Basic Internet Connectivity And Modem Help

[GeorgeR11]

Although my connection speed always reads high and I have no problems watching You Tube in 720p,  on Netflix HD I get no better than 360 or 420p at best. Netflix looked on my connection and said that I should have no problems streaming in 720 unless Comcast is throttling it down.

What gives?

Edit: I wish my post 34 had been my first one  -between first and last there is nothing worth reading.

[Garamel]

With the 250gig cap comcast has you are a braver man than I using netflix streaming. Id be worried about hitting the cap and getting charged extra.

[GeorgeR11]

I son't stream regularly but I'll be sure to check my bill thanks.  Then again I wouldn't spend the money for cable anyway.

[Commy]

Hi!

We've been using Netflix for months now and since we began using this service Comcast has been limiting us on our speed.

It's gradually gotten worse and worse and it's been way beyond ridiculous!

Of course CONcast has been giving us the runaround and they will not stop this severely unethical business practice.

I'd be very curious to call Netflix and see just how many complaints they get about this.

I know I've seen numerous posts on here about the limitation of speeds and it's not at all surprising that most of the people (if not all) mention that they also use Netflix streaming.

Good luck with your problem, it will most likely get worse.

Tonight we couldn't even watch a movie it was so bad.  It would stop to refresh literally every 10 mins so we just gave up. (our speed has been .5 mbps or even less tonight!)

[EG]

---

GeorgeR11 wrote:

Although my connection speed always reads high and I have no problems watching You Tube in 720p,  on Netflix HD I get no better than 360 or 420p at best. Netflix looked on my connection and said that I should have no problems streaming in 720 unless Comcast is throttling it down.

What gives?

---

Gotta luv the blame game... There are some known issues with the Netflix servers themselves. FWIW, I am unbiased as I am not a CC employee, I'm just a volunteer fellow customer here.

[EG]

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Garamel wrote:

With the 250gig cap comcast has you are a braver man than I using netflix streaming. Id be worried about hitting the cap and getting charged extra.

---

Where did you get that ?? I call F.U.D. here... There are no overage charges but there are consequences to exceeding their cap more than twice in a yearly period such as them cutting off the internet of a subscriber for a year.. And that is only if you get a warning from them for the first occurence.

[Commy]

I know my problem and the many problems I've heard about are not Netflix problems, they are CΘNcast problems.

It's not just when using Netflix, they slow down our entire internet, even when Netflix is not being used.

[EG]

---

Commy wrote:

Hi!

We've been using Netflix for months now and since we began using this service Comcast has been limiting us on our speed.

It's gradually gotten worse and worse and it's been way beyond ridiculous!

Of course CONcast has been giving us the runaround and they will not stop this severely unethical business practice.

I'd be very curious to call Netflix and see just how many complaints they get about this.

I know I've seen numerous posts on here about the limitation of speeds and it's not at all surprising that most of the people (if not all) mention that they also use Netflix streaming.

Good luck with your problem, it will most likely get worse.

Tonight we couldn't even watch a movie it was so bad.  It would stop to refresh literally every 10 mins so we just gave up. (our speed has been .5 mbps or even less tonight!)

---

More F.U.D. They don't throttle Netflix...

[EG]

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Commy wrote:

I know my problem and the many problems I've heard about are not Netflix problems, they are CΘNcast problems.

It's not just when using Netflix, they slow down our entire internet, even when Netflix is not being used.

---

Alrighty then... Sounds like your mind is made up and there will be no other arguments... Carry on..

[GeorgeR11]

I'll be glad to listen to educated answers from volunteers but not interested in such comments.

First off anyone who would volunteer to hear all the whining and tooth gnashing going on in here for free has obviously some emotional commitment to this highly unpopular company -which is strange enough.

Second off I don't why you would assume that the CEO would personally inform you of Comcast internal policies??

Third off this is been going on since day one and every single time for over a year.

Is it logical to believe that Netflix became as popular as it did and is banking on being streaming only provider within a couple of years if they can't download faster than 360p????

[EG]

Believe what you want to believe.. You will anyway... I'm out...

[Garamel]

---

EG wrote:

---

Garamel wrote:

With the 250gig cap comcast has you are a braver man than I using netflix streaming. Id be worried about hitting the cap and getting charged extra.

---

Where did you get that ?? I call F.U.D. here... There are no overage charges but there are consequences to exceeding their cap more than twice in a yearly period such as them cutting off the internet of a subscriber for a year.. And that is only if you get a warning from them for the first occurence.

