I would be getting 100 (I get 110) with no increase in price.

They accomplished some of this by getting rid of analogue. That meant that all secondary TVs would now need a "box" (for $10 / mo.). People were outraged. Spectrum did do a poor job on PR because they had already implemented an affordable alternative. All they had to do was "brag" about it. They didn't.

The extra bandwidth had facilitated streaming and they developed an app that allowed you to stream all the Spectrum programming for no extra charge. Some smart TVs already supported it. Worse case all one had to do was pickup a Roku for $40.​

Before Spectrum came in I had crappy Internet and overpriced satellite TV. Since Spectrum I finally have decent high speed Internet and TV that is every bit as good as my old satellite service. I have better for way less. And, I finally have the option of "cutting the cord".

 

[ChuckTin]

Spectrum internet has been out, briefly 3x this week. Oh yeah, and they're working to keep the service going because of Corona.
I just wish the BS I'm seeing about how "they're" doing in spite of the Corona meant they were giving me a 6-pack for everytime they mention the virus. Something to do.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Spectrum internet has been out, briefly 3x this week. Oh yeah, and they're working to keep the service going because of Corona.
I just wish the BS I'm seeing about how "they're" doing in spite of the Corona meant they were giving me a 6-pack for everytime they mention the virus. Something to do.

Browse to the IP address of the cable modem. http://192.168.100.1/cmLogs.htm takes me right into my Motorola SB6141 Log.

Inspect the modem log for entries during your suspected signal trouble. If the modem log only shows normal boot entries from the last reboot, the trouble may be elsewhere.

OE

 

[distilled]

I just wish the BS I'm seeing about how "they're" doing in spite of the Corona meant they were giving me a 6-pack for everytime they mention the virus.

If you are saying that Spectrum make excuses for their shortcomings so often that it is driving you to drink, pull up a barstool, the next round is on me.

I am with Klueless though. Their customer support is generally abysmal, you get lied to and treated like pond scum 99% of the time. But the good side of it - at least in my area - is that their network seems robust, and one rarely has to talk to them. I pay for 100 M/bps and typically get ~230. I feel like if I called their hotline and asked their techs what the SQR of -25 is, the person I asked would short circuit and have to.be taken away in a straightjacket, middle school math is rocket science to those morons, but someone somewhere in the annals of their network architecture department actually knew what they were doing.

 

[Natey2]

This morning our spectrum service is out _again_. This is happening twice a week now and I'm betting that if I call tech support will blow me off with "no report of an outage in your area".

I'm with Spectrum too; they took over Time Warner Cable. There were a few outages during this pandemic, probably due to the increased load of more people working and schooling from home.

They have a monopoly here, and the Gigabit Fiber Internet services (Google, Verizon, etc) don't offer service in my area, or I'd switch.

Install the MySpectrum mobile app: outages in your area are indicated there.

 

[distilled]

The outages became much more frequent here also, so I added a Linksys LB1120 4G modem to back up Spectrum. The AC86U flips over automatically, and a Home Assistant script detects the change in IP, alerts me, and automatically disconnects several bandwidth intensive network services, to save on 4G costs. The switch causes a brief interruption in critical (work from home) service, but it is much better than going a day or two without internet. The cost is a nominal $8/month per gig of traffic, which would get expensive if streaming video (Netflix or security camera feeds), but it is fine for RDP over VPN for work. Cheap insurance, IMHO.