Basic Internet Connectivity And Modem Help

[Panthera75]

I'm from attbi, and we had a 'network status' page, where we can view if there are connectivity issues or general maintenance being done. Now.. I did see something like that when I clicked on 'service center', but I got confused about the 'national' word listed above it. How do I know it's meant for me?? It says they will be performing a network maintenance in my area... but how do I know if its MY area.. and when? (I have not experienced any down time.. yet). Also below that is "general outage", again I have not experienced that.. is that meant for me? I am logged in my account.. so I'm assuming they are gathering the info from my member account.. but these messages don't seem to pertain to me. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

[megmes]

well, I am now getting an "unable to connect to the server" error - email was working fine for about 45 minutes *sigh*

Can't wait to see the answer to your question - we've never been able to get the outage info online before - so what you saw is an improvement ...

[Panthera75]

>Can't wait to see the answer to your question -
>we've never been able to get the outage
>info online before so what you saw
>is an improvement ...

You mean what I'm seeing (the outage status) on the Comcast website is new? At&t had that option, it even told you the time and date of the scheduled maintanence. Anyway, I was just questioning what i saw on Comcast.net. Wondering if what I'm seeing is meant for ME. And if (in the near future?) if they will also be posting scheduled maintanence dates etc.

[Rob]

National outages are outages that are system-wide. Although it does not mean the entire network is down, it does mean that it may affect your connection. Local outages will show up, but just like the National outage you may or may not be affected, it could be that an entire area is out or a small amount of users. Keep in mind this is a new utility and will need to be tweaked to work effectively. Hope this helps.

[tkoiro]

I agree that the Network Status notices are very vague. I am a (soon to be former) ATT Broadband customer that has had great connection speeds (1.5-3M the past year. Since Friday, 6/27, I've had no (zero, zilch, NONE) internet connectivity and numerous calls to Customer Support has yielded absolutely no information as to the scope of the outage or when service is expected to be restored. Now, I work in a data center and am appalled that there is still this lack of customer information (even here, using my work connection to see what's going on) that is (HA! HA!) provided. The customer service hold times have gone up dramatically from this weekend as well. This does not bode well. In addition, hearing that Comcast is throttling down their former ATT customers bandwidth makes me want to check out SBC.....DSL may not be as fast, but it's $27/month cheaper!

[edelbeb]

My comcast internet has been down since Wednesday, 6/25. Techs came over and worked Saturday on the problem. They ran a dedicated line to the cable modem and swapped cable modems to no avail. Both outgoing and return path signal strength are fine, but I don't think their meter showed s/n ratio. Comcast has had various replies, at different times, varying from a problem on my node to their statement that they will try replacing the drop on or before 7/4. Until they figure out this mess, all I've got is a blinking cable light on my cable modem. I'm happy I kept my earthlink dial-up service for times like these, but that's slow and ties up the phone lines.

[Anon1052]

I too am suddently not able to connect. I am frustrated that there is no easy way to find out if there is a known outage in my area. It would make it easier to decide if I have a problem in my house that I need to fix or whether I should do nothing and wait for it to start working. Calling tech support does no good because the number is always busy (today anyway).

[Anon1103]

"Comcast is throttling down their former ATT customers bandwidth"

Where'd you hear/read that???? They want to charge us the same amount and give us less????

[Anon128]

I too have been down since 6/25. I hope they don't expect us to pay for this.

[edelbeb]

Tech support said that, after the problem is fixed, we can call and get credit for the downtime

[mbernste]

> You mean what I'm seeing (the outage status) on the
> Comcast website is new?

YES!! Unlike many ISPs, Comcast never had a network status page of any size, shape or form for customers (there is an internal one that customer service uses). For over a year now we have been begging and pleading for one. Today our pleas have finally been answered.

Even though that outage page may not be 100% working yet, it is a start.

[Stu_Bee]

I think major changes are happening today. I couldn't even login to the forums/email all day until just now.
I've noticed that Comcast has changed on some of their webpages so they probably changed some back end stuff too.

I've never had problems logging into comcasts website before today.

Of course, why they went live with a change during the day instead of late after hours....beats me. Maybe they didn't want any tech calls after hours.

Stu

[Panthera75]

So far, I haven't experienced any down time. Last week however, I did experience extremely slow speeds, but after a day, it was fine. I'm hoping Comcast will do something to help the customers when we have connectivity issues or outages. Being an AT&T customer, they wouldn't credit you for 'slow time' or outages unless it was posted in the network status page. I hope its different. ALso, I keep hearing people talk about how their speed has slowed down significantly.. I sure hope that isn't going to be an issue, they've already got me paying $59.99 (a $10 increase for internet only).. for the same speed I had with AT&T.. anything (speedwise) less would not be good.

