FEEDBACK - Rogers Rocket Wi-Fi Modem Firmware Trial

[RogersMargaret]

Hello Community,

We are currently offering our users an exclusive opportunity to participate in an upcoming trial of the new firmware for our Rocket Wi-Fi Modem (CGN3ACR, CGN3AMR and CGN3ACSMR) and Rocket Gigabit Wi-Fi Modem (CGN3552 and CODA-4582). For details of this program, please see this thread.

This thread will be used for feedback regarding the firmware.  We've invited @RogersSergio, @RogersSyd & @RogersBob from our Networking team to participate in this thread.  Your feedback is very valuable and will be used to enhance the firmware before it is released publicly.

Thank you for your continued feedback and support.

[Datalink]

@azar1, from your post, I’m assuming that your on either a 500 Mb/s or gigabit plan.  Can you let me know which one is correct.

In terms of wifi performance, can you read thru the following post which is similar to yours in terms of wifi speeds:

http://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Internet/slow-wifi/m-p/399949#M47222

Consider changing your wifi settings to ensure that the wifi speeds aren’t being throttled by any form of TKIP encryption setting, and, have a look at your wifi environment to determine if you could or should be using different wifi channels or possibly moving everything possible up into the 5 Ghz band.

For the wired laptop speeds, when you have a laptop connected to the modem via ethernet, have a look at the connected port LED at the back of the modem.  If its flashing amber in colour, then the modem port is connected to a device port that is operating at 1 Gb/s.  If the colour is green, then the port is connected to a 10/100 Mb/s port.  Running at 1 Gb/s, you should be able to see speedtest results around 940/950 Mb/s max down, 55/58 Mb/s max up.  That of course depends on your modem model and internet plan.  

For the slower laptops, check the port LED at the back of the modem to see what the port to port connection rate is running at.  From there it gets interesting.  If you know that the port on the laptop will support 1 Gb/s, and you checked the connection rates with the same ethernet cable that is known to work, then the question is, why is the port on the laptop running slow (green LED).  There are a couple of possibilities:

1. The ethernet cable is not connecting properly with the laptop port, and as a result the modem and laptop negotiate down to a data rate that both ports are content with;  and/or
2. The port rate set for the laptop is too slow.  If you drill down to the advanced settings for the laptop’s ethernet controller, check the speed setting.  You might see 10, 100, 1000 Mb/s, or 10,100,Auto.  Different manufactures use either choice.  One has to assume that the Auto setting enables 1000 Mb/s.  

Of course there is always the possibility that the laptops only have 100 Mb/s ports, and your only seeing 60 Mb/s which is slow.  I would expect you to see somewhere around 90 to 95 Mb/s on a 100 Mb/s port, maybe even slightly higher, but, that depends on the age of the laptop, the processor speed, memory onboard and hard drive transfer rate.

To check the port to port connection rate on a Windows laptop or desktop, right click on the internet icon in the task bar on the lower right hand corner.  Select Open Network and Sharing Center.  Select the ethernet link on the middle right hand side of the pop up window.  The Ethernet Status that pops up shows the Speed, which is the port to port connection rate.  With that knowledge, you can take a guess on whether or not the speedtest results make any sense.  If you do the same with a wifi connected laptop or desktop, that ethernet link will show the connected wifi network name and the pop up panel will show the Wifi Status.  The speed will show the overall modem to device connection rate which includes wifi overhead.  The actual speedtest results will be a fraction of that rate as determined by the Modulation and Coding Index:

http://mcsindex.com/

When you run your speedtests, can you run them using www.speedtest.net Toronto or Montreal Rogers servers, depending on which is closer to you.  Those will give you the highest data rates that you will probably see from a speedtest.

Ok, have a read thru all of that, take a look at the wifi encryption settings and wifi environment and have a look at the ethernet connected rate issue.  Please let me know what you find after all of this 🙂

[Datalink]

@netprice2high ok, understand.  Keep calling in when you get a service drop out and make sure the complaint is recorded on file.  That's a pain, and I understand that, but, it will pretty well force the issue to replace the cable and possibly look further upstream for any additional problems.  Since you've already had a tech visit today, if and when the tech support CSR suggests sending out a tech, ask for a Senior Tech.  Its possible that a maintenance crew might have to do something at some point, but, that requires persistence to keep registering complaints.  

