SatSig topic:

Can I have a second H7000s modem as a replacement

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Nov 29^th, 2007 at 1:12am

Hi, I live in Belize and have quite a few problems with my rather new H7000S modem (mostly it switches between 3 and five lights), so I thought I could get another modem as a replacement. We have very little service and support here in the country and my current one is not always down, but does have issues. I borrowed one from a technician once (who looked at mine in the meantime) and it worked fine (I just plugged it in and it worked like a charm), so I thought I could get myself a backup system, which I can switch to if necessary. I have a valid contract and whatever is needed. To save the technician costs I thought I could do the registering myself, if that is all that's needed. I heard about the decommissioning and commissioning, but do I really need that? And do they allow two systems at the same time? I would appreciate any help!!

Nov 29^th, 2007 at 4:30am

One modem per account Jane, sorry. If "rather new" means less than 15 months old, why not just get it replaced under warranty?

There is the occasional bad modem, but they're rare. I had one some months ago that was unstable - right out of the box. Maybe we can narrow down the nature of your problem a little, before arbitrarily concluding the modem's bad. Bad weather on your end will typically cause three LEDS (Tx/Rx/System) to go out. Two is a little less common, which ones are they? And which TX/RX Error codes are generated when you experience this issue?

//greg//

Nov 29^th, 2007 at 1:56pm

Hi Greg, Thanks for your swift reply. It is the lights "Transmit" and "System" that go out. The top, middle and bottom lights stay - most of the time. The message I am getting in the system control center is usually: Receiver locked to a unknown network. (RxCode 7). Just a few seconds, then it comes back in. This repeats for a while, until I either restart the modem or power cycle it. That seems to help for a while, but not always. I have some days without any problems and then days where it happens to me constantly. The technician (well, it is someone who has knowledge about the system and is more or less the only one, we don't have real technicians for the hughesnet system here in the country) has readjusted the dish, re-registered the modem, replaced the cables and again, it works a while and then I have the same problem again. Maybe its the weather sometimes, but it also happens during bright sunshine (which we have here most of the time). The above message doesn't really makes sense, does it? I mean, if that was true, I shouldn't be able to connect at all ... I feel a bit lost, so if you have an idea: thanks in advance! J

Nov 29^th, 2007 at 3:14pm

Tx and System, I suspected as much. When the System LED goes out, it generally means the modem has lost synchronization with network timing. Both Tx and Rx LEDs are required to achieve and maintain this sync. At that point, the System LED comes on. In your case, the Tx component was lost. However it should be accompanied by a TX Error Code. Try to record which TX Error Code(s) is/are generated next time you lose the Tx LED.

If you haven't looked up the RX7 explanation, it says
"This condition should only be seen during installation and occurs when the receiver is locked to a signal but there is no HughesNet Network ID on that signal.
If this occurs during pointing or commissioning, the antenna has not been pointed correctly. If it occurs during normal operation, it may be due to the user changing acquisition parameters, including frequency and/or location of satellite, or the antenna becoming misaligned. The former condition can be corrected by re-commissioning the site. The latter requires an antenna repointing. "

This explanation by itself won't fix your problem. But I might have a better idea if I knew your Signal Strength and Revalidation ACP. I'd also like you to look at the Diagnostics Hourly Summary. Note any red check marks during the specific hour(s) you experience the connection loss.

//greg//

Nov 29^th, 2007 at 3:43pm

Can I upload a screenshot? Or send it to you? J

Nov 29^th, 2007 at 3:52pm

My signal strength is 74 and I don't know about the revalidation ACP. Where do I find that?
Thank you so much for your help!!! J
PS: at the moment it is working fine, by the way ... aargghhh ...

Nov 29^th, 2007 at 9:09pm

Quote:

Can I upload a screenshot? Or send it to you? J

There currently are no active provisions for members to add graphics to their posts. You may email your screenshot directly to me though.

Depending upon how long ago you restarted the modem, one or more ACP revalidation numbers can be found at the bottom of the Advanced/Transmitter/ACP Stats page.

//greg//

Nov 30^th, 2007 at 6:09am

It just happened again and I couldn't even get onto my HughesNet system page. It showed:

Server Error: 504 Gateway Time-out
Operating System Error Nr:3997700: S_objLib_OBJ_TIMEOUT

Problem as usual: the 2 lights out, switching back and forth between 3 and 5 lights on the modem. Now it seems to be stable.

