Desperate for Cable Internet help!

[knockout]

Hi,

Before I start, I just wanted to say that I understand that this website isn't based around internet type issues, but I figure there are plenty of very intelligent people on this forum who may have some possible solutions to my problem.

Anyway, my Comcast cable connection has been slacking off lately. It isn't consistently going slow, or giving me an intermittent connection(where the lights on the modem actually go on or off when the connection slows) there are just these periods where the connection speed drops to 0.01% or 0.00%. I've monitored them on graphs and it all seems to occur at random.

Now, I am an avid online game player and I have a couple favorites...I like warcraft 3 and counter-strike. With counter-strike my game will freeze and I will get a "warning connection-problem" signal at the top of my screen. My netgraph will be redlining. With warcraft3 I lag out, until eventually someone clicks the drop player button and im gone.

This problem has been going on for several weeks now and I'd like to get back to battling it out online!

things i've tried:

System Restore (maybe some settings were messed with)
Disabling SP2 Windows Firewall
Disabling Norton Anti-Virus
Selective startup
Calling the Comast support guys (its like talking to rocks, they are so dumb)


any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!

EDIT: If you need any other information that would be relavent to the problem I would be MORE than happy to provide it!

[phill9800]

hi there, welcome to pc stats!

well i dont have cable where i live (in the uk) but i was just going to ask a few questions about it..

is it just with games? is it just a few games or does it happen with everyone? any connection properties that might have been changed or that need to be updated?

what about reinstalling the cable software (if there is any)..

i hope some of those ideas might trigger something... i hope i have been of some help!

[Colin]

knockout welcome to PCStats.

Have you done anything to your connection the last little while like move it or add a filter/splitter? Is this totally random or can you count on your connection cutting you off at certain times? Do you have cable TV, does your signal get screwed up from time to time? What modem are you using? Do you know anyone else in your area that has cable internet (like your neighbor) who has this problem?

It sounds like it might be a Comcast problem, unfortunately the level 1 techs are always clueless. Next time you call ask to speak to the level 1 tech supervisor, they usually know a bit more and can direct you to the guys who know what they're talking about.

[Avid6eek]

I agree with Colin. This is definetly a Comcast issue. You need to contact them and pretty much demand that a tech come to your house. They need to test the cable connection that is going to your modem.

[CHE]

If you have any splitters, replace them. Them are the most common cause of signal loss, and although the TV is unaffected you will find that the Internet is affected. Matter of fact, even if you replace the splitters (which you should), try disconnecting the cable where it comes into the building and connect directly to you computer with a short, patch cable. If you experience no problems them the problem is in your indoor WAN connections.

Similarly, loss of shielding or bad connections on your outdoor cable will cause the same issue - TV OK but Internet slow or intermittent.

Finally, your cable is not a dedicated connection to your ISP. Increased Internet activity in your neighborhood will impact your performance. In the early 2000s people were complaining that they were dripped down to dialup speed at certain times of day, not sure if this still applies or if it applies to you.

[Juan]

I had a problem almost like this. I would get spikes in my LAN connection with mediacom(a company of Comcast) and then get really low every now and then. I called them up and they replaced the cable from the box to my house. Connection is alot better now. I agree..call Comcast and get a tech!

[Galaxie]

I would do as others have suggested and have comcast take a look
at your setup and see what they can find. I also have Comcast and
can tell you I had an almost identical problem a few weeks ago. My
download speeds went from 2800 kbps to dialup speeds and would
freeze up once in a while and then go back to normal. Once when it was real slow I switched to a different computer and it was normal. I disabled the
onboard lan on my Abit IC7G and put in a netgear card and that solved it.
It was a slowly dying onboard lan causing the problem.

[knockout]

Hey thanks guys for the support everyone I really like these forums!
Anyway the problem isn't solved yet but I got a comcast guy coming out to check on everything. I still hate their support people though......(its 60 bucks for the guy to come out even if its just checking stuff).

To answer more specific questions however, no the problem is not predictable, my cable TV is fine, and I've tried many programs and the problem exists for all of them, including IE.

Hopefully the tech guy figures it out, i'll let you guys know what the solution is once its done with, that way whoever else gets a similar problem will know what to do.

Thanks again,

-knockout

[in54n3]

If you have any splitters, replace them. Them are the most common cause of signal loss, and although the TV is unaffected you will find that the Internet is affected.

happened to me when i first got it