Re: buggy broadband (?)
Thanks for your reply!
I've tried all you suggest but a new NIC or a new cablemodem. The
SB4100 is the SB3100, but with a USB port (unused) and a "standby"
switch on the front. Otherwise the units are identical, so unless mine
is bad (a possibility -- but how to test the unit?), I don't think
switching out would help much. I'd rather not have to shell out for a
new NIC, but I will if I must. (The Linksys is PCI 10/100. The cable is
a standard CAT 5 which came with the modem.)
The tech had a largish lcd meter. It was very impressive, but I've no
idea just what it was. He wouldn't let me get near it. His final test
was to plug in his own cablemodem: he saw it sync, and that seemed to be
good enough for him. I have a dandy VOM -- is there any way I can test
signal strength, and what would the appropriate threshold be?
I'm delighted to learn that the cablemodem lights are not indicative,
because I really do suspect it's a matter of signal strength. The
problem seems to come and go, as if some days I get better signal than
others. I've been thinking about getting a cable amp with a
pass-through return path. But those are quite expensive.
Lastly, I can flush iptables and still have the same problem. No change
whatsoever, so I've pretty much ruled out my rules.
I do have a Win95 box I use for OCR; I had thought to rule out the tulip
driver by installing the card in that machine to see if the network
connection is any more stable. Any thoughts?
Best,
Don
On 04 Sep 2001 19:22:25 +0530, Raghavendra Bhat wrote:
> [Tue, Sep 04, 2001 at 07:41:22AM -0400] Don Berkich :
>
> > The cablemodem, however, does not appear to lose sync:
> > receive, send and online lights are steady-on.
>
> Do not go by what the lights say ! They will be on even
> when the upstream/downstream signals are weak. How did this
> cable guy test the termination at your end ? Did he do a
> voltage test and come to the conclusion that your connectivity
> is good based on that or did he have some sort of a dip meter ?
>
>
> > How do I isolate the problem? That is, how do I determine
> > if it's the Linksys NIC, the Linksys NIC/cablemodem
> > connection
>
> First change the patch cord linking your NIC and cable modem
> and test. If the problem remains, change your NIC card for
> something better, say a 3Com/Intel Ether Pro Plus. If you
> are still short of luck, change/borrow the cable modem (get the
> SB 3100 model to test, it is more proven) and check.
>
> Is the Linksys card a PCI one and is it buffered for 100 MBps ?
> People say that the Intel Ether Pro 100+ NIC is a very good one.
> Did the cable guys recommend the Motorola SB 4100 box ? Please
> note whether the patch cord at one end, ie. the end going to the
> NIC should have a twist, like what we do when we hook up 2 machines
> without a hub. In my case, there is no twist. I am using the
> SB 3100.
>
> Turn off all firewall rules ie. iptables/ipmasq and allow all IPs
> thru. Later on after fixing the connection, you can turn them
> back on again.
>
> Please do mail me when you resolve this issue. I would really
> appreciate that. Feel *free* to mail me...
> --
> GPG: 1024D/F1624A6E ragOO, VU2RGU
>
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