Slow Internet Troubleshooting

Step 1: Log Into the SM

Step 2: Check Signal Strength

On the SM homepage, find signal strength. General guide:

dBm	Quality
-60	Excellent
-65	Excellent
-68	Good
-70	Fair
-73	Questionable
-75	Poor
-78	Very Poor
-80	Abominable

If signal is poor or worse, likely needs a service call. Check historical data:

Click More on CPE → Graphs → Cambium Canopy SM Signal → view past 30 days.

Gradual decline = trees blooming in signal path → service call for remount/tripod
Sudden drop = knocked out of alignment or jumped to wrong AP → try the AP Evaluation fix:

Open the customer SM. Navigate to Tools → AP Evaluation → Rescan APs. If a different AP has a higher Beacon Receive Power than current signal, go to Configuration → Radio → change AP Selection Method to Power Level. Rerun the AP Evaluation.

Step 3: Run a Link Capacity Test

Tools → Link Capacity Test. Set to Link Test with Bridging, duration 10 seconds.

Evaluate results:

Throughput — Should be well in excess of the customer's speed plan
Efficiency — Should be ≥ 85%
MIMO Status — Should be 8×2 MIMO B or better

If poor, schedule a service call and include results in work order.

Step 4: Check Ethernet Statistics

Statistics → Ethernet

Link Detected / Link Uptime / Link Lost — How many times a device has been plugged in
inoctets / outoctets Count — Should be 6+ figures if traffic is flowing
CRC Error / Carrier Sense Lost — Less than 500 is normal. Higher numbers = bad cabling. Residence needs recabling. Labor can be comped but cable is charged at $0.50/ft.

Step 5: Check NAT Stats

Statistics → NAT Stats → check Out Of Resources Count for Private NAT Statistics.

If greater than 500, adjust NAT settings: Configuration → NAT → scroll to bottom:

ARP Cache Timeout: 8
TCP Session Garbage Timeout: 5
UDP Session Garbage Timeout: 4
Translation Table Size: 8192

Tell customer to monitor for 24 hours. If they call back with high out-of-resource count, bridge the SM.

Step 6: Check Session Counts

Tools → AP Evaluation — if Session Count is high, the equipment is disconnecting and reconnecting from its parent AP. If multiple APs listed with high counts, the equipment is bouncing between them.

Fix: Configuration → Radio → AP Selection Method → Power Level.

If only one AP with adequate signal, run a Spectrum Analysis (120 seconds) to check for electrical interference. Look for noise near the AP's frequency. Have customer try unplugging suspected sources (router, etc.). If their router is the source, have them change the wireless channel.

If service doesn't improve, schedule a service call for equipment swap to avoid interference.

Step 7: Test Customer's Router

Bypass the router — unplug the cable from the router and plug directly into a laptop. Run speedtest.net using the Bertram Communications server.

Within 2-3 Mbps of plan speed → Let customer know speeds fluctuate under high network load, we're actively working to improve
Poor results → Try reactivating the account in Powercode (Change Status button on account profile). This updates QoS and reboots the dish. If still poor, escalate.