Edit:  Are you using any type of power bar to run the modem and other equipment?  If so, can you disconnect that power bar completely, remove it from the power system and use extension cords temporarily if you have to.  Sometimes failing power bars give off enough noise that will kill modem signal levels.  Tech support will ask you to remove these as well, and for good reason, although they don't mention the reason, which is the noise generation. 

[Datalink]

@nobs2016 even with the severe power level spread in the DOCSIS 3.0 channel levels, that won't make much difference in the DOCSIS 3.1 operation, if at all.  The upper frequency roll-off won't matter to DOCSIS 3.1 operation at this point in time.  

Did you ask tech support about the OFDM channel signal level and signal to noise ratio?  The DOCSIS 3.0 signal to noise ratios for the most part are at the bottom of the normal range.  The frequency roll-off shows worse signal to noise ratios.  This implies that there is some level of noise at your modem and the question that needs to be asked is whether or not the noise is affecting the OFDM channel?  Tech support would be able to answer that, and check neighboring modems to see if the same noise levels are seen in those modems.  That would point to an area problem instead of a singular modem issue. 

One question however, are you using any type of power bar to run the modem and other equipment?  If so, can you disconnect that power bar completely, remove it from the power system and use extension cords temporarily if you have to.  Sometimes failing power bars give off enough noise that will kill modem signal levels.  Tech support will ask you to remove these as well, and for good reason, although they don't mention the reason, which is the noise generation. 

[nobs2016]

@Datalink thanks my spidey sense was on this too. I think the tech was happy to get out to next call.

[nobs2016]

@Datalink The tech was really flustered. He couldn't get his gear working with the cell coverage here (Toronto-Miss border) but I will pursue tomorrow.  My speeds did improve to 900+ though. Yes I have a power bar connection so will look at that. Thanks

[Datalink]

@nobs2016 do you run the RG-6 modem cabling thru the power bar, or just use the power bar for power only purposes?  Some power bars have surge arrestors for RG-59 or RG-6 purposes, but, you would have to know specifically which it is, otherwise you would have an impedance mismatch between the cable and the power bar which can cause all sorts of interesting signal issues.  Personal opinion I discourage power bar owners from using the power bar surge arrestor for their modem cable.  Simply run it from the wall outlet to the modem.  

[nobs2016]

@Datalink  I just use the power bar for power only.

[azar1]

---

@Datalink wrote:

@azar1, from your post, I’m assuming that your on either a 500 Mb/s or gigabit plan.  Can you let me know which one is correct.

In terms of wifi performance, can you read thru the following post which is similar to yours in terms of wifi speeds:

http://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Internet/slow-wifi/m-p/399949#M47222

Consider changing your wifi settings to ensure that the wifi speeds aren’t being throttled by any form of TKIP encryption setting, and, have a look at your wifi environment to determine if you could or should be using different wifi channels or possibly moving everything possible up into the 5 Ghz band.

For the wired laptop speeds, when you have a laptop connected to the modem via ethernet, have a look at the connected port LED at the back of the modem.  If its flashing amber in colour, then the modem port is connected to a device port that is operating at 1 Gb/s.  If the colour is green, then the port is connected to a 10/100 Mb/s port.  Running at 1 Gb/s, you should be able to see speedtest results around 940/950 Mb/s max down, 55/58 Mb/s max up.  That of course depends on your modem model and internet plan.  

For the slower laptops, check the port LED at the back of the modem to see what the port to port connection rate is running at.  From there it gets interesting.  If you know that the port on the laptop will support 1 Gb/s, and you checked the connection rates with the same ethernet cable that is known to work, then the question is, why is the port on the laptop running slow (green LED).  There are a couple of possibilities:

1. The ethernet cable is not connecting properly with the laptop port, and as a result the modem and laptop negotiate down to a data rate that both ports are content with;  and/or
2. The port rate set for the laptop is too slow.  If you drill down to the advanced settings for the laptop’s ethernet controller, check the speed setting.  You might see 10, 100, 1000 Mb/s, or 10,100,Auto.  Different manufactures use either choice.  One has to assume that the Auto setting enables 1000 Mb/s.  

Of course there is always the possibility that the laptops only have 100 Mb/s ports, and your only seeing 60 Mb/s which is slow.  I would expect you to see somewhere around 90 to 95 Mb/s on a 100 Mb/s port, maybe even slightly higher, but, that depends on the age of the laptop, the processor speed, memory onboard and hard drive transfer rate.

