I had a problem like this for a while...intermittant latency issues and packet drops with ping to the subnet default gateway. A tech came on a call out and recut/put a new connector on the coax and that fixed things after checking the connections end-to-end within the building...ie. to and from whatever the cable company calls a DMARC...

Maybe you have a similar issue?

I have had Comcast internet for 5 years with no problems. In fact, Fios is available at my address and I don't even find it worthwhile to switch (I use satellite for TV).

I don't have that problem. I play games pretty much daily and I don't have intermittent lag. My latency is almost always fairly decent and aside from some late night screwups this past month, it has been pretty much interruption free. Having said that, the prices one pays for cable & net are damned outrageous, and I would switch in a heartbeat to another competitor, except there are none because they have a monopoly here.

How bad is your Comcast Internet lately? I've been an unhappy customer of them for years now (ever since the switchover from @home), but the service has rarely been worse than in the past several months.

I'm averaging about 15% packet loss over the past few months (based on collecting 1-second ping data against a reliable server). It's not correlated to a particular time of day (e.g. it's not better in the middle of the night when everyone's sleeping). Latency is always good. The cable modem reports a good SNR. The most irritating part is that the packet loss usually comes as a solid multiple-second interruption, e.g. 3 minutes of reliability and 30 seconds of no traffic being passed.

I suppose the cable modem could be going bad, but of the 5 or so cable modems I've had fail over the years, none went bad in this way. And I need some reason to suspect this before making it worth dealing with Comcast's support and the day or two of work I'll have to miss. Especially since Comcast rarely has people who can even understand the problem (though in my experience about 20% of the techs they send out have a personal interest in networking that gives them enough of a beginning to understand an intermittent Internet connection when it is shown to them).

I've found other people in downtown JC who complain about Comcast's cable modem reliability. But unfortunately, they're all people who are so non-technical they can't even describe the manner in which they believe it to be unreliable, let alone take measurements to understand it.

It's a shame there is no viable choice for reliable and fast Internet access in downtown JC, when Newport is one of the best-connected neighborhoods I've seen anywhere in the US.

Wow... That's impressive. One of the big problems I had with DSL was the frequent service interruptions. I wonder if FIOS has that problem. If not, I think I'm sold.

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The current issue of PC Magazine (March 2009) rates ISP's on speed and customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction for Verizon DSL is 29%, Comcast is 33%, Verizon FIOS is 71%. FIOS is fastest as well at 931 Kbps vs 750 for Comcast and 469 for Verizon DSL.

I switched to FIOS in December, faster internet and amazing TV picture on both my old CRT tv and LCD. No problems so far, very reliable service. If you get it it does take a few hours for the tech to install it. Better station line-up in the basic package.

FIOS is here! I just got an offer in the mail from Verizon asking me to switch from Comcast.

Does anyone have any experience with Fios? I've had really horrible experiences with DSL so I'm hesitant.

Excuse my language but &(*&($&*$(*$&)___(*@* grrrrr....!!

My internet is sooooooooooooooooo slooooow. It's been like this since I moved to Jersey City less then a year ago. Comcast sucks. Am I right??? When the hell is Verizon FIOS coming? I wonder if that's any better. This internet speed is like having dial-up or worse, yet you pay $$$ "high speed" prices. Anybody know what's going on with Verizon or have any other good alternatives? Does YOUR Comcast SUCK?? Come on, share!

Okay, I just took a deeep breath!

I totally agree. It is extremely frustrating that it is 2009 and we have 26 HD stations. I have family in Bergen County, and they have over 80 HD stations easy. They even have the new MLB TV station already in HD. We had 2 HD stations launched in 2008, MSG and SNY. At this pace we'll have 80 HD stations in 2100!!

Comcast, please step up and hook us up!!

I have a love/hate relationship with Comcast. When it's working, which is most of the time, it's LOVE. But when the billing gets screwed up, several times a year, it's HATE. But what I hate the most is the lack of HD. I just received the channel lineup in my latest bill. Only 26 HD channels, 7 of them are local over the air broadcast channels which means only 19 cable HD channels. 9 are sports and and another 4 are premiums like HBO, which means in the basic HD package I'm only receiving 6 HD channels that I might consider watching. Other systems have dozens and dozens of HD channels. I'm so eagerly awaiting FIOS, perhaps not to switchover, but hopefully to get Comcast to step up to the plate with more HD.

I'm thinking of picking up an HDTV for my bedroom.

I currently pay $15.95/month for HD/DVR in my living room.

I call Comcast today to ask how much it would be for an HD hookup in the bedroom (I already have TV in there, just not a box).

The 2nd box would be $20.95 EXTRA a month? How the heck does a 2nd box, without DVR, cost MORE than the first box which has DVR? Huh?

