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Comcast internet help?

Internet connection is not working properly but Comcast says it isn't them. Help!

  • My internet connection has always had issues, but recently those issues have gotten exponentially worse. Comcast is the only constant in this equation, but they claim that the signal they're sending is strong! I need it fixed ASAP, what can I try? I've been experiencing a very frustrating problem for several years now, and in the last few days it has gotten exponentially worse. From time to time, my connection to the internet seems to go down. I have comcast broadband as my ISP, a Netgear wireless router, and several connected items (2 PCs, occasionally 1 laptop, a Wii, and an Xbox 360 - the PCs and Xbox are connected to the router via an ethernet cable, and the rest connect wirelessly). When my connection appears to go down, all of my devices are affected, but the modem still shows a connection and a signal. Usually if I unplug the router and plug it back in, it solves the problem temporarily, but sometimes its less than an hour before the connection goes down again. Sometimes I don't do anything and the connection appears to restore itself within a minute or two, but usually I have to reset the router. When the downtime fixes itself, I often will get a "connection to the server has been reset" error during the downtime. You would think that the weak point here would be the wireless router, but I have tried two different routers and two different router brands (my previous router was a Linksys), and the same issue occurs on both. In fact, I used to live in an apartment that is downstairs in my building, and the problem occured there as well, with two different modems! I seemed to not experience the problem when I plugged the modem directly in to the computer, which would also point to the router, but then why would I experience the same problem with different brands and models of routers? So the problem is the same despite different devices, different routers, different locations, and different modems. The only constant has been Comcast, but when I call them they swear up and down that the signal strength is strong and that I shouldn't be experiencing problems. That brings us to the last few days, when things have gotten much worse. I am now experiencing connection drop-offs (the ones that fix themselves) every 2-3 minutes, and when the internet is up, the speed is extremely slow. I also tried plugging two separate PCs directly in to the modem, one by one, and it can't even get a connection at all, not even a bad one. Once again, Comcast swears its not their signal (and they're sending a technician out next week) but it's making life pretty painful right now and tomorrow I need to have the ability to work from home. Can anyone please give me any advice? Help!

  • Answer:

    I had a similar problem with Verizon DSL for about 3 years. Verizon swore over and over again that they could not be the problem. The connection would randomly drop for a few minutes several times a day. I tried 2 or 3 different wireless routers, went through a couple of modems, all the steps you are taking. So I'm guessing that it was just a weird coincidence that the problem went away for good when I switched to a different DSL provider. The moral being it very well may be Comcast.

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Well it sounds like you have narrowed things down and done a lot of investigating. Hopefully the tech will find something odd. You don't have your location listed, but Comcast is rolling out a big upgrade nationwide called "Project Cavalry," and there have been some performance issues of late out here in Central California that are pegging the work being done to roll it out as the culprit.

Big_B

Wow that last sentence doesn't sound right, but I think the message is portrayed.

Big_B

If you can't get a connection when plugged directly into the modem, it's not a problem with the router. Things it could be: crappy devices (you tried several, so probably not), crappy cabling (try new cables), crappy power supplies (hard to know...), dying modem.

beerbajay

Maybe it's the router settings? I've seen a similar issue with comcast (at least in Maryland) and the phone technicians told me that they don't "support" multiple connections unless you are using their routers (this may or may not be true, it's been a few years). Turning on MAC address cloning in the router has resolved it (well, in 2 of 2 cases). http://www.ofzenandcomputing.com/zanswers/605 I could find, steps will vary based on your router model.

syntheticfaith

If you can figure out the IP address for your modem while connected to your router (I'm away from home but I think mine is 192.168.1.100), the login and password is often "comcast" / "1234". You can get various measures of signal strength reported on the status page and check them against something like dslreports posts to get a sense of whether comcast is bullshitting you. Bear in mind that these numbers are not comprehensive and may not even be reliable.

Inspector.Gadget

I had an issue with a client with cable internet whereas it would go down or become heavily degraded at absolutely random times. Turned out, after months of troubleshooting and escalation, that it was only happening when a bar down the street was turning its cable TV on. Most ISP will assume its a problem on your end and give you the run around. You need to plug a desktop directly into your cable modem (it will require a power cycle to associate with your desktop) and test the connection from there. run a constant http://colortreemedia.com/how-to-ping-windows-xp/ to two different endpoints (ping 4.2.2.2 -t and ping 208.67.222.222 -t) and let it run for a while noting the packet loss (results will be displayed if you hit ctrl + c) If you have no or little packet loss over and interval where you would normally lose connection, its probably your other hardware. If you do note packet loss, call up your ISP, get your call escalated and explain to a tier 2 tech what you have done. Tell them you want someone to come out and put a monitor on the line to prove it is not your equipment but their line.

mtyn

Are you using any torrenting software? That used to bog down my router and cause connection issues until I tweaked the settings the right way.

FreezBoy

Try switching your DNS to https://store.opendns.com/get/basic or http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/. DNS is frequently the culprit with intermittent outages & slowness.

scalefree

My mother-in-law had similar problems from summertime last year to earlier this year. Internet (Comcast) was cutting out randomly, Comcast swore it wasn't them, but it definitely wasn't us. Just an iMac (earlier it was a PC) connected directly to the modem, no router. Tried swapping modems, but that didn't help. After half a dozen calls, we finally we got a knowledgeable tech who realized that the MAC address for her modem had fallen off their list (or something like that?) sometime last summer, so the system was kicking her (with this unrecognized modem) off their network at random. They took down her modem's MAC address and re-entered it into the system, and I don't believe she's had a problem since. Apparently the low-level tech support can't add/change MAC addresses anymore, so we waited on hold for about 45 minutes to get a higher level of tech support to make this change.

jroybal

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