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]

@toolcubed reboot the modem and after the reboot, log into the modem and check the STATUS .... DOCSIS WAN Downstream table for OFDMA active channels which are shown on the bottom of the table.  Can you post that entire table as well, just to see if there's anything obvious in the data? There was another post in the DSLReports site indicating that a user in Thornhill just had OFDMA enabled, and it looks like some area in Etobicoke has OFDMA enabled as well.  So, just speculation on my part, but, worth a look.  Maybe the signal data will show some other reason. 

[-G-]

@toolcubed  How much traffic are you sending upstream?  A few months ago, a user on DSLReports reported that their (normally 30 Mb/s) upload speed is now maxing out at only 5 Mb/s, and apparently Rogers confirmed that they are starting to the limit upload speed on accounts with extremely high upload usage.

[Datalink]

Yup, that too.  I had forgotten about that, the "unofficial" we don't throttle policy.

[toolcubed]

@-G-  here's my upload usage over the past 3 months.  Would this be considered high by Rogers' standards?  I have to use OneDrive for work and so does my wife who has also been working from home due to COVID.  We're not deliberately uploading anything extremely large...just the usual Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint decks, etc. which happens automatically thru OneDrive syncing and backup.

July - 39GB
August - 47GB
September - 34GB

@Datalink  here are my CODA stats:

Downstream Overview

Port ID	Frequency (MHz)	Modulation	Signal strength (dBmV)	Channel ID	Signal noise ratio (dB)
1	591000000	QAM256	3.299	7	38.983
2	597000000	QAM256	3.299	8	38.605
3	603000000	QAM256	3.400	9	38.605
4	849000000	QAM256	6.199	2	40.366
5	855000000	QAM256	5.699	3	40.366
6	861000000	QAM256	5.400	4	40.366
7	579000000	QAM256	3.099	5	38.605
8	585000000	QAM256	3.500	6	38.605
9	279000000	QAM256	1.099	1	37.636
10	609000000	QAM256	3.400	10	38.983
11	615000000	QAM256	3.099	11	38.605
12	621000000	QAM256	3.200	12	38.983
13	633000000	QAM256	3.900	13	38.605
14	639000000	QAM256	3.500	14	38.605
15	645000000	QAM256	3.700	15	38.605
16	651000000	QAM256	4.099	16	38.605
17	657000000	QAM256	4.000	17	38.983
18	663000000	QAM256	4.000	18	38.983
19	669000000	QAM256	4.300	19	38.605
20	675000000	QAM256	4.400	20	38.605
21	681000000	QAM256	4.199	21	38.983
22	687000000	QAM256	4.400	22	38.983
23	693000000	QAM256	4.599	23	38.605
24	699000000	QAM256	4.400	24	38.983
25	705000000	QAM256	4.300	25	38.983
26	711000000	QAM256	4.000	26	38.983
27	717000000	QAM256	4.300	27	38.983
28	723000000	QAM256	4.000	28	38.605
29	825000000	QAM256	6.099	29	40.946
30	831000000	QAM256	5.900	30	40.366
31	837000000	QAM256	5.599	31	40.366
32	843000000	QAM256	5.400	32	40.366

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	4K	275600000	YES	YES	YES	1.000000

Upstream Overview

Port ID	Frequency (MHz)	Modulation	Signal strength (dBmV)	Channel ID	Bandwidth
1	32300000	64QAM	34.520	7	6400000
2	38700000	64QAM	34.520	8	6400000
3	21100000	64QAM	33.510	5	3200000
4	25900000	64QAM	34.520	6	6400000
5	0	QAM_NONE	-	---	1600000
6	0	QAM_NONE	-	---	1600000
7	0	QAM_NONE	-	---	1600000
8	0	QAM_NONE	-	---	1600000

OFDM/OFDMA Overview

Channel Index	State	lin Digital Att	Digital Att	BW (sc's*fft)	Report Power	Report Power1_6	FFT Size
0	DISABLED	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	2K
1	DISABLED	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	0.0000	2K

