Motorola sbg6580 and wireless issues

[bravodown]

this is wireless connectivity issue.
i purchased a motorola sbg6580 last year. i didn't want to rent a modem for 7 dollars a month from charter communications. i thought going with a modem with built in wireless would be the way to go and would eventually pay itself off. the wireless worked fine without any issues for the first few months. after that the wireless connection would have intermittent drops. the drops are random and usually happen every few min but sometimes will last an hour or two without dropping again. i spent hours reading forums, calling both charter and motorola customer support (each equally worthless in resolving the issue and both tried to pass the buck to the other...). i eventually just caved in and moved my computer to the downstairs living room where the modem is set up. the hard wire connection has and currently does work great. if you do a search of sbg6580 and intermittent drops you will see many users of this same product with the same problems. interestingly enough, both motorola and charter denied that there was such a problem with this product despite my telling them to do a simple search of the issue and they would find almost everyone with this same problem. there is a lot of talk about firmware updates being a cause of the issue and these firmware updates are controlled by the isp. the only thing i could think of that would have stopped my wireless from working properly (like it had for 2-3 months) is a firmware update. my firmware is up to date. i am not sure this is the reason, simply speculation.
fast forward to today...
my gf thinks that my computer table 'takes up too much space' and wants me to move the computer back upstairs. the only 'solution' to the sbg6580 wireless issue that i know of is to bridge to a different wireless router. she said she is willing to buy the router (i refuse to since i paid like 150 or more for the gateway with modem and supposed wireless in one).

i have two questions:
1) is anyone familiar with this issue and/or had success in making the wireless aspect of the sbg6580 working without intermittent drops from the wireless connection?

2) does anyone have a suggestion for a good and not overly expensive wireless n router that i can bridge to the sbg6580?

 

[inzone]

Since you are having issues with the modem/router I would not want to bridge anything to it because you will not fix the issue by doing so. You will still have the same problem. I'm sure that you don't want to hear this but you may be better off buying a modem and a decent N router.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16825122011

I highly recomend this modem, I have worked as a cable internet installer for Comcast and currently have Charter for service and have install countless numbers of these modems and can vouch for them working great.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124458

This would also be a good wireless router to get and is currently on sale at Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122491

From Netgear this would be a great router to get.

 

[bravodown]

thanks for the fast reply.

do you have any idea why im having intermittent drop issues with the sbg6580 to begin with?

why do you advise against using a wireless router with the sbg6580? from all that i've read on this model and people with similar problems is that everything about the sbg6580 is fine except the wireless portion of it. i'm not questioning your advice, i would just like to know why this would be a problem to bridge a wireless router to the sbg6580. thanks

 

[inzone]

Because your leaving the cause of the problem in the wireless connection.
If you want to go with a second router and bridge the connection then that's your choice to do so, me personally I would not be doing that because I would want the cause of the problem removed from the wireless network. I would want a device removed that has gotten such bad reviews and I'm getting the same problem that is in those reviews. Again this is what my choice would be.

Since your going to be getting a new router anyway no matter which way you choose to go you can try it by bridging first and if it doesn't solve the issue then you can just get a new modem and you will end up with my solution.

 

[bravodown]

i was looking around some old moving boxes and found that i still have a wrt54g linksys. if it comes to bridging ill try that before buying a new one as the wrt54g's have always had good reviews. i also recently built a new rig and apparently im not having any connectivity issues anymore, getting around 17-20 mbps consistenly on speedtest.net tests. when i was having the issues i was lucky to get higher than 2-3mbps. i also turned off the router firewall. i dont know why it didnt work well before but it seems to work fine again. perhaps when the firmware updated it changed my settings to firewall on and i didnt realize until know. who knows... thanks for the input though!

 

[bravodown]

update: when my computer was downstairs and only about 5-10 feet from the sbg6580, i was getting higher speeds at about 20mbps and consistent speed test results. after moving my computer upstairs i was getting inconsistent and slower speed test results. it would be anywhere from 3mbps to 15mbps. i was getting 4-5 bars for signal strength but perhaps the sbg6580 wireless suffers more from interference with other wireless networks at this range? i really dont know.

on the sbg6580 i disabled wireless, enabled bridging and plugged in my old wrt54g. the g doesnt give me the speed i want or should be getting, but at least im consistent at around 10mbps. the inconsistent performance of the sbg6580 wireless is completely unacceptable imo, especially in games.

