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CM1100 and Mesh 6 system not working after power failure; all lights working fine
Greetings!
- CM1100 modem and MR60 mesh router (2 satellites) installed June of 2021. Comcast is my ISP in the PNW and is relatively reliable historically.
- Over last 4 years, I've had to power-cycle the modem and router roughly once every 2 months because the router's lights turn amber. One power-cycle of modem, router, and computer has always fixed this.
- Power failure (perfectly clear night, no storm) late-evening Nov 13 for 3 hours then again for a minute 3 hours after it was back on. No info from power company why this happened, but the entire town was out.
- 11/14 AM - no internet. All lights on modem and router were working as normal, so the lack of internet surprised me. Power-cycled 3 or 4 times, then powered everything down for a full hour and got it working after that. Worked fine for nearly 2 days.
- 11/16 AM - no internet. Power-cycled multiple times (at least 5) over the course of 3 hours, with no luck. Noted in Windows troubleshooter a comment about swapping out cables. I swapped out the ethernet cable between the modem and router and got it working! Ordered 2 new ethernet cables to be delivered later that week.
- 12/1 - no internet. I was traveling that day but noted my security cameras were all down. Sure enough, when I got home, all the lights looked fine but nothing worked.
- 12/2 AM - swapped out both ethernet cables (to router and directly to desktop) - everything worked!
- 12/7 AM - no internet. Power-cycled 4 times, including leaving everything off for 30 minutes. I have no more cables to swap out. I have detached all cables from both the modem and router and waited 1 hour, then re-attached. No luck.
I'm understandably getting very frustrated with all of this. I am unable to access the modem via 198.168.100.1 - nothing loads at all in either Firefox or Chrome. (I'm currently using my work phone's hotspot so have perfectly functional internet on the desktop.) Likewise, the alternative site I found (10.0.0.1) brings up nothing. I have not updated router firmware in forever and seem to have no way to check what it is.
I am worried this is the modem and not the router. In the past, when the router's lights turn amber, I have ethernet on the desktop via the dedicated cable. Now I have nothing, making me think it's the modem and not (just) the router.
What I don't understand is why everything works for a time and then fails. Or why all the lights look perfectly fine yet there is no internet at all. Could this be related to the power failure, some sort of surge to the modem via either the power cable or the coax? Is it worth finding another coax cable to test? Pretty sure I don't have one so will need to go out and buy something.
Or am I just done with these machines? I'd appreciate any info. I'm seriously considering going back to having Comcast provide equipment as much as that irks me. At least there is support that comes with that, and not just for 90 days (which is a joke, frankly).
Carrie
Ok you got in. This is good.
Yes, two LAN ports however one will only be active with your ISP. Usually LAN1 is active. However seems you have LAN2 working.
Looking at your cable connections data, looks good and power levels are with in specs: https://kb.netgear.com/24311/Power-level-guidelines-for-a-NETGEAR-cable-modem-router
Correctables and Un-correctables should remain zero or may some some slow up tickin value numbers, however should not see major high values here.
The event logs looks bad though. Any Criticals, Errors or Warnings seen in the event logs needs to be reviewed and resolved by the ISP. Indicates a signal issue on the ISP line up to the modem.
Have the ISP check the signal and line quality UP to the modem. Be sure the ISP provisions the modem correctly.
I think I may have stumbled upon an incorrect configuration that's been present for awhile. I have no idea if it has anything to do with the recent issues.
In reading my user manual for the CM1100, it appears while there are two LAN ethernet ports, only one is functional at a time in normal circumstances (aside from port aggregation, which I doubt I need or use). Ever since issues I had with the router a few years ago, I've been utilizing wifi on the desktop computer, even though the ethernet cable has been connected directly to the modem. I always wondered why this didn't work but didn't take the time to dive into it since the wifi worked well.
Tonight, I removed the ethernet cable that had connected the desktop computer to LAN 2 in the modem and plugged it into the second ethernet port on the router instead. Now, my desktop has hard-wired ethernet and the wifi works (after two additional power-cycles of the modem and router).
Again, not sure this has anything to do with my issues recently, since these cables have been in these positions for years.
I am going to pick up a new modem tomorrow when I am out, as I'm starting to think it's worth having a backup around.
If the logs provide any helpful insight to you, let me know. I really appreciate all your assistance on this!
18 Replies
UPDATE: I found a very old coax cable and swapped it - everything works. For now. I will pick up a new coax cable tomorrow. Assuming this is the final fix, do I have any options for the future to prevent power surges affecting this, or do I just need to keep a bunch of spare cables around?
When you get the new stuff installed, please post the cable connections and event logs page please here so we can check the status of the signal at the modem to make sure all is good.
I would love to get that info but 198.168.100.1 has not been working, at least since 12/7. That was the first time I'd tried it in many months, maybe over a year. I'm not sure why it's not working.
My internet is down again today. I swapped out the old coax for a brand new one and still not working, so I'm back on the hotspot. I will try to get a new modem today or tomorrow but I am honestly wondering if even that will work, considering things seem to work fine for a variable amount of time (hours to weeks) and then fail again. This is very puzzling.
If you have any ideas of how to regain the ability to access router info, I will try those. I came across someone else on these forums that had that difficulty but never got a solution that I could find. (I did try accessing things once the internet was running properly after 12/7 and still couldn't get in. Tried two different browsers, too.)