[toolcubed]

And now that I think about it, the issues that my wife and I have been having recently with Outlook and MS Teams started around the same time I noticed my upload speed dropping!  Not saying that the two are related but it's an interesting coincidence.  I thought the issues were due to IPv6 being enabled, but even after disabling IPv6 again on my router (and rebooting my router and our work laptops), we're still having issues with Outlook and especially Teams.  Teams audio keeps cutting out for both of us every few mins.  I know 5-6Mbps should still be enough to carry a Teams call smoothly but wondering if the issues we're having are due to our capped upload speeds?!?!

[Datalink]

Signal levels look ok, but, the OFDM Downstream Data is  a black hole as there isn't enough data shown in the user interface.  I'd call on @RogersAndy to have a look at the OFDM downstream data which isn't shown in the user interface, just to see if anything is amiss.

With respect to the upload, I believe its a matter of who's the highest upload customer on the neighbourhood node, or on the line that runs from the neighbourhood node, down thru your street.  If you're it, maybe you get throttled back.  Don't know if there's a hard limit that you would have to reach, or its just a matter or who's running the most upload data.  There wasn't any indication in the DSLReports post to indicate what criteria are applied. 

[-G-]

---

@toolcubed wrote:

@-G-  here's my upload usage over the past 3 months.  Would this be considered high by Rogers' standards?  I have to use OneDrive for work and so does my wife who has also been working from home due to COVID.  We're not deliberately uploading anything extremely large...just the usual Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint decks, etc. which happens automatically thru OneDrive syncing and backup.

July - 39GB
August - 47GB
September - 34GB

---

I don't know what the "high water mark" is (or what the time period is) before their traffic management measures kick in.  Apparently, the upload speed limitation will get lifted only if the upload usage remains below a certain threshold for 96 hours.

@CommunityHelps  Do you have any information about this that you can share?

[toolcubed]

Thanks guys.  Arrrgh...this is frustrating.  I don't know what I can do to limit the amount of data we're uploading.  We're both mandated to use OneDrive sync and backup for work.  While I don't like being throttled to 5-6Mbps (in fact, I hate it), I can live with it if I know for sure that it's not causing our MS Teams issues.  But if this upload throttling is indeed the culprit of our Teams issues, then I absolutely will NOT be OK with that because it's impacting our work.  Does anyone know how I can confirm from Rogers whether or not I am, in fact, being throttled?

[fd123]

Doubt you are being throttled.  And that usage is nothing.  You area could just be overloaded, with so many being home using the network all day long. 

[Datalink]

Have you checked for any update for the Teams software?  

And, have you checked the following Teams troubleshooting page:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/troubleshoot-installation

[toolcubed]

Thanks Datalink.  The Teams issues started last week when I incorrectly assumed it was due to me re-enabling IPv6 on my router.  Turned out that even with IPv6 disabled, we were still having the issues.  My Teams client was updated to the latest version on Mon, Oct 5th but I'm still having the same issues.

[Datalink]

Running on desktops connected via ethernet or laptops connected via wifi?

Any chance that the affected desktops or laptops have had a very recent windows update to the latest windows version?  Thats not regular update, but the fall update for Windows 10.

[toolcubed]

@fd123  I doubt my area is overloaded.  Two years ago during the network uplift project, we went from 1 node in the entire neighbourhood to 8+ nodes, 2 of which are within my block alone!  Plus, my upload speed was fine during the height of the pandemic when arguably way more people were working from home.  How do you know I'm not being throttled?  I would really like some hard confirmation from Rogers.

[toolcubed]

@Datalink  I tested on both WiFi and connected to ethernet...issues are persistent.  Also, my machine is on Win10 v1809 and has been since February.  Not sure what version my wife's laptop is on.