And these are the stats you asked me about earlier:

ACP Stats

------------------------------------
Network Time: FRI NOV 30 00:47:38 2007
------------------------------------

ACP Server Version : Non-regional ACP
Installer ID sent to Server :
Remote's Longitude and Latitude : 89.0W / 17.0N

---------------ACP Statistics--------------

Last Validate Isolation..... 0
Last Revalidate Isolation... 0

User XPOL Pointing Requests. 0
User XPOL Validate Requests. 0
Self XPOL Validates......... 0
Self XPOL Revalidates....... 0
NOC XPOL Validates.......... 0
NOC XPOL Revalidates........ 0
XPOL Validate Pass.......... 0
XPOL Validate Fail.......... 0
XPOL Revalidate Pass........ 0
XPOL Revalidate Fail........ 0
XPOL Backoff................ 0
Time (s) Since Pass XPOL.... 108255

Minimum Revalidate Interval. 259200
Maximum Revalidate Interval. 157680000
Short Random Backoff........ 1500
Long Random Backoff......... 864000

Queue Indications........... 0
Queue Indication Discards... 0
Testing Allocations......... 0
Testing Allocation Discards. 0
Measurement Results......... 0
Measurement Result Discards. 0
Directed ACAPs.............. 0
Total ACP Requests.......... 0
Subsystem State............. 0
Test State.................. 0
XPOL Revalidate Timeout..... 0

---------------Last ACP Validate/Revalidate Statistics--------------

Last Validate Timestamp..... WED NOV 28 18:43:20 2007    Last Revalidate Timestamp.... MON NOV 26 23:57:43 2007
Last Validate Isolation..... 75
Last Revalidate Isolation... 0
Last Validate SQF........... 87
Last Revalidate SQF......... 48

Can you read it like this?
Thanks again.

Nov 30^th, 2007 at 7:29am

And one more error code ...

TCP Acceleration Error (800.4) - Acceleration Backbones In SYN_RCVD State

The HUGHES terminal is experiencing a problem with it's TCP acceleration infrastructure. Retrying the web page may correct the problem.

Retrying didn't solve anything. It took about 5 minutes and then it came back by itself...

Nov 30^th, 2007 at 12:43pm

Most of the time, the exact solution to the TCP acceleration errors is simply to wait - bcause most of the time, the issue IS at Hughes end. If it persists, some say a "TurboPage Teardown" works. Advanced/Turbopage/Advanced CFG. Can't speak for the results, I've never had cause to try it myself.

On the surface, your signal strength (validate SQF) and ACP look quite usable. But that revalidate SQF bears further investigation. Do you remember any moderate to hard rain and/or wind last Monday night? What size dish, how many transmitter watts, which satellite and transponder? Is it safe to assume the dish is pole mounted?

And the fact you temporarily lost communications with the modem tentatively points at either the browser or a router. You haven't mentioned a router in this configuration yet. Am I correct? If so, have you tried temporarily bypassing the router to see if the issues persist?

//greg//

Nov 30^th, 2007 at 2:59pm

Hi Greg,

No especially bad weather lately, some rain, but no super bad winds.

About the dish, yes, it is pole mounted, I think it is a 3ft dish, transmitter watts I am not sure (if it is the setup setting 1 or 2 you mean, then it is 1, otherwise where do I find it?), the Sat Transponder is SM5_1270_16W.

I have a wireless LAN router attached to the system, but that light never gives me trouble. No other router. What could be the browser problem?

The hourly history was empty but I have this:
Last One Hour's Problem History in 5 Minute Intervals [Current Network Time: FRI NOV 30 09:29:05 2007]
Monitoring Interval:
NOV 30 09:25:16 2007
-
NOV 30 09:10:16 2007
Each column represents a 5 minute interval, ending in the minute shown. Last column contains the oldest 5 minute interval.
C :
3 minute(s) into the the current 5 minute interval. [The results in this column are transitory and should be interpreted accordingly]

Problem    C :25 :20 :15
Cabling/Antenna Pointing √ √ √ √
Downlink    √ X    √    X
Uplink X    X       √       X
Uplink Queuing       √ √ √       √
All other have OK checkmarks

Does this help?
Thanks again!
J

Nov 30^th, 2007 at 3:57pm

If you haven't realized it already, restarting/power cycling the modem dumps most of the accumulated history and stats. There are occasions when it self starts, you can't avoid that. But mine for example, has been up 20 consecutive days now. Makes it easier to troubleshoot when you've got some historical data to evaluate

If your dish is elliptical, it's a 74cm equivalent (coincident with the vertical measurement). If it's round, it's probably a 98cm dish. In either case, a 1w elliptical "should" be sufficient for SM5 in Belize.

The recommended networking configuration is for the modem to be plugged into the router's WAN port. Individual networking components are connected via LAN ports or via wireless. Is your router operating on factory defaults? Or have you customized some of the user settings? Regardless of your computer's connection type, you should bypass the router, if - for no other reason - than to eliminate it from the list of things that might be wrong. Connect your PC or laptop directly to the modem for a few days, take the router out of the equation.

While you're doing that, take some time to investigate that otherwise unexplained SQF of 48. Your modem typically considers 50 to be marginal. 31 is theoretically where you'd lose modem lock, but the TX almost always drops well before the RX gets down to 31. My own TX drops out pretty consistently by the time the RX has only dropped to 42. Anyway, this MOST often caused by precipitation. Quite often by a loose or corroded cable connection. Less often - but not unusual - a dish that moves in the wind. Connectors should all be inspected closely, both male and female halves - indoors and out. The dish AND pole should be examined for excess movement. As little as a quarter inch movement can degrade a connection, half an inch can kill it.