---

You can call Comcast and ask if you want to .Its what I was told. One rep told me I would be cut off, next time I asked they said charges would apply. If these guys cant get thier story striaght it not my issue. No matter, the warning still applies and Comcasts unlimited internet is no longer unlimited. You get a warning then booted. 

No need to call FUD Mr Connection Expert (lol) just ask comcast themselves. 

[BethKatz]

Hmmm. Not only have we generally not had trouble streaming Netflix movies, we sometimes are watching two at a time on different devices. Generally not in HD but sometimes.

We're nowhere near our usage limit. Be sure to look at your usage meter to see how much you are really using as opposed to how much you think you are using.

Link to Excessive Use FAQs 

[GeorgeR11]

Thanks I just went and checked. Nope: the most I used ever was 146 in December. Usually it's around 50, so it's not even close.

[JamesR]

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GeorgeR11 wrote:

Although my connection speed always reads high and I have no problems watching You Tube in 720p,  on Netflix HD I get no better than 360 or 420p at best. Netflix looked on my connection and said that I should have no problems streaming in 720 unless Comcast is throttling it down.

What gives?

---

Here is what Gives.

Comcast sells Access to the Internet but does not guarantee data rates across the internet or access to specific sites attached to the internet.

If you can stream youtube in hd then your access to the internet is golden.

If you can't get good access to netflix that means you are catching a bad route to netflix and that is between you and either Netflix or the Internet Backbone Provider that you are traversing to get to Netflix.

My personal experience , I have a subscription to netflix and it works very well for me and my family.

I keep track of my Data Usage and nevr come near the Cap.

If you would like to figure out where your Netflix issue is, you could run some traces to Netflix and post them here in the thread or start new thread if you like

Just for an example Here is a trace that I did to netflix a moment ago

  4    11 ms    11 ms     9 ms  po-1-ur02.plantwest.fl.pompano.comcast.net [68.8
5.229.162]
  5    15 ms    10 ms    14 ms  te-2-3-ar01.venice.fl.westfl.comcast.net [68.86.
164.54]
  6    10 ms     9 ms     9 ms  po-1-ur01.planteast.fl.pompano.comcast.net [68.8
5.219.13]
  7    12 ms    11 ms    11 ms  be-3-ar03.pompanobeach.fl.pompano.comcast.net [6
8.85.229.165]
  8    11 ms    13 ms    11 ms  pos-0-7-0-0-ar03.northdade.fl.pompano.comcast.ne
t [68.86.164.5]
  9    14 ms    14 ms    11 ms  pos-0-11-0-0-cr01.miami.fl.ibone.comcast.net [68
.86.91.81]
 10    31 ms    25 ms    27 ms  pos-2-4-0-0-cr01.atlanta.ga.ibone.comcast.net [6
8.86.86.197]
 11    40 ms    41 ms    40 ms  pos-1-4-0-0-cr01.ashburn.va.ibone.comcast.net [6
8.86.87.73]
 12    44 ms    40 ms    42 ms  pos-0-5-0-0-pe01.ashburn.va.ibone.comcast.net [6
8.86.87.14]
 13    40 ms    40 ms    42 ms  66.208.228.10
 14    42 ms    41 ms    42 ms  xe-1-1-0.jnrt-edge01.iad1.netflix.com [69.53.244
.253]
 15   132 ms    98 ms   101 ms  xe-0-0-0-100.jnrt-edge01.sv1.netflix.com [69.53.
230.213]
 16    98 ms    99 ms   105 ms  te1-7.csrt-agg01.dc2.prod.netflix.com [69.53.230
.230]
 17    99 ms    99 ms   100 ms  www.dc2.netflix.com [208.75.79.17]

Trace complete.

C:\Windows\system32>

You can see that I have about 50milliseconds roundtrip time s to the Routers up until Hop 15  which is up on the Netflix network.  Read Geotag and Ownership on hop 16 and above to the netflix server..

Please start new individual threads if you would like to troubleshot specific issues.

Thanks

[GeorgeR11]

thanks I found instructions on how to run a trace and I did, this is what I got I don't know how to interpret it

[EG]

FWIW, tracing to the netflix .com site/home page is basically meaningless as netflix uses a CDN (Content Distribution Network) so the servers that actually stream the video to you are not located there;

http://blog.netflix.com/2009/03/netflix-trying-for-consistent.html

[GeorgeR11]

That makes sense, thanks. BTW the comments on that link were from two years ago. The situation was different then, plus there was a major problem with Starlight which was fixed last year. Out of curiosity I did a trace to You tube and it took a lot longer than to netflix.com.Yet I can downstreamp 720 from them.

The opposite of heaven is a banned word? How strange it's not like it's not used during sermons all the time.

