posted on July 24, 2005 04:11:05 PM
I would like to ask for your advice.
Tuesday- Computer service-cable connection went down. I called the 1-888 number and got an automated message saying that my area and surrounding areas in Louisiana were experiencing difficulties.. no time could be given as to when it would be fixed..
Wednesday..cable service restored around 4PM
Thursday..cable service restored
Friday... no cable service until after 2 PM
I called the 1-888 number around noon to ask if this was still an area problem.. they said no.. so I said well.. I don't have service, and this is the 4th or 5th time in 3-4 months that my cable service has gone out on a Friday leaving me all weekend and into the next week before a service repair man comes out and tells me it was a disconnected wire at some connection pole..??
The technician on the phone says.. oh..I'm really sorry about that.. can I setup an appointment for a repairman to come to your home on Monday? Well..I say, can't they come out now, today, Friday so I don't have the entire weekend without my computer..
No..he says sorry, they don't do service calls on weekends in your area. Okay.. I said I'll wait till Monday..what else can I do?
Then as I said, Friday later in the afternoon the cable service works again.
Saturday morning no connection...until 5 PM
Sunday morning no connection until 5 PM..
Okay so here is my question.. what if it is up and running when they call tomorrow? If I tell them it's up and running then they won't come out.. and I want an explanation at least, as to why I'm only getting service at certain times of the day...
I don't have a choice to switch servers, this is the only cable service in our area.. and my only other choice would be DSL service with Bell South.. and I hear it is bad...
Another thing now.. when you call the 1-888 number you don't get to speak to a live human being until they take you through the entire..schmeer, disconnect this, disconnect that, unscrew this, unplug that.. after 12-15 minutes later.. you finally get transferred to a person.. who tells you yes, it's definitely a connection problem.. we'll send someone out.. AAAARRRGGGHHH!!! This is so annoying.. who doesn't know to do the customary things like unplug and restart etc before they call!!!
Okay.. just wonder if you all have any advice..it appears to me that they are working on the lines, thus the connection only at quiting time 5 PM.. but if that was the case, then why do they tell me that I'm the only one in my area having the problem?
What a Royal pain in the ass...and needless to say, when the young guy does show up he'll scratch his head, then his ass, and with a toothless grin will tell me some monkey working on the lines forgot to reconnect.. something or other....I'm ready to pitch a fit..!! Help!!
Edited to add..please respond quickly, before I loose my connection again..!!
[ edited by maggiemuggins on Jul 24, 2005 04:12 PM ]
posted on July 24, 2005 04:34:28 PM
Maggie, are you sure you are the only one in the area with connection problems? You might want to try a few of those online scanner things and make sure your computer is getting hijacked?
Do you have cable running to your TV too? If there is a problem on their end, I would think it would effect your cable tv too? Have you done anything like moved your computer or anything?
I have no idea what to tell ya really...but I would be sure to ask for a credit for this outage time if its their problem, thats for sure.
Meantime, get yourself one of those free 90 hours - or whatever it is - AOL deals and as painful as it is, at least you can still connect dial-up if you need to get online.
Edit to add, they have them at the post office the supermarket sometimes 7-11's. If you can stay connected long enough I think you can even download AOL for the free 90 hour thing - just dont forget to cancel it before 30 days or whatever the instructions say.
.
[ edited by dblfugger9 on Jul 24, 2005 04:39 PM ]
posted on July 24, 2005 04:44:52 PM
Thanks DBL.. I don't know for sure it's only me with the problem in the area.. that's what they are telling me.. but that's a guy out in timbucktoo...and all he knows is what is being reported to him from our local office.. and our local office doesn't take in-coming calls..so I can't deal with them personally.
I have zone alarm, Norton's fire wall and virus protection.. I don't know about hijacking!
Or how I'd check on it??
Yes, I have cable TV too.. and I'm not having any problem with it..
Good advice about the dial up.. I should get hooked up like you said, it would be a good back-up.. Thanks again DBL.. Maggie
How old is your cable modem. My old one just went out last week and it lasted two years. I was having outages where the Internet connection would go out sporadically. I swapped out the modem and it seemed to fix the problem.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
----------------------------------
President George Bush: "Over time the truth will come out."
President George Bush: "Our people are going to find out the truth, and the truth will say that this intelligence was good intelligence. There's no doubt in my mind."
Bush was right. The truth did come out and the facts are he misled Congress and the American people about the reasons we should go to war in Iraq.
posted on July 24, 2005 05:07:09 PM
Logans, my cable modem is 3 years old. I wonder if that is the problem.. thank you for mentioning it.. I will ask them to bring me a new modem. Here is a question...is it possible to buy your own modem rather than use the one the Cable company provides? I wonder if there is a really good cable modem that I can purchase that would be better than theirs?
posted on July 24, 2005 05:35:22 PM
Maggie,
which cable co do you have?cox cable??
yes,use AOL when your cable is not working is a good idea,make sure you have the toll free numbers ready,verify with the phone co before connecting to make sure they are truly toll free.