 

[inzone]

By getting a wireless N router asnd bridging it in place of the old wrt54g maybe you would get a constant higher transfer speed ? I had previously said that I would not be doing that myself as I would want the device that is not functioning properly to be removed from my network but if your saying that the bridging with the slow router is working then it may work with a newer N router also.

 

[bravodown]

i did some tweaking with the 54g settings and now my wireless speeds are a consistent 13-15mbps over the previous 10. not sure if i'll be able to get more out of it but you would think a router capable of 54mbps should get higher than 15. my charter communications internet is 30mbps so hte 54g should be able to handle it. either way, the wireless speeds are consistent and game friendly so i might just save money and settle on the 54g with lower speeds. im going to look into making it even faster if possible and ill post an update if im successful.

 

[inzone]

Ok, good luck with your tweaking.

 

[mimie_53]

I have the same problem as you. It really pisses me off

 

[rony1]

update: when my computer was downstairs and only about 5-10 feet from the sbg6580, i was getting higher speeds at about 20mbps and consistent speed test results. after moving my computer upstairs i was getting inconsistent and slower speed test results. it would be anywhere from 3mbps to 15mbps. i was getting 4-5 bars for signal strength but perhaps the sbg6580 wireless suffers more from interference with other wireless networks at this range? i really dont know.

on the sbg6580 i disabled wireless, enabled bridging and plugged in my old wrt54g. the g doesnt give me the speed i want or should be getting, but at least im consistent at around 10mbps. the inconsistent performance of the sbg6580 wireless is completely unacceptable imo, especially in games.

My problem was similar in that I would get very good www.speedtest.net results, 16Mbps download. Then gradually and now consistently I get only 2Mbps download.
I think you're on the right track in suspecting interference with other wireless networks. What I did was to change the Channel Control from the Auto (default) of channel 11 to 4 in my area. To do this you need to use your internet browser to access the SBG6580 cable modem. The URL is 192.168.0.1. Just type this in and hit enter/return key. I think the default username is admin (or just leave this blank) and the default password is motorola. The first page you see is the Status page. Click on the Wireless tab at the top. You should now be at the Wireless Basic page. Near the bottom is Control Channel. Note the Current: value. Click on Scan Wireless APs. Look at the Strength and Channel columns. If the channel your modem is set for has yellow asterisks for the strength, you should change the Control Channel to one that doesn't show up in this scan or one that has green asterisks. Don't forget to click on Apply.
Now run speedtest.net and see if you get a much better result.

 

[Vlady]

update: when my computer was downstairs and only about 5-10 feet from the sbg6580, i was getting higher speeds at about 20mbps and consistent speed test results. after moving my computer upstairs i was getting inconsistent and slower speed test results. it would be anywhere from 3mbps to 15mbps. i was getting 4-5 bars for signal strength but perhaps the sbg6580 wireless suffers more from interference with other wireless networks at this range? i really dont know.

on the sbg6580 i disabled wireless, enabled bridging and plugged in my old wrt54g. the g doesnt give me the speed i want or should be getting, but at least im consistent at around 10mbps. the inconsistent performance of the sbg6580 wireless is completely unacceptable imo, especially in games.

My problem was similar in that I would get very good www.speedtest.net results, 16Mbps download. Then gradually and now consistently I get only 2Mbps download.
I think you're on the right track in suspecting interference with other wireless networks. What I did was to change the Channel Control from the Auto (default) of channel 11 to 4 in my area. To do this you need to use your internet browser to access the SBG6580 cable modem. The URL is 192.168.0.1. Just type this in and hit enter/return key. I think the default username is admin (or just leave this blank) and the default password is motorola. The first page you see is the Status page. Click on the Wireless tab at the top. You should now be at the Wireless Basic page. Near the bottom is Control Channel. Note the Current: value. Click on Scan Wireless APs. Look at the Strength and Channel columns. If the channel your modem is set for has yellow asterisks for the strength, you should change the Control Channel to one that doesn't show up in this scan or one that has green asterisks. Don't forget to click on Apply.
Now run speedtest.net and see if you get a much better result.

 

[Vlady]

as much as I am clicking on the "Refresh" button, I don't see MY wireless network name on the list !?

 

[Mike Capozzi]

as much as I am clicking on the "Refresh" button, I don't see MY wireless network name on the list !?

