Voting
15 years ago
Monday, January 30, 2006
Friday, January 27, 2006
Comcast sucks
Ok, so we moved 2 weeks ago. The total distance from the old place to the new place as the crow flies is about a third of a mile. I brought my cable modem and Comcast-supplied cable box/DVR with me. They worked flawlessly at the old place, so I shouldn't have any problems, right?
Apparently not. My Internet connection constantly drops every 5 minutes or so, HBO and the on demand cable channels pixellate and skip around, and there is a lot of interference on the analog channels. Sounds like a bandwidth problem somewhere in the cabling, right?
I called on Monday, 1/16. The earliest they can send a tech out is Thursday, which seems like no big deal... we've still got a lot of unpacking to do. When the guy shows up, he finds some wear and tear on the cable coming in to the house, so he snips off that part, and removes some of the splitters running from the main cable input to the rest of the rooms to the house. After he does that, the interference on the analog channels, so I assume that everything else is working fine.
Later that night I watch HBO for the first time, and still see the pixellation. And my Internet connection is still constantly dropping. Problem not solved. >:(
So, I call them back. They send another guy out on Tuesday, 1/24. This guy was actually pretty competent, however after running a direct line from the cable tap (the green box in the backyard) into another cable box he had in his truck, we're still seeing pixellation on HBO. He says he needs to call the upstream network guys to come out, and they will be out Wednesday or Thursday.
Wednesday night I'm still having problems. Thursday night I come home and try to use the Internet connection, but lo and behold it's still dropping me every 5 minutes. So, I call them back, and sit on hold for a few minutes and listen to their commercials. (BTW, they want $40 for VOIP service??? What are they smoking? Do they realize Vonage is $25 a month???)
When I finally get through to someone, I ask if the main network guys have been out. He puts me on hold and tells me that they have. Ok... well... my Internet connection still sucks, how can we fix this? This is the third time that I've told someone that the exact same hardware I used in my old place is not working properly in the new one. The guy on the phone is pretty responsive, and apologizes, but he has to send ANOTHER tech out. Ok... it's not my equipment or cabling, it's YOUR NETWORK. So, he sent someone out to look at the cable tap today.
The tech calls me when he looks at it to inform me that it's a network problem, and he's called in the main network guys to do something about it. And it'll be 3-5 days before they get out to look at it.
Grr. Anger... rising. One other gem was that I received my first bill last night... the prorated charges for January and the bill for the entire month of February. When I asked the customer service rep about a possible refund, he said he couldn't do anything until the trouble ticket was closed. Ok, so I have to pay for unacceptable service... great.
I'm giving them one more shot. The next time I call it will be to check to see if it's been fixed in their records, and if I'm still getting dropped after that, it's time to sign up for DSL. I only wish there weren't trees all around blocking the sky so I could get a dish.
I hate Comcast. Verizon, please bring FiOS out to Reston soon. >:(
/rant
Apparently not. My Internet connection constantly drops every 5 minutes or so, HBO and the on demand cable channels pixellate and skip around, and there is a lot of interference on the analog channels. Sounds like a bandwidth problem somewhere in the cabling, right?
I called on Monday, 1/16. The earliest they can send a tech out is Thursday, which seems like no big deal... we've still got a lot of unpacking to do. When the guy shows up, he finds some wear and tear on the cable coming in to the house, so he snips off that part, and removes some of the splitters running from the main cable input to the rest of the rooms to the house. After he does that, the interference on the analog channels, so I assume that everything else is working fine.
Later that night I watch HBO for the first time, and still see the pixellation. And my Internet connection is still constantly dropping. Problem not solved. >:(
So, I call them back. They send another guy out on Tuesday, 1/24. This guy was actually pretty competent, however after running a direct line from the cable tap (the green box in the backyard) into another cable box he had in his truck, we're still seeing pixellation on HBO. He says he needs to call the upstream network guys to come out, and they will be out Wednesday or Thursday.
Wednesday night I'm still having problems. Thursday night I come home and try to use the Internet connection, but lo and behold it's still dropping me every 5 minutes. So, I call them back, and sit on hold for a few minutes and listen to their commercials. (BTW, they want $40 for VOIP service??? What are they smoking? Do they realize Vonage is $25 a month???)
When I finally get through to someone, I ask if the main network guys have been out. He puts me on hold and tells me that they have. Ok... well... my Internet connection still sucks, how can we fix this? This is the third time that I've told someone that the exact same hardware I used in my old place is not working properly in the new one. The guy on the phone is pretty responsive, and apologizes, but he has to send ANOTHER tech out. Ok... it's not my equipment or cabling, it's YOUR NETWORK. So, he sent someone out to look at the cable tap today.
The tech calls me when he looks at it to inform me that it's a network problem, and he's called in the main network guys to do something about it. And it'll be 3-5 days before they get out to look at it.
Grr. Anger... rising. One other gem was that I received my first bill last night... the prorated charges for January and the bill for the entire month of February. When I asked the customer service rep about a possible refund, he said he couldn't do anything until the trouble ticket was closed. Ok, so I have to pay for unacceptable service... great.
I'm giving them one more shot. The next time I call it will be to check to see if it's been fixed in their records, and if I'm still getting dropped after that, it's time to sign up for DSL. I only wish there weren't trees all around blocking the sky so I could get a dish.
I hate Comcast. Verizon, please bring FiOS out to Reston soon. >:(
/rant
Monday, January 02, 2006
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