OT: Cable internet service RANT

[dzach]

Ok, so I have supposed high-speed internet service through Insight. Recently though, the service has really been crap. The connection is unstable and I get A LOT of "Page cannot be displayed" errors in IE because the site times out due to dropped internet connection. When this occurs, usually the CABLE light on the modem goes out for a second or two and then flashes and comes back on solid and I am good to go until it happens again a few minutes later.

I have had the cable company at my house recently to check it out, but they said that my signal was strong.

I am about ready to drop my service and switch to the local DSL because I should be getting much better connectivity for my $45/month and this has been the most recent string of problems with cable's service.

The last cable technician who was out offered the following suggestions..
a) the issue could be with my cookies, so I should clean those out
b) the issue could be a virus or spyware on my computer, which is being detected by the Insight servers and dropping my connection
c) my cable modem is 5 years old (Toshiba PCX1100U) and most cable modems do not last more than 2 years, so it is likely that my modem needs to be replaced

I work in the IT field and pretty computer savvy, but I am not a network specialist; nevertheless, all three of these suggestions sound like a big pile of steamy BS... I am wrong and the cable right for once, or should I call them again to give them another earful about their lousy service?

Thanks,
Dave

[bogie]

Re: the modem

It may not have let the magic smoke out, but it may not be up to whatever protocol is expected.

> Ok, so I have supposed high-speed internet
> service through Insight. Recently though,
> the service has really been crap. The
> connection is unstable and I get A LOT of
> "Page cannot be displayed" errors
> in IE because the site times out due to
> dropped internet connection. When this
> occurs, usually the CABLE light on the modem
> goes out for a second or two and then
> flashes and comes back on solid and I am
> good to go until it happens again a few
> minutes later.

> I have had the cable company at my house
> recently to check it out, but they said that
> my signal was strong.

> I am about ready to drop my service and
> switch to the local DSL because I should be
> getting much better connectivity for my
> $45/month and this has been the most recent
> string of problems with cable's service.

> The last cable technician who was out
> offered the following suggestions..
> a) the issue could be with my cookies, so I
> should clean those out
> b) the issue could be a virus or spyware on
> my computer, which is being detected by the
> Insight servers and dropping my connection
> c) my cable modem is 5 years old (Toshiba
> PCX1100U) and most cable modems do not last
> more than 2 years, so it is likely that my
> modem needs to be replaced

> I work in the IT field and pretty computer
> savvy, but I am not a network specialist;
> nevertheless, all three of these suggestions
> sound like a big pile of steamy BS... I am
> wrong and the cable right for once, or
> should I call them again to give them
> another earful about their lousy service?

> Thanks,
> Dave

[unknownuser]

For a while, my RoadRunner service (Time Warner) was very unreliable. The people they kept sending out were worthless. One went as far as to blame it on my switch/router. After I explained that despite the fact that the router is sitting next to my cable modem, it is not even connected, so it could not be the router.

He still blamed the router.

I finally borrowed a signal level meter from work and checked the signal. At the box on the outside of the house I was -16dB. Cable spec requires it to be between -5 and +5.

I guess what I am saying is, check your signal level. My entire block was having problems. Once Time Warner installed a new trunk, all was fine.

HTH
Later
JayW.



(Originally posted by: Jay W)

[thenoid]

> I get A LOT of
> "Page cannot be displayed" errors
> in IE

Can;thelp you much on the cable and such but I can suggest you lose the IE and download Mozilla Firefox...it be much mo betta'

Noidster

________
Ecigarette 123

[chrism]

Dave,

I had the same problem with Adelphia high speed. It also got to the point that I barely had 300k download speed. I called Adelphia out 3 times regarding the problem and they swore up and down that I didn't have a problem even after I showed a bandwidth report to them. I finally got so ****** off at them that I cancelled my internet and my cable with them. Now I have DSL which always is consistently 2.5 Megs down and about 800k up. I also got Direct TV. I thank Adelphia for getting me to cancel thier service because Zoomtown (the local DSL) and Direct TV are 10X better than their service.

If you are in the Cincy market which I think you are, get zoomtown, you won't be sorry. My company has 13 DSL lines in the Cincy area through them. We have had 3 hours of down time on one line in the last 6 months due to an area outage. The other 12 have been up continuously without incident.

