[TriLUG] Residential IPv4 address stability, etc. (AT&T vs. Google Fiber)

[Jos Purvis via TriLUG]

On Fri, Sep 15, 2023, at 09:40, David Both via TriLUG wrote:
> My Spectrum connection used to go out rather frequently. At least part
> of the time this was due to the crappy modem/router which needed
> frequent reboots.

Just leaving this here in case anyone else runs into this that's on a Spectrum account (sadly, it's currently the only non-satellite option in my neighborhood): if you're having problems with your Spectrum connection, check your modem model number.

I converted a few months ago to a Spectrum business account, and they require that you use their modem instead of your own. The speeds were great, the prices better, and the support was much more responsive...but I couldn't sustain any kind of persistent connection for more than three minutes. Literally every three minutes, the Internet would freeze for thirty seconds and then resume. Casual browsing was (mostly) unaffected, but trying to attend meetings or game online was nearly impossible. Looking at the connection health in Opnsense, I could see a ridiculous amount of packet loss that would then spike in a complete connection lock every few minutes. If I rebooted the router by hand (which took three or four minutes to complete), it would remain stable for some random amount of time and then begin seizing up again.

After an enormous amount of back-and-forthing and very nearly reverting to consumer service, I found the issue. If you get a Spectrum modem (whether consumer or business class), you'll get one of four models of modem, all of which look visually identical. However, two models use the Intel Puma chipset, while the others use a Broadcom chipset — the models with the Puma chipset have significant network issues, including drops and packet loss (a quick search for 'Spectrum ES2251 packet loss' turns up a LOT of complaints). I managed to harangue Spectrum into swapping me to one of the Broadcom-chipset models, and I've literally had zero problems since — everything works as it should.

If you check the model number on the bottom of the modem, you can tell which one you have. The ES2251 and EN2251 are the ones based on the Puma chipset, while the ET2251 and EU2251 models use Broadcom chips. If you're on a Spectrum consumer account, honestly just get your own modem (but check online — some other brands like Netgear also have models using Puma chips with the same issues!); if you're on a business account, collect some data and then bug the support people to get your modem swapped to one of the ET/EU models.

Hope that helps someone else in the same boat!

-- Jos