How to narrow down connection issues

[AgaBoogaBoo]

I'm having intermittent internet connection problems and don't know how to isolate the issue easily.

Background: I switched from a DSL connection to cable internet recently. (due to price/speeds/etc.) This required me to get a cable modem and because my previous modem also had a wireless router built in, I either needed a new wireless router or a combined device (modem + router). I picked up the Motorola SBG6580.

Issue 1: After getting the cable internet connection installed, I realized that only 1 of the cable outlets in my house is working. Instead of having the modem in a central location, it is in a corner of my place. This resulted in a weak signal in my living room and my own room so I picked up a repeater to place at the half way point: http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WA8...dp/B00E98O7GC/

I believe the signal strength is resolved - I get 4 or 5 out of 5 bars throughout my home now. This might only describe strength to the repeater and so if there's an issue between the repeater and the modem, I wouldn't be aware of that.

Issue 2 (current issue): The internet connection is spotty. The wifi connection itself has dropped off maybe once or twice in the last few days, but a bit more frequently (once every 10 minutes maybe?) the internet connection will just stop functioning for a while. This has happened from multiple devices (iPad, Sony Vizio TV, desktop computer, etc.).

Questions: How do I resolve this, or at least narrow down the issue? I don't know if the issue is the modem, repeater, or something to do with the signal coming in the house. Should I run some kind of monitoring program on a computer with a wired connection to the modem to see if the connection has issues? Is there an easier way to do basic troubleshooting? Are there some settings I should change on the router? (I stuck to the default settings across the board except wifi name/password)

 

[nsafreak]

When you say the internet connection stops functioning are devices still able to see each other on the network? For example can your PC (be it a laptop or a desktop) see the other devices that are present on your network when this occurs? When this occurs can you do things like ping google.com ? The first thing I would do is to determine whether it's the wireless that's having issues or the cable modem connection itself. So run an ethernet cable to a desktop or laptop and see if it maintains a connection when the wireless devices go offline. Depending on the results of that test will determine how to proceed. If the wired device works fine then you'll need to take a look at the wireless settings for both the modem/router along with the access point settings. If not then you'll need to do things like look at the cable that goes into the router (are there any splitters in its path, is it damaged at all, etc.) along with the signal levels.

 

[John Connor]

I would do what is stated and check the cable modem with a LAN cable when the WIFI stops working. Further, you said only one cable outlet works? Cable or LAN? I would see about fixing that and move the modem to a better place. Those cable modem/router combos are not the best. I would have got just the modem and a router. See if there is an updated firmware to the repeater. I would also use Broadbandreports.com smokeping, but you need to allow pings to the modem/router which requirs you to log into the web interface of the cable modem/router to turn on pings. This way you can verify if it's you or the ISP.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Thanks for both of the responses.

nsafreak - my modem is at a distance from my computer and so it's not easy to test a wired connection unfortunately.

John - cable. From what I've gathered, figuring out why the other outlets don't work won't be easy. I think it will require following the cables behind the drywall, because nothing seems to be disconnected at the cable box itself.

I did run a smokeping, results are here: http://imgur.com/piZKzCQ

I've never run this and so while I'm not familiar with the results, there shouldn't be any packet loss, right? This likely indicates that either the cable connection is bad or my modem has problems, does that sound right? Sounds like I should pick up a modem/router (separate this time?) and see if it works then to narrow down the issue to whether it's my cable internet provider or me?

 

[John Connor]

What smokeping does is ping your connection externally checking your connection from the ISP. You have some packet loss of about 17% on all three servers. Could be the modem, could be the ISP. Could even be your cable connection.

A 17% loss would make me demand a regular modem and buy a router separate. I would also hook up a laptop directly to the modem and see what happens.

How new is the house or how old is the cable in the walls?

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Okay - I've ordered both of those and I'll use this setup as a chance to connect a laptop directly to the modem and then report back in a few days. Thanks!

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

I think it was a bad modem previously. I ordered a new one, set it up yesterday, and now smokeping gives me much better results. I'm at 0% packet loss from 1 location and 1.5% from the other 2 locations. This compares to the roughly 18% I experienced earlier.

Thanks for all the help.