[bobblickle]

It is most likely a signal problem. It could be an intermittant one however contingent on any variety of environmental factors. I had similar issues but eventually got them resolved with the cable company.
Technician quality varies so much in that industry because they rely so heavily on subcontractors that really don't have to answer to anyone.
If it were me, I would stop in at the cable office and exchange my modem for the latest model. This should eliminate any issue of compatibility, obsolescence, or state of repair. Confirm with them whether the modem is automatically flashed with updates through the system of if that needs to be done manually.
Any testing should be done direct to the modemn (no router/wireless in the circuit).
If you normally run a router too, make sure it's flashed up to date. In general that can save a world of headaches.
That said, you probably still have a signal problem they need to resolve but at least you have eliminated the other possibilities. You might check with your neighbors to see if they have the same problems.

bb
> Ok, so I have supposed high-speed internet
> service through Insight. Recently though,
> the service has really been crap. The
> connection is unstable and I get A LOT of
> "Page cannot be displayed" errors
> in IE because the site times out due to
> dropped internet connection. When this
> occurs, usually the CABLE light on the modem
> goes out for a second or two and then
> flashes and comes back on solid and I am
> good to go until it happens again a few
> minutes later.

> I have had the cable company at my house
> recently to check it out, but they said that
> my signal was strong.

> I am about ready to drop my service and
> switch to the local DSL because I should be
> getting much better connectivity for my
> $45/month and this has been the most recent
> string of problems with cable's service.

> The last cable technician who was out
> offered the following suggestions..
> a) the issue could be with my cookies, so I
> should clean those out
> b) the issue could be a virus or spyware on
> my computer, which is being detected by the
> Insight servers and dropping my connection
> c) my cable modem is 5 years old (Toshiba
> PCX1100U) and most cable modems do not last
> more than 2 years, so it is likely that my
> modem needs to be replaced

> I work in the IT field and pretty computer
> savvy, but I am not a network specialist;
> nevertheless, all three of these suggestions
> sound like a big pile of steamy BS... I am
> wrong and the cable right for once, or
> should I call them again to give them
> another earful about their lousy service?

> Thanks,
> Dave

[shawn_a]

I think the ad I saw tonight was advertising $10 a month for the first three months. I don't know what the regular rate is once that time has lapsed but I know I get frustrated regularly with Insight on the office account. Maybe it makes a difference being a corporate client but I was quick to drop them at home for the local power utility's ISP solution. Much nicer to deal with people I actually know.

shawn

[dzach]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Yes, I am in the Cinci area and had Zoomtown years ago when I lived in the Kenwood area of Cincinnati. When I moved to N-KY about 5 years ago, cable service was the only option. Back then, service was good and reliable. Way back then the agrument against cable was that you shared the lines with your neighbors, but DSL you got your own dedicated line. I think that the growing population in this area has caused issues with cable service though, which they have not kept up with.

Exchanging the modem with the cable company is not an option either since I purchased the modem on my own. I will look into flashing the router and modem though (although both are so old that there is little chance for an update).

The only push-back I will get regarding switching is from my wife since she uses the @insightbb.com email account and would have to switch over. Frankly not a bad thing considering the amount of spam that we get on that account.

Cost for zoomtown is regularly around $30 + you have to pay for your email service through any number of ISPs, which is usually $10-$15. All considered DSL and Cable end up being the same price.

I know my one neighbor has zoomtown and it is reliable because I mooch off his wireless every once in while when my service is having issues!

Dave

> Dave,

> I had the same problem with Adelphia high
> speed. It also got to the point that I
> barely had 300k download speed. I called
> Adelphia out 3 times regarding the problem
> and they swore up and down that I didn't
> have a problem even after I showed a
> bandwidth report to them. I finally got so
> ****** off at them that I cancelled my
> internet and my cable with them. Now I have
> DSL which always is consistently 2.5 Megs
> down and about 800k up. I also got Direct
> TV. I thank Adelphia for getting me to
> cancel thier service because Zoomtown (the
> local DSL) and Direct TV are 10X better than
> their service.

> If you are in the Cincy market which I think
> you are, get zoomtown, you won't be sorry.
> My company has 13 DSL lines in the Cincy
> area through them. We have had 3 hours of
> down time on one line in the last 6 months
> due to an area outage. The other 12 have
> been up continuously without incident.

[envisionelec]

> Ok, so I have supposed high-speed internet
> service through Insight. Recently though,
> the service has really been crap. The
> connection is unstable and I get A LOT of
> "Page cannot be displayed" errors
> in IE because the site times out due to
> dropped internet connection. When this
> occurs, usually the CABLE light on the modem
> goes out for a second or two and then
> flashes and comes back on solid and I am
> good to go until it happens again a few
> minutes later.

