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Friday, December 6th, 2024 2:41 PM

Degraded download speed almost every night

Why isn't there a way to send an email to Xfinity tech support? I hate Xfinity virtual assistant as well as online agents. To provide some context, Comcast did equipment upgrades in my neighborhood about two months ago or so and since then almost every night I noticed degraded download speed (I am paying for 800mbps and download speed range from 65mbps to 400mbps). I reached out to online agent and this individual assured my third party modem is being updated and the "changes" will improve. In fact, that agent said I would get a free upgrade to higher download speed tier but few minutes later asked me for my approval for an increased monthly fee which of course I declined. I do have that transcript saved. I did not appreciate the fact I was told I would get a free "upgrade" but then the agent asked me for approval on the price bump. I did not come online to ask for a upgrade, I wanted the download speed issue to be addressed.

Last night, I noticed frequent buffering with a streaming service which prompted me to check download speed via Xfinity speed test and I was getting 16.3mbps (see attached screenshot).

I will outline the following based on stupid questions online agents often ask:

1. I always do speed test on a wired device not Wi-Fi device. There are too many variables that affect Wi-Fi performance so I never do that. Furthermore, I make sure none of the connected devices are streaming or downloading large files since that will affect speed test results.

2. My internal network is 10g.

3. Download speed is usually good / normal during the day (I've done speed test at interval) which indicates there are NO issues whatsoever with my internal network and the router.

With the recent equipment upgrades in the neighborhood, did the IQ drop among the Comcast techs? I've always hated Comcast due to its business practices and I am now consider going back to DSL service that ensures my download speed is constant regardless of what time of the day. I cannot justify the price I am paying when I am not getting decent download speed at all times. Yes, I am well aware bandwidth is shared in the neighborhood but Comcast should ensure there is enough capacity even at night!

Official Employee

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1.9K Messages

2 months ago

Greetings, @user_4a1oy2! I hope your week has been treating you well. Thanks so much for taking a moment out of your busy day to leave a post on our community forum. I'm sorry to hear you've been having issues with your service every since these neighborhood upgrades were implemented, but you have definitely come to the right place for assistance.

 

Thank you for taking time to describe your setup and previous troubleshooting steps. That is extremely helpful. If you could send our team a direct message with your full name, the name listed on the account (if different), and the service address associated with your account, I'd be more than happy to look into this for you.

 

To send a Direct Message, please click on the “Direct Message” icon in the top-right corner of the screen, next to the bell icon, click the "New message" (pencil and paper) icon, then type or select "Xfinity Support". Type your message in the text area near the bottom of the window and press Enter to send your message and initiate a live session.

3 Messages

@XfinityJamesC​ I will do that this morning. After the initial post here, I decided to call Xfinity customer service and eventually transferred to higher tier support where they opened a ticket. It was slight better than online chat where they would try to convince me to upgrade to higher download speed which will not solve the issue. Unfortunately, the issue persists, I took a snapshot of the Xfinity speed test last night showing I was getting 99mbps and we were seeing frequent video buffering with various streaming services (see more info in this thread). I guess I will just keep asking for credit until they actually fix the issue.

Expert

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108.2K Messages

2 months ago

@user_4a1oy2 @XfinityJamesC 

Please circle back here and post any possible solutions for the issue here in these open public forums so that all readers here may benefit from the exchange / info. This is in keeping with the spirit for which these public help forums were originally intended. Thank you.

3 Messages

@EG​ To this day, Comcast has not resolved the issue. Below is a snapshot of the Xfinity speed test taken last night (12/26/2024) and I was getting around 99mbps which explains frequent video buffering with various streaming services. And recent Xfinity speed test as of this morning I show ~800mbps so it's an indicative the neighborhood infrastructure cannot support high demand at nights.

Official Employee

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1.9K Messages

Thank you for keeping us updated about this, @user_4a1oy2! 99 Mbps is too slow for any connection speed. Please feel free to message us if there's anything we can do to investigate this.

