Cable modem or Adelphia problem (or both)?

[splooger]

I have an SB3100 cable modem (USB connection) I'm leasing for $5 a month from Adelphia. It has four solid lights and one blinking light on the front showing that the modem is online. The problem is those lights often stop blinking and I can't connect to the Internet and get disconnected. After a while, and the time varies greatly, the lights will start up again and I can connect fine. Is this a problem with the modem or my cable company (Adelphia) or both? Should I buy a different modem and stop leasing the one I have? Any help apprectiated. Thanks.

[XPav]

Get rid of that USB modem for sure. Its evil. However, if you feel like keeping it shouldn't you be able to call up Adelphia and say "hey! I think my modem is broken! Send me another one!" or have them figure out whats wrong with your serivce?

[splooger]

Get rid of that USB modem for sure. Its evil. However, if you feel like keeping it shouldn't you be able to call up Adelphia and say "hey! I think my modem is broken! Send me another one!" or have them figure out whats wrong with your serivce?

I'm using a USB adapter. You think the problem would improve with an NIC connection?

[Midnight Son]

The modem probably has an ethernet port on it also. If so, shut off the PC, disconnect the USB cable, reconnect the modem with an ethernet cable and test it again.

[splooger]

The modem probably has an ethernet port on it also. If so, shut off the PC, disconnect the USB cable, reconnect the modem with an ethernet cable and test it again.

Problem is I don't have an ethernet connection and don't know how to intall one, which is why Adelphia gave me a USB adapter.

[Zephyr]

I had a similar problem once, but mine happened to be a bad cable in the wall somewhere. I only put 2 and 2 together as when the lights stopped blinking, some of my lowband channels on the tv would start to get fuzzy.

[XPav]

The modem probably has an ethernet port on it also. If so, shut off the PC, disconnect the USB cable, reconnect the modem with an ethernet cable and test it again.

Problem is I don't have an ethernet connection and don't know how to intall one, which is why Adelphia gave me a USB adapter.
It ain't hard, and can be done with a $15 PCI LAN card.

USB broadband adapters are horrible. Please believe us. They eat CPU cycles and provide poor performance, usually with crappy drivers to boot.

[Lunch of Kong]

Splooger, the next time this happens, call Adelphia tech support right away. Tell them you have a fault in your cable modem and that none of your lights are blinking.

When your blinken lights stop blinken, it means the modem has lost the cable signal.

They can conduct remote line tests and tell you what's causing your cable signal to fizz out.

[Chris Nahr]

In addition to not requiring stupid drivers, Ethernet modems allow you to put a router/firewall/auto-dialer before the modem. Can't do that with a USB connection.