Everyday my cable modem keeps disconnecting me. I get disconnected at least 3 times a day. I tried reformatting my computer to see if any viruses is causing it. After reformatting it worked but after upgrading it to service pack 4, it happened again. Is it the computer that's causing this or the cable modem. The cable modem is pretty new, it's only 4 months old. Can someone help me with this?

So you are not really sure what's causing the disconnect? It could be either computer or modem...Usually it's the modem/router causing the problem. You have a router connected to the modem right?

When you get disconnected, look at the lights on the modem/router. Are they all ok (usually green)? If you see any red/orange lights, something is wrong. Make sure the green lights are on the usual places (internet, wireless, ethernet, etc.). To be sure, take a look at where all the green lights are when it's working properly. When you get disconnected again, look at the router/modem and see which lights are on/off.

If you know someone who has a modem/router that you can borrow from, try using their's and see if you can get a connection. You might have to configure the settings on it to fit your ISP if a login/password is required for the router.

Have you tried contacting your Internet Service Provider (ISP) yet? They can usually run a quick test and determine if the problem is on their side or your side.

I had troublewith my cable modem for about a month. Started happening after a big storm. TRurned out to be a damaged cable line to the house. Just enought to kill the digital signal but not enough to really impact my analog cable TV reception.

I'd either get a no signal indicator or a trying to connect indicator on the modem LEDs.

You should call your cable company and have them check it out. Comcast's broadband service is about $50 a month here so as far as I'm concerned, it should never have a problem. There shouldn't be a service charge for having a technition come check it out.

Even calling the cable company, they can check to see if there are connection errors from your account.

vujsa

I have DSL, so I don't know much about cable... try vujsa's advice and call the cable company & get your line checked. It's very rare that a router and/or modem will malfunction like that. With routers, just try upgrading to the latest version of firmware.

[N]F

Well i called the cablevision guys and they told me that i shouldn't use more than one splitter to connect the main cable to the cable modem. and i don't have any router so what i'm planning is that i move the cable modem to the living room where the first splitter is located and connect the modem to a wireless router and get a long phone line modem because i use a broadband phone. the two rooms who have computers would have wireless usb adapters and they're like 50 feet away from the living room.

how would the signal be like if i did it this way? would it be the same speed because i have no choice but to place the cable modem to the living room. or should i use ethernet cables and let it run across the house to connect to the pcs. which one would be faster?

hi Demolaynyc!

I had a similar problem with a Motorola SurfBoard 4200 cable modem. Everytime you go to a website that contains "advanced" stuff like pop-up ads the whole computer restarts. at first I suspected the software but even after buying XP+SP2 and Norton it kept happening. I knew it had something to do with the USB because connecting the modem through the network slot worked ok.

I suspected it was a problem with my hardware (the USB "hub" inside) because I brought an older computer and it worked fine. but after going to Start->right click on My Computer->Properties->Advanced->Startup and Recovery frame Settings button->System Failure frame removing the [V] from the Automatically Restart checkbox, I was able to avoid the computer restart. then after the Internet Explorer crashed I sent an "Error Report" to Microsoft and they blamed the modem

This was strange for me because the modem (including the USB port) worked fine with another computer of mine (an older computer). I tried to download new drivers for the modem but to no avail because Motorola decided it's a "dis-continued product" and they don't support it anymore. all the drivers I did find didn't help. I was just about to start a long battle with the hardware shop when I decided to try the modem once more...

so I called the cable company for the 1000 time and insisted they will send another modem for me to test. and lo and behold after a lot of shouting someone came, changed the modem into a Thomson (another modem manufacturer) and it worked like a charm!

So what's the explanation? Windows decided that it's not so bad if Windows Updates (these security patches) doesn't support old modems anymore and causes the Motorola SB4200 modem driver not to function. The cable company knows that but doesn't want to give new modems to everyone so just insists on the home user working through the network cable slot. and all the while they blame everything from a power supply over-heat to a worm.

So what should you do? insist on getting another modem or work through the network cable.

good luck, hope this helps!

Yes your right my ISP has repleced all old Motorola modems with new Thompson models and lots of users are much happier with the service now..It seems they just had overwhelming evidence that it was better to replace them all than keep getting complaints about crappy modems

Mark420;)

I had similar problems when I used to have a cable connection. My connection worked perfectly for a couple of months but then started regularly disconnecting. I first blamed my ISP, which is known to have many problems, but then I heard that the T-splitter could be causing the problem. I changed my cabling and hooked my TV to another outlet and voila it started working lot better.

However the issue did not vanish... The line kept disconnecting when I used P2P software. The most likely reason was that my ISP kept disconnecting me because of the P2P traffic, which of course they denied or because of the heavier load.

Hmm i think it could be a firmware problem.
Did it recently happen or has it always happened?
You might want to check the modems log (if it has one) to try and find the problem. It might be related to your operating system something related to service pack 4. You could check the microsoft website/knowledge base to try and find something.
Other than that just check if your firmware is up to date.

-HellFire

What? I've never heard of an ISP blocking P2P traffic before. luckily, everything is open on my ISP's network. P2P, 80, oh it's all good!

[N]F