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Review by FreedomBuild See Profile

  • Location: Rockford, Winnebago, IL, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Less service for more-Regular Price increases
Guarenteed to neuter your internet browsing experience
Totally Unreliable - Marketing Media Propaganda VS Actual Customer Experiences
Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)

Service has definitely been degraded since the switch from Insight. I was getting pretty consistent averages close to the 10/1. Now average halved and latency doubled and pretty jerky. I reckon I can say that I have been 'Comcraptic' initiated. I am not all to happy or satisfied with my service right now.

Update 3/7/2008

AS in my previous assessment. My user experience basically halved. I was using a Dlink DCM-202 Modem. Apparently Comcast did not have me modem registered. That was odd seeing as I registered it with Insight a little over a year ago. Comcast had my original RCA-425 modem registered I had gotten from Insight when I first started service. After spending about 21/2 hours registering my Dlink, the issues were not fixed. In fact I could not upload?!!. Dlink had a firmware upgrade specifically for Comcast users on the 202 model. So I figured ok...i'll try it. Well after the firmware upgrade the issues still wasn't straightened out. Then I found out that the firmware upgrade disables the tftp so you downgrade or revert back to the original. Something Dlink neglects to tell you on the site or in the 'instructions' SO DON"T DO IT is my suggestion for us former Insight people. Your Older RCA-425 is probably a bottle neck for your connection. It was on mine. I bought a new SB-5120 from Newegg with a promo code for free shipping. I figured I had not much to loose seeing how I considered my DCM-202 bricked and me RCA-425 slow. I have to tell you folks IT MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE!! Comcast is still having intermittent issues especially around peak time. Tier 2 tech assured me they are aware and are working diligently on them. Well I am not holding my breath,

3/14/2008

Lots of Phone call disconnects when calling support...even when just trying to call the Number sometimes I get disconnected right away. This time I actually got a 'ticket' number & I declined a service tech call because I know that it would be fruitless at this time. I did manage to pull a partial credit for the issues I had been experiencing. I found out that some of the effects included ssl errors & a full minute to sync Imap folders or Outlook times out in an email account. I wondered why I was having issues with updating/syncing My Quicken & Bank info for a week...

3/16/2008 PM

There has been a few times I have managed to experience moments of seemingly unfettered smooth sailing on the net and have actually managed some respectable speed tests. However I don't believe the 'Speed tests' really give an accurate reading of the 'real world' internet experience. So i go to sites where i have downloaded things in the past ie: Microsoft.com and download maybe a SP2 or something. On Insight average would 1200-1300- KB/sec. Since Comcast takeover it now averages 500-600 KB/sec.

I never have mentioned about the Cable tv service before so I will now.I just have basic 'cause I don't watch TV that much. However, the few channels I do watch occasionally have sometimes experienced distorted sound and occasional picture distortion (The little fleeting squares)

3/16/2008 PM

Now the service really sucks

3/25/2008

Some times when you think they have it all straightened out.Then more issues happen.

4/07/2008 AM

Still experiencing a lot of intermittent issues. Naturally Comcast wants to waste my time and theirs to send out a truck. I exclaim what for?? Besides the last person that came out confirmed there isn't anything wrong with me modem and inside lines or the drop and the immediate neighborhood. ..the intermittent issues are on comcast nodes above me like in Chicago and Boston.& why in the hell am i being routed to boston from the midwest to visit a sever thats located on the west coat? Gee that makes perfect network manageability sense to me.

4/13/2008

Yada Yada...same ole craptastic intermittent issues and &%^$% support. BTW the email Rick Germano thing is just a PR placebo.

4/26/2008

Internet has been a bit more stabilized per norm. But you never know exactly when you would mysteriously get cutoff in the middle of something. Such as what happened last week for 5 1/2 hours. However there are still occasional persistent intermittent issue on some nodes. The Basic cable service I have is even taking a licking from comcast compression and routing tactics. Insight service was sooo much more dependable and reliable in the end...

4/30/2008

Have another tech scheduled to come out...just to waste my time and confirm that is is nothing on my end...BTW I getting so annoyed at that stupid voice menu/speech/ marketing crap...just get to the chase I say

5/2/2008

I had to cancel the scheduled tech visit because a more demanding issue came about that required my presence elsewhere. I did get an email response from a "Comcast Rep". I have yet to email all my data to them.

5/4/2008

Until these issues are resolved, I am going to do my best to keep this review on the front page to divert what I sense are some of Comcasts paid poster/reviewers. I have notice a few folks posted a thread in the forums about a node/router in Connecticut (& other places) dropping packets big time. It just so happens to be one of those nodes/routers that is affecting me in Northern Illinois that I have repeatedly reported on numerous occasions. One in Massachusetts is another that acts up frequently and affects me here.

One thing I have to say... If Insight can whip together a full fairly reliable network in about a year with less resources & experiences than Comcast, why on earth cannot Comcast keep/or do the same. Technically they were somewhat partners. So what happened in the transition? Other than Big Corp Greed, manipulation and moving stuff around for their own major benefit all in the meantime using the deceptive marketing media hype to promote the half truths..

5/7/2008

Uploaded some more shots showing the Connecticut plots

5/11/2008

Uploaded More plots showing the typical Comcast node/router intermittent trouble makers
IP 68.86.90.54 te-1-4-ar01.woburn.ma.ma.boston.comcast.net &
IP 68.86.90.58 te-3-1-ar01.chartford.ct.hartford.comcast.net

Even My basic cable tv service has intermittent issues showing on various channels today.

5/14/2008

Speed test (especially flash) DO NOT give an accurate rendering of real world internet experiences. Just as certain protocols, web sites, & servers can be blacklisted (throttled or blocked) - the opposite is also true. Have you ever noticed a vast difference in the latency when running a speed test from a certain server from Flash to Java & to running just a simple ping?

A Comcast sales rep handed out a bunch of flyer's in me neighborhood offering a pretty good introductory deal. Little do they now that I am co-captain of the neighborhood watch. I communicate regularly with a lot of households. Needless to say I share the truth about my own experiences and what to really expect with Comcast.

BTW as I am pinging speakeasy.net I am showing the 5-10 ms packet losses every 20-30 ms on the ole boston node/router this morning.

5/19/2008

As per typical Comcraptic ways. The above mention Nodes are still intermittent. I must STRESS that even the cable TV is rapidly deteriorating. Most of me channels have these quaint little lines going up the screen. Reminds me somewhat of rabbit ears. Support simply sucks at best. Tech or corporate don't get off their duff to truly fix stuff. Save the New Building the fatheads can sit in & that silly social site of whatever the (*&% it is they bought.

5/23/2008

I'll give credit where credit is do. Had a tech visit this morning about the quaint lines in my Cable TV service this morning. Apparently & highly probable it appears to have been a bad splitter that I really didn't need in the first place. (It was something leftover from before Comcast & NOT inline with the cable modem/internet) I won't fault Comcast on that one. I'll give the tech that came out a thumbs up for prompt and thorough inspection and troubleshooting.

I do have a hard photo of my TV with some green lines taken on 4\20
2008 However I believe that was a totally separate issue Than this recent one.

I did show the tech the data I have been collecting about my internet experiences. He suggested I take it to the supervisor locally. That can be arranged seeing as how they are not far from me.

6/7/2008

Woke up this morning and booted comp up to a very intermittent slow loading at times (Something was interfering with Various pages being called up intermittently) Home page (Google) and various other pages would take way too long to load or sometimes would load normally Speed tests and latency checks were all over the place. As usual the node IP 68.86.90.58 te-3-1-ar01.chartford.ct.hartford.comcast.net that appears to be in the way of most of my browsing paths is showing its typical intermittent issues. However it wasn't quite as bad as I have seen it in the past. So this is a bit puzzling for me. I'll chalk this up to one of their 'Deep Packet' inspection hardware boxes interfering with the syn_sent or the receive packets from my browsers. On the other hand, just to be fair it appears several other level3.net (nodes/routers) were having occasional packet losses too.
Comcast support was running on the usual script per norm and of course they offered to roll a truck. I asked, "What for? You still hadn't really fixed the other (Internet) Comcast network issues yet thats above me since the last few tech visits."

6/11/2008

Internet service is the crap again. So what else is new aye. Can't even call support today from cell...reckon thats my fault too that even the call center is &^(^$%*$ up.

6/14/2008

Don't consistently get alleged advertise speeds even OFF "peak' Hours. Customer service and networks techs simply suck at best. Service is not 'smooth'... is spotty, jerky (cuts in and out) I really Hate the robot thing when one calls in with a bloody passion. What an absolute annoyance. Even that part of their service is not consistent or reliable. (Go figure aye). I am tired of doing the same ole 'script' only to still be where I am at today. Comcasts service and support simply doesn't hold a candle to my former ISP Insight despite all the marketing hype and empty PR double talk.. Yet they raised rates pretty much across the board claiming an 'Increased value of service. What a bunch of true BS. All the various 'Deep packet inspection' hardware, protocol agnostic, monitoring and other crap they use, actually hinders and adds to the instability and performance issues. Makes trouble shooting and diagnostics a much more pain in the backside & it leaves the generic tech support people clueless and inept.

»/lineq ··· /2396022
ge-1-2-ar03.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net 19%

6/29/2008

With A 10 down and a 1 up service (Before the Media Marketed propaganda 'Powerboost') One would think that to send an email with approx. 8 MB attachment (Something I very rarely do), it wouldn't take all but a couple minutes MAX to send. How about a full 7 minutes!! Very Nice...yah right.

Time to spend calling support= 2sec.
Listening to robot to get to live person= 1-5 min
reciting 'scripts' before CSR= 10 min
User experiences from Insight to Comcast average ratio= (negative) -33-50%
Actual 'Real' or 'long term' solutions applied= ???
Real User Experiences= Priceless
Must be why they figure it as an 'Increased value of service' uh?

6/30/2008

I can no longer connect to local office...so i have to go through the other number and if I am lucky get cut-off during transfer so i can listen to that crap all over again. Aaarrgg!

Finally got a live one. #CR129479 the tech on the phone even noted intermittent High pings from his end to my modem. As per protocol. I get to blow part of a day for a truck roll. I also take the opportunity to remind them once again of the troubled nodes/routers I have been noting.

note...generally the speeds have been about half of what they should be these last couple of weeks.

7/2/2008

»/lineq ··· /2402609
ge-1-2-ar03.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net showing 29% loss Immediately after that I ran PingPlotter (TCP packets) against Pingplotter.com and te-1-4-ar01.woburn.ma.boston.comcast.net shows average of 50% packet loss. Comcast has us screwed coming and going. Go figure. View image

7/05/2008

Tech was here on time (Former Insight employee...Sincere thanks for Comcast keeping the "Local workforce') Tech was professional and thorough. He checked everything, looked at my data collected. Even ran his lappy bypassing router confirming my results. Again...Its not on my end that these issues are happening. I am gonna call it node overload or deep packet inspection/compression hardware issues. Whatever the case is, I am NOT getting what is marketed or I am paying for.

Naturally it was 9 am day after the 4th so network wasn't nearly as bad. However it was still below par.

Speed Test #53792888 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-07-06 05:54:20 EST
Download: 3586 (Kbps)
Upload: 1296 (Kbps)

The dude even expressed interest in registering here on this site for future references. Apparently Comcasts internal (passworded) Speedtest site is in a cyber hole somewhere.
Long Live the Java Speedtests!!
Results of the tech visit are yet to be seen. I trust this guy will follow through on his reporting this for a real workable solution

7/12/2008
Still Waiting for a longer term solution to be applied...aka 'fixed network' screw the powerboost, stop compressing the snot out of everything and just stick with reasonable reliability aye!!.
Comcast nodes/routers ARE overloaded.

