CODA-4582 - Open Issues for Investigation

[RogersDave]

*** This post was last edited May 2, 2017 ***

Good morning Community,

As I mentioned in a post two days ago, we have received the next firmware 2.0.10.20 from Hitron. We are currently running initial testing on this version and will push it out to participants in the firmware trial program as soon as it passes initial testing.

However, while running these tests, we discovered abnormal behavior with ICMP and are awaiting feedback from Hitron today to asses how this will be addressed. As soon as I this is confirmed, I’ll update the change log with the correct version information and start pushing it out.

In parallel, we are still working on the following high priority items. In some cases below, I requested affected customers to reach out to me via private message. If you do so, please include your modem MAC address in the subject line (even if we exchange messages daily) as there are a lot of you reaching out to me daily 🙂

UDP Packet Loss

The investigation for what has been reported as UDP packet loss is still ongoing. We have deployed a probe at one fellow forum member on both a CODA-4582 and a CGNM-3552 to collect additional data. We are actively working with Hitron and Intel on the results observed.

Based on what we know so far, in most instances UDP packet loss is coupled with higher uplink usage in the area. Although the impact is noticeable in specific logs (League of Legends), the root cause for the perceivable impact (while playing) is likely related to bufferbloat (see next issue).

Bufferbloat

When comparing the performance of a CODA-4582 to a CGNM-3552 in the same network conditions, the CODA-4582 consistently reports higher bufferbloat when tested on DSLReports.

Update April 12: The solution for this problem will come in two folds. It will require a change in software which will possibly be included in 2.0.10.27 but more likely in 2.0.10.28 and a change in network configuration.

The network configuration change is not compatible with the current firmware so this change will only come after a vast majority of the modems are running the new code. We are however looking at a way to make the change only for specific modems to support testing in the community.

Update April 22: This problem seems resolved in firmware 2.0.10.27

5 GHz WiFi Low range for channels 36 to 48

Lower WiFi channels on the modem have a much smaller range. This is due in part to the limit imposed by Industry Canada to maximum transmit power.

Furthermore, the current automatic channel selection (auto mode) tends to select the lower channels when in similar load conditions.

Workaround: manually select higher channels (149-153-157-161)

Update April 22: The channel selection algorithm has been improved in firmware 2.0.10.27

Loss of OFDM Channel Lock

Under some RF conditions, the modem fails to lock properly on the OFDM channel. This typically result in variable performance.

Update April 12: This problem is resolved in 2.0.10.26T2

List of connected device does not get fully populated

This is a known issue that has been tracked since firmware 2.0.10.13. We are making improvements at every firmware but it is not a perfect system.

The situation is worst after a reboot or firmware upgrade as the list gets reset and must be repopulated as devices renew their DHCP lease.

NAT Loopback not working for wired clients

When setting up port forwarding to an internal server, it is possible for a client on WiFi to reach the server using the external IP/port. If the client is on a wired interface, it doesn't work.

Update April 12: This problem is resolved in 2.0.10.26T2 (not confirmed)

LAN Counters not working

Some customers reported that LAN counters (especially in bridge mode) are reporting inaccurate values.

This problem has been reported to Hitron for investigation.

Unexpected modem reboot

Some customers reported their modem reboots unexpectedly. We have also seen this behavior in our lab.

Update April 12: This problem is resolved in 2.0.10.26T2

Missing SC-QAM Channels

After a reboot, some modems are missing SC-QAM channels. A fix has been implemented in 2.0.10.26T2 to address this behavior but it has not corrected all scenarios.

Investigation continues with Hitron.

WiFi Survey

The WiFi Survey functionality in firmware 2.0.10.26T2 (and possibly before) reports incorrect SSID names.

Guest Network

When connecting to the Guest Network, an error message is displayed "only allow DHCP client to use this wireless".  This has been reported in firmware 2.0.10.26T2.

Update April 22: This issue has been resolved in firmware 2.0.10.27

Update May 2: It seems this issue is not fully resolved and still experienced by some users

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Future Planned Improvements

The following are items that we are working on in parallel of the above.

• Improvement in WiFi speeds
• Improvement in latency / bufferbloat

Dave

*Edited Labels*

[lethalsniper]

just curiosity was there any work being done to my modem it just rebooted on its own ? About 8:05 pm , since modem reboot my upload has drop and ping / jitter has sky rocket

[Alex4161]

@RogersDave @Datalink

I am just wonder if anyone else has a situation where enabling 2.4 Ghz results in the modem losing download channels?

