My Journey into CrapCast

It's 10:01pm on Tuesday, November the 8th. The veins in my head and neck are 
pulsating. Why? My ISP, Comcast, totally sucks.

I began my service with Comcast February 2005. It was one of the first 
utilities that I had activated because the Internet is a large part of my life.
I work as a network security analyst, and I am paid to stay on top of news, 
tech trends, and of course, security vulnerabilities. The Comcast cable 
internet service was perfect for me, because while I am not into television,
I still do enjoy cable TV, and the "always-on" consumer-grade internet line
appealed to me because it was simple. I do not own a landline phone, nor do 
I want one. I have two cellphones. Why should I get my Internet from a 
phoneline?

This type of internet service was new to me. I have had Comcast before, for 
backup purposes, but never for my sole connection. I usually sport a business
class DSL circuit, but with my relocation into the Dallas citylimits, I felt
that it was time for a change of mindset. This included consolidating my
servers into one larger machine, which is now provided by Lesswired.net. With
the lack of servers, there was no need to have a business class line. 

Unfortunately, I was wrong. 

Up until 2 weeks ago, I was very happy with Comcast. Then, the packet loss 
started. I thought, "Hey, lets just call technical support and report it." 
I thought it was no big deal, after all the Internet is not as reliable as 
most would like to believe. I am reasonable, what would it hurt to call my
provider and let them know?

So I called. I spoke with a nice lady, who had no problem scheduling a 
technician to come to my apartment. I took time out of my day to meet the 
technician, and there was actually two. I thought this was GREAT service. 
They tested my lines, they checked connections, and I elaborated about my
problem. Sadly, they were undereducated when it came to networks, but they 
knew their cable, and who was I to question? After all the tests were done, 
they decided to replace the modem, and aside from their shock of seeing a
linux machine and a router, all was fine. 

The problem cleared... at least for a couple days. Next thing I knew, it was
happening on a regular basis. "Okay!", I thought...,"Let's call them back!". 

So I did. I was lucky. This tech was a geek. He felt my pain, played WoW, and 
understood why I needed my connection, both for my work, and of course, WoW 
purposes. We shot the bull about WoW while he "tested" my line, and I explained
the packet loss. He told me that he has only heard that once or twice from a
customer. We both laughed about this... he was a kindred spirit. He knew. 

Maybe all too well. 

Shortly after that, the entire circuit failed. Not just packet loss this time,
but full on failure. No sync, blinky lights everywhere, and no way was I going
to get out to the net. This lasted until the next morning. I called that 
night, and encountered THE run-around. The tech that answered explained that
he was sorry, and would send a tech. I declined, and requested escalation.
We went back and forth for about an hour. Finally, about the time I was 
contemplating a stiff drink... he relented and told me there was problems in
my area. 

Great. Problems. Maybe they are fixing my problem. I went to sleep.

A few days later, the problem came back. Again, more calls to Comcast. 
Everytime a technician requests to deploy a field tech, and every time I
decline. One tech blamed the router and I quickly shot that down, having 
bought one a few days before on the off chance my trusty linksys was bad...
(it wasn't). Somewhere in the mix of calls, a tech told me there was about
7500 people in my area... Now, knowing this is shared bandwidth, my 
subconsciousness started doing calculations that my conscious can't even begin
to understand... I have a gut feeling that maybe Comcast has finally bitten off
more they can chew, as all of my calls are either 6 to 10pm or on the weekends
(peak time, perhaps?). 

This leads me towards the "interactive" portion of this write-up... if anyone
knows anything about Comcast's architecture, or wants to do the calculations
for estimating the possibility of oversubscription, please email me....

Moving along, I have called Comcast two more times.... the former time to 
let them know that I was seeing the packet loss again, and to tell them to 
expect me to cancel my subscription and the latter (tonight) to let them
know of my anger, my full intent to cancel my subscription, my full intent
to pursue a full refund for the last month, and that I had fully planned on
telling EVERYONE how much their service sucked. I am not the first, nor will
I be the last. 

At least the lady set up some sort of call back... I will have someone new 
to gripe to....

So... To Comcast:

Your service stinks. You are wasting your money by deploying field techs 
anytime someone complains. We aren't all stupid out here, and while you must
cater to people who do not know technology, at least give the people who do 
an avenue to escalate their issues. True to my word, I am canceling my Internet
service as soon as my DSL line is installed. I will also tell everyone that I 
know about this issue, and encourage them to cancel as well. I am sure I can 
work a deal with my new provider for referrals.... maybe they can knock some
money off their monthly or install for referencing "comcast sucks". Also,
while I am almost sure you have oversubscribed my area, I am not willing to
do the math involved to even come close to proving. Bottom line, my connection
is not working, and you are not providing the service that I am paying for. I
will leave my cable TV up and running, but I will keep a close eye on that as 
well. You, as a company, have been deemed unworthy of my internet business, and
most likely will be deemed unworthy for my television needs as well.

I now commit myself to the thousands of users who have experienced problems
with Comcast. 

To the people reading this:

Do not put up with Comcast. Do not allow customer service to waste your time
by sending technicians everytime you call. If the techs come out once and do
not find the issue, chances are, it's not going to be fixed. It's not fair 
for them to waste your time by sending a tech who will not find a issue. The
issue is probably because their customer base has outgrown their infrastructure
in some areas. I know people who have been more then happy with their service, 
and they live in areas that are new. Give them a year or so...


To my future ISP... expect referrals. =)