Anyone Use Comcast for Internet?

Early B.

I couple of weeks ago I switched from AT&T to Comcast for Internet service. Since that time, I have had repeated drop offs, often several times per day. Just wondering if anyone else had had the same problem. I never had this problem with AT&T. To get back on-line, I have to unplug all of wires from the modem, wait 30 seconds, then plug them back in.

Before I contact Comcast, I'd like to do my own troubleshooting, if possible. Is there a way to determine whether I am experiencing a hardware or software issue? The modem is a Motorola and the router is a Linksys.

I gotta type fast before the modem cuts off on me again...:(

Thanks.

pearsall001

I've been running Comcast for a few years now, never really had any issues. I don't know what to tell you about the problems you're having. Bummer.

bobman1235

I've had Comcast for years, no such dropoffs. I'd have them come out, check the signal and maybe replace the modem. ONe of the two has to be the problem.... I would hope.

SolidSqual

My girlfriend's house has the same issues. Is the cable wiring in your house ancient? That was the problem with hers.

I-SIG

The Comcast service has been fine for me although I do occasionally have to unplug and re-plug my Linksys wireless router. It decides to quit routing, for lack of a better way to put it.

Wes

heiney9

Welcome to Comcast. Possibly the worst ISP out there. I used to have those daily drop outs then they stopped and came back again and now I'm good (for now).

Unfortunately I don't have another option other than the slowest tier DSL.

Early B.

heiney9 wrote: »

Welcome to Comcast. Possibly the worst ISP out there. I used to have those daily drop outs then they stopped and came back again and now I'm good (for now).

Yeah, that's exactly what happens. I'm good for a few days, then it'll cut off several times in one day, then I'm good, then... I haven't noticed a specific pattern yet.

I'm reluctant to call Comcast to send someone to check it out because I have a router connected so I can run a wired line to another computer. The first thing they're gonna tell me is to disconnect the router. The router works fine. I doubt it's a software issue because I'm OK for a few days, then BAM!!!. It's gotta be the modem or the line. Comcast ran a new line from the green telecom box on the curb and it hasn't been buried yet.

hearingimpared

I've used Comcast for years and have no issues at all. That is not entirely true, I had email issues not to long ago but it had nothing to do with connectivity.

You need to make sure there is a dedicated cable line from the street to your modem; something Comcast should have made sure was done at the initial installation. I hope things go better for you.

SBrown712

Been with Comcast for years too. I've had problems a couple of times but it could usually be related to construction in the area. I've had them come out twice that I can think of and they messed with the wiring but nothing really changed. Seems like when they got service to the new buildings across the street done my problems went away.

Heiney.. maybe you should move the van closer to town?

dkg999

I had problems similar to those described, and they finally ran a separate line from the box on the outside of the apt bldg to my apt for my cable tv and internet. No more problems. The tech said that being on the opposite side of the bldg from the lead-in, and having several other drops on my line, was an issue. My internet has been pretty consistent since then, although I do see definite slow-downs based on peak times (ie right after school gets out!).

zingo

I also have Comcast and it works flawlessly. I would start bothering them until they get the problem fixed.

Kex

Early B. wrote: »

... I'm reluctant to call Comcast to send someone to check it out because I have a router connected so I can run a wired line to another computer. The first thing they're gonna tell me is to disconnect the router. ...

Tech. support these days would frequently be more aptly named as "responsibility avoidance support"! Could you just disconnect the router yourself, temporarily, to check that the problem still exists, so that they cannot use that as a lame duck excuse? Once you have verified that the problem is still there, then you can call them and have them come and check the line with no router to blame.

wingnut4772

I haven't had any issues but I've only had it a month or so.

rayslifecycle

Not had any issues with Comcast - but I did have those same issues with RCN - and I am pretty sure it was bad wiring in the house.....good luck - the RCN people replaced the cablebox (on-demand never worked either) and the modem probably 4 times in the 3 months I lived there........

don't let anyone tell you that cables don't make a difference.....hahahhaa

disneyjoe7

I put a plug in for ATT...


But all that aside it sounds like they are totally F'd up on their end, or you have noise on your end. I would use a small tv at the cable modem connection, and see if you can receive a picture analog channel look for snow. If you see any snow something is loss or bad giving you trouble on your end.

