Let me preface by saying I am somewhat computer illiterate, so I apologize in advance. I can do what I'm asked but not really be able to translate what it means. I'd also like to apologize for the lengthy post. I'd like to be as thorough as possible and give everyone as much info on this situation as possible. I've searched high and low for some answers but end up more confused or find that the particular issue someone has presented doesn't really fit our situation. Per usual, Comcast has been no help at all and they keep pushing for a technician. I'm sure most would choose this route, but that's my very last resort as they keep giving us different stories and what they say usually contradicts the information in front of us. I don't care to get jerked around by the technician and overcharged when I'm already being overcharged for subpar service. So here's what's been going on:
November 2016:
We were notified, via our Comcast email, that our wireless gateway, CISCO dpc3941t, was recalled back in September. Apparently there was an issue with certain models that were released to customers during a particular timeframe. Continuing to use said device would cause connectivity/speed issues.
December 2016:
We received the new device in early December, Technicolor dpc3941t (that now shows up in the device section of our account info as CISCO), which was nice because our speeds were starting to diminish and we could barely even use our TV (we have internet only). At the time, the only 3 devices that were connected were my Windows phone, our Samsung Smart TV and our desktop (turned off or put on "sleep" for a few hours). Upon setup, everything was fine for about 2 weeks and then speeds started dropping. Our son was gifted a tablet for Christmas, so we upgraded our service shortly before the holiday. A few days before the new year we started having major issues. It got to the point where every 15-30 minutes the internet would go out and the wireless gateway would reset. Sometimes it would reset and reconnect and other times we'd have to unplug the device in order to connect anything. Doing this would require unplugging our TV and sometimes restarting our devices. Our TV is setup to obtain all internet-related information automatically, so we don't enter any information ourselves.
January 2017:
We contacted Comcast and were told there was an outage in the area and they were working on it. The rep told us to restart the wireless gateway, despite telling her that we do this multiple times each day anyway. We did, the issues wasn't fixed, she said it should be fixed in the next 30 minutes and she'd call back to verify that everything was working. If not, we'd need a technician. We didn't receive a call and the problem definitely wasn't fixed. I looked for possible solutions and one directed me to get on 10.0.0.1 and check the logs. The firewall section had 70+ pages. Pages, not entries. Keep in mind, we only had this device for maybe 3-4 weeks. After a few days I got tired of the nonsense and called back.
This rep said that there weren't any outages and since things were progressively getting worse, I requested to swap the wireless gateway. The rep agreed on the new gateway and, again, said we'd need a tech if things weren't resolved. We got the new device, set it up and things were running smoothly for a few days without any issues. Then things started again and we spoke with another rep. They credited our account for 1 week (despite having service MAYBE a few hours everyday for multiple weeks) and said we should just call a tech because everything on their end is fine. I declined and checked the logs. From what I can see, the device is acquiring a new IP multiple times each day. Sometimes 2 or 3 and other times more. Today alone it acquired 5 in 5 1/2 hours. On 3 different occasions in the last week the device has restarted by itself and I've had to set everything up with new credentials as if I'm setting up a brand new device.
Here are some other things I'd like to make note of:
- Current wireless gateway is Arris tg1682g
- At times I can't even access 10.0.0.1. I get a notification that there was an error loading the page or there's "no network connection." This happens on the desktop and via WiFi.
- I haven't tampered with any of the settings as I don't know what a majority of it even means or does. But I do find that MoCA will be turned on and off. I also see that "Port Mapping" was added and deleted a few days ago, more than once. Again, I haven't tampered with any of that.
- When the device resets, sometimes it will completely erase the logs. So unless I glue myself to our desktop to constantly download everything, I have access to only a few day's worth of information.
- Our WiFi and hotspot (I turned that off but it keeps getting turned on again) show error messages on Comcast's website. Even where it should show our plan it says "We are unable to retrieve your plan info at this time." Network name and password both say "Error accessing data." WiFi Public Hotspot says "Something has gone wrong." These errors have been on the website, consistently, for the last week. Before that, we'd only see the error if the internet was down (yet showed it was connected on the website).
- Upon restarting, it sometimes takes 10-30 minutes for the device to connect. About half the time the 2.4 and 5 GHz lights will flash in a pattern and not connect at all (requiring a manual restart) or only our desktop will connect.
- The website will show an outage, while a rep says there isn't one or our device is shown as "connected" on the website.
- My phone will show it is connected via Ethernet (????).
- This happens regardless of what devices are connected.
- Speeds are all over the place. We have Blast (up to 75Mbps) and will get around 25 when 1 device is connected as well as 3. Other times we have 55 with 1 or 3 connected. Typically, speeds hang out between 8 and 30.
- We don't do any gaming, file sharing, etc.
- Our TV will show that it is connected to the network, but not the internet. Other times it will show the network connection failed.