> I have had the cable company at my house
> recently to check it out, but they said that
> my signal was strong.

> I am about ready to drop my service and
> switch to the local DSL because I should be
> getting much better connectivity for my
> $45/month and this has been the most recent
> string of problems with cable's service.

> The last cable technician who was out
> offered the following suggestions..
> a) the issue could be with my cookies, so I
> should clean those out
> b) the issue could be a virus or spyware on
> my computer, which is being detected by the
> Insight servers and dropping my connection
> c) my cable modem is 5 years old (Toshiba
> PCX1100U) and most cable modems do not last
> more than 2 years, so it is likely that my
> modem needs to be replaced

> I work in the IT field and pretty computer
> savvy, but I am not a network specialist;
> nevertheless, all three of these suggestions
> sound like a big pile of steamy BS... I am
> wrong and the cable right for once, or
> should I call them again to give them
> another earful about their lousy service?

> Thanks,
> Dave

Dave, I used to have untold problems with my cable service (back in Iowa). I was using the vendor-supplied modem and it turned out to be faulty even though it appeared to be operating correctly (when it DID work).

The cable company repaired several oxidized connections, but the problems kept coming back. I finally made them give me another brand of modem and that solved the problems.

BTW, I use a Scientific Atlanta at home in Dayton and it's been absolutely flawless on TWC. On a couple of occasions, the internet service has gone out for the area, but the digital phone was still working.

[glennt]

Check the cable splitters that are in use. If any are outdoors, they typically need to be replaced periodically; maybe even if they're indoors. There should be one 2 way splitter that splits the incoming signal before any other splitters. One connection should go straight to the cable modem to give it the best possible signal. The other connection should go to other splitters for television only. The first splitter should also be a 1Ghz variety.

Just FYI, each split takes an equal and proportional share of the signal. If you get the optimal 15db signal at the point of entry, a 2 way will cut that down to 7.5db (or less). A 4-way splitter would result in signals at or below 3.75db, and you might see where problems might arise.

We have an older home, and I haven't had the time nor energy to relocate the main splitter to the indoors, and have had to replace that splitter at least once or twice a year.

My modem is at least 5 years old, and AFAIK, there haven't been any significant changes to the broadband networks. It may be possible that firmware updates are necessary, but unless the modem is faulty, it *should* function.

> It is most likely a signal problem. It could
> be an intermittant one however contingent on
> any variety of environmental factors. I had
> similar issues but eventually got them
> resolved with the cable company.
> Technician quality varies so much in that
> industry because they rely so heavily on
> subcontractors that really don't have to
> answer to anyone.
> If it were me, I would stop in at the cable
> office and exchange my modem for the latest
> model. This should eliminate any issue of
> compatibility, obsolescence, or state of
> repair. Confirm with them whether the modem
> is automatically flashed with updates
> through the system of if that needs to be
> done manually.
> Any testing should be done direct to the
> modemn (no router/wireless in the circuit).
> If you normally run a router too, make sure
> it's flashed up to date. In general that can
> save a world of headaches.
> That said, you probably still have a signal
> problem they need to resolve but at least
> you have eliminated the other possibilities.
> You might check with your neighbors to see
> if they have the same problems.

> bb

[dastardly]

E-mail suggestion....

Go to <A HREF="http://www.godaddy.com">www.godaddy.com</A>.

Buy 5 years of a domain name for $45.

Get e-mail for that domain for $20/year.

So, for less than $30/year or Thanks for the advice everyone.

> Yes, I am in the Cinci area and had Zoomtown
> years ago when I lived in the Kenwood area
> of Cincinnati. When I moved to N-KY about 5
> years ago, cable service was the only
> option. Back then, service was good and
> reliable. Way back then the agrument against
> cable was that you shared the lines with
> your neighbors, but DSL you got your own
> dedicated line. I think that the growing
> population in this area has caused issues
> with cable service though, which they have
> not kept up with.

> Exchanging the modem with the cable company
> is not an option either since I purchased
> the modem on my own. I will look into
> flashing the router and modem though
> (although both are so old that there is
> little chance for an update).

> The only push-back I will get regarding
> switching is from my wife since she uses the
> @insightbb.com email account and would have
> to switch over. Frankly not a bad thing
> considering the amount of spam that we get
> on that account.

> Cost for zoomtown is regularly around $30 +
> you have to pay for your email service
> through any number of ISPs, which is usually
> $10-$15. All considered DSL and Cable end up
> being the same price.

> I know my one neighbor has zoomtown and it
> is reliable because I mooch off his wireless
> every once in while when my service is
> having issues!

> Dave

[dastardly]

The modem is about the only one that is not complete BS, but it is a stretch. One this to check is that modems run hot. If air around the modem is restricted you may want to try propping it up in a way that maximizes the ability of air to go around all sides fo the modem.

While not a modem thing, my cheap wireless router with 4port LAN has heat issues. When I first got it I had to reset it fairly often. Now, rather than having it sit flat , I actually have sitting on top of the open end of a small box. i.e. it is supported by the edges of the box. This allows air to flow under the router, and I don't reset it at all now.

> Ok, so I have supposed high-speed internet
> service through Insight. Recently though,
> the service has really been crap. The
> connection is unstable and I get A LOT of
> "Page cannot be displayed" errors
> in IE because the site times out due to
> dropped internet connection. When this
> occurs, usually the CABLE light on the modem
> goes out for a second or two and then
> flashes and comes back on solid and I am
> good to go until it happens again a few
> minutes later.

> I have had the cable company at my house
> recently to check it out, but they said that
> my signal was strong.

> I am about ready to drop my service and
> switch to the local DSL because I should be
> getting much better connectivity for my
> $45/month and this has been the most recent
> string of problems with cable's service.

> The last cable technician who was out
> offered the following suggestions..
> a) the issue could be with my cookies, so I
> should clean those out
> b) the issue could be a virus or spyware on
> my computer, which is being detected by the
> Insight servers and dropping my connection
> c) my cable modem is 5 years old (Toshiba
> PCX1100U) and most cable modems do not last
> more than 2 years, so it is likely that my
> modem needs to be replaced

> I work in the IT field and pretty computer
> savvy, but I am not a network specialist;
> nevertheless, all three of these suggestions
> sound like a big pile of steamy BS... I am
> wrong and the cable right for once, or
> should I call them again to give them
> another earful about their lousy service?

> Thanks,
> Dave

[wg_ski]

> Dave, I used to have untold problems with my
> cable service (back in Iowa). I was using
> the vendor-supplied modem and it turned out
> to be faulty even though it appeared to be
> operating correctly (when it DID work).

> The cable company repaired several oxidized
> connections, but the problems kept coming
> back. I finally made them give me another
> brand of modem and that solved the problems.

A friend who has cable had his modem rebooting every 4 minutes or so like clockwork. He called the cable co, and they said, if it's that particular modem bring it back. Some firmware upgrade problem - where they tried to reprogram the modems remotely and something didn't take properly. The line for returned modems was out the door when he got there.

[ignore42]

Dave,

One thing you might check is the power management tab under the network card properties. If the box is checked that states "Let windows turn this device off to save power", uncheck it. I have DSL and that setting caused me grief for about a month untill I found it. Not all cards have this setting but it's worth a try.

Regards,

Doug

> Ok, so I have supposed high-speed internet
> service through Insight. Recently though,
> the service has really been crap. The
> connection is unstable and I get A LOT of
> "Page cannot be displayed" errors
> in IE because the site times out due to
> dropped internet connection. When this
> occurs, usually the CABLE light on the modem
> goes out for a second or two and then
> flashes and comes back on solid and I am
> good to go until it happens again a few
> minutes later.

> I have had the cable company at my house
> recently to check it out, but they said that
> my signal was strong.

> I am about ready to drop my service and
> switch to the local DSL because I should be
> getting much better connectivity for my
> $45/month and this has been the most recent
> string of problems with cable's service.

> The last cable technician who was out
> offered the following suggestions..
> a) the issue could be with my cookies, so I
> should clean those out
> b) the issue could be a virus or spyware on
> my computer, which is being detected by the
> Insight servers and dropping my connection
> c) my cable modem is 5 years old (Toshiba
> PCX1100U) and most cable modems do not last
> more than 2 years, so it is likely that my
> modem needs to be replaced

> I work in the IT field and pretty computer
> savvy, but I am not a network specialist;
> nevertheless, all three of these suggestions
> sound like a big pile of steamy BS... I am
> wrong and the cable right for once, or
> should I call them again to give them
> another earful about their lousy service?

> Thanks,
> Dave