The General Dissing of Comcast I Suppose!

[jackdashack]

I don't know what to say. I was strict about not giving into their hype. I was happy with my Verizon phone and Directv. But was always down about the copper wire DSL thing with Verizon. We have no FIOS and almost as much as been told don't expect it. After 5 years of waiting I finally got the hook in the jaw when the guy came to the door 3 times. I let him in and when he said he'd give me 50mbps, and I was only getting .5 to 1mbps if lucky, that was it, I'M IN! So I took the Triple Play, Xfinity I guess it's now called.

 

Now he was talking direct connection and I am talking wireless in my head. I might have asked him about the wireless but he did, to his credit, say that in extremes you may experience as low as 30mbps. So I thought hey that's still good. So I bought in. They set me up and for some reason with this new HP desktop Pavilion I was getting 50mbps faithfully and wireless even being 15 feet from the modem. This was great for 2 weeks and then something happened and it dropped off. Using Comcast's test I was getting 28mbps, below their promise of 30mbps under extremes. Then it's dropped down to 12 at times. After several techs and a new Arris DOCCIS 3 compliant modem there is no change and no explanation why I was getting such good speeds for the first 2 weeks. After testing here at testmy.net I feel I have real reliable numbers. Today Comcasts speedtest had posted over 30mbps, not bad, and now down to 28. But here it says more around 19mbps, which I feel is reliable. A far cry from 50mbps. To be sure, their "OUT" is that I am getting the 50 direct connected to the modem. I live in an old cul de sac in a small town and there is no interference. No one above or below or beside me. The house closest to me and the modem is empty. I have no explanation and they are tired I suspect of hearing from me. I too am tired of hearing me.

You know what bugs me. Now they are saying that 12-15mbps is all I could expect with the modem 15 feet away. And here's another thing in my crawl. I have a friend across the street that I do maintenance on his computer.  He has the old Verizon DSL at .5 to 1mbps and I can connect to him consistently and get a .92mbps consistently and he's only promised 1mbps at the best. So old slow Verizon DSL is sustainable, but big Xfinity cannot get me from a 50mbps at the modem to the pc 15 feet away at any better than 12mbps. This is not what I thought I was buying into. If there were not some advantages I like on the phone and the cable tv service I think I would have bolted before the first month was out.

Is there any possibility that someone has found some resolution to something similar?  Thanks so much! jack  ":-|

[TriRan]

if its 12Mbps over wifi that is a completely different problem and has nothing to do with the cable company when your wifi card connects to the router it has a sync rate all its own if the modem is a router/modem combo which it sounds like it is it still has nothing to do with your cable company if you get 30-50Mbps when connected directly to the modem via a ethernet cable

 

your neighbor getting .92Mbps from his 5Mbps line is completely different from trying to expect 50Mbps from your wifi

 

if you expect to get 50Mbps from wifi you'd have to be sync'd with your router at over 100Mbps

 

do you happen to know what type of wireless your trying to use? wireless G? wireless N? also if the modem/router combo is using backwards compatible mode to be able to connect wireless G and N devices at the same time wireless N will operate no faster then the wireless G standards max speed

 

wifi has a lot of things to keep in mind and a lot of things can interfere with wifi.. i'm assuming your using 2.4GHz band if that's true there is interference everywhere... even 2.4GHz wireless handsets, bluetooth, and cell phones, and microwaves can all interfere

 

if you can provide me with a little info i should be able to better assist you and not guess so much

[jackdashack]