I suppose we should just get our own device and eliminate some of this problem, but if the issue is with Comcast then it needs to be addressed. Unfortunately, they're the only company that provides service to new customers where we're located. Most of our neighbors have another provider, but have had the service for years and have been able to keep their service. Again, every device we have is setup exactly how it came out of the box. Unless an update changed something, we haven't tampered with anything. Any advice would be greatly appreciated and I'll gladly perform whatever tests needed to get to the bottom of this. Thank you in advance for your help and patience!
November 2016:
We were notified, via our Comcast email, that our wireless gateway, CISCO dpc3941t, was recalled back in September. Apparently there was an issue with certain models that were released to customers during a particular timeframe. Continuing to use said device would cause connectivity/speed issues.
December 2016:
We received the new device in early December, Technicolor dpc3941t (that now shows up in the device section of our account info as CISCO), which was nice because our speeds were starting to diminish and we could barely even use our TV (we have internet only). At the time, the only 3 devices that were connected were my Windows phone, our Samsung Smart TV and our desktop (turned off or put on "sleep" for a few hours). Upon setup, everything was fine for about 2 weeks and then speeds started dropping. Our son was gifted a tablet for Christmas, so we upgraded our service shortly before the holiday. A few days before the new year we started having major issues. It got to the point where every 15-30 minutes the internet would go out and the wireless gateway would reset. Sometimes it would reset and reconnect and other times we'd have to unplug the device in order to connect anything. Doing this would require unplugging our TV and sometimes restarting our devices. Our TV is setup to obtain all internet-related information automatically, so we don't enter any information ourselves.
January 2017:
We contacted Comcast and were told there was an outage in the area and they were working on it. The rep told us to restart the wireless gateway, despite telling her that we do this multiple times each day anyway. We did, the issues wasn't fixed, she said it should be fixed in the next 30 minutes and she'd call back to verify that everything was working. If not, we'd need a technician. We didn't receive a call and the problem definitely wasn't fixed. I looked for possible solutions and one directed me to get on 10.0.0.1 and check the logs. The firewall section had 70+ pages. Pages, not entries. Keep in mind, we only had this device for maybe 3-4 weeks. After a few days I got tired of the nonsense and called back.
This rep said that there weren't any outages and since things were progressively getting worse, I requested to swap the wireless gateway. The rep agreed on the new gateway and, again, said we'd need a tech if things weren't resolved. We got the new device, set it up and things were running smoothly for a few days without any issues. Then things started again and we spoke with another rep. They credited our account for 1 week (despite having service MAYBE a few hours everyday for multiple weeks) and said we should just call a tech because everything on their end is fine. I declined and checked the logs. From what I can see, the device is acquiring a new IP multiple times each day. Sometimes 2 or 3 and other times more. Today alone it acquired 5 in 5 1/2 hours. On 3 different occasions in the last week the device has restarted by itself and I've had to set everything up with new credentials as if I'm setting up a brand new device.
Here are some other things I'd like to make note of:
- Current wireless gateway is Arris tg1682g
- At times I can't even access 10.0.0.1. I get a notification that there was an error loading the page or there's "no network connection." This happens on the desktop and via WiFi.
- I haven't tampered with any of the settings as I don't know what a majority of it even means or does. But I do find that MoCA will be turned on and off. I also see that "Port Mapping" was added and deleted a few days ago, more than once. Again, I haven't tampered with any of that.
- When the device resets, sometimes it will completely erase the logs. So unless I glue myself to our desktop to constantly download everything, I have access to only a few day's worth of information.
- Our WiFi and hotspot (I turned that off but it keeps getting turned on again) show error messages on Comcast's website. Even where it should show our plan it says "We are unable to retrieve your plan info at this time." Network name and password both say "Error accessing data." WiFi Public Hotspot says "Something has gone wrong." These errors have been on the website, consistently, for the last week. Before that, we'd only see the error if the internet was down (yet showed it was connected on the website).
- Upon restarting, it sometimes takes 10-30 minutes for the device to connect. About half the time the 2.4 and 5 GHz lights will flash in a pattern and not connect at all (requiring a manual restart) or only our desktop will connect.
- The website will show an outage, while a rep says there isn't one or our device is shown as "connected" on the website.
- My phone will show it is connected via Ethernet (????).
- This happens regardless of what devices are connected.
- Speeds are all over the place. We have Blast (up to 75Mbps) and will get around 25 when 1 device is connected as well as 3. Other times we have 55 with 1 or 3 connected. Typically, speeds hang out between 8 and 30.
- We don't do any gaming, file sharing, etc.
- Our TV will show that it is connected to the network, but not the internet. Other times it will show the network connection failed.
I suppose we should just get our own device and eliminate some of this problem, but if the issue is with Comcast then it needs to be addressed. Unfortunately, they're the only company that provides service to new customers where we're located. Most of our neighbors have another provider, but have had the service for years and have been able to keep their service. Again, every device we have is setup exactly how it came out of the box. Unless an update changed something, we haven't tampered with anything. Any advice would be greatly appreciated and I'll gladly perform whatever tests needed to get to the bottom of this. Thank you in advance for your help and patience!
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram