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Climbing XFinity’s Mt Everest for a connectivity fix.
I am a beyond-frustrated-non-engineering background-tech ignoramus. Just putting that out there to start. Here is my story to date.
I have been using the internet via Xfinity without issue for about two years with an Arris SB6141 modem. Then a couple of months ago, I began noticing that my internet was cutting out occasionally. A few weeks ago, it was decidedly worse; my video meetings were cut off, and I could not access my work accounts to well...work. I think it was around the time I heard that Xfinity recently had upgraded its lines or network.
To resolve my issue, I began my Adventures into Xfinity.
Getting through to a live person from XFinity (and Motorola, but more on that later) feels like climbing a Nepalese mountain...arduous and gasping for oxygen. During this climb, I learned the following:
1. The fastest way to get a live person is to call Xfinity and say "Cancel service." This method gets me a live person without the torture of going through the phone system. However, on a Sunday, the ability to do the "cancel service" options gets you a "we are closed for the weekend" message.
2. The first method often is better than texting X26678. Even if, as Xfinity support finally told me, I text "CALL BACK," which they said is code for well, getting a callback.
3. For the 266278 text option, when you do text "CALL BACK", Xfinity randomly gives you an option to speak to an agent, but more often than not, they force you to "chat with an agent"--at which point I start cursing at the phone. And then go through a series of annoying texts like "I said I wanted to CHAT WITH AN AGENT."
Now back to the problem at hand. After resetting the modem with a tech person and determining with Xfinity that it was NOT a bad modem, I had to make my first of a series of appointments to look at my intermittent connectivity issues.
- Visit 1: Technician claimed that the cable down in the basement that led up to my modem/router connection (one floor up in the living room) was loose and fixed it. He then checked the levels, connection and said everything was fine; when it wasn't, it was time for visit number...
- 2: Senior tech. came out and noticed that my Arris SB6141 was running hot, and I didn't have enough space around it to let it "breathe." He recommended getting a new modem if it continued to give me issues. I bought a Motorola 8600 that same day, hooked it up, and it worked fine for 2-3 days. When that stopped, it was time for visit number...
- 3: Senior tech who looked at everything, checked levels etc, shook his head and said, "In my 15 years working for XFinity I have never seen this issue and don't know how to solve it." He recommended trying a Gateway modem (yes, I was furious but needed answers so accepted it for a few days) to see if that worked. And we all know...of course it did. So this led me to explore the issue with Motorola and my MB8600.
Motorola Madness:
Getting a live person at Motorola support seems to be even worse than with Xfinity, which is saying something.
First of all, the website page lists different availability windows for support. and they are unavailable on weekends. I sat on the phone in a queue for about 2 hours one weekday evening until 830 pm ET when they "close," at which point I was cut off. I then worked with a "Motorola mentor" via email, which was at least something.
- Motorola 1: By now I learned that I should have gone to the Motorola modem site to check what was causing the modem to disconnect from the internet. I collected a bunch of screenshots to send to the MM (Motorola Mentor) with event logs, connection status, and upstream/downstream numbers (by this time, I'm considering going for an electrical engineering degree). I was advised to reset the modem first and purchase an attenuator because my downstream levels were running too high (an 8 or a 9 vs. 6-7).
- Motorola 2: I reset it and also bought the attenuator they recommended. When I attached the attenuator directly into the modem (with the cable into the attenuator), the levels went way down to a 2 or so. But that did not solve the issue. And apparently made the level too low. This led me back to, you guessed it...
Xfinity X-crutiating Insanity:
Now begin the calling and texting nightmare that has yet to end.
- I reset my Motorola to connect without the attenuator and then called tech support. Explained the issue to a nice man who said that I needed yet another visit--which led to...
- I got a call this morning from a "level 3" tech person who "claimed" they fixed my issue, which was a "firmware" problem on XFinity's end. He urged me to cancel my appointment as he assured me three times that my problems were over. The problem was over for an entire ten minutes, and then I had to make another call.
- That time, the tier-three level person said that it was now a "pole" issue, and I needed to request an SRO (Special Request Order) "outside” appointment.
