Comcast XFINITY → [Connectivity] Is Comcast giving me the run around?

I've been having intermittent connection problems ever since I started my plan in November. I'm pretty sure it's because of high upstream power level - I can watch the connection coming back and disappearing whenever it hits 57dB.

Here's the problem: I rent a condo on the 2nd of 3 floors. Comcast sent a tech out a month ago, but he said he had trouble figuring out the wiring. He said there were two different wires coming into the unit and he couldn't tell which was our wire at the junction to attempt fixing it. The wiring is really bad, the wires going to all the units are exposed as they enter the wall and go to the roof, the junction box isn't even locked.

He said it I needed to get my landlord to rewire the unit. But of course, the management company doesn't want to do that and we're passed back to Comcast. It's technically not in the lease but the original listing said the unit was "cable ready".

After the tech left, we tried the other coax jack just to try and lo' and behold, it was working! ...and then it stopped. It's been like this since then - it'll go out for a couple of hours and come back so I was just going to make do, but now it's going out for days at a time.

Did I just get a bad tech? He said he could probably find it if he worked at it for hours, but it would be better to get the unit rewired. I'm hoping there's an alternative I can pursue.

Other specifics
Modem: Zoom 5341J, originally had a Motorolla/Arris Surfboard SB6121, but I heard that this modem was less sensitive to those power fluctuations.
It's usually connected to a Linksys router, but the problem persists even if I connect it directly to my pc.

I will post a pic of the modem settings in a couple of hours, I'm not home at the moment.

Unless the property owner explicitly authorizes Comcast to run internal cables, they can't/won't do it. A renter or leaseholder can not provide that authorization.

As for the tech being a "bad tech", he was just being a "Comcast tech". Comcast does not want their on-site techs to expend more than ~30 minutes per call, and a Comcast tech who takes too much time will soon not be a Comcast tech. Also, identifying which cable in a bundle is connected to a certain end-point is quite easy if you have the proper equipment and training for that kind of troubleshooting -- I used to do that frequently at corporate and institutional sites where I would often find large bundles of totally unmarked cables (but I suspect that the Comcast tech did not have any kind of wire tracing equipment, and his supervisor would not allow the time to do that kind of troubleshooting).

FWIW, I had to install my own active return amp because I had high upstream power levels that caused my modem to reboot, and Comcast was not interested in fixing the problem. But in your case, an amp may not help since your problem is intermittent and is quite likely due to bad wiring in your building.

In summary, unless the property owner officially authorizes it (certain forms must be filled out), and you agree to pay for it, Comcast is not likely to troubleshoot or replace any interior cables to fix your problem. Their responsibility ends at the official dmarc for your connection (which will probably be either a standalone pedestal next to the building, or a box attached to the outside of the building).

wow.. it must really suck to work there if that's true.. in my approx 10 yrs as a tech (in-house and contractor), I don't recall ever being admonished for taking too long..

in my time, unless it was a "pole only" hit and run job, they figured 1-2 hrs for an install (depending on the job) and 1 hour for a service call.. some days you got lucky and were done early and could pick jobs out of the pool, others every job was a bitch and you ended up into overtime..

*shrug* times have changed I suppose..

I have a friend who works for comcast and he basically said what I thought it was like on the job. You work for commission. The more calls you get done in a day, the bigger your paycheck at the end of the week.

Its not that they "can't" take more than 30 minutes. Its the fact that they want to get to the next job as quick as possible to make the most money since they have to drive across towns to get to the next possible visit. Sucks for them to be under that pressure if they are working dollar to dollar, but at least stop half-assing every call to get to the next (its called having pride in your work).

Based on our last service call this week - with an independent contractor - not a CC employee - that is absolutely not my understanding. Ditto with the calls before that as well over the course of a decade and a half. Don't believe everything your friends tell you over a few beers.

Also - based on my experiences as a customer for a pretty long time - and as a lawyer who always asks people who work in my house about how things are going - I've never had a CC service call (and - knock wood - I haven't had that many) where someone seemed to be glued to the clock. OTOH - I've had some techs who no one would ever confuse with a rocket scientist. On the third hand - working for CC seems like a decent job here for lower middle income people with some technical skills. Robyn

The tech who did my business class "professional" install was on-site for no more than 15 minutes. He put my leased gateway box on the rack shelf I pointed to, connected the coax patch cable (that I supplied), and called for a remote configuration to be done (his work order did not have the static IP information on it). When I mentioned that the 55dBmV upstream power level seemed a bit too high, he told me that I didn't know what I was talking about, that DOCSIS3 was more tolerant of power levels and 55dBmV was perfectly acceptable, and he didn't have the time to mess with something that was not considered a problem (as he headed for the door). He had been continuously glancing at his watch the whole time he was on-site, and was obviously on a very tight schedule. If I had not already installed brand new in-house coax cabling in preparation for the BCI install (previously there was no coax cabling going to my office), I think that he might have had a heart attack worrying about the extra time it would take to run the new cable.

When the connection is stable it's usually at 51-52dBmV. Maybe if I install an amp, it will be able to lower the upstream power level enough that a spike won't make it reach too high? I think the downstream and SNR are pretty good, it's just the upstream power level that's the problem. I don't know that much about RF theory so I'm not sure if it's a standard 6dBmV from 51 to 57 or if it's much higher and 57 is just the maximum of what the modem will read.

A comcast tech is going to come out tomorrow so hopefully he'll be able to do something. I'm almost at the limit for my mobile internet plan. It's quite infuriating to be paying for internet and not receiving it.

51dBmV is pretty much the top end of where DOCSIS 3 modems can function. It should really be lower than that, especially in cold weather.

You may have to bypass the lazy mismanagement company.

Compile a list of all the other tenants that are having cable problems and then send the list to your landlord with a polite cover letter.

My dad's internet had a similar issue, and so did my mom's.
-In the case of my dad's I cut of the ancient corroded crimp connector off his cable line coming into the his apartment and replaced it with high quality Gilbert UltraShield connector
and it has been solid for the last 45days
-In my mom's case.A Comcast tech came out and replaced a corroded connector up on the pole(after several phone calls and an executive office complaint), and then maintenance came out because the downstream was screaming(my mom's drop is right off an amplifier. they changed the 20 value to tap to a 23 and tweaked some stuff in the amp)