Now I don't have cable never had a cable ISP, but I think that test should work.

TNRabbit

I've been using ComCast cable for internet for over a year now without a hiccup. Fast as hell, hardly ever have any issues; if I do, a reboot of the modem/linksys router fixes the problem.

Jstas

I have Verizon and like no problems. Everyone I know with Comcast complains about problems on what seems like a constant basis.

But a friend had a similar problem. She asked me to help her fix it and I did and we went round and round with Comcast who told us it wasn't on their end. After 3 months, I called up Comcast and threatened legal action because she was paying for a service that she wasn't getting. So then sent out one of their trained monkeys and what do you know? Turns out it was the modem afterall.

While the guy was still there, I got back on the phone with Comcast customer service and got 3 months of her bill refunded. I've had similar experiences every where else I was asked to help troubleshoot a connection problem. I'll go back to dial up before I get Comcast's Internet connection services.

Kex

TNRabbit wrote: »

I've been using ComCast cable for internet for over a year now without a hiccup. Fast as hell, hardly ever have any issues; if I do, a reboot of the modem/linksys router fixes the problem.

I'm not sure I'd identify "a reboot of the modem ..." as usage "without a hiccup", even it's only minor, on the grand scale of things. I use AT&T (because I'm cheap, and it's $20/mo) and I haven't touched the modem in six months, and we moved in here six months ago, so that's when I first turned it on.

Great story Jstas! Your legendary reputation lives on!

Early B.

Well, it could be the modem. I dunno. I don't have another modem to swap it out with to check it. My wife ran over the modem on the day it was delivered.:eek: Yep, it's true. Not her fault, though. UPS leaves packages for us in front of the garage door!!:mad: Does anyone have any common sense anymore?

tonyb

I have comcast.....sucks....not because I have problems with connections,because I don't,but the system just doesn't play nice with everything else on my computer.AOL was the best,but they are getting too costly.Get a new modem from them,should help,otherwise,kick them to the curb and move on.Life is too short for these little aggravations.

bobman1235

DId you buy the modem or rent it? My local Comcast office has no problem exchanging things like modems if you just bring them in.

sucks2beme

I used to have Comcast. And the problems you had. The problem was a
low level to the house. But the guys that do data can't touch the main line.
What the fix should of been was to change the tap faceplate at the pole.
There's a number rating on it on how much it attenuates the signal out to the users.
They could of changed it for a "23" to a "20" giving me 3db more signal.
Or I could of dropped my splitter, and had no tv service!
The fix I had to get was a two way amplified splitter.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103093
This stopped most of the dropouts. Well worth the money.
But when Fios came, I dropped cable like a bad habit.

tcrossma

There's always going to be someone who has issues with every service out there. I have friends who dislike Comcast, Charter, AT&T, Verizon, and many others. And there are others who swear by the same ones. Same with cell service and pretty much every other service and/or product on the planet.

But as to your specific issue, it sounds like its either a router or modem issue, or a signal quality issue. Make sure you have your cable modem as the first split from the main line, and on the -3db. Other than that, I'd suggest either swapping the modem with Comcast or buying one from BestBuy (and returning it if it doesn't end up being the problem). It's also possible you might just be on a very lousy zone with Comcast that might have hardware issues somewhere upstream from you.

Some routers have overheating problems that can cause frequent (and intermittent) dropoffs that require reboots. You might also want to swap routers at some point.

Good luck with getting it resolved -- internet problems suck.

KrazyMofo24

I would have them replace router/modem, and check the line.

Also as far as fixing it, you should just have to unplug the power cord for 30 seconds only. The other cables can remain plugged.

Early B.

OK, I'll try another modem and see what happens.

ND13

Had my CCast internet cable service for a couple of years with zero problems. Just degraded to their "Economy BB" service which dropped the speed from 16 meg to 2 meg. There is definitely a big difference, but still faster than any DSL service I've encountered.

mmadden28

I am on FiOS now, but when I had Comcast for broadband internet, I had no issues (I had plenty with the TV service though). I had only one line from the street to my house. It came in to a splitter, and they amplified the connection ( going to the jack where my cable modem was located) to a higher dB than what was going to the rest of the house.