Here are my levels right now.  Notice channels 18-20 are missing:

Downstream Overview

Port ID	Frequency (MHz)	Modulation	Signal strength (dBmV)	Channel ID	Signal noise ratio (dB)
1	609000000	256QAM	4.000	34	36.610
2	363000000	256QAM	5.900	10	37.636
3	369000000	256QAM	6.100	11	37.636
4	375000000	256QAM	6.700	12	36.610
5	381000000	256QAM	6.200	13	36.610
6	387000000	256QAM	5.500	14	37.356
7	393000000	256QAM	5.600	15	36.387
8	399000000	256QAM	5.400	16	36.610
9	405000000	256QAM	4.600	17	37.356
10	411000000	256QAM	4.700	18	37.636
11	417000000	256QAM	5.500	19	37.356
12	423000000	256QAM	6.200	20	37.636
13	429000000	256QAM	6.800	21	37.356
14	435000000	256QAM	7.200	22	37.356
15	441000000	256QAM	6.700	23	37.356
16	447000000	256QAM	5.500	24	36.610
17	555000000	256QAM	3.200	25	36.610
20	573000000	256QAM	2.600	28	35.595
21	579000000	256QAM	3.000	29	35.595
22	585000000	256QAM	2.800	30	36.387
23	591000000	256QAM	4.100	31	36.610
24	597000000	256QAM	4.500	32	36.610
25	603000000	256QAM	4.400	33	36.610
26	357000000	256QAM	5.800	9	37.356
27	615000000	256QAM	3.100	35	36.610
28	621000000	256QAM	1.900	36	36.387
29	633000000	256QAM	1.300	37	35.780
30	639000000	256QAM	1.500	38	35.780
31	645000000	256QAM	2.400	39	36.610
32	651000000	256QAM	1.700	40	36.387

OFDM Downstream Overview

Receiver	FFT type	Subcarr 0 Frequency(MHz)	PLC locked	NCP locked	MDC1 locked	PLC power(dBmv)
0	NA	NA	NO	NO	NO	NA
1	NA	NA	NO	NO	NO	NA

Upstream Overview

Port ID	Frequency (MHz)	Modulation	Signal strength (dBmV)	Channel ID	Bandwidth
1	23700000	ATDMA - 64QAM	33.250	2	6400000
2	38595687	ATDMA - 64QAM	38.500	3	3200000
3	30596000	ATDMA - 64QAM	35.000	1	6400000

OFDM/OFDMA Overview

Channel Index	State	lin Digital Att	Digital Att	BW (sc's*fft)	Report Power	Report Power1_6	FFT Size
0	DISABLED	0.5000	0.0000	0.0000	-inf	-1.0000	4K
1	DISABLED	0.5000	0.0000	0.0000	-inf	-1.0000	4K

@RogersDave  As we discussed in PM, please feel free to connect to my modem to toggle 2.4 Ghz on/off for your testing.

[markopas]

Alternatively people can run the speed test directly from the Rogers website: 

http://speedcheck.rogers.com/en.html

[Triple_Helix]

---

@reefermajic69 wrote:

I was chatting to tech support in FB messenger and was told that Jan 20 2017 they will be swapping the black dot CODA modems for a next batch.  Apparently the first batch was not good.

Anyone else hear this?

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So your saying?

1. CODA came out

2. CODA Black Dot came out

3. CODA Black Dot there will be a new batch starting today? If so how do we tell the difference or should the Rogers staff know? At least when the CODA came out then the Black Dot now Black Dot 2 again how do we know the difference? There must be some useful info to be able to know the difference between the 2 right?

[RyzenFX]

How can you tell the difference? You can't. However Dave said that the newest batches are ones that have undergone testing before they were shipped to the stores. This ensures that you get a good modem 🙂

[traghipp]

I'm on the newest version of the Coda modem (with the black dot) with firmware .20. Yesterday my garage door openers and ring doorbell which are connected to the 2.4ghz lost their connection and required a modem reboot. This is the first time this has happened. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Thanks

[Vikentieff]

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@traghipp wrote:

I'm on the newest version of the Coda modem (with the black dot) with firmware .20. Yesterday my garage door openers and ring doorbell which are connected to the 2.4ghz lost their connection and required a modem reboot. This is the first time this has happened. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Thanks

---

Something is wrong with 2.4 on .20. With .13 I was having 100Mb speed on my computer upstairs (fixed location, N wificard with 100u plan), now I can barely hit 10Mb on rogers speedtest after updating to .20 (resets, reboots have been done). A similar degradation can be seen on 5 - used to hit 190 (for some weird reason), now it's never above 150 even up close to the modem (speedtest.net app with Galaxy S2 tab, same place, same everything). So yeah wifi performance has decreased considerably comparing to the original .13

edit: Another somewhat troubling issue, is that windows reports a speed of 90Mb (link between the modem and the client machine) on 2.4/N. Yet when a a speedtest is run on that very machine (rogers speedtest) the speed never goes above 5-8Mb down and 3-4 up. Shouldn't it utilize at least the speed the wifi link provides?

I thought most of the issue have been ironed out with .20 but after 4 days this modem is prooving to be a real bag of hurt even with the most simple tasks!

[Kyrluckechuck-2]

Sorry, I'm sure I missed something but under what circumstances should we be replacing our CODA's with black-dot CODA's?

[hoob]

Weekly Saturday morning internet speed test, 0940h on 21JAN:

* Coca-CODA Classic modem with Original Undotted Flavor:

* Firmware .19

* Still 4 of 32 channels missing in WAN binding

* Modem uptime 2 days

* Node was upgraded to DOCSIS 3.1 this week, apparently

* TEST1 Speed test results with solid and mostly stable graphs:

   700Mbps down

   33 Mbps up

   7ms ping

   1ms jitter

* TEST2 Speed test results with solid and very stable graphs with one dip on download

   941Mbps down (bestest ever!!)