Triran: I'd have to read and re-read as I am not as proficient in things modem wise as you are. However let me add this. Since I posted this there has actually been another significant event. The wi-fi dropped out completely. The wi-fi light on the Modem is out. The Ccast support tried several things having me unplug the coax and and the power and then after so long plugging it back in. The wi-fi light is still out and there is no wi-fi. I am actually using my friends DSL with Verizon across the street rather handily @ .92mbps. So in summary: I have the desktop plugged into the modem and it's fine plugged in but there is no more wi-fi. Again, in my mind I have watched the wi-fi degrade over the last week. I thought the wi-fi or radio part of the modem could be considered separate from the direct connection. Also, I should explain that I have 2 computers one near the other. I have tested this multiple times with one of them off and then on. No difference and I should also mention that the 2 pc's displayed the same issues at the same time. As one degraded so went the other one on wi-fi. So that's why in my laymen mind I do not blame my computers. I blame the wi-fi side of the modem. I think I mentioned I have one portable phone and the last time a tech was hear he checked it. It had no effect when unplugged from the phone system and the electric. I live on a small cul de sac in an old part of a very small town. There are no businesses or anything electrical in my vicinity  Nothing has changed from the day they plugged it in and it was getting very good wi-fi speeds until it slowly deteriorated to now ... DOA. The tech on the phone let something out that I don't suppose they usually like to but he apparently they have on record if it is a new or refurbished modem as he said as he read .... "refurbished" ... I am going to inform the tech to bring a new modem this time. I said thank you ... that would be greatly appreciated. 

 

The modem is an Arris DOCCIS 3 compliant. I believe at this time the pc uses a wireless b/g/n from what I might have seen. (Please see the attachment) It's a brand new HP Pavilion with Windows 8. The older laptop is a Toshiba XP about 7 years old. From the beginning it only got about 2/3rd the speed the new one. I accepted this as possible older technology but they what you say about syncing properly there might apply. It's the new desktop that baffles me. As I said though, they both mirrored the same issues as the signal seem to degrade and nothing in the house was changing. The modem is about 15 feet away through 1 drywall with wood. There are no Bluetooth devices and the cell phone sits several rooms away in the kitchen.

 

When the newer pc is connected it does have 54mbps on the little icon with Excellent signal. The XP when working has 54mbps with Excellent signal. So again, in my limited mind I'd think that it would carry the 50mbps.

 

I have included a clip showing a little more about the adapter the newer PC is using.  You'll see in the clip it is a 802.11bgn

 

Thanks for your time!  jack  ":-D

 

 

[jackdashack]

Gosh when you hit post you never know if the post actually posted. I hope it did, it was quite lenghty!  ":-(

[TriRan]

it did indeed post jack, your first two posts must be reviewed and approved by a moderator before you can freely post. this helps us keep spam to a minimum.
 
thank you for taking the time to respond in a little more detail i think i might be able to shed a little light on a few things for you
 
 
 

Triran: I'd have to read and re-read as I am not as proficient in things modem wise as you are. However let me add this. Since I posted this there has actually been another significant event. The wi-fi dropped out completely. The wi-fi light on the Modem is out. The Ccast support tried several things having me unplug the coax and and the power and then after so long plugging it back in. The wi-fi light is still out and there is no wi-fi.

 

what has most likely happened is the wireless radio is either malfunctioning or has failed completely...

 

in my mind I have watched the wi-fi degrade over the last week. I thought the wi-fi or radio part of the modem could be considered separate from the direct connection.

 

Yes you are completely correct, wifi should be considered seperate from ethernet (direct connection)

 

Also, I should explain that I have 2 computers one near the other. I have tested this multiple times with one of them off and then on. No difference and I should also mention that the 2 pc's displayed the same issues at the same time. As one degraded so went the other one on wi-fi. So that's why in my laymen mind I do not blame my computers. I blame the wi-fi side of the modem. I think I mentioned I have one portable phone and the last time a tech was hear he checked it. It had no effect when unplugged from the phone system and the electric. I live on a small cul de sac in an old part of a very small town. There are no businesses or anything electrical in my vicinity Nothing has changed from the day they plugged it in and it was getting very good wi-fi speeds until it slowly deteriorated to now ...

