CGN3ACSMR Losing Internet Dozens of Times Daily

[JesseAndJen]

Hello, first time poster but long time forum lurker

We've been having an extremely frustrating  issue where the CGN3ACSMR is losing it's Internet connectivity dozens of times daily. The interruptions have been happening for over half a year and we've just been dealing with it as all support so far has not resolved the issue. I'll try to break down the details as much as possible below.

• No other cable/coax devices. No splitters.
• No additional router/gateway, only the CGN3ACSMR.
• The only configuration changes I have made are changing the Admin password and the 2.4Ghz and 2.5Ghz network names & passwords.
• Outages often only last  2-3 minutes (but can go on for an hour or two), and often happen in succession.  It may be on and off multiple times an hour for a few hours and then no issues for a few hours. If we're lucky, we get a whole day without problems but that's only a few times a month now.

• The blue lights will go off and then slowly flicker back on to regain connection. During this time, the local IP for CGN3ACSMR is inaccessible (192.168.0.1). Shortly after it starts to reconnect, but before Internet connectivity is established, the CGN3ACSMR login page (192.168.0.1), opens up on an active browser and displays a previous incorrect URL (pictured below). During this period after it has lost connection but is regaining connection (the UL and DL lights are blinking green), all URLs lead to the the CGN3ACSMR login page but display the odd URL. Example: apple.com/login.html.
• Internet outages seem to be isolated to us as nobody else we have talked to in our building (apartment), are having similar issues.
• When the Internet is functional and uplink/downlink has been established (blue status lights), performance is fine. I have not noticed latency spikes.

• Initially when having Rogers install our Internet, the tech mentioned that he noticed there was an abnormal amount of noise on the connection and installed two attenuators, I can only assume they are dampening the noise to deliver a more consistent signal. One was installed coming out of the wall, the other in to the modem.
• The Modem/Router has been replaced two times (all CGN3ACSMR models)
• The first tech to replace it installed a second attenuator coming out of the wall, three in total, thinking that would solve the issue. It did not.
• The second tech to replace it looked at all the attenuators and thought it was crazy and removed the two out of the wall but left the one on the modem. I have found though trial and error that removing this attenuator has caused the outages to become shorter in length but just as frequent. The second tech also stated that he switched our main line to the main switch in our apartment building so we are now on our own port and not on a splitter with another customer. We thought that had resolved the issue as all was good for the rest of the evening but the issue came back the following day.
• Since then we have just dealt with it as we have been so frustrated in the techs knowledge of troubleshooting as it just seems they checked the wires/cabling and didn't resolve the issue. The second tech even told me "you shouldn't change the default network name and password. That's probably what's causing the issue." He then proceeded to accuse me of modifying further settings and causing the issue on the router.

• Besides testing without the attenuator, I have also done some isolation on the network. We have multiple computers/devices running iOS, Windows 7, Windows 10 and Mac OS X. I isolated the network by testing WiFi only and LAN only. I have further isolated to only allowing one computer at a time on the network and the issue persists. Even with just iPhones and all computers powered down, the issue persists.
• All devices are up to date with security fixes and Malware & Virus scans have come up clean.
• On another post within the Rogers Community Forums, I saw someone point out that one should be seeing two IP addresses in the Status window for IPv4 and IPv6, I only see IPv4 but am not sure if this is an issue. IT shows the IP address with a comma after it but no second IP address.

Below are some screenshots showing some information that I thought could be helpful...sorry for the ultra wide screen format, I run in 21:9.

Downstream Overview

Port ID	Frequency (MHz)	Modulation	Signal strength (dBmV)	Channel ID	Signal noise ratio (dB)
1	639000000	256QAM	8.800	38	38.983
2	363000000	256QAM	7.800	10	40.366
3	369000000	256QAM	7.700	11	40.366
4	375000000	256QAM	8.200	12	40.366
5	381000000	256QAM	7.900	13	40.366
6	387000000	256QAM	7.800	14	40.366
7	393000000	256QAM	7.900	15	40.366
8	399000000	256QAM	8.300	16	40.946
9	405000000	256QAM	8.600	17	40.366
10	411000000	256QAM	8.500	18	40.366
11	417000000	256QAM	8.400	19	40.366
12	423000000	256QAM	8.500	20	40.946
13	429000000	256QAM	8.500	21	40.946
14	435000000	256QAM	8.900	22	40.366
15	441000000	256QAM	8.900	23	40.366
16	447000000	256QAM	9.000	24	40.946
17	555000000	256QAM	10.500	25	40.366
18	561000000	256QAM	10.500	26	40.366
19	567000000	256QAM	10.200	27	40.366
20	573000000	256QAM	10.100	28	40.946
21	633000000	256QAM	8.700	37	40.366
22	357000000	256QAM	8.000	9	40.366
23	645000000	256QAM	9.000	39	40.366
24	651000000	256QAM	9.000	40	38.983

Upstream Overview

Port ID	Frequency (MHz)	Modulation	Signal strength (dBmV)	Channel ID	BandWidth
1	23700000	ATDMA - 64QAM	37.500	5	6400000
2	38595999	ATDMA - 64QAM	38.250	6	3200000
3	30596000	ATDMA - 64QAM	36.500	4	6400000

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm at my wits end dealing with this! 

Thank You,

J

[robindp]

Hello @Pokofish,

That sounds VERY annoying! I suggest you visit the "Share a Concern" page (LINK) and complete the form.  Include as much detail as possible - this will force your issue to be escalated, and generate a written response from Rogers within 24-72 hours.

Once you get a response, this will allow you to hold someone accountable until you get the problem fixed.  Please let us know how things turn out!

EDIT: You can also receive a phone call (depending on the option selected at top of form).

[Pokofish]

Thanks @robindp, I will definitely do that!  

[Pokofish]

I believe I have finally figured out that problem I was having - and I mean that literally that *I* figured it out, no thanks to any of the techs who came out, who were not very thorough.  

The problem was a very rough looking connector on my cable line that runs through a storage room beside my unit in the building I live in.  I happened to have a new connector on hand, so I changed it (after using two pairs of pliers to loosen the old one) and I haven't had any problems at all since I changed it 3 days ago.  It was dropping connection up to 16 times a day, each time filling up the DOCSIS log page with errors.  Since I changed the connector, only one message in the log has shown up (no disconnect).

So if anyone else is having this issue, make sure the techs check your entire line and are thorough about it.  I told both techs that came out that I don't know where exactly the lines run, as it's an apartment and the lines were already set up when I got here, but they only traced the lines outside and didn't take much of a look inside. 

[robindp]

Hello @Pokofish,

I am happy that you solved the problem! Did you take a picture of the damage before fixing it? I think it is a good idea to call Rogers support and advise them of the eventual fix - your ticket is probably still open (and they need to know the techs who visited - more than 1 - missed something you found).

[Pokofish]

@robindp I actually just had two techs out here a few minutes ago (I had scheduled them in days ago, forgot to put it in my calendar so I forget they were coming today haha).  They actually looked at everything and replaced the entire line anyway.  I did tell them the first two techs didn't examine the entire line.  Even the line running along the outside of the house was complete garbage but the previous techs didn't say that.  

One thing I have noticed is my downstream signal strength is higher, ranging from 3 - 6.  Is this okay?  I thought it was meant to be closer to 0.  (before it was about -1 - +2).  

[robindp]

Hello @Pokofish,

I'll be honest, signal strength info is not something I am fully versed in (need to set aside some time to figure it out!)...but I know that @57 has experience on this matter!

57, what do you think?

[57]

Although zero may be considered an optimum, any reading from -10 to +10 usually works, although readings that high or low may be a cause for concern if you're having issues.  3-6 should be fine.

You will also find (on cable TV) that the signal will vary with the QAM frequency (indirectly related to the channel)  Higher QAM frequencies usually have higher losses.