Fluctuating Speeds

So the tech came out and did something out at the box in front of the building.  He said there were things that needed fixing.  He came in and put in a new outlet in the wall where the cable hooked up to.  I am on the 75 Deluxe package.  He made a comment that comcast guarantees up to 75 in the package but never a constant 75 Mbps.  Is that true?  My speed tests seem to be semi worse since he came and left.  I was at 75 when before he arrived and now I am around 61 Mbps.  I dont know if this is a sign of things to come or not.

Ive now been told they can do nothing more for me. My speeds for the 75 Mbps is now averaging 35 Mbps.  I guess its either pay for something I cant have anymore or find a different service. I can't believe this is happening. 

Is it possible this could be due to a bad modem/gateway? 

Another forum suggested changing the DNS but not sure about that. Thoughts?

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@xodus2222 wrote:

So the tech came out and did something out at the box in front of the building.  He said there were things that needed fixing.  He came in and put in a new outlet in the wall where the cable hooked up to.  I am on the 75 Deluxe package.  He made a comment that comcast guarantees up to 75 in the package but never a constant 75 Mbps.  Is that true?  My speed tests seem to be semi worse since he came and left.  I was at 75 when before he arrived and now I am around 61 Mbps.  I dont know if this is a sign of things to come or not.

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Yes, this is true. No ISP guarantees bandwidth, they all say "up to". Though, you  can sure complain if you don't get the speed you are paying for. They'll try to use the "up to" agrument with you, but as long as your persistent they'll keep working with you. As for speed test, be sure to test a few servers and average the results.

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@xodus2222 wrote:

Is it possible this could be due to a bad modem/gateway? 

 

Another forum suggested changing the DNS but not sure about that. Thoughts?

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Yes, it is very possible you have a bad modem, but it's hard to say. Generally the tech will replace them upon arriving. Though, I imagine since he found some issues at the tap he thought that'd clear it up. I wouldn't expect a DNS change to change your speeds, but if you aren't you should be using GoogleDNS.

You'll really just need to keeep pursuing Comcast on the speed issue. I'd recommend going through the 800 number again, having a tech out and getting his supervisors number. Give him a call and tell him your issue. He'll be able to troubelshoot a bit better since he directly works with your local network.

Thanks for the response.  A second tech is coming tomorrow.  Ive never messed with the DNS but will try. Ive had only one issue in the last three years so this speed thing is troublesome. I dont want this to be the new norm.

Is there anything else I need to say to the tech that might identify an issue.  I just have this feeling that he will replace my gateway and there will be no change.  It doesnt make sense that after three years of no issues that all of a sudden getting decent speeds is hard to get.  I just want to make sure I get everything I need out of the tech while he is here today.  I know the other tech did some things at the box outside but is there anything more they can do at this "box"?

TO xxodus2222 THANK YOU for posting this problem, I am having the exact same problem even the same dates you mentioned, I agree it is becoming very annoying. I've been use to having 5-6 tabs open at the same time as they all cross reference each other in my job I do.

Now I know to call and schedulee an appointment (fingers crossed). I am anxious to here how your appointment goes today.

The appointment started a bit rough.  I was given precise information to tell the tech guy and he wasnt going to listen to it.  He checked my signal and said that he could not find anything wrong. I said that there was an issue with the upstream signal on my gateway and he said I was wrong and that it was ok.   I then told him to replace my modem and he was like well if there isnt anything wrong with your service then why would I replace your gateway.  I had even told him on the phone, twice, that I needed and wanted a new modem.  Finally, he gave in and replaced it.  Unfortunately, hours after he left, the speed fluctuations began again.  How do you fix an issue that no one else can find?  I talked to "comcast john" yesterday on the phone, who was wonderful to talk to.  He was extremely helpful and told me exactly what to say to the tech.  To be honest, I dont know where to go from here.  I was so fed up with it last night that I didnt even do any work.

Thank you Jon.  Out of all of this, you have been the most helpful and kind.  I greatly appreciate it.

xodus2222,

Sorry hear that your recent tech call was not able to address this issue.

Additionally we do apologize for the poor experience you had.

I've engaged our regional support team to assist with this issue.

If you have any question please send me a pm.

Thank you

The tier 2 tech is giong to monitor my modem signal as well as the node in the neighborhood to see if anything else is going on.  Fingers crossed.

The weekend wasnt too bad.  The lowest low I saw was about 55.  However, the last few nights has seen it drop to about 15 to 20 Mbps over a span of a few hours. 

Is it possible that if I have two computers connected to the gateway that when I turn off one there is some sort of speed pull from one port that makes the port on the second pc slow down.  That probably doesnt even make sense, but I am sort of grasping here.

xodus2222,

Thank you for sharing your experience and updates to this issue.

We appreciate it!

Did your service stabilize a bit more after the weekend test?

Thank you

Hello.

I am a comcast business customer in Fremont, CA and have been so for years with almost zero connectivity problems, until recently.

Now I have 2 serious problems, one is with the connection reliability and speed, the other is with the recently imposed speed cap.

Over the past month or so (7/2014 to now) I have been enduring numerous hard downs as well as significant and erratic speed decreases.  There has been an increased number of planned matinenance outages as well.  The frequency of these issues appears to be increasing and is becoming a serious issue for my business. First my speed dropped from about 30Mbps down to around 16Mbps down (around the same time the new Xfinity and business price/speed tiers were rolled out).  Speed and reliability has been steadily degrading for longer periods of time, with the worst performance coming in at 2Mbps down / 2Mbps up, typically in the 10PM - 6AM time period (my working hours) but also during other random times of the day.

My service plan has remained the same and over the years I was getting periodic calls from Comcast letting me know that if I reboot my modem I will see a speed increase.  This continued until I was getting about 32Mbps down and 5Mbps up (fantastic!) for at least a year.  The recent and sudden 50% drop in speed to ~16Mbps (obviously an intentional speed cap) is rather insulting considering I am still paying for the same plan + incremental fee increases over the years while now getting half of what I was getting before.  If I get less speed and less reliability, I should be charged comparably less and ideally, these problems should be resolved.

Can anyone explain to me why my speed dropped from 30+Mbps to 16Mbps?

Can anyone help with the connection speed and reliability issues?

Is anyone else having this issue in my area?

Cable Modem

Initilization Procedure

Downstream Channel

Upstream Channel

Thanks in adavance to anyone willing to take the time to provide any useful advice relevant to these problems.

--neteng404