Speed Test #54160019 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-07-12 17:53:40 EST
Download: 2713 (Kbps)
Upload: 843 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 331.2 down 103 up
Tested by server: 56 java
User: 1089628 @ dslreports.com
User's DNS: comcast.net
Compared to the average of 2986 tests from comcast.net:
* download is 62% worse, upload is 43% worse

7/13/2008

Speed Test #54188994 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-07-13 09:04:12 EST
Download: 3312 (Kbps)
Upload: 1453 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 404.3 down 177.4 up
Tested by server: 55 java
User: 1089628 @ dslreports.com
User's DNS: comcast.net
Compared to the average of 2899 tests from comcast.net:
* download is 53% worse, upload is 3% worse

7/16/2008 Morning
Done on the Speakeasy one

Speed Test #54349081 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-07-16 06:50:01 EST
Download: 2526 (Kbps)
Upload: 1441 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 308.4 down 175.9 up
Tested by server: 55 java
User: 1089628 @ dslreports.com
User's DNS: comcast.net
Compared to the average of 2528 tests from comcast.net:
* download is 64% worse, upload is 4% worse

Evening
»/lineq ··· /2407954

7/17/2008

Needless to say it is not smooth sailing especially in the evening times
Uploaded a new PingPlotter Images. I used UDP packets at Speakeasy.net & Amazon.com. One Pingplotter image (Using TCP Packets) at Amazon.com showing strange actions. I did manage to capture some packets during the UDP drops but not when I was memorized by the tcp Amazon one. See below and you will know why.
The newer images are noted by the purple/bluish color

5 am my time:

Speed Test #54459901 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-07-18 06:03:31 EST
Download: 5948 (Kbps)
Upload: 2251 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 726.1 down 274.8 up
Tested by server: 55 java
User: 1089628 @ dslreports.com
User's DNS: comcast.net
Compared to the average of 2541 tests from comcast.net:
* download is 16% worse, upload is 48% better

7/192008 @ 2:22am

Speed Test #54512078 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-07-19 03:20:36 EST
Download: 4082 (Kbps)
Upload: 2597 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 498.3 down 317 up
Tested by server: 54 java
User: 1089628 @ dslreports.com
User's DNS: comcast.net
Compared to the average of 2526 tests from comcast.net:
* download is 42% worse, upload is 72% better

7/23/2008

Another grand evening of spotty, jerky, packet dropping and sub-par internet performance for what one ‘allegedly’ pays for. I am in the process of ‘testing’ a certain config file for what is known as Blast (16/2). I must confess, I am not too impressed. I do not see/experience much difference that what I ‘allegedly’ had (10/1) save the upload is a little bit better. Of course we all know that that what I had (10/1) was performing subpar in Comcast’s hands opposed to when it was in my original ISP’s (InsightBB). Generally, we are cruising about half speed and jerky. I ran some more PingPlotter Plots using three different types of packets, pinging three strategic domains (I will not post them here). One was Comcast’s very own. Naturally, the router/nodes or whatever one chooses to call them today I have been consistently griping about are still intermittently dropping packets
.
Some excuses ISP’s like to use is “It’s not on our network”… “We are not responsible for other networks”… or something along the lines of: We are not responsible for the delivery/speed outside our networks and even then, it is worded ’UP TO’… & THAT depends on certain conditions (of course one of them is termed “network”. These statements and ideologies may be true in one perspective. However, they are also used as a ‘reasonable’ cop-out for what appears to me as blatant irresponsibility.
Whose network we complaining about here?? When I do browse other places outside your (Comcast) network, do I not pass through devices on your (Comcast) network to get to them (Other networks) and vice versa??

Let us have a show of hands of people that that do all their browsing, posting, forum hopping, music listening/downloading, video watching/downloading, banking, online shopping, software patches, online courses, web work, research & all the other things folks do on the net… On & limited too their ISP’S own specific network…hmmm
Yet the Marketing Media Propaganda portrays it as…’DO EVERYTHING’ faster and better with our service (Which btw implies network) Tell me please how that will that happen when their own network cannot keep up and/or perform with the service they offer and sell?

If I recall, this review falls under the ISP of Comcast and I do specifically remember me posting images (see below or go here »Review of Comcast XFINITY by FreedomBuild ) and such about certain troubled routers/gateways with the ending of COMCAST.NET that are consistently intermittently dropping packets, Thus, drastically affecting my internet experience.

See recent from another angle »/lineq ··· /2410639

From my own experiences of the ‘Blast’ (16/2) these last 2 weeks is nothing but a ‘sound good’, ego boosting (Cuzz I got blast) theoretical cool thing that one technically pays more money for and gets less product (Personal experience with data to back it up) I call it deception or to put it lightly “LIE”. Comcast couldn’t even keep up with the 10/1. Former InsighBB customers were promised that we would have the same uninterrupted service, performance and speed that we experienced with InsightBB for at least a year. Well the Year is half over; so far we are getting the shaft by Corporate BS.

Speed Test #54742962 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-07-23 20:32:59 EST
Download: 1851 (Kbps)
Upload: 1945 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 226 down 237.5 up
Tested by server: 54 java
User: 1089628 @ dslreports.com
User's DNS: comcast.net
Compared to the average of 2180 tests from comcast.net:
* download is 74% worse, upload is 28% better

Even a speed test I did on Comcast’s own in Chicago was not good.

7/29/2008

Speed Test #54960214 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-07-29 04:55:57 EST
Download: 2917 (Kbps)
Upload: 2740 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 356.1 down 334.5 up
Tested by server: 54 java
User: 1089628 @ dslreports.com
User's DNS: comcast.net
Compared to the average of 1603 tests from comcast.net:
* download is 63% worse, upload is 80% better

Oh, Gee Comcast…. Your bank is NOT ON MY BANK NETWORK. So I am not responsible nor can I guarantee the delivery for the ‘UP TO’ my full bill payment

8/172008

I have resisted posting anything on here for several weeks for 2 reasons: 1) been real busy in real life 2) trying to give Comcast a fair shake at 'catching up'
Apparently, Comcast HAS been doing some things to improve user experiences in my particular area. from what I can tell. I have not seen the consistent packet losses noted in previous posts.
I have been noting a considerable degradation in 'Speed' performance during 'Peak' time. (Generally 2/3rds of the normal using the internet time) Even with the highly media marketing propagated 'Powerboost'.
Apparently the 'Powerboost' works well OFF peak hours. But what about 'Peak' hours? Does it turn off then? Doubt it very seriously. Then why the serious degradation in performance during 'Peak' hours. I think the powerboost just manages to keep you at about 'provisioned speed' during the speedtests at those times never mind the 'sustained provisioned speed. My observation anyway. So what does that really tell an inquisitive mind aye?

Below is a copy of an email I sent to the Comcast reps that have been communicating with me.

Begin email...
Ok, I’ll put this more direct. So you bumped me up to blast and it ‘Really’ isn’t any better than the service than before. (Check out a few other folks complaining of issues with ‘Blast’.) Except, I am paying 25% more. Please tell me (stupid of me to think it was possible) How in the hell can Comcast manage 16/2 when they couldn’t manage the 10/1? When folks on the 8/2 can post similar speed tests (see 8-2 example.pdf). Evening time really sucks and you guys know it. Your overloaded and your charging a premium for services not & incapable of rending on a reasonable level. I am sure there are a whole slew of other folks that do not know better and are not aware of how or where to complain about their Comcast service too.

To top it off, Comcast evidently shows favoritism. *see this review »Review of Comcast XFINITY by baineschile.
So where is the real difference? Apparently Comcast will not deliver what they claim and market. I have multiple speed tests, PingPlots and download screenshots from places all over and locally showing that.

Why is this error in my modems log files? *see logsdata.pdf (reset my modem yesterday)
REG: Capability type incorrectly negotiated by CMTS

Now we know that my system and setup can and does handle things nicely when Comcast is playing right.
In one of your emails you sent me Frank, You stated “This could be something specific to the ping plotter program or the specific packets used…”. Could be! If that were truly the case, then why is it those two specific hops on a regular consistent basis and not any others?

As I stated in my review… ‘Pay more for less’ I am not all happy or content with the dishonoring of Comcast’s word to us former InsightBB customers. Nor am I happy with false and misleading advertising claims. Nor am I happy with the performance and degradation of my prior service and the service I have now at a 25% cost increase. I am a Remodeler by trade and if I don’t perform what I say I would. Then I don’t get paid. Now you want to ()*&^)%^ my credit up because I contest my bill?

All I want is what I have paid for on a consistent level. I’m tired of the price gouging, lies, Corporate greed and deception.
end email...

My observation about the Degradation in overall performance during Peak times has been confirmed more than once using Comcast's own speedtests as well as others.

8/18/2008

I sense some things heating up. »Review of Comcast XFINITY by pls1

8/19/2008

Taken Here »speed.nap.wideopenwest.com/ @ about 5:50 pm

Speed Test #55955097 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-08-19 18:55:40 EST
Download: 5876 (Kbps)
Upload: 2157 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 717.3 down 263.3 up
Tested by server: 12 java
User: 1089628 @ dslreports.com
User's DNS: comcast.net
Compared to the average of 2294 tests from comcast.net:
* download is 23% worse, upload is 41% better

note... This is a Java site recommended by Frank. The upload is indicating Powerboost. However the download is of serious trouble. I ran 3 of them in a 10 minute time frame. Appears the evening 'Protocol Agnostic' throttling has kicked in.

8/29/2008

I am still not convinced that the 'theoretical 16/2 blast' @ a 25% increase in cost, is any better than what i originally had and were promised that the service would not change in the transition from Insightbb. ( I still have the original letter) Now because Comcast was caught with their hand up their backside. We normal users have to pay another deceptive price. The user cap. I am not advocating those folks that use the internet to the extreme. To impose the abusers penalty on everyone else is just not right. I can read the writing on the wall. Its a dumbing down for internet access and another way to double charge for advertisements and to keep with the greed of 'Pay more for less' It doesn't matter if one has ad-blocking software on their PC. The bandwidth is still counted toward ones own use.

Remember Comcast in essence could not manage my original plan 10/1 and it appears that the 16/2 on most occasions is the same performance. the throughput after the powerblast kick is no different the majority of the time.

I am still waiting for proper compensation for Comcast own mismanagement of their network which in turn affected me.

As for the other 'Paid' reviewers trying desperately to 'up' comcast ratings score... Truth always prevails in the end. Such as that when Comcast was caught red handed about the p2p protocol forgery and they (Comcast) explicitly denied it.

2/09/2008
As per Norm of typical Comcast deception and the regular prime time sub par performance one pays extra for...

Speed Test #57176159 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-09-09 23:21:09 EST
Download: 6702 (Kbps)
Upload: 2823 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 818.2 down 344.6 up
Tested by server: 12 java
User: 1089628 @ dslreports.com
User's DNS: comcast.net
Compared to the average of 1631 tests from comcast.net:
* download is 2% worse, upload is 82% better

Again...and this has been fairly regular. Just because I haven't been posting much doesn't mean everything is running smoothly. I have been running some other kinds of tests that are too lengthy to post here. Rest assured I am collecting data.