[EG]

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GeorgeR11 wrote:

That makes sense, thanks. BTW the comments on that link were from two years ago.

---

I guarantee you that they are still relevant to the main point being that traces to their homepage are worthless. Did you read the entire blog ? 

[GeorgeR11]

Yes thanks I read the link and understood about the trace ...then I started reading the comments.

[EG]

Sorry you are having difficulties but as a fellow customer there is only so much we can do/advise about via this type of venue.

[GeorgeR11]

Thanks I know. Last October I tried getting a simple question answered by management and hit a brick wall up and down the chain of command. :  Question: does Comcast have a complaint dept?

I was offered a complimentary month of service in the end which wasn't bad but as far as a straight answer zilch nada.

[BethKatz]

No, I don't think you're going to get any answer better than what you've seen here.

You can't compel a company to talk unless you're Congress or the FCC. And even then, there's only so much that can be forced out. Whatever your political leanings, you probably don't want to live in a country where the government has that kind of power.

The forum filter can be tweaked. Nevertheless, the 'devilish destination' will probably remain in the naughty list. 

As for a Comcast Complaint Department, send an email to Rick Germano's office. I'm not sure if that will get more attention, but it might.

[GeorgeR11]

Forget politics, as a customer I want to know what I'm getting for my money doesn't that make sense?

I posted a link to a thread which I started after hitting a wall everywhere including Rick Germano, Steve Hackley and even having my e-mails returned unopened from the supervisors I had spoken with.

And then they locked the thread. 

Now, pretty please is there a solution to my problem streaming Netflix ??? Are there any Comcast employees here or is it only us poor souls caught in that world whose name we can't even mention? 

[andyross]

How are you watching Netflix? How is your device connected?

I have both a TV and a BluRay player hard-wired that can play Netflix. I've rarely had speed problems. As mentioned, they use CDN's, and every once in awhile you get a bad one. Sometimes, just waiting a few minutes and trying again will fix it.

[GeorgeR11]

Cabled direct into my computer and I watch on a 22" monitor. The cable from the computer to the box is no more than 25ft long and  this is a private home. It's 50 ft from the box to the pole. It couldn't be a cleaner set up. And I get clear 720p on You tube.

This is been going since day one about a year ago. I get as many DVDs as I can because the streaming quality is only good enough to watch tv shows. I've been complaining to Netflix because when I test the speed it's always high or super or medium high (all over the place) and Netflix told me it probably was not steady enough.

Only the other day it occur to me to make a direct comparison with you tube. I called netflix then to ask what they mean by HD, they said it's 720p. I told him not here it isn't. They tested from their end and said was I was golden because I was higher than  6 (megs?) and to ask my internet provider. So here I am.

ps I don't have a tv, I'm allergic to commercials

[BethKatz]

So the only place you can't stream HD content from is Netflix? If you leave a Netflix HD movie running in full screen for a while, it won't get into and stay in HD? Is it buffering the HD content or not even trying?

[GeorgeR11]

The HD logo is lit up and it streams ok, but the definition is NOT hd, even on the 22" screen I can tell it doesn't come close to regular DVDs, more like reg TV before it went digital

[GeorgeR11]

It's been long enough, really.

Seems to me that without the volunteers (why do you do it???) this limbo would cease to exist since Comcast obviously has no paid employees to assist in this area.

WT "heck"  (F is a bad word too)

A multi billion dollar corporation that doesn't even bother to hire customer service reps because customers volunteer to do it for free? Wow. This is sick

[EG]

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GeorgeR11 wrote:

Seems to me that without the volunteers (why do you do it???)

---

Because it is far better to give than to recieve ?? No CC defending here, it's just the pure and simple joy that is to be had with trying to help others.. What goes around comes around... It's called "good kharma" !! You must be very young....

[GeorgeR11]

I'm 59 going on 60 and I've helped a lot of people in my life and I still do at my own cost

This is not helping people,  it's enabling a multi billion dollar corporation to continue its predatory practices riding on the back of free volunteers like you.

Comcast is no Jesus.

[EG]

Now that you have resorted to attacking us, all I can say then is that I'm a brain surgeon !! I can be anything that I want to be on the interwebs ! So can we all ! Alleged chronolgical age means nothing.. It doesn't guarantee knowledge or wisdom. Best of luck to you sir. Over, and out.

[GeorgeR11]

Over and out for the second time in this thread?  It was no attack, just my viiew point on this issue.

[GeorgeR11]

I apologize for my tantrum of last night, but I got frustrated and I think it was understandable.

You see, I thought this was  the COMCAST customer service. When the official "Comcast Help" consists of only volunteer non professionals with hardly any support from Comcast, IMHO that's enabling this corporation to NOT have a real customer service and pretend they do.

