A tale of woe...partly solved

[Bikewer]

We've been getting sporadic connection problems for several weeks. The cable internet would simply "drop out" several times a week, and usually come back on within a few minutes.

Sometimes longer...

I suspected the ancient cable modem, which we've had for years. Each time it went out for more than a few minutes, I'd call Charter service and fight my way through the damned robot to a human tech, who would duly "re-set" everything by some mysterious process.
Usually would work fine for another period of days.

Today, no such luck. In fact, after fiddling with everything for the better part of an hour, the tech person decided that my modem was indeed dead. It wasn't showing up at all.

So, I could wait till Monday for a service call (college move-in this weekend, we're working 12-hour shifts) or go buy a new modem.
I bought. Hooked it up, called Charter with the MAC ID number....Nothing. No signal.
This tech person (the third one) asked a simple question..."Are you running a splitter?"

Well, of course I was, the cable was split when it came into the house for a direct shot to the computer and another to the TV. I looked over the cable that serviced the computer, it appeared fine visually...
I unplugged the spare TV in the same room with the computers and plugged the cable into the new modem. Bingo! The modem immediately connected me to the Charter "add a new modem" page and I was up and running in minutes.
Somehow, that section of cable has been compromised, or the splitter itself.

Sometimes, it is mechanical.

[Jungle Jim]

I paid some bills and went for a bike ride today.

[rjh01]

So now you have two modems when you need only one. Can you get a refund?

[Bikewer]

I'm inclined to just keep the new one; Charter's deal is that you pay for the modem on your monthly bill until you own it. I've long-since owned mine......
If I traded the old one back to Charter, I'd be back to paying a monthly fee.

[Dancing David]

Yup never hurts to check the mechanical connections, ethernet cords crap out as well. Makes the switch boards at work fun, usually it is the port that is dead , sometimes the cable, very funny and frustrating.

[Bikewer]

I suspect mice... We had mouse damage to the power cord for our phone a couple of years ago. I don't know what attracts the little guys to chewing plastic and copper, but it's pretty common.

[Hittman]

I once did a service call on a client who had been visited three times before. He was having horrible connectivity to the network. He connected, but it took him forever to get anything over the network. His network card had been replaced three times. The LED on it was flashing fast and non-stop, even though he wasn't doing anything.

The cable from the card to the wall had been replaced twice.

I had no idea what to do, so resorted to the time honored method if "dicking with it" to try and stumble on a solution. I went to the wiring closet and tried moving the cable to a different port. The new port flashed just as furiously as the old one. While scratching my head I noticed a stash of spare cables on the wall. I grabbed one and replaced the old one. Wallah! The LED started blinking at a normal rate.

I love it when you stumble on the solution and come off looking as the super expert that solved a problem that stumped three other people.