   31 Mbps up

   6ms ping

   2ms jitter

So based on very little anecdotal evidence, the tests seem much better and more consistent now that the OFDM Downstream binding is in place (DOCSIS 3.1 infrastructure) so something at the head of my node was probably updated.

Once I get my Black Dot Special and get the last 4 channels back online I will probably have solid full tilt speed.

When I was in store getting my CODA I noticed that my account was provisioned only for 1000/30 so the upload speed makes sense, hopefully as the wrinkles work out I can be provisioned for the full 1000/50.

[bfanek]

I can confirm that the Bridge mode does not work with TP-Link Archer C2600 router (but works with computer).

Will wait for the .21 firmware update

[VivienM]

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@hoob wrote:

Once I get my Black Dot Special and get the last 4 channels back online I will probably have solid full tilt speed.

---

That would somewhat surprise me - I would think that if you have working D3.1, that's what would get used. Does anyone know if these things can load balance the OFDM channel along with the legacy D3.0 channels?!

(Then again, if it's not load balancing... why would it bother tuning D3.0 channels if it's going to be using 3.1... but what is the downside of tuning 3.0 channels that aren't used?)

BTW, ever since I was upgraded to D3.1, some of my 3.0 channels show up as 64QAM. Not sure if that matters...

[Vikentieff]

Can someone from Rogers confirm that all the currently issued modems with black dots are from the "tested" (as per Dave's post) bunch and thus are safe to be exchanged for?

[RogersCilio]

Hello @Vikentieff,

As previously stated by @RogersDave, customers who already received their 'black dot' units, will not need to return them. As long as your CODA-4582 modem has the latest production firmware 2.0.10.19, you will not have to exchange it.

Cheers,

RogersCilio

[lethalsniper]

So are you saying all the new coda modem with black dots now come with the .19 firmware installed ? Mine came with 13 and just got mine on Tuesday

[JJRRN]

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@RogersCilio wrote:

Hello @Vikentieff,

As previously stated by @RogersDave, customers who already received their 'black dot' units, will not need to return them. As long as your CODA-4582 modem has the latest production firmware 2.0.10.19, you will not have to exchange it.

Cheers,

RogersCilio

---

I was having speed problems on my Gigabit connection, blissfully unaware of all the dots / no dots flap. Tech support had me go in and get a new black dot modem today (21Jan2017) and got a CODA-4582 with the black dot. No improvement to speeds, still 160-180d/20-30u mbits. It has the .13 firmware:

Hardware Version	1A
Software Version	2.0.10.13

[RogersCilio]

Hey,

@lethalsniper No, there are some cases where customers are receiving modems with older versions. Those units will be automatically updated to the latest production version (2.0.10.19) within 48-72 hours. Unless you were previously registered as a trial participant, you may receive the 2.0.10.20 version.

@JJRRN As as mentioned above, it'll automatically update for you as well. If it doesn't, please reach out to us via @CommunityHelps and we'll be sure to get you on the latest production version.

RogersCilio

[Dragus]

After 12 days of running pretty flawless on the .19 version, the streak ended tonight. Really weird issue just started around 8pm tonight. Thought it was an area outage but not this time.

1-2 mins on, 1-2 mins off. Did a reboot and also did a factory reset as I was on the phone with tech support. They could not connect to the modem at all to do a diagnostic.

Have to go exchange for a black dot version of the CODA modem tomorrow.

[lethalsniper]

@RogersDave its saturday at 10;50 and getting horrible upload and jitter on firmware .20 here is a image taken this test was done being hardwired

[JJRRN]

Gigabit plan (1000/50) 

2.0.10.13 = average180/30 

2.0.10.19 = average 260/45

(updated to .19 just after midnight so within about 12 hours of using new black-dot CODA unit)

It's heading in the right direction.

http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest/9323688

[ghost1001]

Anyone having speed degradation issues in .20? Speeds are superb normally, but near the 20-24hr mark, the speeds drop to something unusable (can't even get youtube videos to load). A reboot fixes the problem. I didn't have this issue before in .19 . CODA is in bridge mode.

[LSTA]

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@ghost1001 wrote:

Anyone having speed degradation issues in .20? Speeds are superb normally, but near the 20-24hr mark, the speeds drop to something unusable (can't even get youtube videos to load). A reboot fixes the problem. I didn't have this issue before in .19 . CODA is in bridge mode.

---

Yep, this is a known issue -- in my case, it pre-dates .19, I have had it on .13.

I've been in direct communication with Hitron, though I'm just a Rogers customer, and right now the latest tactic we have is to try and reproduce it on different firmware/modems at the same time, and to test the additional-shielding black dot modems with the issue.

I can report back only that it seems no matter what I try, the issue comes back after 6-24 hours, and that Hitron is looking into it and everybody involved, both Rogers and Hitron, takes this issue seriously even if they aren't yet sure of a cause/fix.