RTP300 & Comcast

Posts: 170 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Dec 05, 2004 Posts: 170

I had been using an RTP300 with a Terayon cable modem on Adelphia for several months with no problems.

Recently, I moved to an area serviced by Comcast and they provided a Motorola SB5101 modem. I have a rather odd problem. I have intermittent outages of Internet and phone service. The cable modem lights stay on as normal, and the outage lasts anywhere from 1 second to 2 minutes.

I've connected my cable modem directly to the computer and have been unable to duplicate the problem. This leads me to believe that the RTP300 is having problems with either the new cable modem or with the way Comcast is sending and receiving packets of data (overflow).

I have the standard setup of the cable modem connected to the RTP300 and the RTP300 connected to the computer (with the RTP300 acting as the primary router). This did not change when I moved.

I'm ready to buy a better router, maybe even a wireless one, but I'm concerned that the phone may still have problems and if so, it may be a waste of money.

Has anyone experienced this issue before? If so, how did you resolve it? Even if not, do you think replacing the router will resolve the issue?

Thanks,

Maaz

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Jun 20, 2006 Posts: 11

Hey Maaz,

Sorry, no help here but I'm faced with a similar problem. Same hardware but when I switched from DSL (ATT/SBC) to Cable (Comcast) my service has gone down the tubes.

Rob

Posts: 1715 · Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2006 6:31 pm Post subject:

I'd be willing to bet money that it's a Comcast issue. At every location I've had a Comcast connection, I've always gone through headaches to get things stable. The Motorola SB modems are some of the best available, but any connection is only as good as the weakest link. A better router might help, but brief intermittent outages are something I've seen very commonly on Comcast networks.

Posts: 170 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Dec 05, 2004 Posts: 170

Thanks for the replies. I haven't ruled out the possibility that it's a Comcast issue, but it sure is interesting that when connected directly to the computer, there are no issues.

I'm supposed to have 8 MB down / 768k up. I have been able to get up to about 5 MB down / 600k up without the RTP300, and only 3 MB down / 600k up with the router (and most of the time, it is less than 2 MB down). In addition, my connection seems more stable without the router. For example, websites load at a more consistant speed.

I almost wonder if the RTP300 is having trouble handling the download throughput. It almost seems to be some type of overflow issue. Some interesting observations I made is that the 'outages' have only appeared to have ever happened when I was on the computer. If I just used the phone and not the computer, I never got disconnected. However, when I did have an 'outage' when using the computer, the phone went out too. I got a dialtone but if I tried to call someone, it was just dead silence and no ring.

I'm considering purchasing a Linksys WRT54GX(2 or 4). I have a laptop in addition to my desktop computer and figure I can use the wireless in my house anyway. Does anyone have experience with this router and an RTP300? If so, were there any issues or would you recommend a different router? Is there a way to use QoS for VoIP? I think the QoS on the RTP300 doesn't work real well anyway. The one on the old RTP31P2 was better but that router had other issues such as background noise and intermittent reboots which is why I exchanged it for an RTP300 last year.

The problem is that I can't call Comcast and complain if I can't duplicate the issue without the RTP300 connected. I guess I'll give a better router a try and if it does not resolve the issue, I'll have to order Verizon DSL and get slower speeds (but hopefully more reliable).

Thanks,

Maaz

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Jun 20, 2006 Posts: 5

Hey, Maaz - I have comcast. My connection works, but I have a strange setup. I have had a wireless router (D-Link) for a while. Instead of eliminating that - I just plugged the vonage router in behind that router, and the computers into the D-Link. Everything works just fine like that. Weird things happened with the Vonage router and the comcast modem.

One thing to try is to power off the cable modem for at least two minutes, then plug it in, let it power up, then plug in your vonage modem. Comcast modems seem to love to remember the MAC address of your computer and stay locked on it.

Posts: 170 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Dec 05, 2004 Posts: 170

Hi Jennymcc, that's actually the setup that I'm thinking of creating, except for a different brand/model wireless router. It's not really a strange setup, but my only concern is how the loss of QoS will affect the connection.

Yes, I'm aware of having to unplug and plug back in the cable modem to release the MAC address. The issue here is intermittent connectivity issues when the cable modem is plugged in directly to the RTP300. Hopefully a better router in between the two will resolve the issue.

Maaz

Posts: 1715 · Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:25 am Post subject:

Is there any pattern to when it drops out (like after x # of hours, or at a certain time of day)?

Posts: 170 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Dec 05, 2004 Posts: 170

No, I haven't been able to find a pattern, but it does happen several times a day, and has happened morning, afternoon, and night. I couldn't be on the computer for more than an hour without it happening at least once. Most of the outages were very short, under 5 seconds, though occasionally they lasted up to a couple of minutes. Sometimes, it happened several times within that 1 hour period. It's been about a day now with no RTP300 connected (cable modem connected directly to computer) and I haven't noticed any outages as of yet. Strange, huh?

Maaz

Posts: 10 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Sep 16, 2005 Posts: 10

I have the 300 also and a comcast connection. I put in a Trendnet BRP611. this wireless router has built in QOS that works quite well. I have not had any problems

Posts: 170 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Dec 05, 2004 Posts: 170

MRN, I'm not familiar with Trendnet products, but I will take a look at the one you are referring to. Thanks.