I had been experiencing slower than usual downloads over Time Warner’s network and it had become unbearable when I could no longer support a G711 call.  For once though, it was not Time Warner’s fault.

With my current bandwidth, I should be able achieve 30 Mbps downstream and 5 Mbps upstream.

Using the Time Warner on net bandwidth tester, I would be lucky to break 16Mbps downstream.

Time Warner Speed Test

The traditional ookla speedtest.net speed tester was even absolutely pathetic.

While attempting to have Time Warner re-flash my Cisco DPC3000, it was found that the cable modem was not connecting with the provisioned channels.  The Cisco DPC3000 supports a 4×4 channel setup: 4 channels downstream and 4 channels upstream.  These details are able to be seen within the cable modems web administrative interface at 192.168.100.1.  The standard provisioning with my speeds is to use 4 channels downstream and 1 channel upstream.  In my case, I had 1 channel downstream and 1 channel upstream.

Time Warner attempted to flash my modem several times without success.  This device was technically not on the supported devices list and that was brought up.  I purchased this device on my own instead of renting theirs – the last thing I wanted to do was purchase a new cable modem.  Fortunately I attempted the factory reset process.  Out comes the bent old paper clip to push the recessed button.

Success.  After the device reloaded, I was able to view the proper channels provisioned.

While not a revolutionary post, it was fun when the resolution was found.  Up until that point, it was quite frustrating.  Also adding as a side note, it is rather interesting the differences between “on net” and “off net” bandwidth tests…

As a bonus during our conversations, it was found some notes about what was considered good signal levels.  While certainly searchable online, I am adding the notes below for reference.

SNR: > 30dBmV

RX Power: Between -10 dBmV and 10 dBmV

TX Power: < 50 dBmV