Such problems can be hard to diagnose. The connection is like a relay race, each participant (in the signal path) needs to do their part and the handoffs (connections) need to be done with certainty.

Before going further, are all other devices in the home also experiencing signal problems at these times? Or is it just one PC? Is the PC's connection wired or Wifi? If WIfi, Is the signal strong where you're using it (check the icon on the taskbar line). Could there be signal interference from neighbors? (Get a free Wifi analyzer program to check that). Sometimes simply changing Wifi broadcast channels makes a difference.

The first place to start is with your internet provider. They should have a record of system up status in your area and should also have a record of the drops and reconnects of your modem. If that gets you nowhere, ask they send out a technician to check the signal strength.

The next step if the visit doesn't help. would be to try to look at the equipment piece by piece, in order. I've found most to have a useful life of about 5 years before needing replacement. Return the modem you have and get a new (not used) one. If that doesn't help, the next suspect in the signal path is the router - how old is it? Consider replacing if nearing 5 years.

Also check the device itself. As above, is it just one with problems, or used in one place, or is it all of them?

I was having intermittent service at one home at the beginning of this year. I called the cable provider - tech support checked the files, ran some useless diagnostics on the modem, and said everything was fine. I asked all the same if they would please send out a tech to check the signal path, they agreed. Not before reminding me that the signal was their responsibility up to the connection box, and anything inside my house was my problem that they could fix but would charge me for. Fine, I said, I just want it to work. You know where this is going. The tech opened up the connection box (inside one of those green plastic things on the ground, it's underground wiring) and found that the connections were badly corroded. He said with certainty "this is the cause of your problem". He replaced a number of pieces, closed it up, and it's been perfect ever since.

Last stop - get your ISP's app if they have one. I've downloaded them and it's very convenient to start it up - it tells immediately if any signal problems are ongoing in my area. With the other location and with this one that's been fixed, whenever my service is disturbed because of a system problem, I can find out in 30 seconds.

Good luck.

Thanks, Elmer; I hadn't thought of the ISP's app (my ISP is Spectrum). A couple of months ago, when I was having similar problems, I was also getting dropouts on my cable television signal. I did call the ISP and they sent out a technician, who found and corrected some problems upstream.

When the signal quits, it is missing on both my hard-wired computer and my wife's wifi-connected Mac, as well as my streaming hardware. My nearest neighbor is 1/4 mile away.

Addendum: before I sent, I checked on the ISPs app and it appears that the Spectrum app is only for watching TV on my phone or a Roku or similar device, not one for troubleshooting. I'll send this replay now, and try to contact Spectrum to confirm what I just said.

I have spectrum here in NY and the app does not trouble shoot. If you have a basic TV box you can reboot from the remote or the app but if you have a DVR box can only reboot from the remote or the .com site. You have to go to the com site for spectrum and log in and you can go in your account under internet and click having issues or something and trouble shoot that way. I don't have their modem as here they don't supply and all in in one here anymore but 2 separate units and charge $5 a month for the wifi connection. I have always owned my own all in one even before it was spectrum so I save the $5 month. Currently have an arris that is 5g and works good for me. Don't get it and it's so stupid they do that. If you didn't know there is a very nice spectrum community that is helpful.

Welcome to the Spectrum Community

". If you have a basic TV box you can reboot from the remote or the app but if you have a DVR box can only reboot from the remote or the .com site."

I think he was concerned with erratic connectivity with two PCs, not with TV service.

"Currently have an arris that is 5g"

Arris is a cable modem brand and 5G is a cell signal designation. Usually two different things. What are you referring to?

Confusing 5G (5th generation) cell phone service with 5Ghz (5 gigahertz) WiFi. Completely different things.

My new modem is 5ghz, old one wasn't. Don't know what spectrum is giving out but wouldn't rent what they are giving when you can own if you are keeping their service long term. Some people don't realize you are not stuck using what they give you.

You said

"don't have their modem as here they don't supply and all in in one here anymore but 2 separate units"

and after mentioning that what you have is an Arris modem, and

"My new modem is 5ghz"

I can assure you with certainty that "5GHz" (the G is capitalized, it means Gigahertz) is absolutely, positively not a specification or a caption ever used for a residential modem. I think you're confused/don't know what you're talking about.

To dadoes and his comment, if you're suggesting that what was intended was the RF broadcast frequency of 5.0 Mhz (Megahertz), for Wifi, please do note that the OP was talking about an intermittent signal for a wired PC. Thus, Wifi frequencies wouldn't be involved. Also, keep in mind that the 2.4 MHz Wifi signal can have a longer distance and greater wall penetrating power. New routers at other than a cheap basic tier have been dual band for many yeawrs Even with both signals available, some devices only connect at 2.4 with a theoretical lower bandwidth than 5.0 Mhz because of a stronger signal because it can offer more capacity. The capacity of a normal 2.4 signal can be a few X greater, than the internet info most people are connected to and downloading to their devices. In other words, a 2.4 signal can be like a pitcher that can hold more water than most people try to carry anyway.. 5.0 Mhz capacity is really excessive and well beyond what usually is needed or can be used.