9/14/2008

When its up & Not during Prime time (which BTW is only about 1/3 rd the time), service is generally pretty good as noted:

Results from »www.speed.io
(Copied on 2008-09-14 06:48:46)
Download: 31383 Kbit/s
Upload : 2828 kbit/s
Connects : 2710 conn/min
Ping: 11 ms

Java from WOW
Speed Test #57427281 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-09-14 08:12:36 EST
Download: 29742 (Kbps)
Upload: 2752 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 3630.6 down 336 up
Tested by server: 12 java
User: 1089628 @ dslreports.com
User's DNS: comcast.net
Compared to the average of 1750 tests from comcast.net:
* download is 313% better, upload is 83% better

Both @ 7am Sunday morning.

However come a little later in the day and at evening times one can generally halve those numbers and the is with the co vented powerboost. Take the Powerboost away and one gets the real time average speed. which equals about half on a good day. So in essence we are paying twice as much for half of *package sold. As for the 'up to' lingo. They can shove it up too the their highest backside. I am a little pissed off at the constant serious evening and weekend degradation of services.

I was doing a tile job @ a clients house when Comcast came to do an install. I was appalled at the non former comcast employee installing Comcrast's malware aka toolbar and whatever else that crap comes with. What self centered jerks!! They prey on the internet and computer illiterates for their own selfish, controlling and manipulative ways.

9/21/2008

As per usual scenario...

Speed Test #57876307 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-09-21 20:28:12 EST
Download: 9329 (Kbps)
Upload: 2782 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 1138.8 down 339.7 up
Tested by server: 12 java
User: 2 @ dslreports.com
User's DNS: comcast.net
Compared to the average of 2340 tests from comcast.net:

If it were not for the powerboost, i wouldn't have sh**
Supposedly they are escalating this *again to the local office. This time I made sure I got a reference number # 53358 & CSR id.

9/23/2008
7:28 pm

Speed Test #57997746 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-09-23 20:26:33 EST
Download: 5874 (Kbps)
Upload: 2306 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 717.1 down 281.5 up
Tested by server: 12 java
User: 2 @ dslreports.com
User's DNS: comcast.net

Customer support is a proverbial loop of NOT actually getting anything done. But rather a placebo to to appear as they are actually doing something and to waste ones time and resources.The bureaucratic red tape in the companies policies ensure that nothing actually gets done to the customers satisfaction or a REAL long term solution for the customers benefit. (as been noted by my reviews as well as a few other local Rockford area members that managed to find this site and post there own experiences.)
Customer service, Real technical support/solutions and the PR placebo scheme give a whole new meaning the the term 'simply suxs' So I have taken the liberty of contacting several elected state officials,CUB. FTC, FCC, Illinois Commerce Commission and the states attorney with my documented complaints, letters. tests, findings and will continue to hound them. Not all tests and finding were done from my own personal location. To ensure the broad scope of things I have run tests from several other peoples houses throughout Rockford & area. Only my own are posted.

10/04/2008

finally been contacted on that 'double' escalated ticket. I have actually had a few Comcast folks calling me. Naturally per protocol, they are sending out yet another truck today. I asked them....gee...did it really get fixed the other 5 times?
Evidently the guy monitoring my 'line' noticed packet losses too. That's why they are rolling another truck. We will see...

In the mean time, Internet service has been sporadic today some good times and some bad. * Normally this time of the day, it's all bad...but, it's not evening yet. here is a sampling

Speed Test #58636293 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-10-04 15:28:46 EST
Download: 6518 (Kbps)
Upload: 2509 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 795.7 down 306.3 up
Tested by server: 12 java
User: 1089628 @ dslreports.com
User's DNS: comcast.net

That's with the 16/2 package and powerboost mind ya.

10/19/2008
Comcast's own internal speedtest site on a Sunday morning no doubt & it being Flash based at that with the all powerfull powerboost & Blast

Last Result:
Download Speed: 9881 kbps (1235.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 2814 kbps (351.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

This test was done after a restart * first one stalled out. Like I posted in another place appears comcasts own crap throttles its own.I reckon it truly is agnostic. But you know I pay for the 16/2. But hey at least they cant use the excuse 'It's not on our network'

11/03/2008

Just cleaned up the ole PingPlotter images from here...(Kudos to the webmaster that enabled this)
Apparently with all the DPI crap & new protocol agnostic hardware in the way. It makes it much harder to pinpoint the bottlenecks... Then again, maybe THOSE are the bottlenecks. I tend to think so. Been running a few tests from alternate sources when time permits.
Although I do not really put mush stock into 'Speedtest' especially flash. I must again publicaly note that one of the suggested sites I use was one of Comcast's own internal site. We will just say that 4 out 5 last times I used it it would countdown and almost crawl to a stop...funny aye.

Got hit with the random cable modem rental fee...even though I own my cable modem & always have. Funny it wasn't on the last bill. I have a theory that the billing program is set to randomly inject that fee for some mass, fast, oops (Hope you don't catch that) revenue generator.

As for the actual service...Not much has really changed still averaging 1/3 - 1/2 the allotted tier I have been faithfully paying for.

12/1/2008

This is Blast...

Speed Test #62136845 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-12-01 21:08:10 EST
Download: 8301 (Kbps)
Upload: 2931 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 1013.3 down 357.8 up
Tested by server: 12 java
User: 2 @ dslreports.com
User's DNS: comcast.net
Compared to the average of 2312 tests from comcast.net:
* download is 13% better, upload is 38% better

Screen shot below was taken yesterday on Comcast's own internal speed test site. I did not finish the test because it was already @ 3 minutes.

12/7/2008

Some selective text from another test
Connected to: miranda.ctd.anl.gov -- Using IPv4 address
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
checking for firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client-to-server [C2S]) . . . . . 1.70Mb/s
running 10s inbound test (server-to-client [S2C]) . . . . . . 1.93Mb/s
The slowest link in the end-to-end path is a 10 Mbps Ethernet subnet
Information: Other network traffic is congesting the link
[C2S]: Packet queuing detected
Web100 reports the Round trip time = 82.98 msec; the Packet size = 1380 Bytes; and
There were 13 packets retransmitted, 86 duplicate acks received, and 78 SACK blocks received
The connection stalled 4 times due to packet loss
The connection was idle 1.12 seconds (11.20%) of the time
C2S throughput test: Packet queuing detected: 36.81%
S2C throughput test: Packet queuing detected: 1.67%
This connection is sender limited 1.63% of the time.
This connection is network limited 98.37% of the time.
The theoretical network limit is 2.63 Mbps
The NDT server has a 127.0 KByte buffer which limits the throughput to 24.10 Mbps
Your PC/Workstation has a 376.0 KByte buffer which limits the throughput to 35.43 Mbps
The network based flow control limits the throughput to 4.56 Mbps

This morning
Connected to: miranda.ctd.anl.gov -- Using IPv4 address
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
checking for firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client-to-server [C2S]) . . . . . 2.88Mb/s
running 10s inbound test (server-to-client [S2C]) . . . . . . 7.43Mb/s
The slowest link in the end-to-end path is a 10 Mbps Ethernet subnet
Information: Other network traffic is congesting the link
[C2S]: Packet queuing detected
Web100 reports the Round trip time = 87.74 msec; the Packet size = 1380 Bytes; and
There were 58 packets retransmitted, 462 duplicate acks received, and 474 SACK blocks received
The connection stalled 3 times due to packet loss
The connection was idle 0.86 seconds (8.6%) of the time
C2S throughput test: Packet queuing detected: 24.90%
S2C throughput test: Packet queuing detected: 0.12%
This connection is sender limited 20.15% of the time.
This connection is network limited 79.85% of the time.
The theoretical network limit is 5.72 Mbps
The NDT server has a 127.0 KByte buffer which limits the throughput to 22.79 Mbps
Your PC/Workstation has a 376.0 KByte buffer which limits the throughput to 33.51 Mbps
The network based flow control limits the throughput to 23.15 Mbps

But still crappy inconsistency in speeds and performance.

12/18/2008
Bottomline Comcast service simply is unreliable and simply sucks

1/9/2009

Still averaging half of what I am paying for. Fired off a EECB with "Written notice prior to Small Claims'. Supposed to be Contacted Regional Manager.

7/23/2009

I know it's been awhile since I posted my review. I hadn't taken Comcast to small claims yet. I still have time.

Service still sucks!! still getting half speeds on average of what we pay for. I degrade my service back to the original 'Insight' tier 10/1 *naturally at a higher price than what I had* and guess what!! I am still getting (If I am lucky) between 5-9 on average with powerboost. Gee I was getting that on the 16/2. So basically they sold and billed me for a service they were incapable of actually delivering.
See 12/7/2208 post

I hold Mr. Comcastcares accountable for that. As far as I am concerned in My book, he aint nothin but an egotistical fluff bucket. Don't care much for the district manager in Rockford either. I have a letter written to me by him straight up lying. My response rebuked his tale using Comcast's own internal speedtest server. But naturally I suppose that's part of the Corporate policy is to lie. Just look at their track record. I thought about and maybe still will post that letter along with my reply here.

As of 2 months ago, the slowest link; now reports 45 Mbps T3/DS3 subnet. Comcast replaced a head of course secretly while denying there was any problem with their network. Incidentally it took care of the tin man underwater sound on the local HD channels they are required by law to transmit. But that was a whole other complaint part that took about 4-5 months to resolve. One would think it would actually help our true speeds...NOT!! maybe it's the sandvine crap that was mentioned on the front page

»Comcast/Sandvine Traffic Managment System Evolves [63] comments today.

I know delivering mp3's and videos to a website I manage has a grand throughput speed of about 48-168kbs....'corrected' NOT GOOD

So what is the real deal. Folks in a neighborhood that has some true competition may see some of Comcast's better side. But as it stands we in Rockford are getting screwed!

7/24/2009
I uploaded the letter I got from the District Director here in Rockford Illinois along with my response. Needless to say Executive customer care rep Verneen Breaux mirrored the same to to the inquiries from complaints I submitted to the FCC and our States Attorney. When I confronted Verneen on how is it Comcast can say I was complaining on speed results from a server in Germany...she replied they thought a tech that visited mention something about it. Again I rebuked that notion and claimed I NEVER SAID OR ELUDED TO ANYTHING OF A KIND. Asked if they had it in writing...'No', she said. I asked how is it they can claim something as fact (evidenced by the copies of letters they sent to the FCC and Lisa Madigan) when all they have is 'what they thought was said' and heresy? Putting it in writing may constitute perjury.

Yet...true to Comcast denial and neglecting the truth Comcast negated actual hard core proof in writing nor would they own up to it. I do have several of our conversations recorded.

Unfortunately the images of the letters do not appear in proper order despite my uploading them in order. No worries though, it's there for the world to see.

Chicago Area/Argonne

TCP/Web100 Network Diagnostic Tool v5.5.4b
click START to begin

** Starting test 1 of 1 **
Connected to: ndt.anl.gov -- Using IPv4 address
Another client is currently being served, your test will begin within 135 seconds
Another client is currently being served, your test will begin within 90 seconds
Another client is currently being served, your test will begin within 45 seconds
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
checking for firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client-to-server [C2S]) . . . . . 4.52Mb/s
running 10s inbound test (server-to-client [S2C]) . . . . . . 4.96Mb/s
The slowest link in the end-to-end path is a 45 Mbps T3/DS3 subnet
Information: Other network traffic is congesting the link

click START to re-test

The theoretical network limit is 3.64 Mbps
The NDT server has a 127.0 KByte buffer which limits the throughput to 24.19 Mbps
Your PC/Workstation has a 255.0 KByte buffer which limits the throughput to 24.12 Mbps
The network based flow control limits the throughput to 13.61 Mbps

Client Data reports link is 'T3', Client Acks report link is 'Ethernet'
Server Data reports link is 'Ethernet', Server Acks report link is 'Ethernet'

7/25/2209
Kills videos/news casts from ABC news

7:25 pm
Chicago/Argonne

This is with the Powerboost folks!!