Did they provide the cable modem? I know years ago there was an issue with the DOCSIS support of the modem or domething like that. Of course if you modem is relatively new or they provided it then that is probably not the issue.

How are you sure it's not your router? I would take the router out and just use the one computer on it just to be sure.

Otherwise I know this about Comcast and Cable modems--A lot of people I've worked with only had the Cable modem which only has one computer port on it. If you wanted to disconnect the computer and plug in a laptop it wouldn't work. The reason is the modem locks onto the MAC address of the first network card it sees. Then it won't work with any other MAC addresses.
The only way lose the lock was to power the modem down for no less than 15 minutes, then it would lock ontoi the next MAC it saw.
The only way around this is to connect a router. This way the modem sees the MAC of the external interface of the router, and the router handles all the translation of the internal network. The modem doesn't care at this point as long as its happy with the MAC it sees.
The only reason I really described that is perhaps there an issue with the interface between the router and the modem causing it to lose its 'lock' and thus ignoring any other comms.

You could go out and by a new router at CC or BB to try. If it doesn't fix the problem, return them. Not sure if you rent or bought the router from Comcast (or if its part of the service anymore). When I got it 4-5 years ago, they made you rent the modem so I went out and bought my own. Comcast CS was very adamant about my ensuring that it was DOCSIS 2.0 (or something) comliant.

Just some thoughts

markmarc

Brad:
I've been very happy with Comcast Internet overall. My school uses it as well, and the only downtime was when a switch went bad on their end. I'd be tempted to ask for a new modem box. The only other possibility is that one of your neighbors maybe downloading massive files, but I thought Comcast had cleared that issue up a while back

Kris Siegel

When we had Comcast in our previous County (Baltimore County) it worked great. In fact, I don't remember ever having any drop offs for the 5 years or so we had it.

When we moved to our new County (Harford County) it went down hill. I had constant drop offs. After talking with Comcast multiple times I had to get the BBB involved as they had no way to help us and would only refund us if we called every single time our service went out even if it's only a few minutes. After that BBB complaint I was able to talk to someone and get them out here to check the wiring (4 people at Comcast told me they only schedule visits during business hours; something I can't do but after talking with the BBB I was informed that I was lied to and they always had night and weekend appointments).

After a while of troubleshooting they thought that because our house had splitters inside it wasn't a good enough signal. They fixed the cabling, said it was good to go and left... after that visit our Internet went down for over 3 hours. The modem and router were good (the technician even verified it) so we said screw it and signed up with Verizon DSL. It's slower but much more reliable.

It's weird though. Comcast in Baltimore County = extremely awesome, reliable and fast. Comcast in Harford County = total crap. This includes their cable service (we had to switch to DirectTV recently). I knew someone who worked for Comcast support and they said there were many problems in Harford County but I don't know how accurate that is (she said her job was threatened for bringing it up but, again, I don't know how true that is so I don't want to disparage Comcast incorrectly).

disneyjoe7

I love my DSL line of 6meg sitting in a closet about 8' in the air, alone with a wireless hub, and a 4 port wire hub. Powered off an UPS, I may need to reset once in a blue moon but I think its a hub issue over a modem problem but they all get shut down when needed. It maybe slower then some cable systems out there but it's speed is always consistent and reliable.

bigyank

Early B. wrote: »

I couple of weeks ago I switched from AT&T to Comcast for Internet service. Since that time, I have had repeated drop offs, often several times per day. Just wondering if anyone else had had the same problem. I never had this problem with AT&T. To get back on-line, I have to unplug all of wires from the modem, wait 30 seconds, then plug them back in.

Before I contact Comcast, I'd like to do my own troubleshooting, if possible. Is there a way to determine whether I am experiencing a hardware or software issue? The modem is a Motorola and the router is a Linksys.

I gotta type fast before the modem cuts off on me again...:(

Thanks.

You might have to get rid of the Linksys with Comcast, I did. My Linksys broadband router (WRT54g v5) would continuously freeze (wired or wireless) and when talking to a buddy of mine who had the same router, he stated Comcast support told him that there was a compatibility issue between the Motorola router supplied by Comcast and the Linksys. I have since switched to Belkin and my lockups have gone away.

Yank