- Called for that appointment and was told it couldn't happen until the end of the day tomorrow.
- Then someone else called me and said that the agent above (she was supposed to be "manager," and she called herself Valerie) booked an in-house tech appointment which was not the appointment tech support said I needed. And I had to call AGAIN for the right kind of appointment.
- Then once they reached out to me again, and I got a callback, they then hung up on me.
- The next try was through a chat, where even the chat agent couldn't get anyone to call me back (I think they have a "do not talk to this person" label next to my name at this point). But he did create a ticket for an SRO visit to look at my pole, which is supposed to happen "between 6 am and 6 pm" the next day (tomorrow).
And despite my asking repeatedly, no one can tell me why the Gateway works, and two other Xfinity-certified modems do not.
I will continue to update this post. Maybe with a glass of wine. Or a bag of Oreos.
screenname137
Contributor
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295 Messages
2 years ago
It could all be coincidence - the what works and what doesn't. Our system has been up and down as you have described. We have:
1- replaced the xFi gateway (we've had one for at least a year now) - didn't help.
2 - had a Tech come out who understands nothing - he replaced our buried drop with a new cable strewn across the yard. Didn't help...but to add insult to injury, for whatever reason he cut the buried drop off at the ground before determining that a new drop cable didn't help at all. So now we're in the same boat but waiting for someone to spray paint the yard and bury a new cable. He also did a lot of other random things like replacing barrel connectors with splitters with unterminated splits which made no sense - he said don't use a barrel!!!!!. What does he think is in EVERY outlet in the house? Pull the outlet plate and it's a cable coming to a barrel in the plate which you connect your TV to. Not everyone can be clever, but I worked in the CATV and broadband networking industry for two decades and what he was doing was remedial at best, destructive and counterproductive at worst.
Oh, he also reprogrammed our xFi Gateway and changed the SSID password to GodIsGood - [Edited: "Language"]! We run in Bridge mode and don't use the built-in WiFi, so I only caught that while cleaning up his messes after he left. Another tip, if you are in Bridge mode, change that before dealing with any support person as it will only confuse them.
3 - now we get another message saying work again commences in our area this week to address performance issues. Great - wish that tech had had a clue about that before he took a cutter to our drop.
My advice is to be careful calling a person out to your home. And be willing to tell them to leave if they seem befuddled and ready to make things worse. The one useful thing he did say was that he'd been seeing more and more issues since December as system upgrades have been rolling out. An anecdote from a tech who may or may not know a thing, but that does track with my experience and what I have seen from a few here on these forums.
And be careful pulling your hair out over random performance - it could be nothing but Xfinity rolling out whatever bits they are upgrading to get to a 10G network that they are starting to hype.
We did get a burst of amazing speed for a few days which may be an indication of things to come when they get it sorted out, but for now, I think it will be a rocky summer of spotty performance.
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user_0122cf
Contributor
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19 Messages
2 years ago
Yeah, it’s just not getting internet for more than two minutes at a time. Today they told me someone was working on it “underground.” But yesterday I heard it was an above-ground issue. And later I learned from two other xfinity staff that the first xfinity agent and dispatch rep lied to me and no one came out and no one was even assigned to this work order.
As much as I loathe to, I will be going to T mobile since I need internet and can’t spend more time on this (yesterday nine hours). So will try them out for a couple of weeks. If Xfinity can get their act together before then great. But like most of us, I work from home and this is starting to cost me thousands of dollars.
I have also told the latest rep that I will be filing a complaint with the FCC. I did read about some people who did this and finally got their issues resolved.
Love the God wifi name anecdote. Can't make it up.
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user_0122cf
Contributor
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19 Messages
2 years ago
Update. Got my FOURTH modem (a netgear nighthawk that the latest technician suggested). SAME issue. I have filed complaints with the FCC, BBB, and state equivalent to the FCC. And will try T-Mobile. Not my choice but that is my only alternative in this Comcast monopoly world.
