Charter Internet reliability statistics

Introduction

The following table presents figures on the availability of internet access as seen by my Linux computer. Data are gathered by a process that, every 15 minutes, sends 3 pings and waits for the three echoes. If none of the three echoes is received, an "interruption" is considered to have occurred. Some multiple of 15 minutes later, a future ping will result in a successful echo, at which time the interruption will be considered over.

Is it all Charter's fault?

Between my Linux computer and the Charter cable are three boxes: a LinkSys cable modem, a Motorola telephone adapter, and a LinkSys router. Any of these three is capable of producing interruptions in cable service.

Cable modem:

I have no good way to distinguish a cable-modem failure from a Charter cable failure: all I can determine is that the cable modem is not seeing a solid signal. However, I have used two different cable modems, made by two different manufacturers, during the period of my subscription to Charter cable internet, and didn't notice any difference in the reliability of the connection. (I bought the second cable modem in hopes of improving reliability.) The LinkSys cable modem is all solid-state, has no moving parts, and is not hot to the touch, so failure seems unlikely. Also, failures tend to occur in the middle of the night, which (1) is a time of low demand on my cable modem, and (2) is a time when big service providers like Charter are likely to be swapping equipment.

Telephone adapter:

The Motorola telephone adapter is capable of interrupting our service, and I suspect that it has prolonged at least some of the multi-hour interruptions presented below. This happens because a service interrupion knocks the telephone adapter into a rebooting state in which it can get stuck until it is power-cycled. Thus a short cable-service interruption, if nobody is around to help the telephone adapter get back on its feet, will turn into a long interruption due more to Motorola's fault than to Charter's.

Router:

The LinkSys router seems to be good and stable. I have never seen any evidence of misbehavior on its part.

The statistics

These data were measured on a Charter Communications cable internet line served from either Watsonville or Santa Cruz, California -- I've gotten both answers from Charter customer-service people when I asked.

             Interruptions lasting more than
           ----------------------------------  down
Year Month   0   15m  30m  45m   1h   2h  4h     %
---- ----- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----  ----

2005:
        1     7    2    1    1    1    1    1   3.3
        2     0    0    0    0    0    0    0   0.0
        3     4    1    1    0    0    0    0   0.3
        4     1    0    0    0    0    0    0   0.0
        5     8    2    2    2    2    2    1   2.0
        6    12    4    2    2    2    1    1   1.6
        7     4    3    2    2    1    0    0   0.4
        8     5    2    2    1    1    1    0   0.9
        9     1    1    1    1    1    1    1   0.9
       10     0    0    0    0    0    0    0   0.0
       11     0    0    0    0    0    0    0   0.0
       12     6    4    4    3    3    1    1   2.1

2005 total   48   19   15   12   11    7    5   1.0


2006:
        1     2    1    1    0    0    0    0   0.1
        2     3    3    3    2    2    1    1   2.5
        3     4    0    0    0    0    0    0   0.2
        4     4    1    1    1    1    1    0   0.7
        5     2    0    0    0    0    0    0   0.1
        6     1    0    0    0    0    0    0   0.0
        7     1    0    0    0    0    0    0   0.0
        8     4    0    0    0    0    0    0   0.2
        9     6    1    1    1    1    0    0   0.5
       10    10    5    4    3    3    2    1   2.1
       11     3    2    1    0    0    0    0   0.2
       12     2    0    0    0    0    0    0   0.3

2006 total   42   13   11    7    7    4    2   0.6


2007:
        1     4    3    3    3    3    1    1   2.2
        2     4    0    0    0    0    0    0   0.2
        3     7    4    4    3    3    1    1   1.3
        4    13    7    7    5    5    4    1   3.1
        5     2    0    0    0    0    0    0   0.1
        6    24   15   10    4    3    2    1  10.9

2007 total   54   29   24   15   14    8    4   2.1

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