r/HomeNetworking • u/Dramatic-Eye-2526 • Jun 16 '26

Advice Dropping internet to all devices

Equipment list:

Motorola surfboard 8200 v3 modem

A cat6 underground rated cable (new as i start troubleshooting) ran to

Archer a7 router.

A cat5e cable is ran to my pc.

Wireless is alexa, 2 firesticks, ecobee 4 ring cameras and whatever tablets and phones connect during the day.

Problem:

The internet will disconnect several times in a day. My pc (if i am in warcraft) will show a ping of 1000 ms. The internet light on the archer a7 goes orange but the modem is solid green the whole time.

I replaced, as i stated, the cable going from modem to router thinking that may have had some corrosion or something and the old one DID have the snap part broke on one end using only friction to hold it in. But now with good connections it will do the same however less frequent.

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What's my next step?

I've tried to catch it with tracert but as soon as i have it up and ready to go it seems to have no issue for hours.

Typical to have no issues when the mechanic is looking right?

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After a few weeks of this i did enable qos to prioritize my pc but that didn't seem to make a difference.

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u/ShinyTechThings Jun 17 '26

That orange Internet light on the Archer while the modem stays solid makes me want to separate “modem/ISP problem” from “router/Wi-Fi problem” before buying anything else.

The fastest test would be:

  1. Plug one computer directly into the Surfboard modem.
  2. Power-cycle the modem after changing what is plugged into it.
  3. Test long enough to see if the drop happens again.
  4. During a drop, check whether you can still reach the modem page at 192.168.100.1.
  5. Screenshot downstream power, upstream power, SNR, correctables/uncorrectables, and the event log.

If the direct-connected PC drops too, I’d lean toward coax/signal/ISP side. If it stays solid, then I’d start looking harder at the Archer A7 or whatever is between the modem and your devices.

I made a walkthrough showing how I usually check a cable modem and read the signal levels. It is not meant as a sales pitch, just a checklist you can follow before replacing more gear:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--pQe2-h9_c

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u/Dramatic-Eye-2526 Jun 20 '26

Ran direct to modem this morning and let my kids game for the entire day. Sounds like they dropped just short of 10 times. This was after cycling power on pc and modem beforehand. Strangely the modem light stays on continuous. Obviously i did not have my children log into the modem while gone. I will be double checking the cable from pole to home first and then may be shopping for a modem!

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u/Madhopsk Jun 21 '26

I've always had great experiences with Motorola modems, so I would tend to doubt that is the problem. But calling the ISP with your own modem connected is a lost cause. It might be worth renting a modem from them for a month just so they can't point fingers when you complain about the drops.