LiveJournal Killed My Cablemodem

[rowyn]

Lut and I have been having trouble with our cablemodem connection for the last couple of weeks. Lut keeps returning cablemodems and picking up a new one, because the trouble seems to be related to the actual modem: unplugging it and then plugging it back in again will restore the connection.

Last night, we got our third new cablemodem, and it had already conked out at least once yesterday evening.

This morning, I'm trying to post an entry to UnfinishedTales, and the cablemodem keeps conking out right when I'm trying to post it. I unplug the cablemodem, leave it off for a minute, plug it back in, and my connection is restored, I get my entry and all the settings put into the LJ update page again ... and it conks out again.

After about the third or fourth iteration of this, I'm really starting to wonder if this is more than just unfortunate coincidence. I web-browse through a Yahoo forum for a bit. No problems. I get everything ready on the LJ update page to post, but don't hit the post button yet. I go back and browse some more messages. Still no problems. I hit post on the update page.

I lose Internet connection for the next several minutes.

Buh.

I do this a few more times. This appears to be a consistent problem.

I go off to the LJ downloads page, am briefly mystified by the lack of links to actual, you know, downloads, and finally grab Semagic off of its homepage. I install it, fire it up, put my entry in there .... and it posts. And my Internet connection remains stable.

And now I'm wondering: Lut only has this trouble with the cablemodem in the evenings. When I'm home. And web-browsing. Usually on LiveJournal.

Now, I know this can't be connected to posting entries, because I put most of my journal updates in during the day, from work. But I do leave quite a few comments in other people's journals during the evening, and sometimes they do take an awfully long time to send, or don't get sent at all ....

Hmmm.

O.o

So I ask those of you more technically-inclined than myself (that would be: all of you) -- does this make any sense to you? Is it possible that LJ is flooding my connection whenever I post something through one of its webpages? Semagic is working fine -- so far.

Comments

[gen.livejournal.com]

You know, I'd have problems like that myself... But the issue was resolved when I had the wiring and box replaced. It was probably easier to do as I live in a house as opposed to an apartment.

Have you considered trying a new browser?

[kelloggs2066.livejournal.com]

My cable modem seems to go out when it gets too
hot outside. I've done my best to cover up the
cable connection and keep it in the shade, but
it seems I'm at my most reliable in early morning
late at night, or when it's raining.

But, the symptoms are similar: Cable light goes
out, and then flashes intermittently as the
connection dies.

I've had the service guys out to check it a few
times on similar occasions. Actions taken include:

Cleaning and tightnening all the Coaxial cable connections.

Replacing the cable modem.

Replacing the cable TV cable from the pole to the
house.

I'd suggest trying to tighten all your wiring
connections and see if that goes.

However, I've never found my brouser connection to
be affected by what site I was looking at. If the
cable light on the modem goes out or flashes, that
means it's an connection problem, not a site problem.

Hope that helps...

Scott

[rowyn]

It really is the entry I was trying to post! And *only* that entry -- doesn't seem to be a trouble with LJ posting anything else of mine. O.o

But that's not the cause of the problem generally, obviously, since this morning was the first time I tried to post this particular piece. But still. We-ird.

[rowyn]

Hmm. I guess I could try a different browser. Mostly, the problem has affected Lut more than me, because he plays online games where he's very sensitive to short interruptions. Often, he'll be complaining about problems that I haven't even noticed. Until this morning, hadn't even occured to me there could be a connection between my browsing and his problem ... and I'm still not sure.

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

Doesn't seem like a normal thing for a web browser to do. One thing, is it that your computer is hooked up to the cable modem directly and his is somehow daisychained off of yours? The daisychaining might be causing problems, if that were the case.

I'd think about getting a cheap two-port (or four-port) router and hooking that into the cable modem, then connecting both PCs to the router, if that were the case.

[rowyn]

Yeah, what we have now is a four-port hub with the cable modem and computers all plugged into it.