TCP/Web100 Network Diagnostic Tool v5.5.4b
click START to begin

** Starting test 1 of 1 **
Connected to: ndt.anl.gov -- Using IPv4 address
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
checking for firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client-to-server [C2S]) . . . . . 4.53Mb/s
running 10s inbound test (server-to-client [S2C]) . . . . . . 4.05Mb/s
The slowest link in the end-to-end path is a 45 Mbps T3/DS3 subnet
Information: Other network traffic is congesting the link

WEB100 Enabled Statistics:
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
checking for firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client-to-server [C2S]) . . . . . 4.53Mb/s
running 10s inbound test (server-to-client [S2C]) . . . . . . 4.05Mb/s

The theoretical network limit is 3.59 Mbps
The NDT server has a 127.0 KByte buffer which limits the throughput to 21.65 Mbps
Your PC/Workstation has a 255.0 KByte buffer which limits the throughput to 21.59 Mbps
The network based flow control limits the throughput to 8.20 Mbps

So actual through put is estimated at 1/1 Before the protocal agnostic sandvine kicks in!!
Simply Craptastic aye....fits right in with the ads about 'downloading large files fast uh?

7/26/2009 7:55am

Just to be fair and reduce to naught some typical Comcast excuses... I did a FTP test to my site in Dallas Texas on Site5 using the Theplanet.com Internet Services Inc group.

Mind you, this is considered early morning when LESS traffic congestion is happening. My node isn't being used as much and Comcast's protocol agnostic network management aka sandvine theoretically may not be kicking in.

I have screen shots, but will not post them here because they will interfere with the 'naming convention' of the other pics I have.

I used a 253MB wmv file
Upload averaged 134.27 KB/s....'corrected' good
Download averaged 1192.81 KB/s....'Surprise!' well within 'reasonable' performance for the 'tier' I am on now.

Maybe these recent posts are an official complaint against Comcast;s deployment of their newer 'Protocol agnostic' network management scheme.
I do know this for a fact...as evidenced by ALL my previous postings. Come 'prime time' we get the snot throttled out of us!!

07/27/2009

Not even 'Prime Time' yet..But true to Comcasts continual commitment to customer and quality of service coupled with value added 'Enhancements' we are experiencing the following this morning!!

Back to 'the slowest link 10 MB Ethernet link' Which probably explains the deterioration (random Pixelation) in on Cable video last night. I am quite sure the tin man underwater sound will be prevalent again too.

Speed Test #75467551 by dslreports.com
Run: 2009-07-27 9:11:50 CST
Download: 492 (Kbps)
Upload: 2981 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 60 down 364 up
Tested by server: 56 java
User: 1089628 @ dslreports.com
User's DNS: comcast.net
Compared to the average of 2033 tests from comcast.net:
* download is 93% worse, upload is 10% better

7/27/2009 9:20 am

TCP/Web100 Network Diagnostic Tool v5.5.4b
click START to begin

** Starting test 1 of 1 **
Connected to: ndt.anl.gov -- Using IPv4 address
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
checking for firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client-to-server [C2S]) . . . . . 2.06Mb/s
running 10s inbound test (server-to-client [S2C]) . . . . . . 3.36Mb/s
The slowest link in the end-to-end path is a 10 Mbps Ethernet subnet

7/28/2009 12:00 pm

WEB100 Enabled Statistics:
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
checking for firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client-to-server [C2S]) . . . . . 2.00Mb/s
running 10s inbound test (server-to-client [S2C]) . . . . . . 4.14Mb/s

------ Client System Details ------
OS data: Name = Windows Vista, Architecture = x86, Version = 6.0
Java data: Vendor = Sun Microsystems Inc., Version = 1.6.0_14

------ Web100 Detailed Analysis ------
10 Mbps Ethernet link found.
Link set to Full Duplex mode
No network congestion discovered.
Good network cable(s) found
Normal duplex operation found.

Web100 reports the Round trip time = 83.88 msec; the Packet size = 1460 Bytes; and
There were 39 packets retransmitted, 514 duplicate acks received, and 524 SACK blocks received
The connection was idle 0 seconds (0%) of the time

10/20/2010
Rebooting the bleeping modem several times a day or at least every other day is getting to be a real pain in the a** not to mention wreaks havoc on my internal network and router settings
S2C throughput test: Packet queuing detected: 1.01%
This connection is sender limited 46.29% of the time.
This connection is network limited 53.01% of the time.

FTP test done today as the same posted on 7/26/2009 Sunday morning

Upload averaged ??....not even going to bother
Download averaged 472.17 KB/s....or 3.868 Mbps

4:10 pm

TCP/Web100 Network Diagnostic Tool v5.5.4b
click START to begin

** Starting test 1 of 1 **
Connected to: ndt.anl.gov -- Using IPv4 address
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
checking for firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client-to-server [C2S]) . . . . . 1.43Mb/s
running 10s inbound test (server-to-client [S2C]) . . . . . . 2.08Mb/s
The slowest link in the end-to-end path is a 10 Mbps Ethernet subnet

this is with PowerBoost! of course when one calls...we get the same ole scripted crap we heard for the last year and half...several techs...and supervisors...yada, yada, yada...what do we have?... aint nothing changed but rather grew worse..Yet the Ads are blasting ...spewing hyped propaganda.....It makes me want to puke.

7/29/2009

So much for going back to the original Insight 10/1 I just learned today the screwed me out of that and have me rated at their so-called even more throttled silver package (the "performance 6/384'...excuse me??? Another example of Comcratic experience!!

7/30/2009

I do have another tech visit this early evening. Will it be another fruitless trip? I am not holding my breath.

Excerpt from another post I did this morning in answer to an ambitious and dedicated Comcast rep...YES!! I actually DID say something positive. I don't hold the people who are the 'nuts-n-bolts' to Comcast's service accountable as a whole. I DO however hold Corporate policies and business model and those in charge of same accountable.

A direct answer to your question...the mean average for my previous post was 8.16Mb/s.

Knowing that those tests were using a 10 second burst up & down falls well within 'Active PowerBoost's' parameters. Please

also note the time I posted 3:38 pm central. We were starting to get into primetime.

Actual throughput was about 4.68Mb/s

I will note this was done on my Vista 32 bit...Tweaked. Using router it is the same machine I did my FTP test to my site

stated in my review on Sunday morning 7:55 am 7/26/2009 which at that time produced very acceptable results.

This morning starting @ 5:50 am I did the same FTP test to my site. Freedombuild.net using ThePlanet group located in

Dallas Texas. My site has a dedicated IP. There is only one other website I am managing there.

This test I used my Vista 64 bit machine, Tweaked, same router of course and same 'brand' Security Suite * noting for documentary purposes, Security Suites generally do increase the overhead and MOST tests I have done, have this as well as other factors in mind (there has been some documented tests I have done with with said Security Suite disabled even when I was running XP 64 & 32 * just another side note to let Comcast know, that ALL my tests I have done and documented over the last year and half were not done hastily, biased an ignorantly without considering 'other' variable factors including 'typical' networked factors...aka the other networks.

Here are my results @ 5:50 am-6:30am 7/30/2009

Using 253MB wmv file ftp to freedombuild.net

Upload averaged....133 KB/s or 1.09Mbps
Dnload averaged...1100 KB/s or 9.011Mbps

Perfectly acceptable performance for my rated tier at this time
Tracert to freedombuild.net to show the path

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Shawn>tracert freedombuild.net 7:10am 7/30/2009

Tracing route to freedombuild.net [74.54.170.171]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.10.1
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 9 ms 9 ms 8 ms ge-1-2-ur01.rockford.il.chicago.comcast.net [68.
85.179.137]
4 8 ms 9 ms 8 ms te-8-3-ur02.rockford.il.chicago.comcast.net [68.
85.176.169]
5 11 ms 14 ms 13 ms te-0-9-0-4-ar01.elmhurst.il.chicago.comcast.net
[68.85.176.174]
6 13 ms * 13 ms pos-0-1-0-0-ar01.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [6
8.87.230.237]
7 14 ms 25 ms 20 ms pos-1-14-0-0-cr01.chicago.il.ibone.comcast.net [
68.86.90.45]
8 38 ms 40 ms 38 ms pos-2-14-0-0-cr01.atlanta.ga.ibone.comcast.net [
68.86.85.170]
9 54 ms 51 ms 52 ms pos-1-13-0-0-cr01.dallas.tx.ibone.comcast.net [6
8.86.85.253]
10 52 ms 52 ms 54 ms theplanet-cr01.dallas.tx.ibone.comcast.net [68.8
6.88.50]
11 52 ms 52 ms 52 ms te7-1.dsr02.dllstx3.theplanet.com [70.87.253.18]

12 53 ms 54 ms 52 ms te3-3.dsr02.dllstx2.theplanet.com [70.87.253.126
]
13 66 ms 54 ms 52 ms po2.car07.dllstx6.theplanet.com [70.87.254.190]

14 51 ms 53 ms * ab.aa.364a.static.theplanet.com [74.54.170.171]

15 54 ms 58 ms 53 ms ab.aa.364a.static.theplanet.com [74.54.170.171]

Note that this test produced similar results as the one I did 7/26/2009 Sunday morning on me Vista 32 bit machine.

Come primetime, when there is more traffic on Comcasts network, results are greatly diminished. Which tells me
1) Comcast's network is underbuilt and oversold.
2)The Network management scheme Comcast deploys throttles the snot out of everybody benefiting Comcast but screwing the average user.
3) Demonstrates the 'PowerBoost' is really just a marketing ploy and just manages to keep more naive users deceived as to what's really going on.
4)Active Comcast ad campaigns wording can be considered false advertising in certain markets (Rockford, IL)
5) Discredits Comcast's universal claim to 'committed' or 'commitment' when used in conjunction with customer service and quality of service....

I could go on, but I think the point is made.

Does Comcast have the ability to provide service as they claim? I am sure they do as demonstrated from other folks here on

DSLR/Broadband Reports

typically in an area that is more prone too and has true competition.

I have noted, on more than one occasion, folks on lesser tier plans (Especially when I was on the supposed 16/2 blast)

consistently blew the doors off or MATCHED my typical speed tests

*another note: I am not the only one in my immediate neighborhood that has expressed anguish over the performance of Comcast's 'HSI'

7/30/2009 5:33 pm

Did same FTP test as earlier on the same machine...file...setup. This time I started about 5:03 pm.

Upload average.....140 KB/s or 1.147Mbps 'I killed it at 60MB but still very good'
Dnload average.....480KB/s or 3.932Mbps "NOT GOOD' typical less than half!!

