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A monopoly ISP refuses to fix upstream infrastructure

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Re: A monopoly ISP refuses to fix upstream infrastructure

#21

Post by vedmed »

matt_heimer wrote: post #15

I found that logging into the cable modem itself and getting the signal levels and modem event logs helps. The poster seems to just be logging IP reachability. You have to keep repeating that modem logs show the problem is outside of my house until they send a technician. Then you hope the tech knows what he is doing enough to verify the issue and call the right person. It took about 2 months and 5 visits to get my o…

Hey thanks I didn't realize I could do that. Updated the article with the docsis log.

Bunch of

UCD invalid or channel unusable and SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing

Re: A monopoly ISP refuses to fix upstream infrastructure

#23

Post by ddtaylor »

vedmed wrote: post #21
matt_heimer wrote: post #15

I found that logging into the cable modem itself and getting the signal levels and modem event logs helps. The poster seems to just be logging IP reachability. You have to keep repeating that modem logs show the problem is outside of my house until they send a technician. Then you hope the tech knows what he is doing enough to verify the issue and call the right person. It took about 2 months and 5 visits to get my o…

Hey thanks I didn't realize I could do that. Updated the article with the docsis log. Bunch of UCD invalid or channel unusable and SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing

What used to be very useful was to get the signal to noise ratio. When I had problems it was because they had installed amplifiers at various parts of the line and it eventually added up to a problem with amplifying too much noise.

Re: A monopoly ISP refuses to fix upstream infrastructure

#24

Post by ashirviskas »

1over137 wrote: post #8
paulatreides wrote: post #2

> Xfinity is the only gigabit provider in this area. No competition. No alternatives. I can’t leave. So they don’t have to care. many such cases...

"only gigabit provider". Like those grow on trees. Lots of people would love to have a fraction of that speed.

Shut up, 1gbps up/down in 2025 should be a basic human right.

I can't believe the things you learned to justify in US

Re: A monopoly ISP refuses to fix upstream infrastructure

#26

Post by joecool1029 »

I had to go through some stuff back in 2019 with Comcast business. I had Motorola (now arris) surfboard sb6141’s that stopped bonding upstream channels as soon as they were activated past walled garden. This was immediately after a speed ‘upgrade’ that turned into a downgrade on the upstream speeds. Two units same problem. I’m the problem using old modems says reddit. DSLreports (RIP, my oldest active account on the net) was more sympathetic, but I still couldn’t get a tech that could do anything. I liked the surfboard modems so I bought a 3rd sb6183 which was newer. Bonded, activated, as soon as it provisioned the upstream channels stopped bonding, back to junk upload speeds.

After a month of getting nowhere I CC’d Brian Roberts on the thread (suggested by dslreports) and received a call the next day from someone in engineering. They informed me that it was a corrupt boot file being sent with the (then) new speed tiers. Fixed that day. I think they credited 2 or 3 months of service for the hassle of buying multiple modems and having degraded service.

And uh, yeah. That experience and eventual success after was on my mind when I wrote the RCS post on front page a few days ago.

Re: A monopoly ISP refuses to fix upstream infrastructure

#27

Post by themafia »

The comment at the bottom of the article I believe is correct. I believe this because our neighborhood had the same problem. One day my neighbor, frustrated beyond his capacity, and seemingly very high on something, went outside and started ripping infrastructure out by hand and damaging everything else he could find with a hammer.

They came out and replaced a lot of the damaged equipment and did a few upgrades. After that the intermittent 2 minute drop problems disappeared.

Re: A monopoly ISP refuses to fix upstream infrastructure

#29

Post by joecool1029 »

bombcar wrote: post #11

I had a similar problem with a DSL line ages ago and what finally fixed it was to upgrade to business-class service, complain to business support, and they sent a tech who eventually found what it was (a tester on the line painted over so as to nearly be invisible). After it was fixed I was able to downgrade back to consumer DSL.

My most recent interaction with comcast business was earlier this year, end of contract came up.

I finally replaced the SB6183 with a Hitron CODA56 to be ready for midsplit upgrade (greatly improved upload speeds which was showing up in advertising on the same road family business is on). The way their sales works now is terrible, they chain you to a specific rep and that rep has to release you if you want to talk to anyone else. It took me something like 4 reps to finally get one that would sell me what I wanted, a no-term contract at list price without the firewall/spyware crap. No promotion requested. Just the 300mbps tier for that site. Nobody anywhere knew when midsplit upgrades would be complete. Thankfully about 2 months later it was done and that location went from 300/20 to 300/300.

Their business tier was better some years ago, now if I have a tech come out they try to charge me every time because I dared to buy my own modems. Thankfully it’s been pretty reliable, better than the power utility (especially since comcast will literally setup honda inverter gens to keep their nodes up in extended outages).

Re: A monopoly ISP refuses to fix upstream infrastructure

#30

Post by devwastaken »

1. get a starlink.

2. else, use their modem. having your own modem excludes it from their service tracking infra and you dont show up when theres problems.

your modem also isnt optimized for their docsis configs and isnt what theyre targeting.

3. the reason for the problems is mainline signal noise causing the modem to drop. cable modem is a conductive signal shared across customers and requires constant maintenance. for example coax lines running to other customers will send noise back upstream, a bad splitter, an improperly terminated end, bent cable, or especially - damaged lines. often hidden in walls and crawlspace.

coax service issues require actual experts to diagnose and fix. all giant isps like xfinity are in the business of getting rid of expensive salaries and equipment. the techs they are sending cannot fix the issue, and if you reject their modem youre deprioritized.

nobody wants to work with cable because its all about signal levels and signal balancing. Fiber is what theyre focusing on as they get paid by the fed to do it.

the regulatory agencies are long past their political debut and are only there to give corpo friends public funds. choose a different service.

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