 

well having one off and the other on shouldn't affect the speeds unless they are both downloading something simultaneously

if both PC's are on wifi at the same time then its not an entirely crazy thought that both would exhibit the same issue at the same time and it not be the actual cable companies fault but more so the wifi being delivered by that modem/wifi gateway

now if you have one pc directly connected via ethernet and one via wifi and both are exhibiting the same issue at the same time then you can rule out the wifi link being the issue and look more at the actual modem

also it's very good that you have already ruled out interference

 

The tech on the phone let something out that I don't suppose they usually like to but he apparently they have on record if it is a new or refurbished modem as he said as he read .... "refurbished" ... I am going to inform the tech to bring a new modem this time. I said thank you ... that would be greatly appreciated.

 

cable companies often do this, most cable companies do give you the option to get your own DOCSIS3.0 modem and router which is what i often recommend that way you can choose what suits your needs better, you'll know its a brand new device without a shadow of a doubt and it will be tailored to what you think you need now and possibly in the future

 

The modem is an Arris DOCCIS 3 compliant. I believe at this time the pc uses a wireless b/g/n from what I might have seen. (Please see the attachment) It's a brand new HP Pavilion with Windows 8. The older laptop is a Toshiba XP about 7 years old. From the beginning it only got about 2/3rd the speed the new one. I accepted this as possible older technology but they what you say about syncing properly there might apply. It's the new desktop that baffles me. As I said though, they both mirrored the same issues as the signal seem to degrade and nothing in the house was changing. The modem is about 15 feet away through 1 drywall with wood. There are no Bluetooth devices and the cell phone sits several rooms away in the kitchen.

 

the NEW pc you have is most likely connected using Wireless N, and the older laptop is definately using wireless G(54Mbps)
the thing with wireless N is it supports much higher data rates then wireless G as you were already seeing some newer wireless N cards support up to 600Mbps by bonding two wifi channels 300Mbps+300Mbps

 

When the newer pc is connected it does have 54mbps on the little icon with Excellent signal. The XP when working has 54mbps with Excellent signal. So again, in my limited mind I'd think that it would carry the 50mbps.

 

even though your new pc is most likely connecting with wireless N what you are seeing is the sad fact that when a wireless gateway or router is utilizing a backwards compatible mode so that both N and G devices can both connect at the same time wireless N devices will operate or sync no faster then the slowest device can which in this case is wireless G(54Mbps)
so even though your new pc supports wireless N which should have at least the capacity of 150Mbps the wireless gateway slows the N cards max sync rate to that of the wireless G cards max sync rate

as far as 54Mbps of wifi being enough to carry a 50Mbps cable connection this just isn't true

you would need to connect at over 100Mbps on wifi to be able to achieve all of your 50Mbps connection because wifi needs A LOT of overhead for dropped or lost packets and sync rate variation

on my own wifi i have to be connected to my router at atleast 162Mbps to be able to hit 50+Mbps download speeds

i hope this sheds a little light on your questions sorry if i lose you some place just smack me if i did

 

thanks ~ Mark

[jackdashack]

Mark:

Not sure how you made the nice partial quotes in boxes, nice trick:

 

You said:
if both PC's are on wifi at the same time then its not an entirely crazy thought that both would exhibit the same issue at the same time and it not be the actual cable companies fault but more so the wifi being delivered by that modem/wifi gateway

 

now if you have one pc directly connected via ethernet and one via wifi and both are exhibiting the same issue at the same time then you can rule out the wifi link being the issue and look more at the actual modem
 

Me back:

I wasn't clear. No when the newer pc is hooked to the ethernet and the older one is hooked to the dear neighbors they both are acting as you would expect them too. The older xp is running so nicely on .92mbps that it doesn't seem such a bad scenario if I have to go back to Verizon at 3mbps.

You said:

cable companies often do this, most cable companies do give you the option to get your own DOCSIS3.0 modem and router which is what i often recommend that way you can choose what suits your needs better, you'll know its a brand new device without a shadow of a doubt and it will be tailored to what you think you need now and possibly in the future

 

Me back:

I am aware of this and have been looking into it briefly but not deeply.  I have the Xfinity modem that everything, including phone is in the one device. I don't know if they have these available on the market yet. One person on a forum suggested getting my own modem, using the Xfinity for the phone and "bridging" the wi-fi to my own modem? 2 things with that. 1) I'm sure I could do it but I'd have to bug someone for the details, and, 2) I'd still be paying Ccast the $8/month rental fee and on top of that the purchase of my own modem. 