All I know is now my wifi connection says 5G and it didn't with the old modem. Nor sure what spectrum supplies. Few years ago they supplied all in one units and now they don't or at least I was told here they don't for some odd reason. They lead people to believe you have yo pay an extra $5 a month for the wifi connection. My arris is registered with them and works perfect.

I took my modem back to the Spectrum store and got a new one (I assume it's the same type, because it's labeled "Legacy"). So far so good. I also took back the router they had supplied, which I haven't been using for over three years and discovered I could have been saving $5/mo all this time. I primarily use wired Ethernet, so the 5G doesn't matter.

mtvhike, that's a good start. But as your outages have been intermittent, you'll need some time to pass to see if that fixes the problem. It may.

Please believe my comment, that I've perhaps repeated here too many times but won't again. that the term "5G" has nothing whatsoever to do with a home network setup, a modem or a router. It describes the cellular phone connection, nothing else.

I wonder if the other person's confused misunderstanding, which has also been restated 3 times, comes from observing images on an Android phone's notification line at the top of the screen.

+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_

(Click on images to enlarge)

Hardware brands differ slightly but this is a screen image of an Android phone with a 5G CELLULAR SIGNAL connection. Other connections in the past might have been symbolized with LTE, or 4G, or whatever. This refers only to that.

__________________________________

This is an image of a phone that's connected to both Wifi and a cellular connection. The small up and down arrows to the right of the Wifi symbol show that traffic is happening using Wifi. The cellular connection shown is weak, 2 bars out of a possible 5. If this phone and its cellular connection were at the 5G cellular standard, a 5G image (as seen in the first image above) would be on the notification bar on this second image, to the right of the Wifi icon and to the left of the cell signal image. So to read it mindlessly from left to right, you might assume it would say Wifi connection 5G. But that isn't what it would mean, the two symbols are adjacent but unrelated.

________________________

There are devices, called by various terms including cellular hotspots or Mifi, that can capture a cellular signal and broadcast Wifi connections so that it can be used in the same way as if it were a cable or DSL connection. Here's an image of one, you can see the cell signal has 5 bars and is described as being 4G LTE. Wifi status is in a different spot.

This person has been similarly insistent with misunderstandings several times in the past. I didn't want it in this instance to confuse you or anyone else.

In a command prompt box (cmd.exe), try this to see if it helps. Hit enter after each line.

ipconfig /release

ipconfig /renew

Does that cause anything different to happen than what happens when a PC is rebooted?

If yes and as the problem is happening both with a wired Win PC and a WIfi connected Mac, does that suggest a problem with the router?

bengz6westmd, what is this supposed to do?

The first command disconnects from the router and the second one reconnects. I'd think that rebooting both a PC and router would accomplish the same thing but I'm not sure, hence my question above and the second query regarding how two differently connected devices having a problem may or may not point a finger to the cause.

Elmer & mtvhike, the commands just release the current IP address and then solicits another, new IP address from the router. This helps me occasionally when network doesn't work.

Isn't this just dealing with my local LAN, not the internet? Restarting (or replacing) the cable modem doesn't affect this. Of course, when the modem was out, my wifi signal was also gone.

mtvhike, maybe I've misunderstood you, but "the internet" as you refer to it is everything that carries or process a signal in-between the device (PC, tablet, smartphone and home automation devices whether wired or Wifi) and the ISP's switching office. Including the wire and wire connections, by the way. That includes your LAN. and each part of it.

Spectrum's Tech Support department can access your modem remotely and get info about the signal it receives and signal drop outs. A technician with clips at the junction box of your house can do the same thing. These assessments leave out a few parts of the path but if your problems continue, a tech visit or a Tech Support call would be the next step.

Don't know why spectrum dupes people into paying an extra $5 a month when you can just buy your own all in one for the wifi connection. Spectrum can trouble shoot over the phone and reset your whole system from their end.

By Internet, I meant everything which connects my Local Area Network to the world. If I remove the modem, then I have no internet. When my problem first occurred, I was still able to connect to my printer. As I meant earlier, replacing the modem fixed the problem - so far!

And, acraftylady, I do now have my own router.

Signals from a pc to the printer don't go through the modem.

"Don't know why spectrum dupes people"

I think that's harsh. Some people don't want to be bothered and by renting, they get service they wouldn't get if they owned equipment. $5 a month is a pretty nominal charge that many people don't think twice about.

I think it's the same reason why so many people are happy to pay more for Apple products - Macs, iPods, iPhones, etc. They want to use the capabilities, not set them up, troubleshoot problems or otherwise have to maintain them.