I don't think you'll see your network in that list, you want to see if any of the networks in that list are on the same channel as you.

It is always a good idea to choose your own channel, the auto-select process only occurs when your device boots, it will never change the channel on its own unless the power is pulled on it. The auto select process is vendor specific and they don't always have the best algorithm for choosing a channel (some vendors will only choose channels 1, 6 or 11). Other vendors base the decision upon channel congestion while others base it upon interference. I would try each channel, then test each channel for strength and speed, then choose whichever one provides what you are looking for (either best signal, or best speed).

 

[scottjamez]

as much as I am clicking on the "Refresh" button, I don't see MY wireless network name on the list !?

I don't think you'll see your network in that list, you want to see if any of the networks in that list are on the same channel as you.

It is always a good idea to choose your own channel, the auto-select process only occurs when your device boots, it will never change the channel on its own unless the power is pulled on it. The auto select process is vendor specific and they don't always have the best algorithm for choosing a channel (some vendors will only choose channels 1, 6 or 11). Other vendors base the decision upon channel congestion while others base it upon interference. I would try each channel, then test each channel for strength and speed, then choose whichever one provides what you are looking for (either best signal, or best speed).

WOW,,,, Hey cuz!! Looking into this wifi issue on this model and saw your post. It's not due to chan interference or bad wifi performance. This thing acts as if the 802.11 radio simply turns off for about 30 seconds or so each 30-60 mins. I have a pretty good wifi spectrum alalizer and can see my SSID vanish in real time, then come back after a few moments. Very pissy device. Wish I kept the recipt or else I would return it. Thinking of cutting my losses and flipping it on eBay at this point.

Can't beleive I searched for this and the first post I read is from you. Small world.

Scott

 

[Killstrike25]

I don't have an answer for this issue either but I have had this prolonged issue for over 2 years with Roadrunner internet, my guess is just the modem is faulty and was made poorly because I have had 5 over the course of 2 years last year I upgraded my internet to extreme and had this issue with 3 modems and last month I recently upgraded again hoping the issue was fixed but still no hope yet, wired I get 30 or better download and 5 up and wireless I get anywhere for 0.70mbs to 15mbs, ive called and talked to 5 different techs and 2 internet repair guys have been here still no fix

Wireless Test- http://gyazo.com/307f91117499f49a16b45f0c1766deeb
Wired Test- http://gyazo.com/d9cdf672d1027b9fdbf60417f1a20fad

and a possible fix for some people I was asked to try but it didn't help me I got worse speeds and my wireless internet wasn't detectable and I had to restore my modem back to the default settings - http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/35874-42-best-settings-sbg6580-docsis-modem

I have thought it was cable line issues for the longest time but they don't want to do anything about that except look and say nothing appears to be wrong, I don't think it could be wireless interference because it is consistently bad anywhere in my house, the channel is on 11, and ive check the settings nothing appears to be out of place according to what I found but im not an IT tech so I have no idea but I assumed the issue was people downloading stuff or people accessing my internet but if this was the case with a new modem and passwords and all that wouldn't be possible and normally I am the only user on my internet I run my xbox and rig hard wired atm because my wifi doesn't suffice, first noticed the issue last month but it gradually seems to be getting worse.

My last modem before the upgrade was Arris -http://www.pinnaclemicro.com/computer/dsku.php?g=TM822G&m=ARRIS&gclid=CKOCs4-6uLsCFY47Mgodn2IAiA

I didn't have any issues with it but I wanted the higher download and upload speed for live streaming and everything

If you have any answers or suggestions you can contact my email - joey_stephens52@yahoo.com

 

[Cirquerider]

Access the router at http://192.168.0.1/ and click on the Wireless Tab, and click on WMM on the left side of the control panel. Disable WMM and Apply. That's it. WMM is a power management routine on this modem that can cause the kind of intermittent signal loss and lower range.

 

[Inzombia]

Access the router at http://192.168.0.1/ and click on the Wireless Tab, and click on WMM on the left side of the control panel. Disable WMM and Apply. That's it. WMM is a power management routine on this modem that can cause the kind of intermittent signal loss and lower range.