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Tracing route to freedombuild.net [74.54.170.171]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.10.1
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 14 ms 16 ms 10 ms ge-1-2-ur01.rockford.il.chicago.comcast.net [68.
85.179.137]
4 9 ms 13 ms 13 ms te-8-3-ur02.rockford.il.chicago.comcast.net [68.
85.176.169]
5 17 ms 15 ms 18 ms te-0-9-0-4-ar01.elmhurst.il.chicago.comcast.net
[68.85.176.174]
6 17 ms 16 ms 15 ms pos-0-1-0-0-ar01.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [6
8.87.230.237]
7 15 ms 13 ms 16 ms pos-1-14-0-0-cr01.chicago.il.ibone.comcast.net [
68.86.90.45]
8 38 ms 40 ms 37 ms pos-2-14-0-0-cr01.atlanta.ga.ibone.comcast.net [
68.86.85.170]
9 52 ms 52 ms 54 ms pos-1-13-0-0-cr01.dallas.tx.ibone.comcast.net [6
8.86.85.253]
10 52 ms 52 ms 54 ms theplanet-cr01.dallas.tx.ibone.comcast.net [68.8
6.88.50]
11 54 ms 52 ms 54 ms te7-1.dsr02.dllstx3.theplanet.com [70.87.253.18]

12 53 ms 54 ms 54 ms te3-3.dsr02.dllstx2.theplanet.com [70.87.253.126
]
13 55 ms 52 ms 53 ms po2.car07.dllstx6.theplanet.com [70.87.254.190]

14 57 ms 63 ms 59 ms ab.aa.364a.static.theplanet.com [74.54.170.171]

Trace complete.

Now I know what some of your are thinking.... so here is Comcast's own internal 'Flash' speedtest @ »68.87.178.6/ 5:33pm

Download Speed: 10866 kbps (1358.3 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 2467 kbps (308.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Get off that 10866 kbps looks like your getting your rated down speed trash. Because one has to consider the Powerboost percentage. PowerBoost is a little over a 40% increase in the normal 1Mbps for the tier I am on now

2467 x 40% = 986.8 or 0.9868Mbps

Take the download speed 10866 x 40% = 4346.4kbps or 4.346Mbps

Not too far off from my FTP test...

Now you know why I have been rising a stink for the last year and half...cause this just aint right! This has been the norm for me...

7:41 pm

CR173997971

Techs just left. As usual Nothing wrong on my end. The same thing I have been telling them all the time they insist on a truck roll. At least they are getting paid uh?

8/1/2009

It is strictly an engineering/Comcast Policy issue. It's way over the normal techs heads. Has been pretty much from the beginning. Apparently Comcast just Loves to screw us Rockford, Illinois users.

8/4/2009

CR174832768
Trying to get engineering involved

8/06/2009
Still waiting for decent consistent performance in Rockford, IL

8/07/2009
Still sucks for us Rockford Users.

8/09/2009
I am so sick of Comcast's shitty sub par performance and BS excuses. with nothing getting done except more run around and BS.

8/10/2009
Service still sucks as usual

TCP/Web100 Network Diagnostic Tool v5.5.4b
click START to begin

** Starting test 1 of 1 **
Connected to: ndt.anl.gov -- Using IPv4 address
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
checking for firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client-to-server [C2S]) . . . . . 2.97Mb/s
running 10s inbound test (server-to-client [S2C]) . . . . . . 6.76Mb/s
The slowest link in the end-to-end path is a 10 Mbps Ethernet subnet

with powerboost

8/19/2009

Generally deficient given any tier level verses the ACTUAL performance...even for normal browsing during 'normal' usage times despite the marketing media propagated claims of downloading large files 'Fast' With Comcast HSI [sic] with powerboost [sic]...Please define large!?! Apparently large must be between the parameters of the Powerboost [sic] scheme. But then, there are some parts of the Comcasts network that are just plain shitty and apparently will be forever the same no matter what scheme they use. Unless, despite whoever claims, we get some genuine competition here.

8/23/2009
12.54 pm

Great typical HALF speeds with powerboost!!

TCP/Web100 Network Diagnostic Tool v5.5.4b
click START to begin

** Starting test 1 of 1 **
Connected to: ndt.anl.gov -- Using IPv4 address
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
checking for firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client-to-server [C2S]) . . . . . 1.64Mb/s
running 10s inbound test (server-to-client [S2C]) . . . . . . 5.26Mb/s
The slowest link in the end-to-end path is a 10 Mbps Ethernet subnet

8/24/2009

Now even during Non Peak times, service has seen a large percentage reliability and performance drop...So much for the &*^%&%^ saying they work on it aye!

8/27/2009

Typical Half speeds and BS support with empty promises

8/30/2009
400KB/S down...They suck period

09/02/2009
Still half speeds despite all the Marketing Hype

09/03/2009
Finally got a personal response from one of our elected officials over this...

9/03/2009 4:45 pm

Typical primetime degradation to Halftime or less

TCP/Web100 Network Diagnostic Tool v5.5.4b
click START to begin

** Starting test 1 of 1 **
Connected to: ndt.anl.gov -- Using IPv4 address
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
checking for firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client-to-server [C2S]) . . . . . 2.60Mb/s
running 10s inbound test (server-to-client [S2C]) . . . . . . 6.58Mb/s
The slowest link in the end-to-end path is a 10 Mbps Ethernet subnet

This IS with powerboost and I am NOT doing any heavy internet usage other than browsing and was twittering.

9/06/2009

Guaranteed to get less than half of rated speed tier. Don't bother programing favorites on Cable either. Comcast is sure to screw that up for you as well on a bi-monthly basis

9/08/2009 6:16 pm

Posted a normal use time ftp pic to clearly illustrate the degradation of service I am talking about

9/09/2009 6:30 am

Posted a NON normal use time ftp pic to clearly illustrate the vast difference of service I am talking about

9/12/2009
Compensating for the Comcast employee/fanboys posts.why? 'cause nothings changed

9/17/2009

Still cruising at less than half speed during normal usage and time.

9/23/2009

They are still full of shit. Waiting for them to run the Fiber Optic to my house. According to their advertisements. Yah right!! I say WTF and you sill can't handle a simple 10/1 tier during normal hours

9/28/2009
Marketing media propaganda still applies...How many ways can we say BS!

10/03/2009
Actual broadband speeds lag advertised speeds by as much as 50% to 80%. and that is at 75% of the normal usage time...Bugging at 343 KB/S at the moment as proof.

»voices.washingtonpost.co ··· col-blog

10/07/2009
Actually have some line/plant techs out here..There's hope yet.

10/14/2009
Had some line tech out the other day and we ran tests off the pole. Naturally that day it wasn't at it's worst. But still sub-par. Made some interesting discoveries on the routing of Comcasts new speedtest site. Forwarded that info with my thoughts on it to one of the guys I am working with on this issue. Also posted it in the Forum.

At any rate, Last night service really sucked as usual.

10/15/2009

Ditto for tonight

10/23/2009

forever screwed

11/09/2009

Still the same BS

11/25/2009

Tin man underwater sound again on the local re-broadcast HD channels. Definite violation of regulation (47 C.F.R. § 76.62). Speeds neutered and sucks as usual. Uploaded image taken from a 10 hr TCP packet sample set of PingPlotter .

Posted a letter one of my elected officials forwarded me when I submitted a complaint and he in turn forwarded to an FCC official

11/26/2009
Uploaded another TCP pingplotter image from a sample set yesterday afternoon - early evening showing the exact spike that threw my Dennon 1909 AVR into a tizzy. It's been happening more frequently lately. Although I suspected several other reasons other than Comcast for my Dennon spazzing on and off then resetting itself, I just happened to be pinging Microsoft.com using tcp packets when 'Spike' happened and instantly my Dennon went into it's spazz....

12/10/2009
Service still crappy as usual. I disconnected my cable tv part to minimize damage to my Dennon

12/13/2009
Still average less than half and unable to use cable although I am paying for it due to noise spikes. Check Comcast speed in Loves park at a Older ladies Home. First Time I did about 2 weeks ago was pretty much right on. 2 days ago was slightly worst than my average...go figure

12/17/2009
Guaranteed up to less than half of rated tier/plan averaging 3.55MB/S on Comcast HSI [sic] Lest you're one of the 'educated' folk that love the ISP preferred over cached popular white listed flash speed test sites..

12/23/2009
same-O...Got a report from a friend of mine that works at a place that has the Business plan...and she has Comcast at home...Voip screwed at work as well as shoddy performance...Home cable and internet no better in Quality of Service....yep I knew that one month after Comcast took over InsightBB.

12/31/2009
Same ole distorted sound on Cable retransmission of local HD channels. Nope it's not my equipment...Same neutered speeds.

1/06/2010
First review of this year will actually start out on a positive note for Comcast. Apparently the distorted sound was very well my TV. I only have one as I am not an avid TV watcher. The one I do have Samsung Touch Of Color T260HD 26-inch LCD HDTV Monitor serves a dual purpose downstairs had demonstrated it alone was the only one having the distorted sounds. Techs came out with a little TV and we sat around watching this afternoon till the 'robotic' sound happened. Muted mine and I DID not hear it on theirs.

When I am wrong about something, I'll admit it. Kudos to the local Comcast reps for this determination in trouble shooting this issue. I emailed the 5 I have been in regular contact with and being true to my word on rectifying my statements about the sound quality.

1/13/2010

Got a new modem today for GP SB6120 even though we are not on Docsis 3 yet.

Ran some tests. Appears in general (even before this new modem. But this SB6120 seems to enhance a bit more) the upload powerboost as been a little more peppier.
Overall download (even with the new modem) today. Less than my mean average 2 months ago of 450 KB/s. *screen shots

First:
Comcast internal flash 68.87.178.6
11362 kbps 3635 kbps

average powerboost factor 30%

1162 x 30% = 3408.6 kbps or 3.409 Mbps or 416.1 KB/s

3635 x 30% = 1090.5 kbps or 1.091 Mbps or 133.2 KB/s

Second:
FTP freedombuild.net
Download started about 480 KB/s Averaged 430 and finished at about 309 KB/s 255MB wmv file

Upload started 485 KB/s dropped to about shortly after to 150 and slowly descended to 129 KB/s (mean average 133 KB/s

1/19/2010

Still less than half download speeds..browser resets...bla..bla..bla
Upload is kicking good though (never had much of an issue with that)

1/22/2010

Still sucks..Comcast manage to screw my normally good early morning times...so it sucks 24/7 now. Emailed three test results to some folks I have been dealing with. One of the results using the internal test site. Not the over inflated cached erroneous preferred one. I reckon they got tired of the internal one squealing on them, It's down now. Go figure !

1/25/2010

Even the general half speeds get halved even more during late afternoon and evenings

1/29/2010

Still well below subpar

1/30/2010

Early off prime time service sucks as bad now...Comcast for sure killed their internal test site and would much prefer you to use the 'erroneous' speedtest site.

2/05/2010

Still Craptacular !

2/05/2010
Yo hum...still sucks

2/17/2010

Regular download and throughput sucks as usual. Don't bother setting your favorites on the TV because Comcasts changes that stuff around more than a gal changes her shoes. Of course they are pushing 'Business class' cause its even MORE money for less.

2/18/2010
Did I mention, they like to randomly reboot your modem @ whim. Particularly when your in the middle of something. Such as what happened a few minutes ago

2/21/2010

Random Reboots and interference in even the simplist of streaming...THEY SUCK SUCK SUCK!!

2/26/0210
talk is cheap and BS flies...Rockford is still getting the shaft. But I had noticed another hop in the mix (locally)

2/27/2010

I think @ least according to my SB6120 logs...Docsis 3 has been implemented or at least in testing mode...

3/05/2010

Since the Docsis 3 seems to be running during the last few weeks, it appears we have finally leveled off to a more consistent speed. Ironically one of my favorite Java test sites which showed a slow link of 10Mbps then 45 then dropped to 10 during most of my grumping is now back at 45Mbps

TCP/Web100 Network Diagnostic Tool v5.5.4b
click START to begin

** Starting test 1 of 1 **
Connected to: ndt.anl.gov -- Using IPv4 address
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
checking for firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client-to-server [C2S]) . . . . . 4.54Mb/s
running 10s inbound test (server-to-client [S2C]) . . . . . . 17.99Mb/s
The slowest link in the end-to-end path is a 45 Mbps T3/DS3 subnet
Information: Other network traffic is congesting the link

It's getting into primetime now. This test has been fairly consistent and doesn't show the massive drop as it did before. I have yet to check it during a well known peak time.

To be fair, from my casual observance, it is definitely noticeable that Comcast has been improving HSI in Rockford...time will tell

I am still somewhat perplex as to why the SB6120 occasionally reboots. Maybe something to do with the 'network management'.

I have yet to chat with the usual local guys about this 'recent' change. I hadn't fired off an angry email at them lately so I figure they figure it's all better )

4/3/2010

Well the consistent seemingly on par performance was short lived.. I should have known it was too good to be true. Service has been degraded to less than again. However the *#(&*) price is getting increased !!

Real average 6 Mbps although I am being billed for CHSI Performance Plus with the older Insightbb standard config mind ya

4/5/2010

Even after a docsis 3 upgrade...service is still spotty & subpar. Perhaps it's the 'usage' meter causing issues now. Either way it's Comcast policy to stick it to customers in a monopolistic environment.

4/27/2001

Yep they finally swept the 'Golden Poo' award for Worst Company in America.
I concur. Quote from a rep 'We... See More’re working everyday to improve our customers’ experiences with us, including offering a Customer Guarantee that’s backed by significant operational changes. We’ve taken steps over the past two years to improve our product reliability and service, and if a problem does occur, we work to quickly to resolve it, find the root cause and make changes so it won’t happen again.'...

..oO This I know, It took them a month to trash the HSI service level when they took over Insight and 2+ years to bring us back to nearly the HSI service quality we used to have...uh..huh

How is it now? after the initial upgrade to Docsis 3 it was pretty good Until the initiated the their 'other' crap to to throttle us down to standard subpar. Slightly better than the prvious 2 years but, still subpar with occasion reset issues and 'imposed' congestivity. PowerBoost is & always will be a farce and an illusion to what one actually gets.

5/08/2010

ROCK SOLID SUCKS WITH SHI**Y SERVICE DESPITE SUPPOSED DOCSIS 3 UPDATE & PRICE INCREASE AND CRAPTACULAR PR HYPE OF IMPROVED CUSTOMER SERVICE

05/09/2010

Guaranteed craptacular substandard less than half speeds with overpriced speed tiers, Guaranteed a waste of time with crapuster service. Guranteed to irritate the snot out of you with 50 *#)(&)(& robo prompts and ads when you call crapuster service. Guaranteed to lie their asses off. If they would spend just half of the money they waste on Marketing propaganda and just GIVE US WHAT WE )(&)(& PAY EXTORTION FEES FOR. It would be great. But instead Comcrap is great on (*&()*&)(&* services

5/11/2010

I got a new big screen TV LCD HDTV TOSHIBA 42ZV650U REGZA. I've been comparing Comcast's theoretical HD quality to my neighbors satellite...Lets just say Comcast sucks big time in that department too...

5/14/2010

Comcraptic !! Uploaded some new pingplotter images taken @ 6am this morning. One is ICMP and the other is TCP

5/27/2010

Comcraptic X-sh*t-inity neutered speeds, Higher prices, tcp resets, slow loading pages. slow email imap syncs....occasional brief moments of actual clear sailing

5/29/2010

Only Company I know that can consistently turn a potentially wet dream into into a wet scream...just saying

6/04/2010
Can we say ....delayed....response time and slow 'realtime' speeds??

6/08/2010
X-sh*t-inity...sporadic timeouts...modem reboots and TCP resets

6/14/2010
According to a letter we got a speed bump to 16 from 10....I also noticed the firmware update in my sb6120...all I can say is yeah whatever. All the hype BS doesn't negate actual user experience. Go figure I am averaging 750 KB/s -900 KB/s...Yep as norm right about half which btw is less than the normal 10 at about 1200 KB/s

All I can say is B**ll Sh*t

06/17/2010
Sucks

06/22/2010

I don't understand why Comcast insistently and consistently takes something so simple a screw the hell out of it..

Incidentally the 'The slowest link in the end-to-end path is a 10 Mbps Ethernet subnet' is back...showing the same from 2 separate servers both Chicago Based

Service is dragging A**

6/25/2010

This is after the letter informing us we have been updated to 16/2...Yeah right. Save the BS and just give us reliable service. Below are the stats from www.anl.gov also see image attachment. Ironically the slowest link again is showing up @ 10Mbps...Its a Comcrap thing Because even with the supposed speed bump and PowerBooost aka Power BS...I'll just let the results speak for themselves

TCP/Web100 Network Diagnostic Tool v5.5.4b
click START to begin

** Starting test 1 of 1 **
Connected to: ndt.anl.gov -- Using IPv4 address
Another client is currently being served, your test will begin within 135 seconds
Another client is currently being served, your test will begin within 90 seconds
Another client is currently being served, your test will begin within 45 seconds
Checking for Middleboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
checking for firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
running 10s outbound test (client-to-server [C2S]) . . . . . 3.99Mb/s
running 10s inbound test (server-to-client [S2C]) . . . . . . 17.94Mb/s
The slowest link in the end-to-end path is a 10 Mbps Ethernet subnet
[S2C]: Packet queuing detected

Stats...

No network congestion discovered.
Good network cable(s) found
Normal duplex operation found.

Web100 reports the Round trip time = 24.8 msec; the Packet size = 1460 Bytes; and
No packet loss - but packets arrived out-of-order 1.65% of the time
S2C throughput test: Packet queuing detected: 36.08%
This connection is receiver limited 34.27% of the time.
This connection is sender limited 60.20% of the time.
This connection is network limited 5.51% of the time.

Web100 reports TCP negotiated the optional Performance Settings to:
RFC 2018 Selective Acknowledgment: ON
RFC 896 Nagle Algorithm: ON
RFC 3168 Explicit Congestion Notification: OFF
RFC 1323 Time Stamping: OFF
RFC 1323 Window Scaling: OFF

Client is probably behind a firewall. [Connection to the ephemeral port failed]
Packet size is preserved End-to-End
Server IP addresses are preserved End-to-End
Information: Network Address Translation (NAT) box is modifying the Client's IP address
Server says [98.213.149.90] but Client says [192.168.10.199]

More Details...

c2sData: 3
c2sAck: 3
s2cData: 4
s2cAck: 4
half_duplex: 0
link: 100
congestion: 0
bad_cable: 0
mismatch: 0
spd: 19.24
bw: 449.08
loss: 0.000001000
avgrtt: 24.80
waitsec: 0.00
timesec: 11.00
order: 0.0165
rwintime: 0.3427
sendtime: 0.6021
cwndtime: 0.0551
rwin: 0.4901
swin: 128.0000
cwin: 0.7352
rttsec: 0.024804
Sndbuf: 16777216
aspd: 0.00000
CWND-Limited: 1373.78
minCWNDpeak: 48180
maxCWNDpeak: 96360
CWNDpeaks: 35

The theoretical network limit is 449.08 Mbps
The NDT server has a 8192.0 KByte buffer which limits the throughput to 5160.45 Mbps
Your PC/Workstation has a 62.0 KByte buffer which limits the throughput to 19.75 Mbps
The network based flow control limits the throughput to 29.64 Mbps

Client Data reports link is 'Ethernet', Client Acks report link is 'Ethernet'
Server Data reports link is 'T3', Server Acks report link is 'T3'

6/27/2010

This post is to inform those that think I don't try and am NOT trying and resolve these issues with Comcast HSI. And that at least the 'Local' guys are trying their part.

What management and their policies does above them is a total different story and IS REALLY the main crux of this whole long review. As I stated before, I generally do not have an issue with the main Comcast workforce but rather upper management and their policies to fleece and screw misinformed and 'educated' naive users.

Here is an email excerpt from one of the Local Heads:

Mr. Warren I had our Advance Services group look at your account, I don’t know if they called you or not. They did change some codes can you let us know on Monday if you notice any improvement or not? I would like to give it a couple of days just to see if there is an impact on more consistent speeds for you. Thanks

What they have done so far seems to have relieved some of the inconsistency. How long it will last. IDK but based on passed experiences, probably until the next major policy roll out happens...in other words, not long. But we will see

7/29/2010
Unreliable, spotty and generally subpar to the performance of claimed tier and marketing media propaganda. High jitter rate (so glad I am not duped into their VOIP). Occasional periods of high packet losses and syn-sent/tcpip resets

7/31/2010
Unreliable and costly see new pingplot to gmail

8/09/2010

Effing unreliable...if it isn't major packet loss it's dam near with the high jitter spikes adn other network 'mis-management'

08/16/2010

If it isn't the internet they are *&%$( around with it's the cable. 2 primary local digital TV stations have disappeared

08/19/2010

With the high jitter rate throughout the network, especially the first couple hops, it might as well be packets loss...service is subpar which is normal for this neck of the woods

08/31/2010

Effin unreliable. but then what else is new aye. Once they do manage to work the kinks out, they roll out the new crap to screw the service up. This time probably the sandvine update for docsis 3

Did I say the service generally sucks? Yep, for the last 2.8 years I may have had a combined total of 3 months of good service.

9/25/2010
Slow and unreliable considering what you pay for and and actually get.

9/26/2010
Allow me to elaborate. Doesn't matter how fast the theoretical supposed tier is. The network management junk they utilize drastically increases latency and page loading times (causes a delay in full page loading and or slow loading. Doesn't matter what site or server. It's all basically the same...sucks period !

10/17/2010
If Comcast is not throttling the snot out of you. Changing your TV channels all over the place and randomly scrambling or disabling, raising rates every time you turn around, annoying you with various insane fees here and there, rebooting your router at random especially when your in the middle of something they are effing with there own email servers...

Notorious for dropping connection on a whim. Less for more money. Proven unreliability

12/18/2010

If it isn't one or two nodes locally acting up it's one or two down the pipe (still comcasts)
If been watching the jitter rate consistently rise all through the first half a dozen hops (all comcast) over the last year. Rarely is it smooth sailing. Guaranteed stalls

12/22/2010

Absolutely Craptastic

1/1/2011
Sporadic TCP-ip resets, Slow loading pages, throttled, High jitter rate (steadily increasing over the last year) Occasional timeouts and packet loss.

1/10/2011
Guaranteed to crawl or abruptly stop without any notice at any given time ESPECIALLY when you are in the middle of doing some time critical production work. such as syncing updated files to website or a quick map search...bla...bla.....talk about productivity enhancement...NOT!

1/11/2011
See latest pingplotter image below

1/25/2011
Arggg...third time...will Comcrap cut me off. I'll let images below speak for themselves

1/28/2011
Craptacular

03/11/2011
Higher prices and shittier service. my 20/2 is not much better performing than my mothers Verizon wireless card on her lappy

03/15/2011
Still sucks and prices keep rising

04/15/2011
Unreliable and high priced vs actual service received

6/13/2011
Yeah I know it's been awhile, When you don't think a company can improve on sucking..somehow that manage to do just that. Tis about the only thing Commiecast has been consistent at

7/21/2011
Throttle your download to half when download large files even though you are no where near your monthly allotment.

