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grimalkin74
join:2011-05-31
Morro Bay, CA

grimalkin74

Member

[HSI] Unreliabile service with charter.

I'm just curious if anyone in my local area or region has the same issues with uploads as I do, my upload speed dies all the time, having techs out does nothing for it, and its driven me nuts. Anyone else having similar issues, in the Central coast region of CA?
yakisoto
join:2005-05-16
Morro Bay, CA

yakisoto

Member

I'll second that complaint. I'm in Morro Bay too, and know what you're going through: (here's how it always happens for me)

- Great service, then suddenly one day - 4% packet loss (like today!)
- I call to complain, and a tech is dispatched. Since the problem can be intermittent, they're never around when it's at it's worst (in the PM). I've heard that they're limited in what steps they can take to resolve the issue, so they'll usually blame the modem/router/ethernet cables/coax/laptop, power cycle the modem, leave their supervisor's cell number, and call it a day.
- I come back home that evening, nothing has changed. I call the supervisor, leave a voicemail. Usually no return call, so I have to call the main support number again. (Good thing it's still in my "recent caller" list on my cell phone, because I can't look on their website for the number!)
- Another tech is dispatched, another cable is swapped out, the same steps are repeated. Quite possibly, the only reason my employer is OK with these repeated last minute AM appointments is because I work in IT, so having connectivity in the PM at home can be crucial.
- This can go on for months - then, one day, everything goes back to working fine again. No explanation, no onsite tech visits.

The longest I've gone with "error free" service is around 6 months. Actually, there was probably packet loss during that time too, but it was for such a short duration that I didn't want to call support for help.

I'm done ranting for now, but it's good to know that someone else is (locally) out there with what could very well be the same issue.
grimalkin74
join:2011-05-31
Morro Bay, CA

grimalkin74

Member

You've described, exactly, what I've been dealing with, its insane, The issue has been bad enough that they have line monitored my tap, to find a blown amp before. I'm up in north Morro on the hill, so if you're in my area I wonder if we're on the same node, or close to each other. Our net, upload wise went out a 3 PM today, still down. .18Mbps is not what I'm paying for, I'm on the 30/4, and would be happy with the 3.2 I normally get for up.
yakisoto
join:2005-05-16
Morro Bay, CA

yakisoto

Member

South Morro here, near the golf course. You're lucky that you got a line monitor - the most I've gotten is a "since it's intermittent, call us when it happens" type of deal.

I've heard whispers of similar Charter issues in talking to people around town (not to mention troubleshooting the same issues in the course of my daily work at local businesses - but they've got business contracts, so their issues usually get fixed fast). Perhaps we should rise up and go protest at the local Charter office in SLO?

In other news, my line has gotten progressively worse tonight - now I'm at 9% loss. I'm beginning to think that this latest outage is due to a combination of fog, cold air, and proximity to salt water; it's either that, or Charter is trying to drive me out of town and back to a place where fiber-to-the-home is the prevailing home broadband solution.

grimalkin74
join:2011-05-31
Morro Bay, CA

grimalkin74

Member

Thing I did was call over and over and over, I had techs out for 9 days straight, thankfully, I can do that right now. I called the city franchise person to talk to her but got an answering machine unfortunately. At this point, with this long of a problem, that appears to now, be city wide I'm more along the lines of letting the city know so they light a fire under them to come out and fix the area. Over saturated lines, Bad equipment, lack of maintenance, All things their support folks, and techs have admitted to.

»www.pingtest.net/result/ ··· 4895.png
grimalkin74

grimalkin74

Member

Another night, another issue. Its amazing that not once, since this has started up, have they offered any sort of credit, I had to demand it. Calling them is pointless, they do nothing, I've proven, more than once, its nothing within this house, they've proven more than once its nothing, within this house. Its their equipment, yet they do nothing, its ok, Direct TV like them now since they now have my TV.
15444104 (banned)
join:2012-06-11

15444104 (banned)

Member

Wow sorry to hear about your continued problems out on the West Coast.

I still have a higher than normal ping latency time and it seems that Charter wants to call it "normal" or within spec...

That is a disgrace about you having to demand a credit even though they are obviously not providing the service you are paying for on a regular basis.

On top of that the new CEO at Charter Tom Rutledge is going to help us all out with a take it or leave it price as current customers after our promos are up. LOL I'm sure that extra cash will go to improve the system maintenance..right?
yakisoto
join:2005-05-16
Morro Bay, CA

yakisoto to grimalkin74

Member

to grimalkin74
Hold on here...the internet feels uncharacteristically smooth. Woot! The Charter gods are smiling on my line tonight.




I've received a few "it's not us, it's your equipment" excuses.
- One day it was the router. "Oh, it's not rented from us?"
- Then it was my wireless APs. "Oh, it's not built in to the unit rented from us?"
- Then it moved on to my PCs. "Isn't this a server?"
- ...and the switches. "Are you sure this isn't a router?"
- ...then the network settings. "Static IPs and DNS on your LAN?"
- ...after I recorded a whole 4 days of dropped packets with software: "We can't accept this as evidence - your testing software is too sensitive"
- Moving to the outrageous: "Try using another ethernet cable, like the one we supplied in the box"
- And the final injustice: "Maybe it's your power outlet?"

We should start another thread where people post their most outrageous experiences with level 1 tech support calls and onsite techs.
yakisoto

yakisoto to 15444104

Member

to 15444104
What I'd like to propose is instead of a monetary credit for downtime (especially since residential service is geared towards a best-effort SLA) is a bandwidth credit. There have been many months where I can't even approach my bandwidth transfer cap because the line has been too choppy. So, during a month where I only had a certain percentage of "error-free" uptime, the remaining unused data (or a percentage) would be rolled over into the next month's bandwidth cap.
yakisoto

yakisoto to grimalkin74

Member

to grimalkin74
...and we're back to being crappy again.

grimalkin74
join:2011-05-31
Morro Bay, CA

grimalkin74 to yakisoto

Member

to yakisoto
Power outlet? Wow, that is up there in stupid levels.

Now that I'm in my new house, and have had NO issues for several days I'm happy again. The Install Tech was flat out awesome and did exactly what I needed/ wanted. The only hitch, was the equipment turn in, I didn't get a receipt on my end, which was stupid, but I did get the tech number and name of the tech which should cover me, I hope.
grimalkin74

1 edit

grimalkin74

Member

Well my call to the city, was finally answered, now, I'm waiting for a call from one of the charter city liaisons. This could be interesting to see where it goes. Mean while if you live in the Morro bay region i would suggest you call the city, and let them know.

and for tonight,

emak0
join:2009-08-28

emak0 to yakisoto

Member

to yakisoto
This type of stuff sounds SO typical of what I experience. I'm on the east coast, but it looks like the Charter bug is nation wide, with a very similar M.O.

Great service for a couple months...then that "4% packet loss" kink appears (in which case, if you start posting links to pingtest.net, they will typically start to blame equipment that is "beyond their control")