Telstra HFC problems

[matt144]

Okay so I have a weird problem that has just started occurring.  Bit of a quick background - I have telstra HFC internet and foxtel bundle (coming over the same cable) which has been working perfectly for a good 12+ months.

About a week ago internet stopped working but foxtel was working fine, so checked the outages page and there was a known problem in my area due to an issue with the nbn (i'm not on nbn).  I thought no worries, it's annoying but at least I know it's nothing on my end.  Anyway fast forward a week and still not working.  I had been checking the outages page daily but when I last checked it there was no outages anymore so assumed it's been fixed. 

However, internet is still not working so now assume there is a problem on my end. On the telstra modem I noticed the downstream and upstream lights are solid and the internet light is flashing.  I have a long cable that comes from a wall plate, into another room which has a splitter to get the signal to my foxtel box and to the telstra cable modem. 

Thinking the splitter is faulty I changed it.  Doesn't work.  Thinking the cable is faulty I used another known good one to go from the wall plate to the splitter to the modem.  Still not working.  Thinking the splitter is still at fault I use the long cable straight from the wall plate to the modem.  Still not working.  Thinking the long cable is the problem I move the modem closer to the wall plate and use the telstra supplied cable.  It works. 

So now I try another (smaller) cable from the wall plate to the modem and not working.  Took the wall plate off, put the splitter on the cable that runs to the inside of the wall plate and then the telstra supplied cable to the modem and still not working.  I even tried the cable straight out of the wall into the modem and it didn't work. 

The only scenario I can get internet to work now is to use the telstra supplied cable from the wall plate going directly to the modem. 

Any ideas as to why it's doing this?  Has me completely baffled.  The modem has been reset on each change and when it still didn't work I power cycled the modem on each change (for the suggested 15mins) and still no good.  Very frustrating as now if i want to use the internet I need to plug the modem in then if I want to watch foxtel I need to unplug the modem and plug the foxtel box back in.

Thanks for any suggestions.

tl;dr - can only get telstra modem to work with the telstra supplied cable going straight from the wall plate to the modem.  Can't use a splitter or any other known working cable.  Was previously working fine for ~12+ months

[cf4]

When you use the splitter the signal is halved, also using a longer cable the the signal will be attenuated more than if you use a shorter cable. This seems to suggest the might be a problem with your coaxial link that results in it working with the Telstra cable with no splitter but using a splitter or another cable that introduces extra attenuation results in modem not working.

Could yo post your line stats which are located here.

On a Cable Home Network Gateway
(CG3100D):
http://192.168.0.1/ > Connection (Under Maintenance)

On a Cable Gateway Max
(C6300BD):
http://192.168.0.1/ > Advanced > Broadband Connection > Connection Settings

If using a Cable Adapter + Gateway
(CM450. Will need to plug directly into the adapter with Ethernet):
http://192.168.100.1/ > Broadband Connection > Connection Settings

[matt144]

Thanks for the reply cf4 Here is a ^c ^v of what you wanted

Connection Settings

Startup Procedure

Procedure	Status	Comment
Acquire Downstream Channel	438000000 Hz	Locked
Connectivity State	OK	Operational
Boot State	OK	Operational
Configuration File	OK	cable_u2_tr2_netgear_docsis3
Security	Enabled	BPI+

Downstream Bonded Channels

Lock Status	Modulation	Channel ID	Symbol Rate (sym/sec)	Frequency (Hz)	Power (dBmV)	SNR (dBmV)	DOCSIS Locked
Locked	QAM256	9	6952000 sym/sec	438000000 Hz	-3.5 dBmV	40.3 dB	EuroDOCSIS
Locked	QAM256	10	6952000 sym/sec	446000000 Hz	-3.3 dBmV	40.5 dB	EuroDOCSIS
Locked	QAM256	11	6952000 sym/sec	454000000 Hz	-2.9 dBmV	40.8 dB	EuroDOCSIS
Locked	QAM256	12	6952000 sym/sec	462000000 Hz	-3.5 dBmV	40.5 dB	EuroDOCSIS
Locked	QAM256	13	6952000 sym/sec	470000000 Hz	-3.4 dBmV	40.5 dB	EuroDOCSIS
Locked	QAM256	14	6952000 sym/sec	478000000 Hz	-3.4 dBmV	40.3 dB	EuroDOCSIS
Locked	QAM256	15	6952000 sym/sec	486000000 Hz	-3.5 dBmV	39.9 dB	EuroDOCSIS
Locked	QAM256	16	6952000 sym/sec	494000000 Hz	-4.1 dBmV	39.1 dB	EuroDOCSIS