I believe your solution just fixed my problem. With 4 new devices over the holidays so far, the Sbg6580 must have been overloaded. Even though bar strength was good I was having constant issues with timing out of web pages across any device. Would have to reset devices or toggle wifi on and off. Worst device was the ipad mini for this (which has issues of it's own with wifi). I luckily found this and toggled off both the WMM and the power save box, and so far so good! Thanks so much

 

[ZalekBloom]

I have similar problems with Motoroola SBG6580 SURFboard wireless router. I have no problems on my desktop which is connected through cable with the router, but have problems getting using wireless connection. My ISP in Time Warner.
Some days it works OK, some days with a lot of hickups. I changed channels, other options - nothing helped.
Usually I disconnect connection and connect again - and it works for some time.
Here are some screen when it cannot connect to the Internet:
http://sciepa.org/pictures/wireless_problem.png

What is weird - my tablet can access the internet - So maybe it is the problem of Win7?

Zalek

 

[Milleniumlance]

under WIRELESS >WPA settings>>Group Key Rotation Interval= 10000
it is set to 0 by default i changed the value and restarted the modem... no drops

 

[DayleW]

SBG6580 here too, located in California, at the end of the road in the redwoods, so we have had many power problems with frequent drops and power fluctuations. This caused frequent restarts and resets of our equipment, and our PhoneOverInternet.
I added a CyberPower 1350 UPS, and attached all of the power adapters for Modems-Routers-Wireless-Voip, as well as the computer and monitor. This gives quite a bit of run time to our phone, if we turn off monitor and computer in a real power outage. I did not assumed there was a relationship with these line problems and the internet and wireless frustrations we were having, but reading this page, I realized how much better this problem has been for months now. So consider this a possible solution for some of you, I got one big UPS for my system, but some might only need a smaller battery for just your line in adapters, modems, routers, switches APs, etc.
I love Tom's
Dayle

 

[rmcin008]

as much as I am clicking on the "Refresh" button, I don't see MY wireless network name on the list !?

Check your pop up blocker

 

[Toonzter]

I have the same issue, and WMM might be an issue on this modem, because I turn that power management option off. And I start getting good speeds upstairs. But notice when I go back into the settings, when speeds drop, this option resets itself on this modem. That might be something being controlled by the ISP. Im going to try to find an older firmware and try to update the modem, as Im guessing this was the latest update on this modem and forces it to reset itself to Power Save mode on under that WMM tab. Even when I jump to another option and come back into the WMM settings tab, it resets right away.

 

[box2384]

this is wireless connectivity issue.
i purchased a motorola sbg6580 last year. i didn't want to rent a modem for 7 dollars a month from charter communications. i thought going with a modem with built in wireless would be the way to go and would eventually pay itself off. the wireless worked fine without any issues for the first few months. after that the wireless connection would have intermittent drops. the drops are random and usually happen every few min but sometimes will last an hour or two without dropping again. i spent hours reading forums, calling both charter and motorola customer support (each equally worthless in resolving the issue and both tried to pass the buck to the other...). i eventually just caved in and moved my computer to the downstairs living room where the modem is set up. the hard wire connection has and currently does work great. if you do a search of sbg6580 and intermittent drops you will see many users of this same product with the same problems. interestingly enough, both motorola and charter denied that there was such a problem with this product despite my telling them to do a simple search of the issue and they would find almost everyone with this same problem. there is a lot of talk about firmware updates being a cause of the issue and these firmware updates are controlled by the isp. the only thing i could think of that would have stopped my wireless from working properly (like it had for 2-3 months) is a firmware update. my firmware is up to date. i am not sure this is the reason, simply speculation.
fast forward to today...
my gf thinks that my computer table 'takes up too much space' and wants me to move the computer back upstairs. the only 'solution' to the sbg6580 wireless issue that i know of is to bridge to a different wireless router. she said she is willing to buy the router (i refuse to since i paid like 150 or more for the gateway with modem and supposed wireless in one).

i have two questions:
1) is anyone familiar with this issue and/or had success in making the wireless aspect of the sbg6580 working without intermittent drops from the wireless connection?

2) does anyone have a suggestion for a good and not overly expensive wireless n router that i can bridge to the sbg6580?

 

[box2384]

My Motorola SBG6580 wireless had been working intermittently and today it would not work at all. This was for the PRIMARY Network Settings; I had previously disabled the GUEST Network Settings so that had not been a choice. Today I ENABLED the GUEST Network and to my surprise it worked without any problems. The PRIMARY network still does not work. Using the GUEST network may be a temporary solution.

These units are warranted for 2 years so there may be a chance that your unit may still be under warranty. I am going to look into this for my unit.