//greg//

Jan 2^nd, 2008 at 3:38pm

Just a little update, I am still having the same problems, but will have my replacement modem registered soon, so I hope that will solve it. I gave my technician the information you sent, and I hope it helps him to determine what else may need to be done ... Cheers! Jana

Jan 8^th, 2008 at 2:07pm

Hi, another related question (my current system is running right now, without anybody changing anything, for hours at a time, sometimes all day, then I get the same error messages again and it is out for hours - I am wondering if it is the modem after all. In the meantime the technician put up another dish to check if it changes anything which it didn't ... so he is still assuming a modem problem):

not knowing that there is actually a difference (I thought it was just the name change ... oh my), I bought a DW7000 modem on the Internet (here in Belize, ebay is my lifesaver for stuff like this), thinking that the technicians (or myself) could just register this one and it would work. They even gave me a new PIN number, but now when I try to register, it says that the equipment installed won't work with these numbers. After reading up a bit, I understand that DW7000 is weaker than a HN7000S, but should it really matter? I mean, if this one would work for me and relieve me of my problems - I still can't use it? Have you heard of anyone having that same issue? Thanks again, Jana (I hope my question is not too stupid ...)

Jan 8^th, 2008 at 2:42pm

I don't think that "weaker" is an apt description. I'd say that it's just marginally less capable. The DW- and the HN- are essentially the same modem, the difference being that the DVB-S2/ACM capability (adaptive outroute) of the DW- is disabled. That probably means very little to you, so just think of it as a feature that makes your receive a bit more survivable in the rain. It's really academic, since more often than not your transmit will drop before the receive reaches threshold. It can help though, in the case where bad weather is on the NOC end of the connection.

What you'd essentially be doing is replacing your HN- with an older model, sorta like trading your 2007 car for a 2005. Anyway - you probably didn't pay much for an old DW7000, so just write it off as a lesson learned. Blacklisting is another problem a lot of folks encounter with eBay modems. There are unscrupulous eBay sellers who have been disconnected for cause (excessive FAP/account seriously in arrears). When this occurs, Hughes puts the modem serial number on a blacklist. No modem on that list can be recommissioned unless/until the reason for blacklisting is remedied.

Only one modem to an account though. If you want them both on line at the same time, you'd have to establish a second account; a costly experiment. To stay with one account, the online modem has to be decommissioned - the used/reconditioned replacement is then recommissioned. Assuming it's not blacklisted that is.

But back to the problem at hand. As before, I need to know what the TX and RX Error codes are when your connection drops. If you've been updated to the current software, it would be handy to know the Diagnostic Code too.

//greg//

Jan 15^th, 2008 at 8:59pm

In the meantime, I could borrow a new HN7000S modem and tried it out, but the problems still exist. The codes I am receiving are TxCodes 3, 5, 6 and 7, they change erratically. The diagnostics codes are 0000-6000-0600-0101, 0000-6000-0600-0101, 0000-0000-0600-0060, 0000-0000-0000-0064, 0000-0020-4800-0002, 0000-0000-0002-0489, 0001-0000-0400-0065, and others (these are just the ones I wrote down).

And then, suddenly everything works fine for hours, without any glitch at all ...

Does this help?
Thanks, Jana

Jan 15^th, 2008 at 9:07pm

In the meantime, I could borrow a new HN7000S modem and tried it out, but the problems still exist. The codes I am receiving are TxCodes 3, 5, 6 and 7, they change erratically. The diagnostics codes are 0000-6000-0600-0101, 0000-6000-0600-0101, 0000-0000-0600-0060, 0000-0000-0000-0064, 0000-0020-4800-0002, 0000-0000-0002-0489, 0001-0000-0400-0065, and others (these are just the ones I wrote down).

And then, suddenly everything works fine for hours, without any glitch at all ...

Does this help?
Thanks, Jana

Jan 16^th, 2008 at 12:59am

Those particular TX codes should have been accompanied by a RX code. All four describe a transmit condition that is almost always the result of a receive issue. The diagnostic codes didn't help much, matter of fact the 5th and 6th codes are not even signal related. The rest paint too vague a picture.

The TX codes though, paint a tentative picture of receive signal interference - an intermittent cable fault - a LNB going bad. If you had the RX codes that accompanied those TX codes, it might help narrow it down. Have you ever seen the Power LED on the modem go out - or even blink - when this other stuff is happening? Do you own a voltmeter or multimeter?

Considering the info you've provided so far - I don't believe you have a modem issue. There's nothing to stop you from seeing what happens when you re-register. But keep in mind that doing so means you might find yourself on a different transponder when it's done. Not sure if you want to do that at this point. Decommissioning and recommissioning - especially on a different modem - could result in the same thing. The only way two systems are allowed at the same time, is when each has its own HughesNet account. That would also require a separate dish, cables, et cetera. That would be a very very expensive way to troubleshoot.

//greg//

Mar 1^st, 2008 at 3:58pm

Just for your information. The problem is resolved. The second technician got me another LNB and it works fine now. Aaain, thanks for all your help and the valuable information!!!