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2 Messages

2 months ago

I'm paying for the same plan (800mbps) as you, even though I use to get only about 260-340mbps (measured by Fast.com) and probably have older equipment than you.  That said, after receiving several "we're doing work in your area" texts starting in mid-October, I've noticed a massive degradation in speed that's been particularly low the past two weeks especially.  I'm only getting an average 30-50mbps now (again, measured by Fast.com) and have noticed several days over the past month where service just drops completely.  It's annoying when you can't even stream a show without it constantly pausing.

I live in a city and I don't know what they've been doing, but these "network enhancements" haven't been good.  I tried calling for support, but the only option was to schedule a technician to physically come out to my residence.  I really don't feel like going through with that appointment only for them to tell me "get a new modem/router", then charge me $100 for it.  Yes I could upgrade, but my modem is still listed as valid by Xfinity and I'm willing to accept the less than perfect speeds (200-300mbps) when compared to my plan, just not 50mbps...

Here's Xfinity's Speed Test results:

Official Employee

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1.9K Messages

 

user_wa894j,

I see you in a similar situation. You currently have a plan offering up to 800 Mbps, but you haven’t received the full speeds. I know you were getting 250 – 340 Mbps on average, which is not the full 800 Mbps you expect. Recently, this has dipped to around 57 Mbps, as in your screenshot, after getting an alert of work in the area. Progressively, things have gotten worse, and you now see random drops along with speed concerns. I can see how a combination of drops and slow speeds can make enjoying your services difficult. I am grateful for all your time and patience so far. Your business is important to us, and I want to ensure you’re getting the services you expect. I appreciate you letting us know and giving us the chance to help.

I see calls to support have resulted in a possible visit. I can assure you that we have some great techs, and I’m confident they’ll do everything they can to help. They’ll typically check the network at the premise to address any possible issues with your equipment, hardware like amps or splitters, or the drop. If the tech finds the issues are stemming from external problems at the node or results from recent upgrades, they’ll be able to open a ticket with our network teams for further review. This way, we’ll cover all our bases to provide everyone with peace of mind. My team will also be on hand to provide updates and assistance along the way.

If you don’t have time for a visit or prefer to troubleshoot more. We can do that here as well. Since you started this plan, have you ever achieved these faster speeds, or have the problems been present this entire time? Are you using an Xfinity Gateway, or have you elected to use your own modem? For either device, do you know how to access your power levels or event logs? This link here: https://forums.xfinity.com/conversations/internet/answered-tips-for-troubleshooting-your-xfinity-internet-connection/602da481c5375f08cd7fbb7c on forums will provide great steps to take as well if you aren't sure how to get started.

 

I am an Official Xfinity Employee.
Official Employees are from multiple teams within Xfinity: CARE, Product, Leadership.
We ask that you post publicly so people with similar questions may benefit from the conversation.
Was your question answered? Please, mark a reply as the Accepted Answer.tick

2 Messages

Greetings @XfinityVianney

Indeed after receiving a call from Customer Service, I kept my tech appointment scheduled since they assured me my modem wasn't the problem (I do have my own, and I know I'm bottlenecking my performance by not upgrading to new equipment).  The tech came out and checked a few things, and decided to replace a cable splitter in my apartments cable box (which probably hasn't been replaced in years).  That seemed to solve the issue, and I haven't noticed any significant drops/degraded performance since.  I'm back in the normal 260-340mbps I use to be getting.

I tried asking the tech about the "network enhancements" in my area, and why my performance was suddenly degraded since that time despite having the same equipment which isn't damaged/broken.  He only suggested that work on another customer's lines can sometimes effect another's, but that having a cable splitter with unnecessary/unused splits (4) can weaken the signal versus having less (2 now).  Maybe it was just getting old?  Who knows.  I still don't really understand, but I'll try checking my device's event logs next time if this happens.

For now, we're good.  Thanks for your reply!​

Official Employee

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2.7K Messages

Wonderful, I am so happy to hear that tech visit helped with the connection issues. Our techs are truly the best at getting any issues you are having resolved. While we have you here now, is there anything else we can assist you with regarding your account?

I am an Official Xfinity Employee.
Official Employees are from multiple teams within Xfinity: CARE, Product, Leadership.
We ask that you post publicly so people with similar questions may benefit from the conversation.
Was your question answered? Please, mark a reply as the Accepted Answer.tick
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