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JeffreyJ's profile

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7 Messages

Wednesday, March 26th, 2014 8:00 PM

2 Days worth of issues no one at Comcast can solve...

Today we had sporadic performance hovering around 28.8 dial-up speeds all the way up to 60MB.  For a 50/10 service, I would think there is something wrong. After I was told, they knew about the problem yesterday, my tech visit for today was cancelled.  All was fine this morning and then all of a sudden, this afternoon, I am hovering around 20MB for about an hour and then onto the dial-up speeds given above.

 

I had mentioned to the tech that the modem seems to be set with 4 channels each at around 5MB (5x4=20) but I was told that was unimportant.  We then looked at SNR and one person said they were fine, another didn't.  We are getting 300-400ms ping tests (which in my book, usually means there is something wrong).  Then I was told that my T3 keeps dropping.  Yes, a T3.  I didn't know I had one.  I have a 10-2 appointment for tomorrow (Thursday).  Are we actually going to accomplish anything?

 

Short of fixing my problem (for good), it would be nice to not be BS'd on the phone.  I'm shocked at what I have been told the last 2 days from Comcast Business Support.  I mean some of the instructions given are just laughable.  "The modems need to be power cycled regularly".  "How many computers you got plugged in?"  "You know there are only four 100mb ports on the back, how much do you think your computers can handle?"  and the best one, "I've been looking at your account for 6 1/2 minutes, what do you want from me?"

 

Now without getting out my "I've been doing IT x number of years card" and everyone trys to one-up everyone else, let's just cut it out and fix the issue.  Since the 2 area outages in December and January, I haven't had any issues.  Then yesterday, I'm not even pulling 1mb.  In fact my upload speeds are consistently higher than my download speeds (think about that for a second).  And before you ask, yes, I had a machine plugged in with nothing else into the SMC box over a ethernet cable into one of the lan ports to run speed tests from Comcast's speed test site.

Problem solver

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305 Messages

11 years ago

Definitely post your modems information page. I'd also observe the page when the internet is working at it's peak and take a few screenshots, then check it while it's under performing and take a few more. Post those results here so we can take a look. 

 

Your total channels isn't entirely important. While it is true the more speed you recieve the more you need, you're above the limit. I believe for D3 you only need two bonded channels to pull 50.  

 

Some generic things to check on your end would be the cable itself. Follow line and see if there are any splitters in the mix, make sure none of it's damaged..etc. 

 

Doing a few traceroutes and MTR's could be helpful as well. While it's not likely you'll get Comcast to take the data, it can help the community see what's going on. I'd recommend doing GoogleDNS(8.8.8.8) and then a server you trust. Such as a work server or something.

Visitor

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7 Messages

11 years ago

Kraze, thanks for your suggestions.

 

For right now, regarding the cable, this entire area was cabled brand new by Pertano (Comcast's cabling contractor) just 5-7 years ago.  My own cabling was done just last year.  No splitters or filters of any kind from the Comcast box to the modem.

 

I was using Google DNS for a while but everytime I call in, Comcast support resets the modem so it is pulling their 75/76 DNS servers.  At one point, Tuesday they had reset it to the old 68/87 servers which aren't even supposed to be in use anymore.

 

Here are some recent speed tests run through my ookla account below.  I ran tracerts over the last 2 days but didn't copy the results.  I had major timeouts and delays to various addresses running from 40 - 100ms+. I will have to screenshot my upcoming Comcast results each time as there is no way to keep history.  The ping tests were run by Comcast support themselves...

 

ookla.png

Visitor

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7 Messages

11 years ago

So I just received another automated call (same as before), my tech visit has been cancelled.  They found a problem and fixed it.  We shall see...

Visitor

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7 Messages

11 years ago

So after the appointment was cancelled a tech showed up, replaced the modem, changed out a splitter/filter, and things seem to be much better now.  It's a good thing he showed up for the cancelled appointment!  Smiley Happy

 

We had some signals that were out of range and some dropped packets.  New device seems to be OK - for now...

Visitor

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7 Messages

11 years ago

Back to more issues.  Now we've been escalated numerous times but no one seems to be able to figure out what's going on...working with a few techs in "Protention" but so far nothing is fixed.  Speeds and connectivity are all over the place.  Recent speed test was 2.74/9.92.

 

Was told from last tech visit that someone in OakBrook IT would contact me yesterday - no one ever reached out.

 

Got a general customer service call today that was useless - asking about my satisfaction.

 

So far, we've established no line issues, no modem issues, nothing on head end, nothing on snr, nothing on node, no over subscription issues or capacity related anything.  Where does that leave us?

Problem solver

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305 Messages

11 years ago

You can call up Comcast and ask that they let you speak to the Tier agent for your level 2 ticket. Check your Comcast account for the ticket numbers before you call. He may be able to work with you a bit closer and help escalate the process up. 

 

The key thing here is to make sure the techs can catch the issue in the act. Next time it happens you can try calling a tech out and ask them to escalate it. They will come as soon as possible if you're successful with that.