[Datalink]

grrr, stumped, but, you indicated an interesting point, which was that you were having audio drops on Team.  Your signal levels look ok, but, you can still have cable issues with good looking signal levels.  Ok, so, try this, run a ping test to the CMTS, looking for cable signal dropouts. 

To do that, run a command line trace to anywhere, google for example:

tracert -4 www.google.com

The first IP will be the modem, the second IP address will be the CMTS.  Ping the CMTS for at least an hour.  To do that, use:

ping -n 3600 xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx        where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the 2nd hop IP address.  

To run a longer test, simply increase the "3600" number.  Windows pings 1 ping every second, so, 3600 pings will take an hour to complete after which the test will terminate.  You can also run an indefinite test using:

ping -t xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx           where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the 2nd hop IP address

Use Ctrl c to terminate the test.  

When the test is done, copy the bottom results and paste them in a post.  To do that, simply select the bottom results area in the command box.  Hold the left button down on your mouse when it positioned at the front end of the first results line, and drag down to highlight or select all of the results line.  Use Ctrl c to copy them to the clipboard and then Ctrl v or right click ..... Paste to dump the data into a post.  I wonder what that might show, if anything.  Over the course of a 24 hour test, I'd expect to see no more than about 12 lost packets.

[fd123]

Do a search on Win 10 1809, looks like there were a bunch of network problems, why are you on such an old version anyway?  Perhaps you should upgrade, before pulling your hair out on the actual connection. 

[toolcubed]

@Datalink will do. I’ll try to run the ping test today. Thanks.

@fd123 we control the Win10 versioning upgrades at work. We’re in the middle of upgrading everyone to 1909. I just haven’t gotten around to doing it yet on my laptop. We’re a very large organization (with many service lines and critical business apps), and so there’s a lot of testing that needs to go into every version update prior to rollout.

Also, just a couple of other points I wanted to make. I experience the same Teams issues on my iPhone (I have the Teams app installed on my phone too) when I’m connected to my WiFi network. If I turn WiFi off on my phone and use Teams over my cell network, everything works fine with no audio drops or disconnections at all. Lastly, the 5Mbps upload speed test cap is across all devices - laptops and phones. The reason why it looks and feels throttled is because the speed test needle immediately jumps to 5Mbps (sometimes closer to 6) and stays there for the entire duration of the test. There’s absolutely no fluctuation whatsoever. It’s as if I’m on a 5Mbps upload speed profile. I’ve run tests using Ookla and Rogers’ own speed test tool - both tools behave exactly the same way and show exactly the same results.

[fd123]

Do you have any type of QoS running on the network, perhaps it doesn't recognize the data and is slowing it because of being an unknown?  or unassigned priority? 

[ablatt]

Want to add that lately my speed tests on my MAC have show some weird results.  I run the Speedtest.net app on a MAC connected to an RT-AC86U which is connected to the CODA 4582 in bridge mode.

I am on the 1000/30 plan.  For a number of consecutive speed tests yesterday to the Rogers site my upload would fluctuate between 6 and 25 if I used the default settings.  If I disabled IPv6 on my MAC the upload would stay at 32.   But more interesting, if I changed the speed test site to Telus or Innsys and used IPv6 I would also get a consistent 32 upload.  Which means something appears wrong with the IPv6 speed test to the Rogers site.

[toolcubed]

Nope. Nothing like that. Nothing has changed on my network. Same setup and same simple/basic/standard config on my router that’s been in place for years. Like I said, I went from 22Mbps upload consistently over the past 2+ years to suddenly 5Mbps capped several days ago with zero changes on my end. I’ve also been uploading the same amount of data on a monthly basis (average of 35-40GB) since January, so I’d be interested to know when Rogers started to implement their throttling policy.

[ablatt]

As Datalink suggested you should ping the 2nd hop address to see if there's any significant packet loss there. 

Not saying you're not throttled, but at least this will help rule out any network issues.