Telewest Connection via set -top Pace box.

A relation of mine recently had Telwest broadband installed and went
for the wireless option but have had a lot of trouble. I installed an
ethernet cable directly from the Netgear WAP/switch to the PC,
bypassing wireless, to see if this cured things but problems persist.
It seems the connection is lost regularly - especially during heavy (I
suspect mainly uplink) activity. In particular most times I attempt to
use Windows Remote Assistance to help out and during webcam sessions.
The only way to get things working again seems to be to reboot the
set-top box as far as I can tell from talking her through it on the
phone.

Is this a known problem with direct set-top box connections? I don't
know of anyone else connected this way - ie via the ethernet port on
the Pace dgital tv box rather than via an additional cable modem. If
this method is reliable why don't Telewest connect all new customers
directly to the box if ethernet interface available and save on the
cost of the Motorola Surfboard modem? Am I correct in thinking the
latest set-top boxes even have a USB port and is this in use yet?

Also is there anything I can look for on the diagnostic pages of the
Pace box (hold the buttons in and power on screen) if I drive over
there? I'm on the point of suggesting she call Telewest and ask them to
fit a cable modem. Will they charge for this if it fixes the problem?

Thanks.
--
Alan Greig

On 31 Jul 2005 06:19:51 -0700, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>Is this a known problem with direct set-top box connections?

Not that I'm aware of. What I suggest your friend does is contact the
support team as we have got plenty of wireless gurus who should be
able to help diagnose the issue.

Alternately, if you want to get them to e-mail me their account
details I can ask one of the guys to get in touch.

Hope it's fixed soon!




Alex


--
Alex Brown
blueyonder Product Manager
Consumer Service Excellence, Telewest Broadband

>>Is this a known problem with direct set-top box connections?
>
> Not that I'm aware of. What I suggest your friend does is contact the
> support team as we have got plenty of wireless gurus who should be
> able to help diagnose the issue.
>
> Alternately, if you want to get them to e-mail me their account
> details I can ask one of the guys to get in touch.
>
> Hope it's fixed soon!
>

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a rather low speed limit on the
cable modem thru the set-top box? Was it 1Mbps or so?

Hellraiser.........>

Hellraiser wrote:

> Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a rather low speed limit on the
> cable modem thru the set-top box? Was it 1Mbps or so?

It's a 1Mbps connection. Definitely seems no problem sustaining that on
downloads. Haven't tried a test of uplink bandwidth but I believe that
should be 128K. I think the problem only occurs when both uplink and
downlink are maxed out. I'll experiment next time I'm there.

Just to clarify (but I think you know this) there is no separate cable
modem. That function is performed directly by the tv box.
--
Alan Greig

> Hellraiser wrote:
>
>> Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a rather low speed limit on the
>> cable modem thru the set-top box? Was it 1Mbps or so?
>
> It's a 1Mbps connection. Definitely seems no problem sustaining that on
> downloads. Haven't tried a test of uplink bandwidth but I believe that
> should be 128K. I think the problem only occurs when both uplink and
> downlink are maxed out. I'll experiment next time I'm there.

It's just I remember when BY did their free upgrade a while back, there was
mention that it would not apply to those who connected thru their set top
box, presumably it being a hardware limitation.

> Just to clarify (but I think you know this) there is no separate cable
> modem. That function is performed directly by the tv box.

Hence the big ethernet port on the back

Hellraiser.........>

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
> A relation of mine recently had Telwest broadband installed and went
> for the wireless option but have had a lot of trouble. I installed an
> ethernet cable directly from the Netgear WAP/switch to the PC,
> bypassing wireless, to see if this cured things but problems persist.
> It seems the connection is lost regularly - especially during heavy (I
> suspect mainly uplink) activity. In particular most times I attempt to
> use Windows Remote Assistance to help out and during webcam sessions.
> The only way to get things working again seems to be to reboot the
> set-top box as far as I can tell from talking her through it on the
> phone.

i had a v. similar issue with a Pace box on an NTL feed- started suddenly
for no apparant reason

uploading a few Mbyte would reliably crash the box.

when i checked my PC performance using Kerio f/wall to measure throughput,
the link was running at about 1.4 Mbps (on a notional 750 Kbps link). NTL
had told everyone that they could move to a 2 Mbps link for the same money,
but that Pace STBs had to be limited to 1 Mbps to maintain stability.

FWIW NTL swapped the box for a Samsung STB without any hassle (apart from
the fact that the Ethernet uplink is not wired as a crossoverport.

Nice side effect is i have always had to reboot the Pace every 2 to 6 weeks
and the Samsung doesnt seem to suffer that problem.

The Samsung runs fine at 2 to 2.5 Mbps - and the box feels more "snappy" -
fewer hesitations in throughput compared to the old Pace box.
>
> Is this a known problem with direct set-top box connections? I don't
> know of anyone else connected this way - ie via the ethernet port on
> the Pace dgital tv box rather than via an additional cable modem. If
> this method is reliable why don't Telewest connect all new customers
> directly to the box if ethernet interface available and save on the
> cost of the Motorola Surfboard modem? Am I correct in thinking the
> latest set-top boxes even have a USB port and is this in use yet?

A lot of the old C+W areas taken over by NTL were built with Pace STBs when
the digital cable rollout went in.
>
> Also is there anything I can look for on the diagnostic pages of the
> Pace box (hold the buttons in and power on screen) if I drive over
> there? I'm on the point of suggesting she call Telewest and ask them to
> fit a cable modem. Will they charge for this if it fixes the problem?

NTL will swap a box if you ring it in and go through their diags (including
removing firewalls, routers etc) - but they refuse to do any diags if you
arent with the kit when you call... i would expect Telewest to be similar.

if you want to do your own checks, look at:
http://www.chetnet.co.uk/
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/
>
> Thanks.
> --
> Alan Greig
--
Regards

Stephen Hope - return address needs fewer xxs