Ugh... Comcast is awful

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by robj144

Just to update this thread. I thought my modem was failing again the last few weeks because every day, I would lose internet for about an hour or so. I started checking the diagnostics of the cable modem and I would have 100's of error messages daily.

Since I switched the setup yesterday, no loss of internet. But, more importantly, zero error messages.

At times I have to wade into the mess of what our staff and the c suite occupants have at home. Cable (the media) problems aside, modem version and the in home gear are also problems. A crazy high number of people have compromised home routers. Same for not realize they've surpassed the capability of that gear. Take a few laptop or tablets, add the phones, add the smart watches..... Some craptacular home gear isn't up to the job.

People also mistake radio frequency problems for their ISP. They might not be using 5 GHz exclusively. People have crappy performance from using a WiFi repeater vs a modern meshed system.

If it has been a while it might be time to look at new on premises networking gear. I'm partial to Meraki (Cisco) and Ubiquiti but other good stuff lives. Ubiquiti's "Amplifi" line is particularly good if strong radio performance and products from someone who also does enterprise stuff seems appealing. Meraki is in a league of its own but you will have much higher costs. Anyone with paranoia should know Cisco's approach where security comes from the network before your device is worth knowing. A home user can still use Cisco's free version of Umbrella.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by robj144

Sounds like Comcast being Comcast.

Where did your attorney go to see the statues?

Just kidding. I like having fun with that common mistake.

OOPS where is the "Automatic Correct Word Usage " feature on my laptop

[MikeBmusic]

I am so glad to be done with Comcast! Luckily, we have Verizon FIOS available for internet, and now stream all our tv (question about HD antennas in another thread, though).

[harpspitfire]

we just switched to comcast, waiting for install today- i had them 15 years ago and dropped them because of pricing, we went with verizon and directv- the directv tv pricing is getting ridiculous and continue being charged for service we never ordered or canceled, verizon internet is a total joke here, my service drops EVERY time i use the comp now and have to reboot, anyway, enough is enough of 15 years of no service, its time to move on

[CoryB]

I’ve had both Verizon (non-FIOS) and Comcast over the years and surprisingly I’ve had better luck with Comcast.

Every time Verizon visited my neighborhood for any reason, my DSL speed would tank. I would call them and complain and in a week or two they would have a tech come out and readjust the signal strength in the box to get my internet speed back where it belonged. It seems they were stealing my bandwidth to service new customers in the area. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one affected but I guess I complained the loudest.

Any time I had a Comcast problem, a tech would be out on the same day, or next day at the latest, and get me fixed right up. Including straightening me out on those splitters.

Where I live now I can’t get either so I am on an AT&T Homebase router. It’s not bad but I miss cable speed.

[MikeBmusic]

What I got really tired of with Comcast - their SOPs. Every time there is a problem they make you go through the same procedures (that you've already tried - unplugging the box, reset, etc), just as bad when a service tech shows up. First thing, replace cables - uhh, the last guy did that 4 months ago, you think a cable that hasn't been touched fails in that time? Replace box - sometimes the new box doesn't work at all! The last box didn't stop working, its the service to it that is not delivering the signal.
I had a tech come, and determine that if the system didn't reset (missing 'On Demand service) within an hour, then the problem HAD to be on the telephone pole outside (which he wouldn't do). So when On Demand still didn't work, I called and had to fight my way up the chain to get someone who would schedule a service team to come look at the pole without also coming inside to check things first.
So they showed up (when no one was home) and left a voice mail (in an accent so bad it was hard to figure out if it was English being spoken) because they said they couldn't do anything as our service was with Verizon not Comcast! They were looking at my internet cable, not the TV one from Comcast! Another call and another hour wasted trying to get it rescheduled - and they still could not fix it. And every time they promised to call back as a follow-up? Never a call.

