Hello comcast? I'd like to upgrade my service to working please

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I've been having an intermittent but annoying issue with my comcast (oops, xfinity) cable internet.

Computer is connected to the internet, but web pages don't load. After disconnecting and reconnecting the system tray will show I'm connected to the internet but have no internet access.

Powercycling the modem usually fixes this, but sometimes doesn't. This doesn't happen at any particular time of day; it just comes and goes.

Last time it was down over half an hour, I called the 1-800 customer service number and they sent a signal to reboot the modem, which fixed the issue. But it was very early in the morning when I called, and I'd prefer not to have to call all the time.

Any idea why this keeps happening?

[Aragarthiel]

Is it possible that your browser is trying to use a proxy server? Mine does that sometimes, especially if I do a full shut-down/restart instead of just putting it to sleep. It'll tell me that I'm connected to the internet, but won't always give an error message relating to the proxy server.

[HawaiianShirts]

Had a similar experience when they forced me to "upgrade" to their wireless modem/router thing. One computer in our house connected just fine. The other two were so slow, that the Xfinity speed test web page wouldn't even load, let alone run a test.

I spent many hours on the phone with their tech support over the course of two weeks. They changed lots of settings, and one computer's connection improved slightly. In the end, though, the only solution was to disable the modem's router function and let me hook up my old Netgear router.

[Arcus]

Check the splitters on the cable line. You sound like you have one going bad. Most likely the one that splits the main line to the modem.

I have an ongoing fight with Comcast. They are always blaming my modem and router for my net issues (I own them and they want me to rent theirs.) The funny thing is that if the tech comes out, opens the box on the outside of the house and simply unscrews the line to my modem and then screws it back in, my net starts working again. The last guy out wouldn't even open that box until I told him that he better hope I don't get a customer survey because I will not be kind. Funny thing is he forgot to lock the box back up when he left. Good thing too. I tossed the cheap splitter that they had in there and installed a quality one. Suddenly my internet works great and even our TV got better... something that they said we would need to upgrade to a high plan to get. Bad thing... If they find out that I opened the box, they could get mad because that is their property. They are responsible for anything on the outside of the house and I am responsible for anything on the inside. They don't want to touch the outside lines because they can bill me for the service call if they can prove that the problem is inside.

[earl colby pottinger]

Cheap splitter

Check the splitters on the cable line. You sound like you have one going bad.

I tossed the cheap splitter that they had in there and installed a quality one. Suddenly my internet works great and even our TV got better... something that they said we would need to upgrade to a high plan to get.

Same here but for TV only. When we were on cable (I have a direct digital TV antenna now) we had four TVs and two of them had poor reception. When I looked in the box downstairs I noticed it had an old rusty splitter on the cable coming from the outside.

I got a new but cheap replacement from the local dollar store, and now all the TVs worked fine. I was told by the cable guy later that the signal coming in was only good to drive three TVs and we were lucky to get four working. But clearly they were at the point that anything that degrades the signal would caused problems.

The cable companies use such junk, even the dollar store sell better.

[SixFortyK]

I've been having an intermittent but annoying issue with my comcast (oops, xfinity) cable internet.

... Any idea why this keeps happening?

My mom had similar problem. Tech came out and replaced the splitter and the coax that led to the modem. Problem solved.

[Arcus]

Same here but for TV only. When we were on cable (I have a direct digital TV antenna now) we had four TVs and two of them had poor reception. When I looked in the box downstairs I noticed it had an old rusty splitter on the cable coming from the outside.

I got a new but cheap replacement from the local dollar store, and now all the TVs worked fine. I was told by the cable guy later that the signal coming in was only good to drive three TVs and we were lucky to get four working. But clearly they were at the point that anything that degrades the signal would caused problems.

The cable companies use such junk, even the dollar store sell better.

The dollar store ones are really only good for TV use. Modems are much more picky on how good the line is. It's worth the little extra for a high quality one to split the modem line from the main line. After that, all the TVs can use the cheaper ones. Just remember not to use a splitter with more outputs than needed. The signal strength gets weaker every time it's split. Even when it's split to an unused port.

[Ironclad Alibi]

The cable companies use such junk, even the dollar store sell better.

Could it be the cable companies get theirs from the dime store?

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Could it be the cable companies get theirs from the dime store?

That or they got the Litter Boxes' leftovers (we just went through a major equipment upgrade last week and got new computer workstations and last month we received new handheld scanners.)

And speaking of getting your internet up to speed, went through 2 or 3 tech visits earlier this year b/c of lagging Internet. Last tech found it: part of our wiring underneath the house was split w/a different type of wiring.

First tech only checked the box and made some adjustment, but never went underneath in the crawlspace to physically check the wiring. We had no idea that we had a splitter - we've lived in our home for 25 years and have had work done since we've been there (installing jacks and such) but once we found out about the splitter and that tech resolved that issue (I suspect he removed part of the wiring and re-done it to current specs) our internet speed has been much improved.

Before, it would drag even though we had the 2nd highest package for our area (3.0 mps) and we were initially told it was due to downloading from various devices simultaneously (ie, my brother would be on the PS3 playing online while I would be trying to download a video on YouTube on the laptop and the Hopper would be downloading software updates, for example) it would take whatever I was trying to do forever and a day just to load a page.

Since we had the splitter issue resolved and upped our service to the highest tier (6.0 mps, which gives us free antivirus and internet security for our PC's) we have had a much easier time with everything connected on our wi-fi network (which right now we have 2 Hoppers, 4 Joey receivers, 2 laptops, 1 desktop, 2 PS3 consoles, 2 wireless multi function printers and 2 iPhones.)

Hint: keep calling Tech Support. Keep notes of previous visits and what was done, dates and what issue you reported. Relay all of that to the representative - they can compare that w/what's in the notes on their computer screen. Keep asking for someone to come out - eventually somebody will hit on something that the other techs haven't figured out before.

Cost us $90 (billed on our phone bill in 3 monthly installments even though we have a wiring protection and internet equipment protection plans) but it was well worth the price to have our internet working again like it should have been.

Still waiting for a red coffee maker w/wi-fi capability. Would be so nice to just push a button on my phone from my bed and my coffee could start brewing automatically.