Points of Failure

[azurelunatic]

Let's review. The router was shite. My NIC was unreliable. Now... we still have problems.

Allow me to illustrate with a typical trace route.

C:\Documents and Settings\AzureLunatic>tracert azurelunatic.livejournal.com

Tracing route to azurelunatic.livejournal.com [204.9.177.18]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 38 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.1.1
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 30 ms 11 ms 18 ms ip68-2-1-77.ph.ph.cox.net [68.2.1.77]
4 4294967272 ms 47 ms 10 ms 70.169.73.37
5 24 ms 84 ms 29 ms langbbr01-ae0.r2.la.cox.net [68.1.0.232]
6 57 ms 44 ms 58 ms 66.192.254.196
7 38 ms 45 ms 76 ms livejournal.com [204.9.177.18]

Trace complete.

... yeah. That. Note hop 2, and especially hop 4. Nice short route otherwise. I don't usually get routes that direct except at work to our own servers. I'm still having timeouts and other woes, and the helpful Linksys Wireless Network Monitor informs me that while Madman's new NIC stays rolled up in ROLLEDUP (JD, take note; the key will be posted too in several of the usual places within the apartment), ROLLEDUP is not able to roll up the rest of the internet. That either means that Cox are being ... well, heh ... or that the cablemodem has gone bad.

Woe.

Comments

[hcolleen.livejournal.com]

According to Cox, when I called them last, their connection to us is fine. Give me another month and the modem can be replaced... :/ (yes, I know, frustrating and irritating).

If that doesn't help, then it is to call Cox again and tell them that both the router and modem are new and the problem is on their side, end of story.

Though, a modem should last more than 2 years.

[azurelunatic]

I may be able to arrange something earlier than that. And yes. Very irritating. I've put the "DAMN IT" button on my keyboard now.

[myrrhianna.livejournal.com]

I blame Cox. Though residential equipment is made to die every couple of years. I'm still pissed that there is no real way to do an end-to-end test through the modem (cannot afford a Fireberd, and don't have a dedicated connection anyway.)

I want a Fireberd anyway. ^__^

[azurelunatic]

I'm downloading Wireshark; that'll let us at least do a little more sniffing, though I regret that I'm not entirely sure what to look for (anymore/at all).

[myrrhianna.livejournal.com]

If I had the ability, I would ask cox for a loopback on our line from the closest spot, hook a terminal into the modem, and run a two hour test. but I can't.

[azurelunatic]

Alas.

[myrrhianna.livejournal.com]

(Equipment I want below)

http://www.jdsu.com/test_and_measurement/products/descriptions/FIREBERD_6000/index.html

[azurelunatic]

They're ... used, on eBay, about as much as that scooter you want. o_0

[myrrhianna.livejournal.com]

Exactly. And I wouldn't want a used one - field techs are notoriously hard on their equipment.

[azurelunatic]

Nibs would be less hard on this than a field tech?

[myrrhianna.livejournal.com]

It's heavier than Ryo.

[azurelunatic]

She could still shed on it.

[myrrhianna.livejournal.com]

And probably would. Or eat the buttons.

[azurelunatic]

I think I have already told you about Dad's geese, Mama's kiln, and the piece of metal behind the temperature dial that indicated exactly how hot it *was*, anyway. This all wound up with a call to the parts line to get a replacement, and part of the call involved an explanation...

[myrrhianna.livejournal.com]

Though I can get a reconditioned one with no ATM or higher speed modules for less than 2K....

[azurelunatic]

So, looking to become a ronin network tech?

[myrrhianna.livejournal.com]

Only if I can have a pack mule to follow me. Test equipment is heavy.

[azurelunatic]

I do not think Ryoga would take well to harness.

[myrrhianna.livejournal.com]

Ryo's too lazy. I want Donkey.

[myrrhianna.livejournal.com]

Correction: with the local and low speed models it would run about 3.5K - none of the modules are included in that price, and the local loopback module alone costs $300. :/

[crisavec.livejournal.com]

Hop 2 is really not that uncommon these days...lots of gear is set to discard ICMP.

[azurelunatic]

Good point; running traces when everything seems to be up and working is yielding the same results (or lack thereof) on hop 2, but the zomg elsewhere is now acceptable.

[myrrhianna.livejournal.com]

We're still losing our connection several times a day, aren't we? I demand my five nines. ^__^

[azurelunatic]

We are. Though the wireless stays up now, and I stay stuck to that mostly.

[myrrhianna.livejournal.com]

I never had a problem losing the wireless, just that the internet would disappear for a few minutes every hour or two. I'm figuring I get about 98% connectivity, a loss of maybe 15 minutes total a day, which by my standards is not acceptable performance (even though I'm not doing anything mission critical or anything - I'm just fussy.)

I'm too lazy to do anything about it except complain, and if they want to be picky they could cite us on any number of contract violations. ^__^

[azurelunatic]

I would lose my wireless. Frequently.

[myrrhianna.livejournal.com]

I think that was your NIC. So you had two problems going on while the rest of us had one. I think I lose connectivity with the router once a week (which may be the beginning of the problem you had because I have that same adapter and need to upgrade someday soon.)

[azurelunatic]

Sounds about right.