[Eva54]

here in jacksonville, fl, i have noticed a slow down using newsgroups and my email server is spotty for the past 2 weeks...we've been on comcast for about 6 months now and had no problems but something is going on with their servers...i used to get 200K+ from newgroups, now i'm lucky if i get 60K.

what gives?

[anyname]

Where is this network status page anyway? Comcast seems to be even better in hiding important and interesting information on their website.

[Panthera75]

Actually, since yesterday I haven't seen it. When I saw it, it was when I clicked on the link "service center" and at the top/middle of the page it was listed there. Now it's gone. Maybe because there are no known issues? (ya right huh) So anyway, it WAS there, and now it's gone. If you go there now, you willl see on the top/middle of the page 'account management' and when I saw the outage info, it was exactly where 'acct mgmt' is, and the rest of the page was pushed down. Maybe they are working on that feature, since its new..?

[anyname]

Thanks. Maybe they found a nice cozy place somewhere hidden Cyberspace.
Or maybe they figured that people notice on their own when they don't have any connection...

[Anon3886]

I've had a connection nightmare with my Comcast service in Salt Lake City since June 9.

After nearly 30 calls to tech support, an onsite tech visit (who left me with no connection) and 2 new modems my connection is still intermittant.

I have since found out that the problem was related to a "major equipment change" that was made on June 8, the day prior to my problems.

I assumed that was the problem and waited several hours before calling tech support. When I did call, I assumed there would be a "network status" option as I've had with some previous providers (RoadRunner, @Home, Cox) where there would be a recorded message of areas affected and estimated timeline for repair. No such luck. I finally was connected to a tech in Winnipeg who said there were no reported problems in my area and went through his entire "troubleshooting cue card" which, of course, didn't get me connected--just wasted my time and his.

During some of my brief connections, I looked to see if there was any Network Status on the website--never found it.

And I soon realized with all my calls to tech support--THEY DON'T KNOW NETWORK STATUS EITHER!!!!!

Sure, they can ping my modem and tell if there's a problem at that moment, but apparently they don't have any log or recent problems in any particular area.

I would have much prefered to hear, "It looks like we've been having some problems in the area.." rather than, "unplug your modem, now press the windows key...."

Web and phone based network status with recent history would save Comcast and me time and money.

[Panthera75]

I have had my share of connectivity issues and it's very frustrating when you have no idea if it's you or THEM. MOST of the time it's THEM, but of course they never admit that. And as the previous post.. they go thru their 'cue card' of what you need to do.. and before I call, (since I have it memorized) I'll have done all those procedures. So now what? lol I've already done what you are going to have me do. Usually there is nothing they can say but that they will report the problem and if it doesn't resolve itself in 72 hours to call back blah blah blah. What I hate is when I have absolutely NO connection and they tell me my modem is working fine. Well yea.... it's not my modem is something else. Or they say there are no problems in my area. Well GEE.. I'm not IMAGINING this problem.. I have absolutley no connection.. SOMETHING is WRONG.

Why don't they notify us (network status page) of when they will be doing 'maintenance' time and dates. With At&t, they did SOMETIMES but not all the time. Half of my friends in the city were down, so obviously there IS a problem somewhere. WHY NOT NOTIFY US .. we only pay $60 a month for it. A couple times with at&t if the problem was severe, they had a recording on the 1-800 # saying "if you are experiencing problems in the following areas. .. we are are of this and technicians are working to resolve the problem"... but that was only when half of California was down.

Anyway.. I think a network status page is something that we can all benefit from.

[Anon128]

This is silly. I too have made many calls to tech support. I've had no internet service since June 25th. "We can't see your modem." "You should try another brand of modem." "We don't know when the system upgrade will be complete." Meantime, I can't connect to my office, I've missed 4 ebay auctions, and 2 people trying to reach me via email, because I have no internet service. I had more access and fewer frustrations with NetZero.

[Anon5075]

>Tech support said that, after the problem is fixed, we >can call and get credit for the downtime


Yeah, but you will still be on hold for over an hour in order to get it...you have to call the same number that you have called all along and waited.....and waited...and waited...

[Anon5292]

Hi. I'm a new user. Unfortunately, my modem lights have been blinking since yesterday at noon. I have yet to see a notice on the website like I read this past weekend before it mysteriously disappeared. And I did not pay to "hope" my cable connection is online. There SHOULD at least be some sort of page that lets people know how the connection is in an area.