About raffenet

@ComcastJesse wrote: Hello Raffenent,   I am going to do my best to address all of the questions I am able to. starting with the RF levels.   Here is the list of what the RF levels need to be:   Upstream Transmit Power Level: 25 to 53 dBmV. Downstream Receive Power Level: -8 to 10 dBmV. Upstream Receive Power Level: -2 to 2 dBmV (technically should be as close to zero as possible or if padded should be as close to the padded number as possible and should be as straight a line as possible without a lot of jumping around). Downstream Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR): minimum of 35 dB. Upstream Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) Individual Modem: minimum of 31 dB. Upstream Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) Channel Average: minimum of 31 dB. If any of the readings fall out these ranges as you check signals, schedule a trouble call for a technician to visit the premise to investigate/resolve the signal issue. And here is a list of your current RF levels:   Pulled DSRX DSSNR USTX USSNR T3 T4 LOST SYNCS RESETS DS FEC UNC US FEC UNC 10/14 21:24 -6.5 37.5 46.2 34.7 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/14 13:43 -6.5 37.5 46.2 35.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/14 07:19 -6.7 37.5 46.2 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/13 21:31 -6.9 37.5 46 35.3 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/13 13:35 -6.8 37.5 46.2 34.7 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/13 07:10 -7 37.2 46 30.9 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/12 21:28 -6.7 37.5 46 32.6 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/12 13:28 -6.6 37.5 46 34.7 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/12 07:08 -6.5 37.4 46 32.7 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/11 21:25 -6.1 37.5 46 32.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/11 13:30 -6.9 37.3 46 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/11 07:06 -6.5 37.5 46 34.9 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/10 21:27 -6.5 37.5 46 33.9 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/10 13:31 -6.2 37.5 46 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/10 07:10 -6.8 37.5 46 33.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/9 21:31 -6.6 37.5 46 32.8 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/9 13:29 -6.7 37.5 46.2 34.5 1 0 0 1 0 0 10/9 07:11 -6.8 37.5 46 33.6 1 0 0 1 0 0 10/8 21:29 -6.3 37.5 46.2 34.1 0 0 0 1 0 0 10/8 13:30 -7.3 37.1 46.2 34.2 0 0 0 1 0 0 10/8 07:07       34.6           0 10/7 21:26 -6.6 37.5 46.2 33.8 0 0 0 1 0 0 10/7 13:35 -6.7 37.4 46.2 32.4 0 0 0 1 0 0   For the most part, your signal levels appear to be ok. However, this test is only done twice a day. It appears your signal levels are changing throughout the day, which appears to be affecting your service (from the chart above, your signal levels look pretty good. But now for example, from a live reading, I can see that your USSNR is too low. This low signal can cause issues with both the remote and the box).   As for the testing portion of things, I can't provide an answer on those. My main focus is repair. And i'm more than happy to do what i can to provide what answers and education I can.   As for your appointment, I also see it set for 8AM-10AM CDT.   If I can help with any other questions, please let me know. I'll do my best to assist in however I can.   Thanks! Thanks. This is helpful for me to better understand the problem. FWIW, someone other yahoo parachuted into my rant to complain about timezones :). ... View more

@RickGr4 wrote: I have a feeling the new "cable signal strength" meter does not test enough parameters to be of any great value. I believe Shane (pizzman) expressed concerns over this. It might help in the event of a "catastrophic" failure but I doubt it can be relied on as a diagnostic tool. Should X1 have included something this at launch? Probably but where would this have fallen on the long list of X1's coulda, woulda and shoulda list??? I don't know what Comcast can and cannot detect within their network but I did see an example about six weeks ago. My townhome association had new mailboxes installed. While digging a hole in the ground for a new post, someone whacked Comcast's main underground line that feeds my neighborhood. They didn't completely cut the cable, they just injured it. I noticed no change in performance. But Comcast somehow detected the injury to the cable and had a line crew out the next day. They had it fixed by early afternoon. Had I not noticed the line truck and went and talked to the tech, I may have never noticed what had happened. The line tech told me that none of my neighbors had an interruption or called in. Comcast's network internally detected the problem. I was pretty impressed. Here's the thing. The X1 remote apparently relies on non-local services and if signal strength is not ideal, the remote performance degrades. This forum is full of people complaining about their remotes not working well. It's 2014! How can we have regressed like this? And so customers report the problem and Comcast will suggest your signal might not be strong enough...   How did this product get out of QA? If the answer is remotes were only tested in ideal signal situations, well then QA is not doing it's job. If the problem was noticed, why wasn't it solved before release? Who okayed a flawed product? Can the box not fetch all information needed and cache it locally so remote operations don't have to go out to some server? Can certain functionality be disabled when it's determined that it's not performing?   Good tech companies do complex monitoring of their services to ensure a good user experience. They have teams of site reliability engineers thinking about these problems. If Amazon or Apple provided this kind of service, they would apologize and fix the service, not apply a band-aids on each customer's complaint. ... View more