 

The rest of what you said sorta went over my head. I'm sure if I looked up things online I could get a sense. I do to some point understand what you say. So a question still. Giving what I have here, you know the older XP and this new HP Pavilion (you've seen what type of adapter it has) what would you think I should expect, on the new pc, from a good modem just 15 feet away with one plaster wall between the modem and this new pc?  I was getting near 40mbps with the first modem for 2 weeks until it dropped back significantly. Do you think 40 was a fluke or could that be realistically expected? And by the way, when I say 40mbps, that is adjusted in my mind after learning about this site and it's test. The Comcast was reporting 50 or better. So I figure realistically I was only getting about 40mbps. 

 

Thanks again for your time.  jack  ":-D

[Pgoodwin1]

If you tell them you want to use your own modem, you can return their modem and they should drop the modem rental fee. On their website, you can probably find a list of modems approved for use with their system. You can compare reviews on them, or post on TestMy and ask other Comcast users which ones they have and what their experience is.

If the laptop really is wireless G, when you're not using it, either turn the laptop off or turn that compute t's wireless off, and you should see the wireless N speeds on the other computer.

[jackdashack]

If you tell them you want to use your own modem, you can return their modem and they should drop the modem rental fee. On their website, you can probably find a list of modems approved for use with their system. You can compare reviews on them, or post on TestMy and ask other Comcast users which ones they have and what their experience is.

If the laptop really is wireless G, when you're not using it, either turn the laptop off or turn that compute t's wireless off, and you should see the wireless N speeds on the other computer.

 

Thanks for your input. I know of the lists of acceptable modems for replacement. I just hadn't looked into it far enough to know if there was one that handled the telephone too. This Xfinity has the phone line plugged into it which feeds back to all the phones. I suspect there is one no doubt. I'll check that more closely. And thanks to you up there in the "clouds" with all your data. lol  I do appreciate your response.  Jack  ":-D

[TriRan]

Thanks for your input. I know of the lists of acceptable modems for replacement. I just hadn't looked into it far enough to know if there was one that handled the telephone too. This Xfinity has the phone line plugged into it which feeds back to all the phones. I suspect there is one no doubt. I'll check that more closely. And thanks to you up there in the "clouds" with all your data. lol  I do appreciate your response.  Jack  ":grin:

 

PGoodwin1 is correct if you are not running the older laptop the Wifi gateway ( what i decided to call your modem with wifi ) should be able to sync at the higher speeds such as 150-600Mbps

what i ended up having to do was run two seperate routers in my house, one for wireless G and older devices and one for wireless N that way my faster devices wouldn't be dragged down by the slower ones... not saying you should do this by any means its a pain in the but and will require a little networking knowledge... if you do persue something like that we'll be more than happy to assist you though 

 

 

Mark:

Not sure how you made the nice partial quotes in boxes, nice trick:

 

you can do this too by clicking the quote or multi quote button, i simply modified each quote

box to only contain what i wanted to address at that moment

 

You said:

if both PC's are on wifi at the same time then its not an entirely crazy thought that both would exhibit the same issue at the same time and it not be the actual cable companies fault but more so the wifi being delivered by that modem/wifi gateway

 

now if you have one pc directly connected via ethernet and one via wifi and both are exhibiting the same issue at the same time then you can rule out the wifi link being the issue and look more at the actual modem

 

Me back:

I wasn't clear. No when the newer pc is hooked to the ethernet and the older one is hooked to the dear neighbors they both are acting as you would expect them too. The older xp is running so nicely on .92mbps that it doesn't seem such a bad scenario if I have to go back to Verizon at 3mbps.

 

so on the newer pc when connected to ethernet your seeing 40+Mbps? download speeds from tests here?

 

You said:

cable companies often do this, most cable companies do give you the option to get your own DOCSIS3.0 modem and router which is what i often recommend that way you can choose what suits your needs better, you'll know its a brand new device without a shadow of a doubt and it will be tailored to what you think you need now and possibly in the future

 

Me back:

I am aware of this and have been looking into it briefly but not deeply.  I have the Xfinity modem that everything, including phone is in the one device. I don't know if they have these available on the market yet. One person on a forum suggested getting my own modem, using the Xfinity for the phone and "bridging" the wi-fi to my own modem? 2 things with that. 1) I'm sure I could do it but I'd have to bug someone for the details, and, 2) I'd still be paying Ccast the $8/month rental fee and on top of that the purchase of my own modem. 

 

you should be able to find a modem that will do phone+cable and possibly wifi too but this feature i recommend turning off infact you could keep your current modem (if ethernet is working fine) and do the same thing, i recommend getting an actual router it will be 10x more secure and probably have a much stronger radio and we can even help you with this aswell

 

The rest of what you said sorta went over my head. I'm sure if I looked up things online I could get a sense. I do to some point understand what you say. So a question still. Giving what I have here, you know the older XP and this new HP Pavilion (you've seen what type of adapter it has) what would you think I should expect, on the new pc, from a good modem just 15 feet away with one plaster wall between the modem and this new pc?  I was getting near 40mbps with the first modem for 2 weeks until it dropped back significantly. Do you think 40 was a fluke or could that be realistically expected? And by the way, when I say 40mbps, that is adjusted in my mind after learning about this site and it's test. The Comcast was reporting 50 or better. So I figure realistically I was only getting about 40mbps. 

 

Thanks again for your time.  jack  ":grin:

 

sorry about all the technical jargan essentially what i was trying to get acrossed is your computers show they are at 54Mbps, that number should read 100Mbps or higher to acheive your full download speed because wifi needs quite a bit over overhead

[jackdashack]

so on the newer pc when connected to ethernet your seeing 40+Mbps? download speeds from tests here?

 

Actually right now the new desktop is hooked up directly to the malfunctioning modem directly and is showing better than 50 most instances on mytest.net As I said, the wi-fi side is gone just since I first posted to you. No one wants to hear whining, and you've heard plenty but what I discovered today was astounding. They have been trying to tell me nothing has been wrong with the wi-fi side for 2 weeks because the ethernet side is fine. A bit ago I was playing around with my old PDA which still works fine and I was wondering if it would connect up to neighbors DSL across the street. I connected up. To my great surprise it was a network called xfinity, not my neighbors. I was perplexed because most of the xfinity around here starts with HOME- XXXX.  I'd never seen this before. I finally tracked it down to a church that is over a block away, but behind me with no obstructions to speak of but it connected because I have an xfinity account. So I wondered. I picked up my Xoom tablet and went on the back porch and it connected up to it and I was able to surf and even videos did not hitch and jump. Now if that xfinity spot can give me such a good service a block away how am I to believe that wi-fi in the next room should be accepted with this poor service I've had, as is?  The pages sometimes download slow and videos will pause sometimes while playing. I thank you. I am going to re-read all so far and make sure what my plan is going to be. A tech comes tomorrow and is supposedly, according to the phone agent, bringing a "new" modem this time.  I'll get back, and thanks tremendously for following up here.  Jack  ":-D

 

Mark: I am editing. I just thought of something. Verizon never asked me back for the old modem. It's a Westell Versalink Model 327W and never gave me a moment's problem in 7 years. Only thing is when you have 2 modems like you, don't have you have to pay for 2 services?  Over and out! :v lol

[TriRan]

