Cable modem problems

[johnridley]

Twice this week the internet connection has gone down. It seems to me to be acting exactly like it did back a couple of years ago when an underground splice corroded. And it's the right season for it.
Last time a simple equipment reset didn't fix it so I called support. Well, guess what, support is now in India, and guess what, they're useless. It did start working while I was on the phone with them, but I'm sure it was coincidence, the connection just happened to start working then.

The guy's best advice was that, since it appeared to be a signal problem, and we own the cable modem rather than leasing it, it must be the cable modem's problem and I should go buy another one. Even though, when the ground's not wet, it works fine for days at a time at a very high throughput.

Comments

[sraun]

Long ago I had a DSL problem. At the time, QWest had a policy - the call-center people called you back the next day and ask if it was still broken. When you said 'no', they closed the ticket. Without sending a field technician to check anything! I asked outright - 'So, when you call me back to ask if it's working, I should ask you if there are any field service notes, and when you say "No", tell you it isn't?' The supervisor I was talking to replied, "Yes."

I have decided that that is, in general, good advice when dealing with the phone or cable company - if they can't adequately account for my trouble-shooting, I will lie. I will tell them I have done whatever they want me to do, even if I haven't, if that's what it takes to get to the next step.

So, I'd call them back next time it happens, and tell them you got a new device (make certain you know what new device you would reasonably have gotten!), and it's still a sporadic problem.

[madtechie2718.livejournal.com]

Ah, but you, sir, own a cable modem that has developed a sensitivity to high humidity - nothing to do with our crappy cables...