Modem issue - Searching for downstream channel

[Spritenaut 32]

We're having storms blow through tonight and knocked out power for about five secs.  When it came back on, one of the icons on my Netgear modem-router was flashing.   Manual says the flashing thunderbolt icon means it is searching for a downstream channel.

I googled the term, but i only sorta understand what that means.  Seems like it may be a problem in the line caused by the storm, so I'm wondering if it won't resolve itself.  Far as I can tell, the equipment is working fine.  Been surfing for about half an hour, did the speed test a few times, wireless network seems to be operational, etc.

Any idea what exactly I should do to stop the light from flashing.  I'm inclined not to fool with it too much since everything seems to be working, but I would like to know what the issue is.  I'm not really any sort of techie.

Thanks.

 

[Raziel]

So, what it means is that the signal coming from the ISP router to your router isn't strong enough.  During that storm, or because of that power out, the coax line got damaged and the signal degraded outside of acceptable range.  Call your ISP, it's something they likely have to fix on the pole, or at least up to the splitter on your house.  The router can compensate for the low power, but it's going to overwork itself doing in and you will see issues start to crop up.  Also, if your ISP is also your cable company, you'll start seeing issues on some HD channels, that'll eventually spread to all of them.

[Spritenaut 32]

Thanks.  I e-mailed my company's it department a bit ago to see if they want to take a look, but I'll tell them what you said.

I got up this morning and used the computer for several hours while watching tv, thinking I might spot a performance issue that way, but nope.  Everything seems to be fine.  No issues loading web pages,  uploading/downloading, etc.  Ran the speed test a few times using different websites and the results have been consistent and very good.  Wife is home today and hasn't noticed any issues (she's more of a techie than I am, so she's probably more likely to find/diagnose a technical issue).

 

[Spritenaut 32]

Issue seems to have resolved itself.