Problem with internet connection (great details provided!)?

[964]

I have been having a problem with my cable internet connection for about 4 months now. When my internet is up in running, I get around 20Mbps DL and 1Mbps UL, very fast. Though occasionally it will cut out for long periods of time, and I was told by the cable company that there was barely a signal from the coax cable. I have a motorola modem, and I notice that the PC Activity light seems to blink less frequently and consistently when the internet is down, perhaps meaning something. I do not have a router or wireless in my house. I used to switch the one ethernet cable between two computers occasionally to do stuff. Could this cause an IP problem? It's so strange because it occasionally will work, and be incredibly fast, but more often than not it doesnt work.

Thank you for your time reading my questions, and please give detailed answers!! Don't tell me to call the cable company, it doesnt work! lol

[Scrawny]

I used to have a cable internet connection and had the same problems as you. As it turns out, squirrels just love the taste of the cable company cable. The squirrels would eat their way into the boxes and have a feast. If they couldn't get into the junction box they would eat the cable outside the box. It seemed like the cable company repair crew lived at my place because they were there so often making repairs to the damage caused by squirrels.

The condition gets bad in a hurry if there is rain as water in the cable just kills everything. In the years that I had the cable internet connection the problem was never in the house. It was always on the pole behind the house and it was always the same problem....squirrels.

The odd thing about this was that the TV always had a great picture.

Before blowing a gasket at the ISP make sure that your own cables are in great condition and that the connections are snug.

from a command prompt type the following: ping followed by your ISP's internet address.

A report will be generated and the results should be in the single digit or low double digit values.

Try turning off your computer and then turn off the modem. Wait a few minutes and then turn on the modem and when the modem settles down, boot your computer. This might refresh your connection parameters to get back the speed that you should have.

If it doesn't work, call the ISP and get them to repair their line as you are paying for premium service and are not getting it.