The modem supplied by your cable company should be just as good if not better than any you can get,may be you just need a new one.
Have you tested to see if the signals are coming in??They usually ask you to do this 'bing test'.
are the lights blinking ??
-sig file -------
Eat grass,kick ass,never go belly up!
posted on July 24, 2005 05:38:49 PM
Youre most welcome, Maggie. It wasnt much -as I aint the most technical tool in the shed here But Logans idea sounds very plausible too. Maybe you should post in the EO, as glassgirl or one of them could help you more. And Yes, you can buy your own modem(even buy one on ebay from a reputable seller if you wanted) or radio shack or any electronic store - just look at the make and model number of the one you have. The mfg website should tell you all the specifics if you wanted to get a different brand comperable too.
Didnt mean to scare ya with the hijacking..I just read something that was on my homepage the other day about hacking peoples cable and stuff. I didnt get all into it, but I dont like the thought of it, thats why I mentioned hijacking. I dont know, could be a possiblility, but its probably just your equipment or somethin! Or maybe some cows pooped somewhere along the line where the cable runs to your house...hahahaha! made ya laugh!
posted on July 24, 2005 05:58:54 PM
Stop.. yes, they tested when I called on Friday and the signal wasn't getting through. I have Charter Communication cable company here in MS. The cable modem is called Ambit. It's just very strange that it suddenly starts working at 5 PM after being out all day
Any bets, they don't even show up tomorrow? The last time I had an outage, I called the 1-888 number and they set up an appointment.. I waited in all day.. finally at 6 PM ..I called them and said no one had shown up.. they called my local office who in turn called me back.. they said the head office had no business setting an appointment time without consulting them first.. I had to wait another 2 days for the repairman...AARRRGGHHH!
DBL..you don't know how right you are about the cows.. on several occassions the farmer who lives down the road and around the bend, his cattle have got loose and ended up on my front lawn..6 of them...my dogs went crazy..I called the Sheriff and they came out one time but by the time they made it here the cattle had moseyed on through the back woods toward home.. I thought they were bulls.. huge buggers, and I was afraid to run to my car to go and tell the farmer, because of my red hair.. I thought they would charge me! I've heard that bulls charge anything red...hee hee. LOLLOL
posted on July 24, 2005 06:01:45 PM
I know what the problem is.Your computer just figured out there is no electricity in Mississippi-and it was a delayed reaction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Baseball season has started,but they have it all wrong.3 strikes and you're out,4 balls you walk.I can tell you right now a man with 4 balls could not possibly walk
posted on July 24, 2005 06:41:41 PM
maggie, yeah, if your cable modem is 3 years old, it may be that. Since they upgrade everything every 6 months it seems, might need a new cable modem
Oh, and make sure you get credit for the downtime! For the price you pay for cable internet, and its up and down as you said above, make sure you get credited for that.
posted on July 24, 2005 06:43:00 PM
Your cable company probably isn't getting any other outage reports because everyone else is at work/school during the day and they don't even know they don't have internet access.
posted on July 24, 2005 07:35:53 PM
Hope it is the modem,Near.. it feels like they are rationing out the on time!
Toollady, you could be right..that would make sense, turning it on at 5 PM.. the ones who work outside of their homes wouldn't know..hummm..
I would suggest to your cable company to replace the modem especially if you are renting it from them.
You can always purchase a cable modem from any computer/electronics store. They run about $80 or so. However, last week when I had problems, the cable company said since I was not renting a cable modem from them, I would be charged a service fee for them coming out if the problem was not something with their equipment. If it was something with their equipment I would not be charged.
This is one of the things you may want to check into before deciding on getting your own cable modem.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
----------------------------------
President George Bush: "Over time the truth will come out."
President George Bush: "Our people are going to find out the truth, and the truth will say that this intelligence was good intelligence. There's no doubt in my mind."
Bush was right. The truth did come out and the facts are he misled Congress and the American people about the reasons we should go to war in Iraq.
posted on July 25, 2005 02:13:32 AM
It could be the modem. It could be that you are at the end of their hub and getting a degraded connection due to your distance from the equipment. When everybody gets home and starts utilizing their portals, you are literally getting hind titty. A fresh modem can help, and double check all connections. Install a power back-up/stabilizer for cleaner power.