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user_0122cf
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19 Messages
2 years ago
The fifth technician did come by yesterday. This time they noted that the reason the Comcast-owned gateway modem/router worked MAY be because I used a new router and one that was not my own. It's possible that my own router is shorting and then causing the modem to disconnect. I bought my router in December (when frankly, I started noticing issues and did have a tech guy out) who suggested getting a new router). So I called Archer (router company), who had me decouple from the smart channel option and set up two separate channels for the wifi channels--2.4 MHZ and 5 MHz. That didn't work, either. Then, per the senior Comcast tech suggestion, I ordered another router from Netgear to test out if my current router is broken. Netgear, btw has superior customer service compared to Motorola (as does Archer). Installed it this morning. Started to disconnect intermittently about 4 hours later.
So they want me to reinstall the Gateway so they can monitor what his happening with theirs since it seemed to work last time I hooked it up. Which means losing access to my printer, that seems too old for Gateway to recognize--the other routers do.
But submitting a complaint to my state SCC (VA equivalent to the FCC) got me a direct email from someone in Comcast/Xfinity's exec office and a call this morning 6/29. Should have done that weeks ago. Also, my backup TMobile option is starting up on Friday with a two-week trial period.
And to the Comcast rep who put a note on this chain...I have spent days/hours dealing with this issue and just am sooo tired. I have direct contact with the local tech teams now and am in touch with your senior executive office, as I explained above. This post is an effort to share with others, esp those who experience similar challenges with your company. Dealing with the chat, the phone system, etc., is exhausting, and I find I am not the polite person I pride myself to be otherwise. Just not worth it.
(edited)
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user_0122cf
Contributor
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19 Messages
2 years ago
Can anyone explain why an Xfinity Gateway modem/router works flawlessly to provide stable internet in my house (no events recorded in the event log either), but three different Comcast-certified modems and two Comcast-certified routers do not? Is there some sort of code attached to the Gateway modem/router that allows access? I also noticed that the ip addresses of the outside modems are different (192.168.100.1) vs Gateway (10.0.0.1). Would that make a difference?
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user_0122cf
Contributor
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19 Messages
2 years ago
Can anyone explain why an Xfinity Gateway modem/router works flawlessly to provide stable internet in my house (no events recorded in the event log either), but three different Comcast-certified modems and two Comcast-certified routers do not? Is there some sort of code attached to the Gateway modem/router that allows access? I also noticed that the ip addresses of the outside modems are different (192.168.100.1) vs. Gateway (10.0.0.1). Would that make a difference?
I have been working on this problem for weeks (going on five tech visits, hours and hours on the phone, and complaints to the executive office), and the only difference between a stable internet connection and constant disconnects is the Gateway vs. non-Gateway devices.
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screenname137
Contributor
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295 Messages
2 years ago
We're using the xFi gateway in Bridge Mode and a Netgear Orbi Router. We've had intermittent disconnects and issues as well. We've had three disconnects/resets since 5am today. But if we take the Orbi out and use the xFi alone, same problem or with the Orbi as just an access point - we've tried it all! It can be tricky to tell because the issues are so random that any "fix" might seem to work for a few hours or a day and then the problems come back. xFinity is doing some sort of upgrades and it is making things very unstable. I think it's just going to be a phase until they get done.
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TigerPawzTX
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1 Message
2 years ago
Having the same issues as described about over the last 3 months. Yesterday was the 4th technician to come out to the house and we've logged 10 dropouts knocking us off programs and games since he was here. Every connection and line has been replaced and the XF1 modem changed 3x. I've even ran a dedicated line from the modem to the drop attached to the house. The cable to the pole has been updated as well. The events are a pause where the no internet is detected, yet the modem doesn't cycle. It last about 20 seconds and returns. If it's very bad, the modem will cycle and flash through the lights. We really are at wits end. I rely on a stable net for webcasting and broadcast...as well as my day job.
They are allegedly monitoring my status, but theres no number to call to let them know we've had over 10 drops in the last 12 hours since the tech was here. We need help or we can't keep the service. Paying over 200/mo for something that doesn't work....consistantly.
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