ComcastCares1's dashboard

I am *not* convinced that swapping out the modem is the answer here, and it has been suggested by a CSR already in my case as well. Cable modems are hard for a CSR to troubleshoot so they are more apt to blame it as a catch-all and suggest that you swap it out. What is really mind-boggling is that no matter who (CSRs) you talk to, they seem to have their own opinion of what is going on and, of course, they are an expert. – conal, on July 19, 2008 03:50

I am *not* convinced that swapping out the modem is the answer here, and it has been suggested by a CSR already in my case as well. Cable modems are hard for a CSR to troubleshoot so they are more apt to blame it as a catch-all and suggest that you swap it out. What is really mind-boggling is that no matter who (CSRs) you talk to, they seem to have their own opinion of what is going on and, of course, they are an expert. – conal, on July 19, 2008 03:50

This is a problem that I am having too... I just replaced my cable-modem today figuring that the problem would be resolved.

After about two hours later, the same exact thing happened, and I have to either powercycle the modem, and sometimes even restart the computer multiple times. Needless to say, this has become not only extremely frustrating, but also a great expense of time and effort as well.

I've been trying to fight my own feelings about the battle between Qwest and comcast for worst company. The best answer I could come up with is that at least Qwest didn't make me sit on hold for 30-45 minutes. Qwest also had a better track record for ACTUALLY fixing any problems I had. Neither are companies I'll use again though. – SpicyLemon, on July 18, 2008 16:34

I've been trying to fight my own feelings about the battle between Qwest and comcast for worst company. The best answer I could come up with is that at least Qwest didn't make me sit on hold for 30-45 minutes. Qwest also had a better track record for ACTUALLY fixing any problems I had. Neither are companies I'll use again though. – SpicyLemon, on July 18, 2008 16:34

Hi Mark, I did send my information to We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com. Received a call from Cory this afternoon at 3:40PM today and actually got a network ticket number to reference. Now we wait and see if LMC can isolate and fix this problem. Thanks a bunch for responding. – conal, on July 17, 2008 23:56

Conal,

Let me look into this for you. Will you please send me the phone number associated with the account?

Sorry for your troubles.

Mark C.
Comcast Corp.
We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com

UPDATE: Called back to get someone else today and they *did* see that I still had an open trouble ticket with the LMC group, but had no other information.

At least it isn't in "the system" as resolved.

Will update when more is known.

I too have an alternate in mind, however I really don't like the idea of changing providers. Comcast *should* be able to remedy this problem. A friend, who lives only a few blocks from me has Comcast Business service to his home and does not have these issues, so I know things can be better... but that is in the neighborhood of $120/month.

so far, comcast has been pretty helpful via this website mechanism. i presently have a service visit scheduled for saturday morning. we will see how well that goes and what findings will arise. the "noise floor" concept sounds pretty discouraging (but in all fairness, if it is indeed an issue, it would be a systemic problem not necessarily fully under control by comcast as an organization). i already do have an alternative provider/service (in particular, in the form of verizon/fairpoint) standing at the ready just in case i don't regain a warm/fuzzy feeling following the comcast visit on saturday. – dennis, on July 17, 2008 14:01

I have had these similar issues since about mid-June and have formally opened a ticket this past Monday (7-14-2008) and had a tech come out to the house in order to find everything OK. He did, however, find there was some issue outside on the pole at the tap that "wasn't tightened and the top end was just going away."

I also have (had?!) a ticket in with LMC (The LMC is the Network Dispatch team) because they noticed that "noise floor has been jumping. That would explain his intermittent surf." and "it may take awhile before it’s resolved. They can only track it when it’s happening." I called on Tuesday (7-14-2008) and had the CSR check things out as the outage started at 4:38PM. The CSR told me that he did make note and sent it over to LMC.

I called last night around 9PM, spent one full hour on the line with the happy on hold muzak and THE SAME ANNOUNCEMENTS only to be told that there were no open tickets for my account. Wow. I was not sure what to say other than A) that this person was not able to find it or B) Comcast once again didn't check with the customer (who would be forking over a nice bit of coin yearly for this service) to make sure all things were happy.

I also tried their online customer support from their support website only to be told that I would have to contact LMC myself. And ended the chat. Very cool. I did fill out their little survey at the end, but am pretty sure that nothing will become of that as when I have filled these surveys out in the past for similar problems (yeah, this is not my first problem with the mighty Comcast) nothing has changed.

So maybe this Marc C. fellow can help, couldn't hurt (well, one really never knows). Not sure what to do. Qwest is not really an option as their "customer service" is a joke also and the little ISPs all get their lines from Qwerst... Comcast is the lesser (just by a hair) of the two evils and we have no other choices.