Right at the present try turning your modem off for a half minute and then back on. Alternating to a dial connection at certain times could help. Also try turning off your TV cable boxes while using the computer during peak e-commute hours. Do it quick, there's a full moon.
posted on July 25, 2005 08:39:34 AM
Logans, Park.. yoohoo! Where are you guys when I need you? LOL.. Okay they just called and I told them what was going on.. they are coming over in a couple of minutes.. but they said it sounds like just a low signal.. what do I need to do if they just tell me that it is a low signal problem.. do I have to live with it like this? This has only started this bad for a week.. could a signal go bad in a week?
posted on July 25, 2005 09:02:41 AM
maggie, I wish you luck with your computer problem. It could be worse, I was without electricity for 8 hours last week. Ten houses were effected and we couldn't get the repairmen out for hours. As you know, 8 hours without A/C in our part of the country ain't fun.
Anyway, on your antivirus and firewall protection. The PC Magazines suggest alternatives which are free and in most cases better than Norton, etc.
Try AVG Anti-Virus at:
find.pcworld.com/42742
It's great and free.
For a firewall:
ZoneAlarm5 at:
find.pcworld.com/43032
You will save a total of $120+ a year and be just as well protected. Bill
[ edited by etexbill on Jul 25, 2005 09:05 AM ]
posted on July 25, 2005 12:17:18 PM
Thanks for the links,Bill.. I have Zone alarm already and I'm pleased with it.
Okay..here's what happened..the service repair man showed up..took two steps into my foyer and proceeded to tell me that they (the cable company) have been chasing problems in my area for 3 weeks and he believes that he found the problems just this morning in the lines.
He said that my little area is close to the hub and we are on a direct signal..as opposed to those living farther from the hub who are on optic cables? I'm nodding, like I have a clue about what he's telling me...anyway.. he said that they have been working to fix the bugs in the entire area and finally had it fixed on Friday...but they had in their enthusiasm to get the greater numbers fixed, in fact forgotten about our little group with direct access from the hub..uhuh.. I said... and all weekend the phone calls were coming in..from our little group..so they realized their mistake and found and fixed our problems this morning..
Okay, says I.. that's good..but ...why is it when I call the head office.. I'm told it is my problem only and I'm the only one having a connection problem.. I said.. if they would tell me it's the whole area.. then I will know it's not my computer etc..he said it's a matter of lack of communication between the offices...
So my modem is fine, my computer is old and worn out, but still working and I will be getting a refund on my next bill.
Before he left, I asked him what problems I would face when I purchase my new computer and use a router from one computer to another.. He told me when I get my new computer and laptop that I should buy a wireless Ethernet card and put it in the old computer. Then there will be only one modem attached to the new computer and both the old computer and the new laptop will not require modem hook-up in the other rooms..
Again.. I nodded with enthusiasm.. and I think I actually fooled him into believing I actually understood what he was talking about.. LOL...ah..well.. it's all about learning.. right..
posted on July 25, 2005 01:04:38 PM
I dont know why everone is helping her here.Too me thats just one less crying,whinning,pansy ass liberal posting here<snicker>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Baseball season has started,but they have it all wrong.3 strikes and you're out,4 balls you walk.I can tell you right now a man with 4 balls could not possibly walk
posted on July 25, 2005 01:15:19 PM
Uh uh, classic. Maggie thinks for herself and takes the view that she has reasoned out. Sometimes for, sometimes against.
She even has the guts to question mingo on another thread. I hope she stands way back when she does that. Course she can take care of herself.
posted on July 25, 2005 03:43:02 PM
why not just switch to DSL??
It sounds like you live in a rural area and you will always have problem with your cable signals.
-sig file -------
Eat grass,kick ass,never go belly up!
posted on July 25, 2005 04:47:23 PMI dont know why everone is helping her here.Too me thats just one less crying,whinning,pansy ass liberal posting here<snicker>
Once again the compasionate conservative speaks out
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
----------------------------------
President George Bush: "Over time the truth will come out."
President George Bush: "Our people are going to find out the truth, and the truth will say that this intelligence was good intelligence. There's no doubt in my mind."
Bush was right. The truth did come out and the facts are he misled Congress and the American people about the reasons we should go to war in Iraq.
posted on July 25, 2005 05:59:07 PM
maggie, glad you got the problem solved and the refund!!
Now, if you guys don't know by now, Classic is joking, I know that logansdad knows, etexbill if you read here enough, he is famous for his 'classic' one liners that are joking around.
maggie knows too
MY CABLE went out today! I just got home, and it came back on, this neighborhood is notorious for Comcast internet outages.
posted on July 26, 2005 08:29:00 AM
Ya when the nasty neocons call names it's just good light -hearted fun!
Maggie has been very kind to classic and this is his response ?.
Sorry but it's just more unasked for, undeserved nastiness perpetrated by the right .
But Logans idea sounds very plausible too. Maybe you should post in the EO, as glassgirl or one of them could help you more. And Yes, you can buy your own modem(even buy one on ebay from a reputable seller if you wanted) or radio shack or any electronic store - just look at the make and model number of the one you have. The mfg website should tell you all the specifics if you wanted to get a different brand comperable too.