To check the port to port connection rate on a Windows laptop or desktop, right click on the internet icon in the task bar on the lower right hand corner.  Select Open Network and Sharing Center.  Select the ethernet link on the middle right hand side of the pop up window.  The Ethernet Status that pops up shows the Speed, which is the port to port connection rate.  With that knowledge, you can take a guess on whether or not the speedtest results make any sense.  If you do the same with a wifi connected laptop or desktop, that ethernet link will show the connected wifi network name and the pop up panel will show the Wifi Status.  The speed will show the overall modem to device connection rate which includes wifi overhead.  The actual speedtest results will be a fraction of that rate as determined by the Modulation and Coding Index:

http://mcsindex.com/

When you run your speedtests, can you run them using www.speedtest.net Toronto or Montreal Rogers servers, depending on which is closer to you.  Those will give you the highest data rates that you will probably see from a speedtest.

Ok, have a read thru all of that, take a look at the wifi encryption settings and wifi environment and have a look at the ethernet connected rate issue.  Please let me know what you find after all of this 🙂

---

Thank you so much for your very detailed reply.

I'll have to try with the wired laptops tomorrow, but I had some time before bed so I quickly ran an experiment, below is some data when I tried multiple different wifi settings, for both bands, I stuck with channel 1 for 2.4ghz because it was always yielding the highest speeds, while 6 and 11 were significantly worse. TKIP was removed, WPS was disabled for all these tests.

n only - 20 mhz - channel 1 = 80 mbps

n only - 20 mhz - channel 6 = 24 mbps

n only - 20/40 - channel 1 = 20 mbps

g/n - 20/40 mhz - channel 1 = 45 mbps

g/n - 20 mhz - channel 1 = 65 mbps

g/n - 20 mhz - channel 6 = 20 mbps

g/n - 20 mhz - channel 11 = 14 mbps

b/g/n - 20/40 mhz - channel 1 = 30 mbps

b/g/n - 20 mhz - channel 1 = 40 mbps

=========================================

a/n/ac - 40 mhz - channel 149 = 225 mbps

a/n/ac - 40 mhz - channel 161 = 180 mbps

a/n/ac - 80 mhz - channel 149-161 = 250 mbps

ac only - 40 mhz - channel 149 = 160 mbps

 ac only - 80 mhz - channel 149 = 185 mbps

and some other information which may help, I'm currently on 2.0.10.27

Downstream Overview

Port ID	Frequency (MHz)	Modulation	Signal strength (dBmV)	Channel ID	Signal noise ratio (dB)
1	591000000	256QAM	-7.500	7	38.605
2	855000000	256QAM	-8.600	3	38.605
3	861000000	256QAM	-8.600	4	38.605
4	579000000	256QAM	-6.300	5	38.983
5	585000000	256QAM	-7.200	6	38.605
6	849000000	256QAM	-8.300	2	38.605
7	597000000	256QAM	-8.000	8	38.605
8	603000000	256QAM	-8.300	9	38.605
9	609000000	256QAM	-8.400	10	38.983
10	615000000	256QAM	-8.400	11	38.605
11	621000000	256QAM	-8.100	12	38.605
12	633000000	256QAM	-7.700	13	38.605
13	639000000	256QAM	-6.600	14	40.366
14	645000000	256QAM	-6.800	15	38.983
15	651000000	256QAM	-7.000	16	38.983
16	657000000	256QAM	-6.700	17	40.366
17	663000000	256QAM	-7.100	18	38.983
18	669000000	256QAM	-6.900	19	38.983
19	675000000	256QAM	-6.800	20	38.605
20	681000000	256QAM	-6.700	21	38.983
21	687000000	256QAM	-6.600	22	38.605
22	693000000	256QAM	-6.100	23	40.366
23	699000000	256QAM	-5.800	24	40.366
24	705000000	256QAM	-5.700	25	40.946
25	711000000	256QAM	-6.000	26	38.605
26	717000000	256QAM	-5.800	27	38.983
27	723000000	256QAM	-6.400	28	38.983
28	825000000	256QAM	-7.800	29	38.605
29	831000000	256QAM	-8.200	30	38.983
30	837000000	256QAM	-8.600	31	38.605
31	843000000	256QAM	-8.700	32	38.605
32	303000000	256QAM	-3.300	1	40.366

