Temporary loss in production and my mind.

[don256us]

Apparently we had a power outage some time yesterday. My modem no longer wanted to talk with Comcast. No production since for about 3 hours when all said and done. I power cycled my modem twice with no love. I called Comcast who's automated support system insisted that my only option was to reboot the modem.... again. I had no other option than to let the automated system send a reboot command to my modem. But then..... The automated system told me I had to wait 10 minutes, sent me a text I did not ask for and hung up. When I called back, the automated system refused to allow me to advance in thier system until the 10 minutes had passed. Of course, the automated system called me by my first name, recognized that I'm a vet and thanked me for being a "loyal" customer with "Diamond" status. What ever in the hell they think that is because I have yet to find a "perk" that has any interest to me at all. Wasting my phone time in other words. Only to NOT help me out. I then replied to the text "Failed" which they gave me as an option, only I fat fingered it and that made all future texts to them null. So then I had to call them again and again while the computer still thought that the modem was rebooting AND would only give me the option for them to reboot my modem again.

I ******* hate Comcast's automated troubleshooting system. I lost my mind but no one other than the computer could hear me. If they record it, they might get a laugh.

 

[Holdolin]

Sorry to hear of yer troubles Don. Was soo happy when another company came in and dropped fiber over pretty much the lower half of my state.

 

[don256us]

Thanks. I looked to switch to Frontier (the local phone carrier) but they only list it as "Internet". No speeds or nothing. I can buy Internet from them @ $50/mth. That doesn't work for me. T-Mobile and Verizon 5G internet are not availible in my area. I can have Comcast or ??? Not ready to buy a dish of any kind at this time so....

 

[Holdolin]

I don't envy your position. things like this are actually part of the research the wife and I do as we look at properties. NH being a mostly rural state it's not all that hard to find places that have no hi-speed internet at all. we even found a property with no utilities whatsoever haha. at any rate, I hope things get worked out as fast/best as possible for ye.

 

[EarthDog]

Yikes, that sucks. Can you get around the automated system? I can always reach an IRL person...

I've been lucky, and Spectrum has been solid for the most part. I had some trouble that required 'escalation', and would like to see that handled in a more timely manner (it took me personally running traces and logs to show them there was a problem on their end), but, outside of that, and the high price, I'm satisfied (1GB/20MB - using my own modem and router(s)).

That said, AT&T has dug up my yard/the neighborhood laying fiber (still waiting for them to get the tubing out and reseed), so when that's available in my 'hood, I'll likely give that a try, and hopefully, since I'm a new customer, I can lock in some deal for less and have faster (at least upload) speeds.

 

[WhitehawkEQ]

Apparently we had a power outage some time yesterday. My modem no longer wanted to talk with Comcast. No production since for about 3 hours when all said and done. I power cycled my modem twice with no love. I called Comcast who's automated support system insisted that my only option was to reboot the modem.... again. I had no other option than to let the automated system send a reboot command to my modem. But then..... The automated system told me I had to wait 10 minutes, sent me a text I did not ask for and hung up. When I called back, the automated system refused to allow me to advance in their system until the 10 minutes had passed. Of course, the automated system called me by my first name, recognized that I'm a vet and thanked me for being a "loyal" customer with "Diamond" status. What ever in the hell they think that is because I have yet to find a "perk" that has any interest to me at all. Wasting my phone time in other words. Only to NOT help me out. I then replied to the text "Failed" which they gave me as an option, only I fat fingered it and that made all future texts to them null. So then I had to call them again and again while the computer still thought that the modem was rebooting AND would only give me the option for them to reboot my modem again.

I ******* hate Comcast's automated troubleshooting system. I lost my mind but no one other than the computer could hear me. If they record it, they might get a laugh.

This is why I buy my own modem. If my modem goes out, I'm my own tech support Try and get with a live person instead of any automated support system.

 

[don256us]

I own my modem too but that is little help when the service acts up. "Stupid Comcast" is a saying in my house.

I couldn't get to a person. I pressed every key on the keypad and the system will NOT allow it. What really gets me is that when I replied to the txt msg and messed it up, there was no going back. Only to restart the automated system.

 

[dfonda]

If there is an ISP in Hell...Pretty sure it will be Comcast.

Thankfully I have choices.(Fios)

Comcasts solution for any issue was reboot your router...Not once have I had an issue with FIOS.

 

[MisterEd]

I sympathize with your plight with Comcast support. I have had my rounds many times with them. I have triple-play (TV, Internet, and phone). Calling about TV problems is just have bad. The automated system insists on rebooting the TV box, wait for 10 minutes and then call them back. That rarely fixes the problem. I have complained to them many times about their dumb automated system but it has made no difference.

Comcast is not my only option. WOW like Comcast is a traditional cable company. Both offer gigabit Internet. In addition to Comcast and WOW are Google Fiber and Google Fiber. I had considered Google and AT&T but they are no longer a consideration. Both have dropped regular TV service and only offer streaming TV. My wife would divorce me if I dropped regular TV service so I have to accept that.

In June my contract with Comcast is up. I don't know what my exact plans will be. For the last two years I have had Gigabit Extra (1200/35). I would like to keep it but only if I can negotiate another deal with them.

BTW, I have found from experience it is a waste of time talking with the usual sales people about getting the best deal. I tell them to not waste my time and just transfer me right away to the retention department. Usually after going around in circles for 15 minutes I would end up there anyways but this way it would save us both those 15 minutes.

 

[Farwalker2u]

I have experienced two internet outages (each lasting several hours) in the last two months on beautiful days with no weather issues. My service provider is Spectrum here in Georgia. There is no competitive (I could get service through AT&T but it would be 25mbps at most compared to my current 550mbps) alternative. At least Spectrum has an outage map that is somewhat accurate and timely.

 

[superducky]

I have experienced two internet outages (each lasting several hours) in the last two months on beautiful days with no weather issues. My service provider is Spectrum here in Georgia. There is no competitive (I could get service through AT&T but it would be 25mbps at most compared to my current 550mbps) alternative. At least Spectrum has an outage map that is somewhat accurate and timely.

I also only have the choice of literal DSL AT&T or Charter/Spectrum. My trick to dealing with Spectrum? They don't have a limitation on getting business class service to a residential address and it means when something does go wrong, (2? incidents in 8 years?) you're getting a tech out next day. I've done this at my last 2 addresses on the east side of Lake Lanier. They also don't bother you with sales calls typically.

Having my own IPv4 address isn't so much a problem these days but its a luxury I've become accustomed to