Cox communications, cable modems, and deception

Dedpuhl

Lifer
Nov 20, 1999
10,370
0
76
long story ahead...


I have had a cable modem for the past 2 years. I beta tested and had few problems. The service went public and I had a couple of long-term outages (at least 3 12-hr service interruptions). Their track record was not the greatest with me and I spent time on the phone demanding refunds for these outages.

The long outages haven't happened for a long time. I thought the service was excellent. I thought so up until the past 4-5 months. About every 2 hours, I lose my internet connection for 5 seconds. Some may say "big deal." It didn't bother me at first. I thought it was just a technical issue. Day after day it continued. After the fourth day, I called and complained. The tech said that the signal was weak and someone would be sent out to fix it. The tech came out and tweaked the wiring and left.

Shortly after he left, my connection was lost. I called again and explained the details. The tech said he didn't know what the problem was. I brought my modem to the place and exchanged it. I still had problems. This time I kept track of the outages. Every 2 hours the signal was lost. I called and told him that I was losing signal every 2 hours. He said that every two hours the IP is refreshed or resubscribing. I asked if this it is normal to lose the connection. He said no. He told me to lower settings on zone alarm and the problem would stop. It didn't.

I talked to some friends and they have the same problems. One friend has new wiring from his modem to the pole outside, and he still loses his connection.

The other day I was talking to someone and he mentioned this connection loss. He said that Cox purposely does this to stop people from using up bandwith while not at home.

Is this true? I pay for a 24-hour connection and do not get one. Does anyone else have this problem? Should I call tech support and asked if that is their practice?
 

M O M O

Senior member
Feb 25, 2000
512
0
0
nope.. but i'd bitch till its fixed.. get some techs out there and find out whats wrong
 

Dedpuhl

Lifer
Nov 20, 1999
10,370
0
76


<< nope.. but i'd bitch till its fixed.. get some techs out there and find out whats wrong >>




I have. I have also been refunded a little here and a little there.
 

TonyG

Platinum Member
Feb 12, 2000
2,021
2
81
I have a very similar problem with my cox connection, except that when I get disconnected I have to restart my computer to get restarted. I have spent too many hours on the phone with them, mostly on hold, and still have no idea what is wrond. I am not running any type of firewall either. I have 3 computers on my home network, and pay for the 3 connections, but only my main computer and my dad's computers get disconnected, thought the old 100Mhz compaq stays connected without a hitch? I am running Windows 2000, my dad is running 98se, and the compaq is of course running 95. Anybody have a fix? Please? I am sure there are many others on here, besides Dedpuhl and me, who would like a fix.

 

Mine does the same thing. But I have adelphia.
But its getting worse, now it goes out for 30sec - 10 mins. Nothing gets to my gateway.
Its the most annoying thing I can think of.
Not to mention their DNS machines that work .000001% of the time.
All you can do is bitch, and get it for free.
They will send all the techs in the world, but they won't fix it.
 

Jakey

Member
Aug 1, 2001
70
0
0
The cable companies really couldn't care less. They know that they're the only game in town and that most people will put up with the short outages instead of going back to 56k. I haven't had any trouble with outages with Cox Las Vegas, but I'm pissed that Cox raised the price $5 and changed the cable modem purchase credit from $10 to $5, but I won't go back to 56k and am willing to pay the $10 more per month. :(

For now cable companies can get away with this, but in a few years, there will be much more competition and they're going to have to give more speed and better service for less money or lose tons of business.
 

TonyG

Platinum Member
Feb 12, 2000
2,021
2
81
I just keep wondering why my old compaq never gets disconnected, and the other two do.
 

Dedpuhl

Lifer
Nov 20, 1999
10,370
0
76


<< I just keep wondering why my old compaq never gets disconnected, and the other two do. >>



I dunno.

If we had DSL in the area, the competition would force them to fix the interruptions, I suppose...
 

WyteWatt

Banned
Jun 8, 2001
6,255
0
0
i am on Cox@home in louisiana but do not have that problem really. Well sometimes it seems to do that every now and then but it comes on most of the time when i refresh my router setting. Not sure whats causing it.
Its not everyday thou. I had Cox@Home in louisiana for 2 to 3 years too when it was first being beta tested also. Dedpuhl what speeds do you get 24/7 with download / upload? Curious how your cable modem is 24/7?

I know that tech support number isnt much help :( level 1 and level 2 arent helpful most of them. I called once 8 times in one night tech support !!! That was a record for me hehe. But hey i am willing to do anything to get a problem fixed. There is no limit of how much you can call. But they do give credit most of the time which is good at least.


Thanks

 

Yeeny

Lifer
Feb 2, 2000
10,848
2
0
Adelphia is classic for outages. Mine range from ten seconds to a full day. My cousin once had them go out for two weeks. When we call, we are told its only us who is having problems, and it must be our computers. I think its just we are the most bitchy about it, so they remember us by name. ;)Now DSL is finally available here for the same price, I cannot wait to get that installed. :D
 

arod

Diamond Member
Sep 26, 2000
4,236
0
76
I have no problems with mine.... But I also use a router that automatially refreshes for me.....

edit I have Cox in Texas
 

arod

Diamond Member
Sep 26, 2000
4,236
0
76
I have the Dlink one.... It automatically refreshes the IP for me when the lease expires (every 2 hours)
 

WyteWatt

Banned
Jun 8, 2001
6,255
0
0
arod would mine do that ?
my Netgear RT314 router? I have Cox@Home.
The router is set on DHCP and my connection is set up DHCP.

 

Dedpuhl

Lifer
Nov 20, 1999
10,370
0
76
I peak at 110 kb/sec down and 15 kb/sec up. That is pretty sad for cable, but it's faster than dialup...
 

Ferocious

Diamond Member
Feb 16, 2000
4,584
2
71
The cable modem company in my hometown as the following deal:

512kb down and 256kb up.

That's bits...NOT bytes.

Roughly 55 kilobytes/s downloads...cuz a friend of mine has it.

Just $99 per month.

:|
 

arod

Diamond Member
Sep 26, 2000
4,236
0
76
yeah it should but you might try updating all the drivers on the router...
 

WyteWatt

Banned
Jun 8, 2001
6,255
0
0
Dedpuhl hmm. Do you have your proxy on ? I had my download speed really slow a lot and for 2 to 3 years i had my cable modem it never slowed down so much and kept calling tech support to fix it. But one day by calling they told me to try the proxy and guess what it fixed my download speed and increased my browsering speed but the proxy never use to work which is crazy. I dont get it but for some reason i get a whole lot faster speed with the proxy on now.



 

WyteWatt

Banned
Jun 8, 2001
6,255
0
0
arod all the drivers on my router? I got the latest fireware but what drivers are you talking about? i didnt know routers used drivers ?

Thanks