@ComcastIrma wrote: Your appointment has been confirmed for Friday 10/17/14 between 8-10 AM.   Please keep me posted after tech's visit.   Thanks,    Comcast Irma  In the meantime, I discovered the "cable signal strength" menu in settings/comcast labs. Currently, it reports my signal strength as "good". I've enable the low signal indicator, so I suppose I'll get on-screen notification next time my signal starts to degrade. What is the metric used to measure signal strength? Is there a recommended minimum level for X1 to function correctly? I would like to verify when the service tech comes.   Here is a thought. Signal strength monitoring should have been an essential feature of X1 before public rollout. Not only should the user be notified of a low signal that could impact service, but Comcast should be monitoring all boxes for low signal notifications so they can flag a misbehaving receiver and notify customers that they may be having a bad experience. The burden should not be on the user to report bad service when it can be detected remotely. DirecTV used to notify me when it detected my receiver had disconnected my from home wireless network. ... View more

I prefer 8-10am. Thanks. ... View more

Is something available Friday? Tomorrow does not fit with my schedule. Nor Thursday.   What is the solution if the signal problem is affecting the whole building? How long has the problem been known? ... View more

@RickGr4 wrote: Any refunds are between you and Comcast. Nobody here can help you with this. If there is a signal related issue, it depends upon if it is inside or outside of your house. You need to call in and state your case. Yes you should be able to go into a Comcast store and exchange for a legacy box. Just be aware, if you have a new signal related issue that could effect a legacy box as well... I appreciate you're trying to be helpful. My primary goal here was hear from official Comcast support (who replied to my original post) and let them know how bad the customer service has been so far with my subscription. My installation tech missed our appointment window, and did such a poor job that I apparently need another visit just to have functioning service. And that is in addition to all the hours spent on the phone trying to find someone knowledgeable enough to know how to schedule an installation at my building. It's not like high-rise apartment buildings are uncommon in my city.           ... View more

@RickGr4 wrote: It's not a bad box. Exchanging for another x1 box won't solve anything. Getting an old legacy box might fix it but it is very possible something recently changed with your signals. A tech needs to measure and test your signal where the box is located so yes, you will need to provide access... X1 boxes have different requires for signal level and signal quality, both incoming and outgoing. What worked with old legacy boxes doesn't always work with X1. When I read your first post, I knew right away you had signal issues that needed to be addressed by an on sight tech visit. I don't want an X1 box any more. If I can get an old HD cable box that does not have the signal requirements, that is what I prefer. X1 not worth the hassle of having to sit around waiting for a tech. If something really did happen to my signal in the 3 weeks that I've had the service, I feel I deserve a refund. ... View more

Can the levels be checked remotely, or does the tech have to have access to my apartment?   The installation was less than a month ago, and the tech we had showed up an hour after the stated window. Having to sit through another window is pretty much the last thing I want to do. I'd prefer if I can drop off and exchange my X1 box for a regular HD box at an office. Is that possible? ... View more

I recently moved back to a Comcast building after having Directv for 2 years. I have an X1 cable box and after a couple weeks with it, I'm disappointed.   1. The first thing I noticed is that the "all power" button does not, in fact, turn your X1 cable box off. If you have a receiver connected to you X1 box, sound will continue to come out of your speakers after you have "powered down" the system unless you physically press the off button on the box, or shut off your receiver. This is comically bad user experience and a needless regression from past hardware.   2. The X1 interface is *SLOW*. It feels like I'm beta testing pre-release software. Keypresses on the remote are frequently missed. The most reliable way to navigate the interface seems to be: press button...wait a couple seconds to see if it worked...repeat. Images in the Xfinity menu probably won't load unless you sit and wait for while. And it seems like the longer the box is left on, the slower the interface gets.   3. I've had the box for 3 weeks and had to unplug and reboot it twice to fix a problem.   3a. The first time, I could not get any sound from either the RCA, digital coax, or digital optical outputs. Adjusting the display or receiver did nothing. Powering down and powering up the box did nothing. Only unplugging and replugging the box, followed by multi-minute boot cycle, brought the sound back.   3b. Same goes for the time I tried to watch a show on demand and was treated to a silent black screen. Just reboot and a couple minutes later you can watch again. On "demand".   It is a fine idea to improve cable box interface, but X1 is not ready yet. It's unresponsive, buggy, and the hardware is somehow less featureful than past boxes. I'm planning to call and get a non-X1 box as soon as I can. Problem is I dread going through the phone support system considering the several hours it took us to get our service setup in the first place, in addition to the horrible stories in the press. ... View more