[Gunny]

I am a Comcast engineer, but have a thick skin and make no excuse for shoddy service whether in the field or on the phone. Comcast is investing huge amounts of money and resources in making customer service #1 priority. It's a tough take on for sure. I can say without doubt that Comcast spends an insane amount of cash on continually upgrading our network every single day. In my 18 years, I have seen 1 million dollar routers being replaced in 12 months with the next, best thing and that goes for every piece of equipment in my headend. No compromise for our network.

Our product is solid no doubt, but a lot can happen between my facility and a customer's premise. Ingress is the #1 cause of shoddy internet. The return spectrum needs to be clean and our line techs are "hunting noise" every day.

I do take pride in making sure that our products leave my facility nearly if not perfect.

This is our 7 CMTS devices. We feed about 120000 customers. These provide internet, video on demand, telephony and broadcast video. About $600000 each.



This is a shot of the return spectrum coming back from customers in a particular node. This is relatively clean.



This is a max hold shot showing the 4 distinct carriers.



This is a shot of a nasty return. This is the crap that we continually hunt as it degrades quality.



Sorry to blabber, but it's a cool place to work.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by BigMo66

I am a Comcast engineer, but have a thick skin and make no excuse for shoddy service whether in the field or on the phone. Comcast is investing huge amounts of money and resources in making customer service #1 priority. It's a tough take on for sure. I can say without doubt that Comcast spends an insane amount of cash on continually upgrading our network every single day. In my 18 years, I have seen 1 million dollar routers being replaced in 12 months with the next, best thing and that goes for every piece of equipment in my headend. No compromise for our network.

Our product is solid no doubt, but a lot can happen between my facility and a customer's premise. Ingress is the #1 cause of shoddy internet. The return spectrum needs to be clean and our line techs are "hunting noise" every day.

I do take pride in making sure that our products leave my facility nearly if not perfect.

This is our 7 CMTS devices. We feed about 120000 customers. These provide internet, video on demand, telephony and broadcast video. About $600000 each.



This is a shot of the return spectrum coming back from customers in a particular node. This is relatively clean.



This is a max hold shot showing the 4 distinct carriers.



This is a shot of a nasty return. This is the crap that we continually hunt as it degrades quality.



Sorry to blabber, but it's a cool place to work.

Interesting that you can take photos. When I was an ISP sysop a good while ago now we could not take photos or say much more than platform maker. My DR site data center is off of one of my metro area's major fiber links and I can only photograph my rack and gear under supervision.

At times I question the infrastructure not being protected even more. Our metro area had a freak two power substations on fire a few weeks ago and it wreaked TELCO havoc. It brought back memories of my previous job where we knew damage to a particular spot visible in a building could bring down the state government, major employers, and the public telephony and Internet infrastructure a nearly air base uses.

BTW, someone's comments on rebooting their computer fixing the ISP or the ISP gear means you don't just change your ISP. That's reason to look at my earlier and past comments on replacing your ISP gear, check cabling, and learn if your router/bridge (home network gear) is the culprit. Over and over when I have to help a c suite resident I find a cable modem swap and new network gear is a fix. For the execs who have me place our own Cisco gear I see they rarely have problems and problems are easy to diagnose.

[Gunny]

Originally Posted by imwjl

Interesting that you can take photos. When I was an ISP sysop a good while ago now we could not take photos or say much more than platform maker. My DR site data center is off of one of my metro area's major fiber links and I can only photograph my rack and gear under supervision.

Pretty limited on what I can make public for sure. The facility itself is rather secluded, behind 8 ft chain link/barbed wire with security cams and alarms.

[robj144]

Originally Posted by BigMo66

I am a Comcast engineer, but have a thick skin and make no excuse for shoddy service whether in the field or on the phone. Comcast is investing huge amounts of money and resources in making customer service #1 priority. It's a tough take on for sure. I can say without doubt that Comcast spends an insane amount of cash on continually upgrading our network every single day. In my 18 years, I have seen 1 million dollar routers being replaced in 12 months with the next, best thing and that goes for every piece of equipment in my headend. No compromise for our network.

