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Cobalt info
join:2006-10-13
Liberty Hill, TX
| reply to Cobalt Info
Re: Cobalt Broadband
Leanderdan,
I actually asked them about the "DSL" claims... and said "So this in not DSL, it's Wifi", and the customer service rep (who is no longer there) argued with me that it is DSL, and that DSL is just a generic term. I didn't feel like arguing the point, so I left it alone.
I agree they do use deceptive tactics to market.
My only comment about Direcway, is that for typical browing, it works fine; but if you game or work remotely via VPN, then it is unusable, unless they have made some recent changes. Remote desktop worked, but barely. (I've used Directway before) Have they made improvements to the network? On average my latency with Direcway was 2600 - 4000ms.
Stoopalini,
Their policy on the install is "do it as fast as possible, with a signal, doesn't matter if it's done right. And if the customer has an issue, blame it on customer first, take no responsibility, or even sound interested that the customer is having an issue." 
My signal is like yours (I mounted my own pole, radio, and ran my own cables) -68, and steady. But if you watch the trasnmission rate, you'll see where the problem is. When I originally got the service, it was steady at 11mb, and the service was blazing, latency was 15 to 50ms on average. Now it has dropped to 1mb, and sometimes loses connection altogether. My latency will be an average of 100ms for about 20seconds at a time,.. with a jump to 1000 - 2500ms in there for a few pings, as well as some dropped packets (Request Timed Out). So I think there is an issue either with the access point itself or it is being overloaded, or one of the devices in the chain between us and the T1 is having an issue.
Also, the "No shows" are common. I have taken off work a few times for a scheduled appointment, just to have no one come.
I would like to hear from other people who are having issues.
Email me at Cobalt-in-fo@hotmail.com
(sorry about the dashes, hotmail wouldn't let me use "info" in the name for some reason) | |
stoopalini
join:2006-08-31
Liberty Hill, TX
 ·Cobalt Broadband C..
1 edit | I have also noticed the 1mb transfer rate issue, and called to tell them about it. The download speed seems to be pretty good, but upload is sporatic.
I had Cobalt come out and replace my radio and run a new wire to my router. Before they showed up, I purchased 2 bonding clamps and some grounding wire and had them ground the pole while they were up there.
Before replacing the radio and wire, I had dropped packets just pinging the radio on my roof! After the radio replacement and new wire, the ping times are 1ms and no dropped packets to the radio; so maybe something was up with the wire the install tech made?
If you run a tracert when the connection is slow, I bet you will see high ping times between their (Cobalt's) servers. I have logged this issue for weeks, and emailed the logs to several people at Cobalt, including the owner. They keep telling me that I am the only person in LH who is reporting a problem, so they figure it must be something with my setup?!?! I tried to explain that my setup has nothing to do with the connection/bandwidth of their internal network, but they don't really understand what I am saying.
They finally put me in touch with their lead tech guy, Mike. He seemed very sharp, and actually knew what he was talking about. Mike understood what I was saying and agreed I should not be dropping to 1mb transfer. He also told me my ping times should never exceed 90ms.
They have since installed another panel on the tower at cr200 and gave it the same SSID. When I was locked onto one panel, my signal strength was -68 (channel 9 if I remember right), when locked to the other panel (channel 4 I think) the signal strength would jump to -79/80 and the noise would sometimes jump to 3 (yes, positive 3). After talking to Mike about this, he created a secondary SSID on the NE panel (the one I get good signal with) and locked my radio onto it. This worked great for a while, until one morning I had no connection at all. Come to find out, the secondary SSID no longer existed and they didn't bother to change the SSID setting in my Tranzeo. I logged into it myself and set it back to Cobalt-Liberty; but now I'm back to having the problem with the radio switching back and forth.
I called to tell them about this, and asked them to recreate the secondary SSId again. Not sure if they did this though, because I can no longer log in to the Tranzeo unit because they changed the default password; so I'm not sure if I am still getting 1mb transfer rates?
I started asking them about their business class service a few weeks ago, but noone has called me back to answer my questions. I've called 3 or so times since asking, but as you know, the receptionist doesn't have the knowledge to answer my questions, and noone is calling me back. You would think offering to pay double what I am paying now, for better speeds would at least cause them to call me back!
Thomas. | |
Cobalt info
join:2006-10-13
Liberty Hill, TX
| Thomas,
You are not the only one that has had that issue with the trasfer rate. Mine is doing the same thing. I brought this to their attention as well several months ago, and they also told me "you're the only one with this issue". I told them about the latency, about the tranfer rate bouncing around, and even informed them that sometimes, it looses connection all together and drops packets, even though my signal strength stays between -67 and -69.
One of the biggest problems was getting the information past the "Customer Service" rep to the techs, and even then, they didn't really care that there was/is an issue. I guess they think that all their customers are idiots, and lack the knowledge to understand what is going on.
Also, emailing the owner really won't get results either, he attitude is the same as the rest. The couple of interactions I've had with the owner were very negative. He acted like I was trying to get something for free, or try to weasle something. He was very arrogant, and demeaning.
Thomas, when you get a chance, email me at cobalt-in-fo@hotmail.com to discuss your connection.
- Cobalt Info | |
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