October 14th 2011
After being raped a few times for a Admin Late payment fee (Comiecast would mysteriously send me a bill every other month for the most of 2011 even though I called them 3 times to complain) I officially to them to Kiss my Arse and canceled my account. They can drop dead with their insane charges, waste of time, effing the consumer and bi annual rate hikes.

I am now on a Verizon Wireless plan. I managed to get it before the unlimited data package changed and we are on 4 G LTE. Not surprising even though I had the Comicast Blast internet usage feels about the same through my tethered phone. Upload is slightly better on Verizon. Download rates about half of the theoretical blast speed I was supposedly receiving from comiecast.

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member for 19.4 years, 953 visits, last login: 8.3 years ago
updated 12.3 years ago


old_dawg
"I Know Noting..."
join:2001-09-22
Westminster, MD

old_dawg

Member

You don't say!

Comcast is still having intermittent issue...

Woof, like that seventh hop for instance?
Expand your moderator at work
scr00s
join:2008-04-27
Rockford, IL

scr00s to old_dawg

Member

to old_dawg
My (Now Comcast) data connection went down on Tuesday, Apr. 22nd. (80 degrees and sunny BTW.) I have been on the phone three times with Tech Support. Each time there is always some minor glitch....Modem not registered, last tech forgot a number, blah blah, but never a solution.

I went to purchase a new modem and lo' and behold, there is not a single cable modem in the Rockford area at any of the major retailers. (BB,CC,Office Depot, Office Max). Turns out that many a Rockfordian is having cable modem issues. Hmmmmm.

I suppose that the the house call, scheduled 7 days later, will find the problem will be internal customer equipment, so I get to fork out an additional $45 for the service call AND buy a new modem.

Congrats on the skyscraper, Comcast.

This blows.

FreedomBuild
Well done is better than well said
Premium Member
join:2004-10-08
Rockford, IL

2 edits

FreedomBuild

Premium Member

Re: You don't say!

Get a SB5120 @ newegg.com Its cheap & works pretty well for here. If only Comcast can keep their network straight & knock the compression crap off. It would all be fairly sweet.
BTW i have had a tech out here once..just to placate the Comcast reps...no charges.

CColon
join:2008-04-20
Philadelphia, PA

CColon

Member

Re: You don't say!

February 2009 can not come soon enough. Good bye analog signals and compression!
BigVe
join:2005-07-15
Gulliver, MI

BigVe

Member

Re: You don't say!

When that day comes they will compress even more.More HD channels etc. so stop dreaming

CColon
join:2008-04-20
Philadelphia, PA

1 edit

CColon

Member

Re: You don't say!

Yeah, but the analog signals take up so much more space than the higher quality digital QAMS(+they can fit more channels into a single QAM).

MadMANN3
Premium Member
join:2005-08-19

MadMANN3 to CColon

Premium Member

to CColon
said by CColon:

February 2009 can not come soon enough. Good bye analog signals and compression!
Feb 2009 has absolutely nothing to do with cable or satellite companies.
jm10091
join:2008-04-28

jm10091 to old_dawg

Member

to old_dawg
I was glad I dumped them when I moved. I didn't like them limiting what customers do in their network.
mattkw
join:2005-03-07
Warminster, PA

mattkw

Member

Comcast

I wonder why this person has not gone to another service provider if he/she is so unhappy with Comcast.

FreedomBuild
Well done is better than well said
Premium Member
join:2004-10-08
Rockford, IL

1 edit

FreedomBuild

Premium Member

Re: Comcast

Could be because I was on Insight that Got assimilated by Comcast and I am holding them to their word 'Marketing Media Propaganda' but specifically the promises to Former Insight customers. Where I am at exactly...They are the ONLY fairly decent game at this time.

ykronic
Premium Member
join:2006-01-31
Canada

ykronic to mattkw

Premium Member

to mattkw
because every Ahab needs a "white whale" to catch

FreedomBuild
Well done is better than well said
Premium Member
join:2004-10-08
Rockford, IL

FreedomBuild

Premium Member

Re: "White Whale"

I got my white whale...Now I am after the orange one.

spin55
@comcast.net

spin55

Anon

comcast

Well, went from 10/1.5 to 1.5/1.5 ... went though the online tech help...Sends out service guy...seems they went from channel 80 to channel 73 to split up the users as they had too many and causing lag issues. Seems they put in traps if you dont have cable tv service also. (use Directv - more channels less money then comcast) Trap drops off everything BELOW channel 74...thats why the drop in speed. Some bright comcast person decided to do that...why? Tech takes out trap and I'm back up to 10+ down and 1.5 up...

Take care,

Spin

jt45
@comcast.net

jt45

Anon

Re: comcast

i think someone is paying this person to keep posting this info on dslreports.com. i see this same info on here almost everday. can you report something new or do you get paid to put the some old stuff

FreedomBuild
Well done is better than well said
Premium Member
join:2004-10-08
Rockford, IL

FreedomBuild

Premium Member

Re: comcast

Not at all. Read the post 5/4/2008 first line

jt45
@comcast.net

jt45

Anon

Re: comcast

that does not mean he is not being paid to keep putting this on here. i would like to see something new beside the same old sh*t

Anon123
@comcast.net

Anon123 to FreedomBuild

Anon

to FreedomBuild
Why not start posting ticket #'s? What you're doing is good by documenting issues but sort of pointless if you don't actually call in to request that your service be fixed.

FreedomBuild
Well done is better than well said
Premium Member
join:2004-10-08
Rockford, IL

1 edit

FreedomBuild

Premium Member

Re: comcast

I have called in and emailed multitude of times. However, I have had only two actual ticket numbers. I canceled the third as I had something (business/work) to do. Who's has the time to waste and sit around for a tech to come out only to confirm that it is an issue with them & not my lines or equipment uh? I don't. I run a remodeling business and my time is money especially in the Spring and Summer months when I have other things to do. BTW I got disconnected on the last call about the cable minutes before I updated my review. This as been another 'Norm' for my experience with Comcast.
syrkel2
join:2003-12-02
Galesburg, IL

syrkel2 to Anon123

Member

to Anon123
I too have called in many times. I am in West Central IL (galesburg) and have the exact same problems that he is describing. Ever since the switch from Insight to comcast it has been nothing but problems.

CColon
join:2008-04-20
Philadelphia, PA

CColon

Member

Birds Of Prey Eagles are not...

Are Eagles not primarily scavengers?

FreedomBuild
Well done is better than well said
Premium Member
join:2004-10-08
Rockford, IL

FreedomBuild

Premium Member

Re: Birds Of Prey Eagles are not...

They do both. Generally, the adults are likely to hunt and kill, whereas the younger birds rely more heavily on scavenging and piracy. When food is in short supply yes...they will do whatever it takes to survive and if they can beat a crow or a vulture off a free meal, then let em go for it.

trying2help13
@comcast.net

trying2help13

Anon

Debugging

Need to capture pings and a traceroute at the time of issue. Also be sure you are evaluating them properly.

1) Packet loss at router interfaces is usually a red-herring. Read:
More info: »Tools FAQ »Why am I seeing so much packet loss in my provider's network?

2) The Boston DNS record is bogus. Based on ping times, this router is really in Chicago. This is administrative and happens sometimes. It is not a real issue. Also and again, loss/latency at a router which is not seen at the end point is not service impacting.
trying2help13

trying2help13

Anon

Fake packet loss

"have notice a few folks posted a thread in the forums about a node/router in Connecticut (& other places) dropping packets big time. It just so happens to be one of those nodes/routers that is affecting me in Northern Illinois that I have repeatedly reported on numerous occasions. One in Massachusetts is another that acts up frequently and affects me here."
The reason for this is due to the routers being configured to drop ICMP and other user test traffic sent at their interfaces in favor of service related traffic flowing through their interfaces. Believe it or not, it is the standard way all large networks are configured. It does not impact service in any way.

I explained the Boston/Hartford vs. Chicago in the previous post

FreedomBuild
Well done is better than well said
Premium Member
join:2004-10-08
Rockford, IL

FreedomBuild

Premium Member

Re: Fake packet loss

I do appreciate the input and I in no way claim to be a expert. I do admit I am constantly in part-time learning mode.

One thing I have noticed is when certain programs I have take longer to sync is when the packet losses are more prevalent. A cool thing about PingPlotter is that it is able send packets using the ICMP using Windows dll, ICMP using Raw sockets, UDP Packets (Unix-Style or targeted [IAX (VOIP) Ping,UDP DNS Query,etc])& TCP (ie: HTTP,etc) All of the above have various customizable features.

I have heard before that the Ma one was misnamed. But that was on the internet!?! I am just stating what the whois servers are saying what they are. If it is an Administrative problem or error...well, need I say more about the Administrations efficiency example set before us? If this is 100% true, then I'll lay odds they were the ones causing the issues that a few folks were complaining about recently in the Chicago area. Maybe its all one big coincidence. Maybe we all should just believe whatever the marketing department and administration says is true...Just a little hard to do when one has been caught in a blatant lie and the hype doesn't match the real life experiences.

Again Thanks.

trying2help13
@spcsdns.net

trying2help13

Anon

Analysing traceroutes

said by FreedomBuild:

One thing I have noticed is when certain programs I have take longer to sync is when the packet losses are more prevalent.
Try and capture the traceroute at that point. Could be many things and the more data the better. Learn to read a traceroute to help isolate the issue and who you need to contact to fix (not always your ISP)
said by FreedomBuild:

A cool thing about PingPlotter is that it is able send packets using the ICMP using Windows dll, ICMP using Raw sockets, UDP Packets (Unix-Style or targeted [IAX (VOIP) Ping,UDP DNS Query,etc])& TCP (ie: HTTP,etc) All of the above have various customizable features.
It is a good tool, but always remember that any packet sent AT the router will be treated at a very low priority vs. traffic passing THROUGH the router. Loss shown on Ping Plotter is only valid when the loss/latency is consistent from a specific hop all the way through to the destination.
said by FreedomBuild:

I have heard before that the Ma one was misnamed. But that was on the internet!?! I am just stating what the whois servers are saying what they are. If it is an Administrative problem or error...well, need I say more about the Administrations efficiency example set before us? If this is 100% true, then I'll lay odds they were the ones causing the issues that a few folks were complaining about recently in the Chicago area. Maybe its all one big coincidence. Maybe we all should just believe whatever the marketing department and administration says is true...Just a little hard to do when one has been caught in a blatant lie and the hype doesn't match the real life experiences.

Again Thanks.
Reverse lookups of router interfaces are not always 100% accurate. It is not done on purpose and mistakes are not a major measure of a network. I've seen these mistakes in every network and they are in now way service impacting.

Fishmaster, hopefully your issues get addressed, but lets make sure people focus on real issues (vs. traceroute anomolies) and the right fix agent is engaged (which may not always be Comcast). Good luck and hope this helps.

FreedomBuild
Well done is better than well said
Premium Member
join:2004-10-08
Rockford, IL

FreedomBuild to trying2help13

Premium Member

to trying2help13
I was thinking more about this...
I would think the routers/nodes on the same comcast network before and after would show some similar 'anomalies' also as with the two main ones I have mention. Apparently this is usually not the case. It looks & reminds me (Experiences) of an overloaded node. Although what you said is a true statement, I don't think it holds a full cup of water here.

trying2help13
@comcast.net

trying2help13

Anon

Re: Fake packet loss

I don't see an overloaded Comcast element in your data. I did a quick review of the first 6-7 ping plotters you posted and here is my analysis

• 100% packet loss at first hop - non issue and common on CMTS boxes
• X% packet loss at hops along the way, but not at end site - non issue as long as end site is not seeing loss
• Destination unreachable after atdn.net hop - end site issue. Not a network issue
• 65ms response to google on east coast from Chicago - OK
• 45ms response to yahoo in DC from Chicago via L3 - OK
• 62ms response to google on east coast with 10% packet loss - Not OK, but Google has been having issues lately with their upstream ISPs
• 23ms response to a local site on GTEI/L3 - OK
• 32ms response to ihop.org near StLouis - OK
• 87ms response to yahoo on the west coast - OK

I didn't go through every one, but I think you are finding exception to the loss / latency on intermediate hops. As said before these are not real issues and are not causing problems. The only problem I can see is the one you did with Google, but this appears to be a problem with Google and not your Comcast service specifically. See

»[Connectivity] Comcast dropping packets from google/gmail?
»YouTube very slow?

