221–230 of 361 posts
I also recently dumped Xfinity cable modem service. It was reliable for 10 years and then all of a sudden it wasn’t.
I had a similar problem with a different ISP, Optimum, in Northern NJ. It wasn't as regular as the author's problem -- my cable modem would desync intermittently throughout the day despite the signal strength numbers being in spec. I replaced everything downstream of the drop from the street, all new wiring inside, a new modem/router/etc. All signs pointed to the problem being outside the house. I went so far as to c…
ISPs also have different levels of service for different entities, and seem to just barely care about you as a customer. An ISP (like one that starts with the first letter of the alphabet and ends with a common abbreviation for an explosive compound) might not think it’s worth coming out and marking their fiber lines when you call the city’s 811 number to mark utilities before digging for a project, like a fence. If…
Hah, we were independent and now part of a megacorp. The local ISP (basically a Optimum subsidiary) still does not care. Their ONT is still a old model that uses....volatile RAM for configuration, and if (and they do) fail to replace the backup batteries, then the configuration is wiped on power interruptions.
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I was merely pretty sure that the comment was AI generated as I read it. After reading it, I became a lot more confident when I noticed the username above the comment: Gemini 3 . Is this a Wordpress plugin the blog author is using?
Amazing that we now live in a world where AI can instantly an accurately diagnose a network infrastructure problem, but you are still forced to talk to CS drones who tell you again and again "have you tried unplugging it and plugging it back in?"
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I'm not so sure that's an accurate diagnosis. But I agree it's certainly better than one can get from phoning support.
Customer support isn't allowed to tell you to attack the box with a hammer. But if they could be totally honest...
I am reading this and thinking why does it sound familiar. And then only learned Xfinity means Cable / DOCSIS. Edit: I wish the title could be edited as Cable ISP. It is a common problem with DOCSIS! And has been the case since 1.0 era. DO NOT use Cable if you can. It happens when it is over subscribed, as well as other radio interference. Although common cause is over subscription. You may actually try downgrading y…
So anyway, outside that lucky group we all use cable only because the alternative is, in many places, 6Mbps ADSL on aging and flaky copper wires. Or potentially 12Mbps… VDSL? AT&T branded that as U-Verse for a while. But basically they ceded the market to the cable companies.
I am reading this and thinking why does it sound familiar. And then only learned Xfinity means Cable / DOCSIS. Edit: I wish the title could be edited as Cable ISP. It is a common problem with DOCSIS! And has been the case since 1.0 era. DO NOT use Cable if you can. It happens when it is over subscribed, as well as other radio interference. Although common cause is over subscription. You may actually try downgrading y…
The issue is that the ISP selling services beyond what that physical network segment can provide, and it being effectively legal to sell something and not deliver it if you're a big enough corporation and only scam consumers.
I am reading this and thinking why does it sound familiar. And then only learned Xfinity means Cable / DOCSIS. Edit: I wish the title could be edited as Cable ISP. It is a common problem with DOCSIS! And has been the case since 1.0 era. DO NOT use Cable if you can. It happens when it is over subscribed, as well as other radio interference. Although common cause is over subscription. You may actually try downgrading y…
Yeah, here in the US there are geographically tiny pockets in a few major cities that have actual fiber. Most of the country, including a shocking number of dense urban areas outside the east coast, has zero fiber penetration. Of our two telephone monopolies, one installed fiber for 10 years and quit (the East Coast one), and the other basically never installed fiber to the home. So anyway, outside that lucky group w…
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I doubt it's RF interference from something like christmas lights at those specific intervals for 17 months. Also, the author did provide DOCSIS diagnostic logs. Even if it is RF interference, the problem is at the node level (because his neighbor has the same issues at the same times). So it's not his responsibility to figure out the problem for Xfinity. Starlink is not an equivalent solution. It's much slower than…
Did he update the post since I commented? I'm sure they weren't there. I'm pretty convinced it is RF interference. (Nearly) all DOCSIS interference is at node level, it's a shared system so any RF is going to knock out neighbouring properties. He also could do with pasting the SNR and power levels for each DOCSIS channel :). Fair enough if the author really needs 1gig, but I think it's pushing to say it's a monopoly…
Also, just because they advertise "up to 305Mbps" doesn't mean everyone is getting that. A friend of mine with Starlink in the midwest gets about 100Mbps during off-hours. See https://www.ookla.com/articles/starlink-us-performance-2025> - median speeds are typically less than 150Mbps.
Starlink also costs about 2x-4x as much per Mbps as 1Gbps service (at least where I am). I doubt they're going to suddenly offer 1Gbps speeds in the next year without changing their pricing. They'll add a new, more expensive plan.
Even 1Gbps Starlink (which would be more than 3x the current max speeds) is going to have other differences such as increased latency (they mention 30-40ms in one place, 25-100ms in another), more jitter, and lost signal sometimes during bad weather. Starlink also uses CGNAT which eliminates a bunch of use cases and introduces its own problems with certain apps and games.
They've had issues with capacity before where they wouldn't accept signups for some areas. Adding capacity involves launching more satellites.
Starlink isn't the ultimate solution to everyone's Internet access problems.
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That's a felony in the US by the way, and most will prosecute if they have enough evidence of who it was.
Thing is, even if the neighbors saw something, they didn't see anything when the cops come knocking because everyone is most likely pissed off as well and happy someone is finally doing something that forces attention.