OFDM Downstream Overview

Receiver	FFT type	Subcarr 0 Frequency(MHz)	PLC locked	NCP locked	MDC1 locked	PLC power(dBmv)
0	4K	275600000	YES	YES	YES	-3.599998
1	NA	NA	NO	NO	NO	NA

Upstream Overview

Port ID	Frequency (MHz)	Modulation	Signal strength (dBmV)	Channel ID	Bandwidth
1	38596000	ATDMA - 64QAM	39.500	3	3200000
2	30596000	ATDMA - 64QAM	35.500	1	6400000
3	23700000	ATDMA - 64QAM	35.000	2	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

 Edit: And you are correct, I am supposed to be on a Gigabit plan..not sure however if we are getting those speeds in my area..?

[Datalink]

@azar1 would you happen to know if the fast laptop will support rates up to 1 Gb/s?  Have you tested the laptop anywhere else so that you know that it runs that fast?  We have a couple of laptops in the house and I suspect that the gaming laptop is the only one that will support data rates that high.  Part of the problem with the gigabit service is having the technical capability to prove that the service is in fact delivering ~940 to 950 Mb/s on the download and either ~55 or ~30 on the upload depending on when you signed up for the service.  

Where this is headed is the observation that your DOCSIS 3.0 downstream signal levels are all low.  The signal to noise ratios are ok, but the signal levels are low.  That is a moot point however as the modem is running DOCSIS 3.1 for the downstream and doesn't use the 3.0 channels at all.  The frequency and signal power level for the 3.1 OFDM channel are not accurately displayed in the user interface, so, the fact that the 3.0 levels are low is probably a good indication that the 3.1 levels are low as well.  Low signal levels could explain the slow download speedtest results that you're seeing, but, even if they were ok, if the laptop won't run any faster, its also a moot point.  I would call tech support and ask the CSR if the DOCSIS 3.1 signal level and signal to noise ratios at the modem are ok.  Its possible that you might end up with a tech visit to sort out the signal levels.  Ask the CSR to run a signal check on the modem and see if it passes with the signal levels where they are.  It just might pass, but, if the laptop can definitely handle up to 900+ Mb/s, then you have a case to have a tech check the external cable and connectors. 

When you were testing the wifi rates, did you happen to have inSSIDer loaded and running?  Looking at that display will really indicate what channels are occupied and which, if any, have the least amount of users on it.  In the 2.4 Ghz band it can be really difficult to find an acceptable channel where you can operate a wifi channel at a reasonable data rate.  The 5 Ghz band is usually much easier.  If you test the rates down at the bottom of the channel range, ie Channel 36 you might find that the data rates are reduced as the power output is restricted to 200 mw versus 1 watt for the upper channels (149 to 161).  Even with that increased power level for the upper channels, if you're competing with your neighbors, you will be above the data rates for the lower channels but, not run as fast as possible if your neighbors are also in that channel range.  As an example, I and my neighbors are all in that upper channel range.  The max rate that I'll see with my Asus RT-AC68U running 802.11ac is about 250 Mb/s max.  When my neighbors aren't in that range, I'll see somewhere above 400 Mb/s.  The gaming laptop might go faster, just haven't had a chance to test it.  So, looking at the wifi environment will give you a pretty good idea of what channels might be the most useful.  

The last point to consider for now is the wifi adapter cards in the laptops.  If you drill down the Device Manager, down to the network wifi adapters, copy the model data from the display and run a google search for the adapters.  That will tell you what the specs are for each adapter.  Ideally you would have dual band dual antenna adapters in the laptops.  Typically the manufacturers install single band, single antenna adapters, which leads to much frustration on the part of the laptop owners.  That single band single antenna adapter is the cause of slow data rates via wifi.  We keep running into this on the forum time and time again, and unfortunately, the solution is to run an 802.11ac USB Wifi adapter.  There are a couple that come to mind:

https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Networking/USBAC56/

That USB 3 adapter will give you a longer range compared to the following USB 2 adapter.  Note that the long antenna is removable:

https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Networking/USBAC51/

So, that might be food for thought.

[sp111]

Just updated to the .33 firmware on my CGNM-3552 modem. The chromecast issues are resolved, but now my phone disconnects from wifi about twice per minute, regardless whether I'm on 2.4ghz or 5ghz network. Automatic channels have been turned off and the issue persists. 