Good luck with your communication with Comcast, may there be some resolution(s)!

Conal G.
Minneapolis, MN

Vision,

Please send me the phone number in question so that I can get reach out to my contacts for handling.

Thanks,

Mark C.
Comcast Corp.
We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com

Before you go through all that, please send us an email with the account info so that we can review the modem performance.

Thanks!

Mark C.
Comcast Corp.
We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com

i will check the integrity of the splitter situated on the outside of the house (i believe this is a 3-way splitter. and then, there is a 2-way splitter with the cable that goes into the modem. checking/verifying integrity of such a setup is a "non-Comcast related issue", i presume, correct? and, since my modem is motorola surfboard which i purchased, that too would be considered "non-Comcast" (since it is not leased thru Comcast). Is the only foreseeable Comcast issue the integrity of the signal from the pole (in my case, the input into the 3-way splitter on the outside of my house)? by the way, can i reference this communique to chat with comcast online?

Dennis,

I am sorry for all your troubles.

There is a charge for non-Comcast related issues. Other than that, the service call should be free. I will verify if there are any other charges involved depending on the issue and/or area.

Please let me assist you in getting this resolved. I will reach out to our seasoned technicians so that we can pinpoint the root cause of the problem and get the problem resolved as soon as possible. I only request that you send me the phone number on the account so that I can expedite this for you.

Mark C.
Comcast Corp.
We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com

Dennis-when Comcast sends a tech out for your computer problems they will only charge you if it is indeed your Modem or computers fault...in our case, it was outside the house, so there was no charge...

I never got charged for any of the tech visits I needed. But, as stated before, that doesn't mean I didn't loose money by having to take time off of work, loose productivity etc.

Often, when getting a new modem, Comcast will enter in the new mac address and keep the old one there too. I don't know if they have an order preference though. I had a heck of a time when my old modem was damaged by lightning. I bought a new one and got it set up just fine but every couple of weeks Comcast's system seemed to forget that mac address and go back to the old one. It gets even more complicated if you bought a used modem. Their system can't seem to smoothly handle when the same mac address was once in one account and is now being used in another.

There is definitely something wrong with their system in reguards to changing modems.

I would also make sure to let them know that this has been an ongoing problem. Whenever the phone tech asked, "How can I help you today?" I would respond with, "I'll give you a minute or two to read through my log." It's always good to have them be as familiar as possible with your issue. Occasionally I'd actually get a good person on the phone that understood my pain and made the call 5 minutes instead of the usual 30.

I guess that was a lot of extra stuff... sorry. The main point is that I was never charged for any of the tech visits and that sometimes comcast's system forgets mac addresses.

oh wait, just saw some postings regarding needing multiple visits to actually fix the problem. i certainly hope that comcast does not charge for each required visit!!! especially when (as robin mentioned) it is also taking up (wasting) our valuable time !!!!

has anyone actually called out a comcast service person for onsite visit to check all connections, signal levels, etc. and, if so, was the issue resolved finally? i have been having the same problem for the past few months. i just recently changed my owned modem from toshiba pcx1100 to motorola surfboard 5101. but, the problem is still there. i have been putting off calling out a comcast technician in hopes of finding a self-help fix. i like the suggestion about pressing comcast phone support to double-, triple-check that the modem mac address is entered correctly and permanently. i think i will try that next. otherwise, if i don't find a solid solution in another week or so, i will just give in and schedule a comcast service visit. but, as i asked earlier, i would like to know whether or not anyone has done this already, and if it actually fixed the problem ... please let us all know!!!!! and, if not, then i would certainly pressure comcast to treat it as a continuation of the SAME service call if the problem persists after their onsite visit.

Like I said before, "Don't let them bully you into buying a new modem." That's their scapegoat. They see that the modem isn't theirs and tell you that it's your modem that's the problem. That, and they love to blame your router. At least they'll deal with routers now. They used to refuse to help you unless you took the router out and hooked your computer up directly to the modem.

"Comcast is a very bad internet service provider with customer service representatives holding an IQ below average" - asd

Every now and then I'd get someone who didn't seem like a git. I'd say it was about 1 in 10 (yes, I had to make so many calls I can say that). My favorite was when I was told that "latency" is not the proper term. The proper term is "uptime." No wonder Comcast has so many problems. They measure "uptime" in milliseconds!

"I had a similar problem, it took many tech visits to fix it... ... ...Comcast loves to waste your time." - Robin

I second that. All in favor?

Aye!