They said, "Because you are adding to your service".

Basically they know they have got you at that point, so they charge you $20.95 for something that would be $6.00 in the living room. Ridiculous.

And of course, I immediately checked and Fios is NOT available in my building, sigh.

fios is still not available where i live (10th and jersey) and i didn't want to spend the extra money to get a land line so i could get dsl from verizon so i bit the bullet and got comcast hsi. first of all they screwed up the installation date. i signed up for one date online, they came another day. second, i was quoted $71 for installation and first month of service, which i paid upon installation. last week i received a mysterious bill for $120. when i called comcast to ask about it they told me it's because i chose to get "wireless installation" (i lease a router from them for $3/month). it costs $120 for a "trained technician" to plug in a router and spend 5 minutes setting it up? i told the customer service rep that i was never informed that it would cost $120 for "wireless installation" and that if i knew it would cost that much i would have never done it. so then she told me i could just return the router and they won't charge me the $120, which is what i'm going to do. also, i've noticed that my internet has been REALLY slow the past week or so. i hate comcast.

there was a temporary outage on monday night in the heights.. we called in and apparently it affected most of the area. of course it had to happen 5 minutes before 24 started

BrightMoment,

Thank u so much for all your help. I called Comcast again. The problem is unique to my address. Total packet loss on my line. Downstream data flow problem. (sorry, I'm not techie enuff to understand) They are sending a technician over.

Comcast support has been decent whenever I called. If they properly fix my connection, I will rethink my Fios move.

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I don't know where you live, but downtown on 3rd tween Erie/Jersey Ave, my Comcast HSI is fine during the time you posted here "Today 13:40 (1:40PM) and at 5:24PM Sunday as I've had no connection issues all day long.

I just got off the phone with a CSR (customer service rep)who said that the exact term for what you describe above is, "Stage 2 Outage", which means a wider area of service relative to a specific zip code, has a temporary outage problem. At the time of the outage, this info shows up on the CSR's database showing zip code(s) experiencing the outage and any other update info. Once the problem is fixed the "Stage 2 Outage" descriptor is removed from all CSR's form fields and only the Central Office technical dept has the log info for the problem showing when it began/fixed.

BTW, I have many issues with Comcast, it's just that connection issues are not among them most of the time.

Here's a connection on the Comcast Help Forums, related just to problems for "Internet Connection", with keyword, ["jersey city"

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Is that like an Orange Alert?

Update: Looks like I spoke too soon.

My comcast HSI is back to periodic outages or extreme slowdowns.

Tech support said our area is experiencing a level 2 outage, meaning they are working on it. No word on how much longer it will take.

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I've had Directv for almost 4 years. It's great.

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It's incredible. You can't sign up fast enough. I couldn't stand Comcast. It's garbage. I don't lose signal, even on the snowy/rainy/windy days.

Thanks, everyone!

I called Comcast and they gave me a ref no for credit request.

BrightMoment, I meant Comcast HSI, not DSL. No idea what got into me. Thank you for the detailed help. I have had Comcast for the past 4 yrs and never had problems till last yr. The connection is working fine right now. *fingers crossed* Maybe somebody @ Comcast is reading this.

"I Do, I Do ! As the bride said to the groom and groom to bride. I'm paying $58 per month for garbage and informercials. I tried calling Comcat for a price adjustment they said they would reduce the monthly fee by $10 for only 3 months or they tried to lure me into getting the digital cable box. Why should I reward them with more money in their pockets and coffers. I think the way to go will be the converter box or digital tuning. They will have lots more channels then the usual broadcast channels although the reception can be kind of shotty. Time to divorce Comcast.

So, Direct TV converts, are you happy with your service? I'm thinking of ditching Comcast.

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Comcast is a cable company providing internet connections through their own cable and DSL is a service of phone companies such as Verizon, the #1 provider of DSL providing connection through POTS (Plain Old Telephone System)copper wires.

Do you have internet connection at all? If so go to this site, http://dslreports.com/tools , check out their respective "tweak tools" to see if your computer's operating system is properly configured to receive the max transmission from Comcast:

Speed Tests
Test your maximum upload speed and download speed from several geographically distributed locations.
Java, Flash and iPhone speed test (100% browser) available.Data: Speediest ISPs

Tweak Test
Test if your computer is setup correctly for broadband TCP connectivity

Line Quality Testing
Packet loss tests on your line, including identification of any problem routers en-route to you.

(free membership necessary - join now)
Data: Lossy router watch.

VOIP Bandwidth Tester
Test the capacity of your business connection to determine how many simultaneous managed VOIP circuits it can carry. Test uses UDP and real VOIP packets.

Your IP address, IP whois
Get your current IP, track down owners of domains or IP addresses

Other tools - by our members!