If you still think you are having performance issues, please post a recent ping plotter to the site in question. If you are not seeing loss or heavy latency at the end site, then there is not a network issue (remember latency is also caused by how many miles away the site is - speed of light)

lm5449
Premium Member
join:2001-03-31
Knoxville, TN

lm5449

Premium Member

Re: Fake packet loss

If you hate them so bad. Just quit.

netcool12
@comcast.net

netcool12

Anon

Re: Fake packet loss

said by lm5449:

If you hate them so bad. Just quit.
Must be a glutton for punishment... or want his 15 minutes of fame. He seems proud that he's showing up in google.

FreedomBuild
Well done is better than well said
Premium Member
join:2004-10-08
Rockford, IL

1 edit

FreedomBuild

Premium Member

Re: Fake packet loss

Perhaps this is one way of holding the Marketing hype accountable for half truths.

netcool12
@comcast.net

netcool12

Anon

Re: Fake packet loss

said by FreedomBuild:

Perhaps this is one way of holding the Marketing hype accountable for half truths.
Maybe.. You'd probably have a better time getting things fixed if you posted on twitter, I hear Comcast execs monitor that. And that other dude who was helping you was right, read up on traceroutes...

»www.exit109.com/~jeremy/ ··· ute.html
supertech315
join:2006-03-01
Perris, CA

supertech315 to lm5449

Member

to lm5449
I dont know if everybody else smells this but ............i smell some bull**** . there is more than 1 person hook at the node sometimes even a couple of hundreds customers how come he's the only one having this problem . maybe the techs dont wanna check it like they should or the problem happends randomly . somebody needs to take ownership and say here is my cell number is problem happends between 8-5 call me and as soon as im done wiht my install i'll come back and check it . troubleshootin something that is not happening is like shooting in the dark . Hope some one feels sorry for him and go the extra mile to fix it
comcastcares8
join:2007-11-20
Philadelphia, PA

1 recommendation

comcastcares8

Member

Comcast Assistance

Fishmaster,
I would like to discuss your most recent performance and speedtests. Please email me and we can set up a time to discuss.

Thank you for taking the time!

Frank Eliason
Comcast
frank_eliason@cable.comcast.com

•••
cwpc
join:2003-04-13
Crum Lynne, PA

cwpc

Member

Legit

This is a legit request. I interviewed for a position in Mr Eliason's department a few months ago
supertech315
join:2006-03-01
Perris, CA

supertech315

Member

Re: Legit

Did u got the position?
Expand your moderator at work

baineschile
2600 ways to live
Premium Member
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI

baineschile

Premium Member

Crying...

Instead of wasting your time on here every week on how and why comcast stinks, why dont you just find another provider, or call that Frank guy....

If i had a car, and it was breaking down every other day, stalling on the highway...instead of writing Ford to compain every week, i think i would just GET A NEW CAR

••••
comcastcares8
join:2007-11-20
Philadelphia, PA

2 edits

comcastcares8

Member

Comcast Response

The speed test you are running are to the west coast and the east coast. The most accurate speed tests will be those closest to your home. I understand from our conversations that you would like the same speeds when going to other places around the world, but that is not how the internet is designed. The internet jumps you from server to server to get you to the location you are looking for. In Illinois you typically leave the Comcast network in Chicago. I will be happy to assist with legitimate concerns and I do want to make sure you have the right experience. At the same time you need to have the right expectations.

We will review your latest ping plotter data to determine if there is anything we can do to improve your experience based on that. I will be happy to report back here with our findings.

Frank

••••••••••••
supertech315
join:2006-03-01
Perris, CA

supertech315

Member

Speed slow down during peak hours

Said by fishmaster: I have been noting a considerable degradation in 'Speed' performance during 'Peak' time. (Generally 2/3rds of the normal using the internet time) Even with the highly media marketing propagated 'Powerboost'.
Apparently the 'Powerboost' works well OFF peak hours. But what about 'Peak' hours? Does it turn off then? Doubt it very seriously. Then why the serious degradation in performance during 'Peak' hours

All cable systems slow down at peak hours. that's because you're sharing your connection wiht everybody that is connected on that node ( usually a couple of hundreds ) . Thats not gonna change anytime soon . only systems that dont slow down during peak hours are dsl and fios ( that i know of ) since they have a dedicated line
complaining about that would be like complaining that your v8 car only gives u 18mpg .

•••
supertech315

supertech315

Member

Looks average to me

said by fishmaster :"Compared to the average of 1631 tests from comcast.net:
* download is 2% worse, upload is 82% better"

FreedomBuild
Well done is better than well said
Premium Member
join:2004-10-08
Rockford, IL

1 edit

FreedomBuild

Premium Member

Re: Looks average to me

It's because everyone paying a premium for higher tiers are only getting about half speed. Couple that with the other folks & that's how one gets the lower 'download' percentage rate..

Go figure, Reckon most folks are getting a lot less than what they pay for...
supertech315
join:2006-03-01
Perris, CA

supertech315

Member

So what happend?

Said by fishmaster: "So I have taken the liberty of contacting several elected state officials,CUB. FTC, FCC, Illinois Commerce Commission and the states attorney with my documented complaints, letters. tests, findings and will continue to hound them" .Are they gonna do anything for you or their comcast service sux as much as yours and they are used to it ?

CColon
join:2008-04-20
Philadelphia, PA

CColon

Member

Maintenance

I don't see a single comment about any of your trouble call technicians calling this issue to a maintenance crew. The "blocks" on your TV is microblocking and can be caused by anything from dirt touching the copper in a connector to a bad TV or a bad ground several houses down the street causing extra signal to ingress into your lines.

The most popular ones are VCR or DVD/VCR combos with those cheap RF jumpers in the back that people connect to record TV off of their digital boxes.

••••••

baineschile
2600 ways to live
Premium Member
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI

baineschile

Premium Member

drop em!

just drop them already....complaining this much makes one age faster.

••••
CatMatt
join:2009-09-09
Annandale, NJ

CatMatt

Member

Frustrated with Comcast

I recently moved over to the Comcast triple play, with Powerboost. Advertised 16Mbps download speeds.

Cable modem install went well at first, nice speed, but phone couldn't be installed due to admin problems. Phone install rescheduled for 2 days later. I made sure to be home at the appointed time. No one showed up, but at some point, my phone went dead. I plugged the line into the cable modem and it was apparent they'd made the switch. It would have been nice if someone had told me so I could retrieve voice mail.

However, the problem is that ever since then the download speeds have dropped to 1.88 Mbps. They came and swapped out the modem, but no speed increase. Someone was supposed to come back out, but Comcast cancelled the call without contacting me.

Everytime I call customer service, I get a different response as to where the problem lies. I realize that it says "speed UP to 16Mbps, but seriously - 1.88 means something is wrong.

I'm hard wired into the modem right now (after one of their "fixes" my router stopped working - router still works beautifully on DSL line).

I'm tired, frustrated, and don't know where to turn next. I had to make the switch to Cable for corporate reasons, and Comcast has a monopoly in this area of NJ (you can either get Comcast Cable or Embarq DSL - none of the other providers are allowed in even though the residents have been fighting it for years).

Any suggestions?

w0g
o.O
join:2001-08-30
Springfield, OR

w0g

Member

so long...

This review is so freakin' long. o_o..

•••••
Leatherneck3
join:2009-12-08

Leatherneck3

Member

Comcast problems

I've read the entire thread and I understand your frustration however the overall Comcast service is certainly not "Crappy". I used to do all the tests myself constantly and always found an error here and there, but my overall service has been steady with both Insight and Comcast. My phone service is much better than Insight's ever was. Most of the tests seem inconsistent and it got to be a waste of time (for me) unless there is a serious problem. If you dig, you will always find something regardless of how good your service is and that's true with any internet provider. Are you generally satisfied with your download and upload speeds? I've seen quite a few folks switch to DSL only to switch back to cable eventually - there must be a reason. I have seen some excellent DSL service but to get that service is crazy high prices! Comcast is obviously huge and the backbone is incredible compared to what Insight had and with DOCSIS 3 around the corner I think many folks will really enjoy their service. I'm sure you're aware that once it leaves Comcast's backyard there is a lot going on and all things are not equal. I've also seen one household cause massive problems with return noise wrecking it for an entire neighborhood sometimes. Return path noise is a potential killer and wreaks havoc on the rest of us. Anyway, I hope you can find some resolve.

••••••••••••••••••••
mike2507
join:2002-12-06
Sullivan, IN

mike2507

Member

Comcast ISP Good enough.Cable TV is a mony drain on steroids

The ISP even thou the Comcast has taken me down to what the original 3meg/1.5 meg speed from Insights 6meg/ 3meg the ISP is decent enough. I would say they are probably better then anyone else I ever used as a ISP provider. The cable TV on the other hand has gone from OK to out right robbery not to mention deceptive phone help tactics. Even thou I pay a monthly service charge for the cable box it wont get any HDTV unless I pay extra for a new box as well as telling me I shouldn't even have that box as it lets me get some channels thats not on my price schedule. Among several other and many other nickel and dime stuff they have added a 50 cent a month rent for my remote control.
Bottom line the ISP is as good as one would expect BUT the Cable TV price is going up and up and service is going down and down. Even the what was no charge for on demand military and PBS stuff is now pay per view.

FreedomBuild
Well done is better than well said
Premium Member
join:2004-10-08
Rockford, IL

FreedomBuild

Premium Member

Re: Comcast ISP Good enough.Cable TV is a mony drain on steroids

I just have the simple basic cable...Every time I get my favorites programed into my TV, the next week they change stuff around and/or kill stations that were on...ION for instance...

dudeguyman
@comcast.net

dudeguyman

Anon

I agree

Your post is exactly what's happening to me now... Comcast is ripping me off. I should be getting a 16mb connection, yet I only have 10mb (and I just got that 2 days ago). You see, I'm an online gamer, and in order not to lag peoples rooms out or lose connection I need supreme internet connectivity. I was lagging out rooms and everything else until I took a speed test and started complaining to them. I wasn't even at 10mb per second less than a week ago, and now I'm barely pushing past ten. Something is wrong with comcast ripping people off like this... I just wanted to post and say I share your pain, and hope they get their acts together and start giving us our moneys worth...

baineschile
2600 ways to live
Premium Member
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI

baineschile

Premium Member

Re: I agree

Lagging out of games is based more on upload than download; also, you may want to tweak some port forwarding and open up your NAT, and you shouldnt have a problem. 10down is more than enough for online gaming.
JerryTimes
join:2002-01-09
Clinton Township, MI

JerryTimes to dudeguyman

Member

to dudeguyman
If your a gamer that doesn't mean that you need that fast of a connection. I play online games as well and I just have Comcasts regular speed. No issues.
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