I have been having problems with on and off internet/telephone for about six months. I put up with it until about seven weeks ago when I called Comcast. I have had numerous conversations on the phone and had tech visits three times:
First tech: Replaced cable from wall to modem and the modem itself. Said power levels in spec. Worked fine for ten days then started dropping out again.
Second tech: Tech said power levels a little low and traced them back to the box in my backyard. Replaced the underground line from the box to the house and from the service box on the house to the connector that went into the house. The cable from that wall input to the modem had already been replaced so every inch of cable from the drop to the modem has been replaced. Worked for a couple of days then the same problem occurred.
Third and fourth techs (two trucks and two techs ???) came and stood on my lawn and listened to me tell them what had already transpired. They said the problem must be further up the line and they'd let the guy know who checked whatever it is they check. Then they left without thing a thing. This was Sunday and they said that something should be done by Wednesday. Haven't heard a thing since then.
On Tuesday night the disconnects went from every few hours to every few minutes. I have essentially not had internet/phone for the past two days. I have heard nothing about what happed with the checking of the system cables before my house. So I called Comcast again, as usual talked with someone who had no idea what was going on but did schedule another tech, although she demanded that I decide if the tech was coming to check the lines or replace the modem. It had to be one or the other. So just to get an appointment, I said I probably needed a new modem, although of course, I have no idea what the problem is.
My questions are: What do I say to this tech coming tomorrow? Every person I have spoken to on the phone and every tech who has visited seems to have no idea what is going on until I tell them, as if there had been no other calls or tech visits. It's driving me crazy. So I want to ask the right questions and try to steer things in the right direction when the tech comes. Any help, official Comcast or not would be appreciated.
My modem is a SMCD3GMC the current readings are:
Downstream: 1 2 3 4
SNR 35.973 dB 36.844 dB 37.636 dB 37.093 dB
Power -6.106 dBmV -6.282 dBmV -6.005 dBmV -6.006 dBmV
Upstream: 1 3 4
Power Level 42.2500 dBmV 44.0000 dBmV 42.7500 dBmV
Downstream powerlevels vary from -4.8 to -7.8 dBmV. I have seen upstream power levels of -51 dBmV as it has become my hobby to look under the hood of the modem every few hours. Something else, although I don't know if it's important, is that the day that the day I started having problems again, about ten days after the original modem was replaced, when I looked at the error messages, I saw something about a software upload. When I called about not being able to get on, even after numerous reboots, the Comcast agent said the modem needed to be provisioned, although this must have happened ten days before when it was installed. Since then, I have wondered if something didn't get messed up by a faulty firmware upgrade. I have told this to the techs but no one seems interested.
Again, any suggestions would be appreciated.
Optional reading: The guys who came to bury the new cable from the box to the house cut an underground sprinkler line and a control box line, which I didn't catch until over a week later when I went to use the sprinler system. Six hours of trouble shooting and digging up my yard, plus $20 of parts and I had it fixed again (what fun). Also, I got an email this morning about the appointment tomorrow telling be to be prepared for my internet installation along with an invoice for $33 for that installation. Makes you wonder.