[NTLUG:Discuss] What is the problem? router or cable?

[Brian Koontz]

On Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 05:14:37PM +0000, m m wrote:
> except internet light which turned to yellow and blinking.
> yesterday I replaced a brand new Linksys router, it is even worse.

Linksys is crap.  I can't tell you how many Linksys boxes I've gone
through (some new, some hand-me-downs).  It's low-end Cisco gear with
buggy firmware.  You'll be better off with the Belkin.

As for your problem: I have occassional timeouts with TW, usually late
in the evening.  Something you might want to check is your modem
signal-to-noise ratios [1].  I had a lot of noise at one time, resulting in
reduced throughput.  I carefully charted throughput using the speed
tests on dslreports.com/speeedtests over a several-day period, then
talked to TW.  It took a couple of reps (if I figure out I'm not going
anywhere with a particular rep, I politely end the call as soon as
possible and call back...there are some reps that have a clue, most
don't), but they finally did some line checks and figured out there was
a problem at their end.  My throughput times are over 3M/750K now, which
is about par when running WPA over a wireless connection.

I realize your problem isn't about throughput, but I would take a
similar approach to your problem.   Get your SNR numbers, and be
prepared to call several times until you get a rep that knows something.

  --Brian