Internet tends to slow after a while, requiring a reboot

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rcrez

Limp Gawd
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May 22, 2005
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So my Xfinity internet max speeds are plenty high, but often it slows to a crawl or is easily interrupted making video calls impossible. I find that a reboot of my router is enough to bring everything back to full speed, but this happens often. For best performance I find a daily reboot is almost necessary.

What could the underlying case be? I've called Xfiniity and they don't have anything they can do for me besides reboot everything.

My router is: TP-LINK Archer C7 AC1750 Dual Band Wireless AC Gigabit Router

My modem is: ARRIS SURFboard SB6141 8x4 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem

Anybody know why my internet is slow such that I need periodic reboots? I'm not even sure how to begin debugging.
 
Check your signal for channels. Also I would get a 32x8 modem. The more channels you have the less chance of getting slow downs due to the shared node your connected too..

For Router check for Firmware upgrades and maybe try a factory reset... Last ditch effort is to see if your router can handle a custom firmware.
 
what are you rebooting that fixes the problem? Modem or router?

If the answer is "both", next time you encounter the issue reboot only the router and see if the situation improves. If so, probably time for a new one.

If rebooting the router alone doesn't fix the problem, then reboot the modem. If your performance increases after a modem reboot then a new modem MAY be the solution.

However, if the modem is the suspected culprit, do not replace it with another 8x4 modem. In these times of increased internet activity, your local 8-channel bonding group may be getting saturated. When you reboot your modem, it's respective CMTS may be assigning it to another 8 channel bonding group, temporarily alleviating the problem. In the industry, we call this load-balancing.

The solution will be as Vengance_01 said, get a 32x8 capable modem. I would consider none other than the Arris/Commscope SB8200.
 
Ehren8879 said:
what are you rebooting that fixes the problem? Modem or router?

If the answer is "both", next time you encounter the issue reboot only the router and see if the situation improves. If so, probably time for a new one.

If rebooting the router alone doesn't fix the problem, then reboot the modem. If your performance increases after a modem reboot then a new modem MAY be the solution.

However, if the modem is the suspected culprit, do not replace it with another 8x4 modem. In these times of increased internet activity, your local 8-channel bonding group may be getting saturated. When you reboot your modem, it's respective CMTS may be assigning it to another 8 channel bonding group, temporarily alleviating the problem. In the industry, we call this load-balancing.

The solution will be as Vengance_01 said, get a 32x8 capable modem. I would consider none other than the Arris/Commscope SB8200.
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"I find that a reboot of my router is enough to bring everything back to full speed, but this happens often. For best performance I find a daily reboot is almost necessary. "

It sounds like they are rebooting the router.
 
From my experience, consumer gear is mediocre and cable internet infrastructure and modems are mediocre too. Invest in Ubiquiti gear.
When gigabit fiber comes I recommend dumping the cable. Spectrum would drop packets to the point the modem would reboot.
Our ATT fiber is 1000/1000 99.5 % of time with zero packet drop /issues we had with Time Warner AKA Spectrum.

https://www.speedtest.net/my-result/d/d2c679b2-8571-4169-9369-33c18413d1b7
 
drutman said:
From my experience, consumer gear is mediocre and cable internet infrastructure and modems are mediocre too. Invest in Ubiquiti gear.
When gigabit fiber comes I recommend dumping the cable. Spectrum would drop packets to the point the modem would reboot.
Our ATT fiber is 1000/1000 99.5 % of time with zero packet drop /issues we had with Time Warner AKA Spectrum.

https://www.speedtest.net/my-result/d/d2c679b2-8571-4169-9369-33c18413d1b7
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Any specific recommendations for a model and router that are compatible? I'm browsing this site: https://www.ui.com/products/#default

With my current setup I also find that my WiFI speeds drop about 50-75% by the time they reach my bedroom so I have a Netgear extender in the bedroom to help maintain that. So whatever I get I think I would need something to keep the signal strong in other parts of the house.
 
We use the AC Lite and a AC pro with a raspberry PI running the controller software. Our switches are the eight port version and the 24 port 250 W rack mount. All our PCs and TVs are cat 7 cabled in and we cable in a AC lite up stairs and the AC pro is downstairs. Wifi when at full power is accessible down the street. Fiber ONT is on the side of the rack. Quality cabling and proper self made terminations are essential. We make our own cables and invest in decent crimpers. If you have a Microcenter we got 1000 ft of cat 7 for 60 USD.
 

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I'm a bit concerned about the difficulty of setting those up. I read that its quite hard. Is that the case?

What do you think of something like: TP-Link Archer AC4000 ? I saw it got top review on Wirecutter.
 
rcrez said:
I'm a bit concerned about the difficulty of setting those up. I read that its quite hard. Is that the case?

What do you think of something like: TP-Link Archer AC4000 ? I saw it got top review on Wirecutter.
Click to expand...
Its worth it in the end IMO. Its a bit of money upfront but the package as a whole really works well and is super stable. I love unifi and will be a customer for life at home. We even use their APs only at my work for all offsite locations. We have Cisco and Palo Alto for switches and our FW.
 
It is not that hard to do Unifi software is good and once you use enterprise grade gear you will throw everything else to the scrap heap. The access points can be configured via a phone app or from anywhere. We have customers home setups going on 5 yrs with no downtime and Wifi hands off seamlessly with multiple APs.
 
I find my internet problems happen typically during a video call where latency is important. Loading Netflix (buffering), webpages and speedtest.net doesn't have any problems because those are not as time sensitive. Is there a way I can test my connection without having to setup my own fake video calls?


Just earlier my 5ghz wifi connection failed but 2.4ghz is still going strong. I can also direct connect my laptop to the router via ethernet and its still strong. Does that help anyone identify the issue?

If I get the AC pro, can I use my existing router and just plug it into one of the existing ethernet ports and disable the wifi on the router?

Thanks for everyone's feedback here.
 
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Yes you can. You will need to run the app or controller software on a PC to configure it. I would also try and get 2 cheaper ones if your not able to put one HD or ac pro right in the middle. 2 ac lites should do the trick or if you have cat 5 wire for phones check out the in walls of that cable goes back to a place anywhere near the current modem and router location
 
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