Our product is solid no doubt, but a lot can happen between my facility and a customer's premise. Ingress is the #1 cause of shoddy internet. The return spectrum needs to be clean and our line techs are "hunting noise" every day.

I do take pride in making sure that our products leave my facility nearly if not perfect.

This is our 7 CMTS devices. We feed about 120000 customers. These provide internet, video on demand, telephony and broadcast video. About $600000 each.



This is a shot of the return spectrum coming back from customers in a particular node. This is relatively clean.



This is a max hold shot showing the 4 distinct carriers.



This is a shot of a nasty return. This is the crap that we continually hunt as it degrades quality.



Sorry to blabber, but it's a cool place to work.

Awesome and I'm sure your group knows what they are doing, but Comcast needs to spend more time training their field techs. They are mostly incompetent.

How does one not know to not use a more than two way splitter when feeding to a cable modem? I was naive on this issue, but after sometime researching this, it's like splitter 101 to use a two way splitter first to go to the modem. If you want, I can post the network diagnostics before and after for you to see the difference after I set it up myself.

[AX17609]

Bravo! This is the first time I've ever seen a Comcast employee respond to one of these 'I hate Comcast' threads.

[Fogducker]

Wouldn't you just know it,-------I see a few random "jumper cables" in the pictures so something must of needed attention.

Let me know if you need help on routing those jumpers, I'm really good at mindless, randomness, electrical wise!

Fog

[Gunny]

Originally Posted by Fogducker

Wouldn't you just know it,-------I see a few random "jumper cables" in the pictures so something must of needed attention.

Let me know if you need help on routing those jumpers, I'm really good at mindless, randomness, electrical wise!

Fog

Ran some new downstream bundles to split nodes. It's never ending. These will be dressed in soon. Anything but mindless or random..

[Gunny]

Originally Posted by robj144

Awesome and I'm sure your group knows what they are doing, but Comcast needs to spend more time training their field techs. They are mostly incompetent.

How does one not know to not use a more than two way splitter when feeding to a cable modem? I was naive on this issue, but after sometime researching this, it's like splitter 101 to use a two way splitter first to go to the modem. If you want, I can post the network diagnostics before and after for you to see the difference after I set it up myself.

Techs are constantly trained and must perform home certs. Whether they choose to be lazy is another story. It is definitely common practice to get the priority outlet on the best possible scenario, but not always necessary to use more than one splitter. If a home is on a high value tap from the pole or ped, the levels are generally lower going into the home. It may be necessary to optimize the splitter config. If on a low value tap, there is enough juice to fire up a 4, 6 or even larger splitter if needed. It's never a bad idea to isolate a modem or any 2 way interactive device (modern DVRs, etc..) as they are reliant on a clean path. Sometimes filters are used to "rope off" the rest of the services if they are not in need of both forward and return.

[robj144]

Originally Posted by BigMo66

Techs are constantly trained and must perform home certs. Whether they choose to be lazy is another story. It is definitely common practice to get the priority outlet on the best possible scenario, but not always necessary to use more than one splitter. If a home is on a high value tap from the pole or ped, the levels are generally lower going into the home. It may be necessary to optimize the splitter config. If on a low value tap, there is enough juice to fire up a 4, 6 or even larger splitter if needed. It's never a bad idea to isolate a modem or any 2 way interactive device (modern DVRs, etc..) as they are reliant on a clean path. Sometimes filters are used to "rope off" the rest of the services if they are not in need of both forward and return.

Thanks. Every time a tech has been here, he doesn't seem to know what he's doing.

Anyhow, the tech that came last never did any diagnostics at all to determine what the signal level was when he came. He just replaced the main cable coming in and replaced the old, single splitter, with a newer, single splitter. My incoming signal is fairly low to begin with... I began testing it last week.