This is a company that has millions of captive and unhappy customers, in fact the lowest customer satisfaction bar none.  If this multi-billion dollar corporation can't be bothered to hire even a dozen people to help out down here is for one reason and one reason only : they don't want to hear from us, period.

In my thread from last October (I posted the link earlier) I started with a complaint but it became a weeks long quest to find out what it would take for Comcast to hear from an unhappy customer and respond accordingly. I finally got my answer: Nothing doing. They'll fix a connection or adjust the billing but as far as hearing customers nada, zilch

Officially they've made grand statements pledging customer satisfaction and followed it up by building a insurmountable wall between their customers and management -even the alleged customer service managers!!

Again, this nothing about politics, I'm just an unhappy paying customer.

[EG]

I apologize as well sir. Maybe I overreacted as to what I perceived as a possible personal attack. No worries ! Peace !

BTW, it's not neccessary to be under the employ of Comcast to be a "professional"

[GeorgeR11]

No it was nothing personal but I was unecessarily rude by being so blunt (it was late at night)

[EG]

It really is a shame what happened in this thread. I believe this is a consequence that happens when others inject flame posts into a thread for their own agenda. Anywho, WIW, I have bought your concern to the attention of the Forum administrator here for escalation purposes.

[GeorgeR11]

I understand that your only intent is to help, but put yourself in the other guys shoes for a minute: customers are annoyed, unhappy,  frustrated. That they need to vent out is a given , no suprises there.

[EG]

I understand that but this is not a "rant" forum, it's a help forum and order must be maintained here to avoid this becoming a place of chaos.

[GeorgeR11]

Where's the rant forum?

[EG]

You'd probably be better off ranting over here but don't say that I said so...

http://community.comcast.net/

[GeorgeR11]

<chirp> <chirp>

last time I asked for an explanation on what went wrong with my service call and I repeated the same question for seventeen days -until the thread was locked

http://forums.comcast.net/t5/Customer-Service/Question-does-Comcast-have-a-complaint-dept/td-p/81491...

[BethKatz]

I don't see how you're going to get more of an answer here. You don't want to hear anything from fellow customers. I pointed you to Germano's office, and you said you'd already not been satisfied there. There's nothing left to do.

When I play Netflix movies in HD, if the HD icon is lit, it's playing what it considers HD content. It will only do that for me if I am in full screen mode or just switched from it. That content needs to be buffered for a while. I suppose our interfaces are different. So I can't help you.

[GeorgeR11]

Sorry for the misunderstanding, I am always willing to listen to solutions and answered accordingly - I did a trace, checked that I have the version of Silverlight etc.   What I was not interested in was in personal opinions which are based on thin air.  As for Germano's office it's not a matter of not being satisfied, the issue was they never responded .... no Comcast representative did.I already wasted 3 weeks chasing my own tail there.

Beth I think that you just confirmed my critique about the lack of official support, it's just us poor souls down here, isn't it? If you read that other thread which I mentioned earlier the reasons for my being curt would be self evident.

[EG]

FWIW, the Forum Administrator has acknowledged in private my query to him about your concern today and I asked that he acknowledge you here in this thread.

[GeorgeR11]

Thanks I knew you did.

[GeorgeR11]

Superfireman -aka Detreon -called me home tonight. I kid because he seems to be in charge of putting out all the fires single handedly in these forums. Whatever they pay this man it's not enough. He came across as an earnest fellow, I heard a lot of bsers in my life and I could tell Dete would never make it as a snake oil salesman.

The temptation was of course to blame Netflix but after having considered the testimonies honestly we couldn't blame neither Netflix nor Comcast since people here said they have no problems streaming Netflix and I have a good connection other than that one.

We finally came to the agreement that neither of us knows the reason. It is what is, life is not perfect.

Still a solution would have been nice.

[CC_Dete]

Hi George,

I enjoyed our conversation. To my point, we don't throttle connections unless you're being managed for a period due to high bandwidth use (more details here - http://customer.comcast.com/Pages/FAQViewer.aspx?seoid=Frequently-Asked-Questions-about-Network-Mana...

You can enter "netstat" in the command prompt to find the all the connections open to your computer while streaming to find the ip of the CDN server. Since I don't stream netflix, I'm not entirely sure of the name of the CDN server so I suggest closing all programs with exception to Neflix streaming to narrow the selections.  Once you've narrowed it down, run a tracert to that server and it should show you the route.

Depending on the results, I can suggest some other steps.

[GeorgeR11]

Great hu ... enter netsat where how?