1. Speedstream and Motorola DSL modem spectrum analysis (5100b 4100 and 2210)

Smokeping
NEW: Intensively monitor an IP address for 24+ hours to detect packet loss and/or excessive latency variability -- from three different locations!

24x7 Line Monitoring
Does your ISP promise always-on? are you getting it? keep track of many aspects of your connectivity, and weekly reports as well

(free membership necessary - join now)
Doctor TCP
DR TCP - A windows utility for modifying your TCP stack. But: use DrTCP only in conjuction with the advice from the Tweak Test.

Doctor Ping
DOCTOR PING is BACK!
Compare your ping time to 100+ servers with the average for other users!

(free membership necessary - join now)
MOBILE Speed Test
Simple MOBILE speed test page.
Optimized for tiny browsers.
Visit http://text.dslreports.com/mspeed on your phone or PDA.Data: speediest mobile domains

Bandwidth Calculator
Confused about unit conversions? want to see how long it will take to transfer a file at a certain speed? or how much data can be transferred in a given time?
Wake your PC remotely (WOL)
Wake your computer up from a remote location (for PCs that support this feature and do not have firewalls blocking UDP port 9)

Port-scan
(tool OFFLINE currently)Get a quick easy no-wait scan for open ports and possibly Windows service exploits

People assume that connection for broadband internet whether Cable, DSL or FIOS is plug-and-play, but in fact most operating systems running could use various tweaks. It's like you have a flood of downstream packets (think of water flowing in a large pipe) and like JC's sewage system of 8" clay pipes on the receive end (your computer) you might have spillage of packets sent like too much water can't be received through small pipes. If you're running any versions of Windows, check out your config on the "rwin" (receive windows)which gives you parameter tests to change/enlarge your rwin if necessary.

Like I said, dslreports.com has many tweak tools, config tools, and speed tests all under "Tools". Once you've done your own homework then you know better what to tell Comcast about your problem. When they come they will hookup their laptop to where your cable comes before hooked up to your computer and test the delivery speed to end of your service. If it tests at greater than 4MB/6MB downstream delivery (based on lowest delivery packages) then problem is your computer connection.

I have had Comcast broadband since they started in JC. I've had few problems over the years and in most cases it was my own poorly configured operating system that once I changed parameters for my download receive have had almost no problems that weren't my own.

Good luck!

I know you just want your service, but if you're not getting it, report it right away and they will discount you/not charge you for the time you didn't get service.

I'm around Marin and Columbus. Is anyone still having problems in this area?

My comcast DSL has been slow/spotty for the past week and non-existent for the week prior. Today it was so slow, I couldn't load a speedtest. I rely on the internet for my work and will switch providers if this persists. I ran a check on Fios with my phone no but apparently Fios isn't avail to me yet.

My complaint with Comcast is this stupid SmartZone system for their email accounts. I know, I'm going to hear "it's free, what do you want?".

My complaint is that I had more than one account, one primary plus several secondary accounts. They all shared the same contact list, etc. So they switch us to SmartZone -- impose it on us, really -- and now you have to sign out of each account to sign into another one. AND the contact list is available ONLY in what was the primary.

The advertisement they had sent saying they were doing the switch even showed that you were going to have all your accounts together, but then it wasn't true.

I called and they said, "Sorry, it's free." Essentially, tough luck.

I had to forward them all to my gmail account to avoid the whole thing, which I guess is OK, but what dingbat made that fiasco happen? And, most importantly, what part of the new system is the "Smart" Zone?!

For those of you who are interested, verizon fios has finally and at last arrived to Jersey City, Yey! I will be getting it installed in 3 weeks. I will let all know how it goes, etc, so on and so forth...

I also had intermittent issues on Super Bowl Sunday with the TV and Internet. I then traveled for work to some home last week to no internet again. I called them on Friday the 6th and they told me I needed a new modem. I went Saturday morning waited online for an hour and got a new modem. Still no internet.

I called them back Saturday and they now say they don't know what the issue is and they need to send a tech...earliest they can come is not Thursday (tomorrow at this point).

It's definitely something outside of my unit because I called a second time Saturday and the woman siad there were a number of incident reports for Grove, 1st, Bay, Marin etc... all in that area.

Grrrr....two weeks with no internet and now I need to miss part of my work day tomorrow to let them come and probably not fix it anyway.

Hating on Comcast and hoping my building gets Fios or some other option.

If you have Comcast:

You can call them and ask them to reset your system from their end.. I do this myself from time to time on my cable/phone modem by pushing the rest button.

For the television: I needed them to send a reset signal three times within the past 2 years, they send a signal to reset the box and everything is perfect after. . Takes all of 5 minutes.