Phone is a google pixel. Issue is present both on 7.1.2 and Android 8.0 DP4.

Please let me know if a fix exists, otherwise I will need to revert to the previous firmware and lose chromecast functionality.

[gp-se]

---

@sp111 wrote:

Just updated to the .33 firmware on my CGNM-3552 modem. The chromecast issues are resolved, but now my phone disconnects from wifi about twice per minute, regardless whether I'm on 2.4ghz or 5ghz network. Automatic channels have been turned off and the issue persists. 

Phone is a google pixel. Issue is present both on 7.1.2 and Android 8.0 DP4.

Please let me know if a fix exists, otherwise I will need to revert to the previous firmware and lose chromecast functionality.

---

There was an issue with pixels disconnecting on a certain firmware version, I can't recall at the top of my head which version had this issue, but it seems the issue is back on .33

I would ask to be reverted to the old firmware, or perhaps @RogersDave can make a config change to your modem that can resolve the issue

[sp111]

Thanks for the reply, but I got tired of all the issues with this modem and exchanged it for a CODA-4582 this morning. I would recommend anyone that's having persistent problems to do the same. The CODA is newer, faster, and looks better in the living room.

[mrq]

I've received 4.5.8.33 somewhere overnight or yesterday and I my modem docsis log is full of 'critical' :

No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;

DHCP FAILED - Discover sent, no offer received

and 'warnings':

B-INIT-RNG Failure - Retries exceeded;

MDD message timeout;

Lost MDD Timeout;

This morning I had to power off /power on the modem and so far it seems to be working.

I was on .32 before and hardly had any entries in the docsis log.

[RogersDave]

---

@sp111 wrote:

Just updated to the .33 firmware on my CGNM-3552 modem. The chromecast issues are resolved, but now my phone disconnects from wifi about twice per minute, regardless whether I'm on 2.4ghz or 5ghz network. Automatic channels have been turned off and the issue persists. 

Phone is a google pixel. Issue is present both on 7.1.2 and Android 8.0 DP4.

Please let me know if a fix exists, otherwise I will need to revert to the previous firmware and lose chromecast functionality.

---

I just had a look at the firmware 4.5.8.33 and it is missing an optimization to help keep the Pixel phones connected. I can apply it manually to anybody that needs this config and will work with Hitron to get this addressed.

I understand that you moved on to the CODA-4582 to resolve your issue but if anybody else has this issue, let me know.

Dave

[RogersDave]

@mrq,

I checked your modem and everything seems good now. I do see all the previous failures but I see the same thing on your neighbors' modems so I suspect there was an issue affecting your area.

Dave

[blues_clues]

@RogersDave  Please push 2.0.10.31 to my modem as I was away on vacation with the modem off.

[nahumf]

Dave please apply this fix to my router. I have a few pixels in the house and we're all experiencing the issue!

[m-red]

Have experimental firmware update and still experiencing internet connectivity issues with Nest products. I can confirm that the Nest products are connected to the router but traffic is blocked to internet. I've tried countless settings and wasted many too much time.
I intend to resolve this problem by putting the gateway router in bridge mode and getting a new router.

[RogersDave]

Update regarding Pixel WiFi disconnects on CGN3 "AC" series modems (CGN3AMR, CGN3ACR, CGN3AMF, CGN3ACSMR and CGNM-3552)

After investigation with Hitron, the WiFi fix for Pixel devices is correctly included in the current firmware (4.5.8.32) but it doesn't get applied due to a previous conflicting setting.

In order to resolve the Pixel disconnect issue, the modem must be factory reset at least once between when moving to any version after 4.5.8.30. This will remove the old setting and allow the fix to take effect.

We have a way to force the setting to be applied from the network side as well which is what we will do before deploying this firmware to all modems but in trial phase, a single factory reset is the quickest solution.

Dave

[noziel]

@RogersDaveIs it recommended to reset the device to factory after the upgrade to 4.5.8.33 if it is used in bridge mode?  I only ask due to your comments about the Pixel disconnect, understanding this is not applicable to those in bridge mode any other settings or fixes that may not apply until a factory reset is done?  Just curious.

[parv044]

Hi,

could you please push this new firmware to my modem ...I have had serious issues connecting the Netgear Orbi system ...i have sent emails through the community forum but not getting anywhare.  it has been over a month now...

Thanks