Mark: I am editing. I just thought of something. Verizon never asked me back for the old modem. It's a Westell Versalink Model 327W and never gave me a moment's problem in 7 years. Only thing is when you have 2 modems like you, don't have you have to pay for 2 services?  Over and out! :v lol

a modem and a router are completely different, i run 1 modem and 2 routers, a lot of times ISP's use modem/router combo devices because they are much more convenient however there is pretty big downfall to using modem/router combo's the router side is usually very lacking in features, capabilities and speed

which is why i definately recommend and this is only if they can't fix it tomorrow either getting your own modem and router as seperate devices or getting a router and putting that modem into bridged mode so it no longer acts as a router but strictly as a modem seeing as the modem side of it is functioning correctly and at better then your advertised speeds

2 routers do not require multiple ISP subscriptions when setup right

edit: here is a very informative and short explaination as to the differences between the two http://pc.net/helpcenter/answers/difference_between_router_and_modem

[jackdashack]

2 routers do not require multiple ISP subscriptions when setup right

 

Think I'm getting it. Everyone using internet must have a modem. Only ones using wi-fi must have a router? The Westell is a modem router combo.  I don't know if the tech would do the bridging thing. I don't know if they are really trained to. Honestly. My salesperson for Ccast is local. He stopped by one night trying to troubleshoot. He's been a tech in the past. He asked  a group of techs on morning some questions that would they'd have to have pc experience to answer half way correctly. They couldn't seem to get it. He asked them finally up front, Do you guys know anything about computers?  One honestly answered, NO, half of us don't.  They are just trained to go in. Hook up a meter, check figures and reads. When it comes to creativity to solve something. Many of them are limited in their scope!  ":-\  jack

[jackdashack]

Did you see above yet?

 

I am thinking faster than I'm getting answers, I know you have many others to follow. What do I need to know about this modem if it is working and the phone side too. If I want to just purchase a good router what do I need to understand to tell you to help me purchase the correct kind?  I know I could give all the info on the bottom but I suspect it's just a connection that has to be done between the modem and the new routher?  There is a USB on the back, 4 phone and 4 ethernet connections. Would it be as simple as an ethernet cord from the Xfinity modem to a plug in a new router?  Then waiting for the pc's to discover the IP. or would I have to deal with Ccast?  Still hate the idea of having to pay that $8 a month fee for the modem and buying the router but if it's the best way it is what it is. 

[TriRan]

2 routers do not require multiple ISP subscriptions when setup right

 

Think I'm getting it. Everyone using internet must have a modem. Only ones using wi-fi must have a router? The Westell is a modem router combo.  I don't know if the tech would do the bridging thing. I don't know if they are really trained to. Honestly. My salesperson for Ccast is local. He stopped by one night trying to troubleshoot. He's been a tech in the past. He asked  a group of techs on morning some questions that would they'd have to have pc experience to answer half way correctly. They couldn't seem to get it. He asked them finally up front, Do you guys know anything about computers?  One honestly answered, NO, half of us don't.  They are just trained to go in. Hook up a meter, check figures and reads. When it comes to creativity to solve something. Many of them are limited in their scope!  ":-\  jack

 

yeah you can get that from many tech's i usually ask for a senior tech someone who is very experienced

even if they cannot help you put the modem into bridged mode i'm confident we can walk you through it

 

Did you see above yet?

 

I am thinking faster than I'm getting answers, I know you have many others to follow. What do I need to know about this modem if it is working and the phone side too. If I want to just purchase a good router what do I need to understand to tell you to help me purchase the correct kind?  I know I could give all the info on the bottom but I suspect it's just a connection that has to be done between the modem and the new routher?  There is a USB on the back, 4 phone and 4 ethernet connections. Would it be as simple as an ethernet cord from the Xfinity modem to a plug in a new router?  Then waiting for the pc's to discover the IP. or would I have to deal with Ccast?  Still hate the idea of having to pay that $8 a month fee for the modem and buying the router but if it's the best way it is what it is. 

well the only way to get around it is buy your own modem and router as seperate devices it will be a bit of an initial investment though that is the only thing

and yes it would be as simple as plugging the router into an ethernet port on the back of the modem/router combo but we would still have to put the modem into bridge mode so it turns off the router function of the modem/router combo otherwise it might work but it might have issues if you ever tried to play a game online or do certain things