Upstream Bonded Channels

Lock Status	Modulation	Channel ID	Symbol Rate (Ksym/sec)	Frequency (Hz)	Power (dBmV)
Locked	ATDMA	32	5120 Ksym/sec	61800000 Hz	57.0 dBmV
Not Locked	Unknown	0	0 Ksym/sec	0 Hz	0.0 dBmV
Not Locked	Unknown	0	0 Ksym/sec	0 Hz	0.0 dBmV
Not Locked	Unknown	0	0 Ksym/sec	0 Hz	0.0 dBmV

Current System Time : Wed Dec 26 10:29:41 2018

What you say makes sense about the cable and splitter, I just find it strange that it has been working for more than a year without an issue and now all of a sudden I have these issues even though I've tried new cables and splitters since the outage.

Thanks for your help so far

ps I could log straight into the cable adapter homepage (cable adapter + gateway) without plugging directly into it.  Let me know if that changes anything.  If I do need to plug straight into it I'll need to find a long cat5/6 cable.  (can do just a pain)

Edit - I'll just add that the cable adapter is plugged in so internet works.  Let me know if you want to see the same with one of the other cables (internet not working)

[matt144]

to save time this is when it wasn't working..

Connection Settings

Startup Procedure

Procedure	Status	Comment
Acquire Downstream Channel	391000000 Hz	Locked
Connectivity State	In Progress	Access Denied
Boot State	In Progress	Unknown
Configuration File	OK	cable_u2_tr2_netgear_docsis3
Security	Disabled	Disabled

Downstream Bonded Channels

Lock Status	Modulation	Channel ID	Symbol Rate (sym/sec)	Frequency (Hz)	Power (dBmV)	SNR (dBmV)	DOCSIS Locked
Locked	QAM256	5	6952000 sym/sec	391000000 Hz	-7.0 dBmV	40.8 dB	EuroDOCSIS
Not Locked	Unknown	0	0 sym/sec	0 Hz	0.0 dBmV	0.0 dB	Unknow
Not Locked	Unknown	0	0 sym/sec	0 Hz	0.0 dBmV	0.0 dB	Unknow
Not Locked	Unknown	0	0 sym/sec	0 Hz	0.0 dBmV	0.0 dB	Unknow
Not Locked	Unknown	0	0 sym/sec	0 Hz	0.0 dBmV	0.0 dB	Unknow
Not Locked	Unknown	0	0 sym/sec	0 Hz	0.0 dBmV	0.0 dB	Unknow
Not Locked	Unknown	0	0 sym/sec	0 Hz	0.0 dBmV	0.0 dB	Unknow
Not Locked	Unknown	0	0 sym/sec	0 Hz	0.0 dBmV	0.0 dB	Unknow

Upstream Bonded Channels

Lock Status	Modulation	Channel ID	Symbol Rate (Ksym/sec)	Frequency (Hz)	Power (dBmV)
Locked	ATDMA	29	5120 Ksym/sec	42600000 Hz	57.0 dBmV
Not Locked	Unknown	0	0 Ksym/sec	0 Hz	0.0 dBmV
Not Locked	Unknown	0	0 Ksym/sec	0 Hz	0.0 dBmV
Not Locked	Unknown	0	0 Ksym/sec	0 Hz	0.0 dBmV

This page eventually stopped loading when I can only assume the gateway updated it's routing table.  Again I can redo the test if you think anything will change by plugging directly into it

[cf4]

Can definitely see drop of 50 % in the received power level of the set using the splitter. -3.5 dbmv to -7.0 dbmv (A drop of 3 db is drop of 50%)

I am not a cabling connection expert and can't tell you if there is anything wrong with the figures without the splitter. Perhaps @Yastiandrie would know if there is anything wrong with the cable connection without a splitter.

[Yastiandrie]

Upstream powers too high. Will need a tech visit.

Issues more then likely outside in the pit

[matt144]

I still have this problem and I've been chatting to telstra to try and rectify this but they tell me that the power level is fine? Any more advice on what I can do now to fix it, as telstra think there is no issue.

[Yastiandrie]

Only suggestion is to try again

There's definitely an issue if you cant have foxtel + internet via a splitter at the same time
Also anything over 55dBmv for upstream power is 100% considered a fault

[matt144]

Well they agreed to send a tech out and just gave me a warning that if it's anything telstra supplied that is at fault they will repair, but if its anything else then I need to pay. Waiting to get scheduled in for a tech visit so hopefully it can be resolved soon.

Thanks Yastiandrie