My internet goes out between ~9am and ~12pm every weekday

Hi folks.  This has been a really frustrating problem and, inspired by the eventual success of other threads like "No internet after midnight", I've decided to start documenting it here.  

 

If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!  Otherwise I'm hoping I'll be able to use this thread to better communicate with Comcast tech support.

 

The problem

I live in Oakland, CA, and I've been getting good gigabit speeds from Comcast without problems for 2 years now.  Then, starting sometime in January, the internet started going out sometimes in the morning.  It normally goes down for 10-30 minutes 3 or 4 times each morning.  It took me a while to realize what was going on because I'm normally not home at that time, but we are expecting a child in April so I've been working from home more mornings to be around for doctor appointments.  I also installed a smart camera outside and it has been sending me disconnection alerts several times a morning for several weeks now.  

 

The really weird thing is that it seems more reliable on weekend mornings.  If it were *every* morning I'd suspect heat expansion from direct sunlight on some component.  And it may still be that....maybe I just sleep in too much on weekends to notice it?  But it seems like it could be traffic related or something like that...I have no idea.

 

What I've tried to fix it

I was using an Arris SB8200 modem connected to an Asus RT-AC86U router.  As part of troubleshooting this problem, I bought a new Motorola MB8600 modem.  It exhibits the same behavior as the Arris did, so I don't think the modem is to blame.

 

Ok, what about the router?  Well, the router seems to work fine.  I tried switching it out for a borrowed one and that didn't fix anything.  And when the internet is down and I check Comcast's status page under my account, I do get a "We can't connect to your device" message and an indication that an issue is detected with the modem.

 

The weird thing is that the modem itself (both the Arris and the Motorola) thinks it is connected.  All status lights stay on.  It is talking to something.  But Comcast's home office can't reach it and thinks it is offline.  (I know this seems weird, but I swear it's true.  I have contemporaneously time-stamped photos showing the modem and then the status page a few seconds later if you really don't believe me.)

 

If I power cycle the modem, it is generally able to reconnect after a few minutes.  But then the internet normally goes out again within a few minutes after that.  Even though the modem still thinks it is connected.

 

What Comcast has tried to fix it

I have called Comcast a few times over this and gotten a variety of responses.

 

Once I was told there was an unexpected outage in my area that should be fixed within a few days.  Ok.   But it's been a few weeks now.

 

Once I was told that they remotely reset the modem and everything was fine now.

 

Once I was told that they remotely resest the modem and it was connecting, but their diagnostics showed something unspecified was wrong with the line and they would send a technician the next day.

 

The technician was very patient and polite, but he was there in the afternoon and everything was working, and he couldn't find any problems.  He tested the line, replaced a few connectors and a short piece of cable just in case, and recommended renting a Comcast modem in the future if it continued.  

 

That was yesterday.  The internet went out again this morning and it's been up and down as I'm writing this.  

 

Next steps

What should I do now?  Any suggestions?  

 

If fiber were available in my neighborhood, I'd switch at this point, but Comcast is my only option for gigabit speeds.  

 

I'm planning to continue documenting the problem on this thread, as time permits (I don't have time every day and I'll have other things to do for a while after the baby arrives).  And I'm planning to keep calling Comcast tech support every few days.

 

Thank you all!