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I have 90 megabit Comcast Internet at my house. It comes in via coax, and my PC is hardwired to the modem-router via Ethernet cable (not wi-fi). Roughly 15-20 times per hour (every few minutes), my Internet completely shuts off to my PC, for 2-5 seconds. Just a blip for a few seconds, but very disruptive in the middle of Remote Desktop sessions, heavy web development, etc.
Comcast acknowledges the problem. Somehow they're able to remotely detect that my connection drops repeatedly throughout the day. This has been happening for months. They say there are no outtages and that all my wiring and hardware is good. They have replaced my cable modem 4 times in the past month, yet the problem continues. It seems obvious the modem is not the problem.
The Ethernet from cable modem to computer is standard CAT-5 ethernet from Home Depot. I had no connection problems whatsoever for 4 years. These problems began 6 months ago when Comcast first "upgraded" my modem. So I assumed the modem was the problem, and as mentioned, I have been through 4 modems now.
3 different Comcast technicians have been out to the house in the past month. They all report strong signal and no hardware problems. They simply cannot find the problem. Yet the fact that Comcast can remotely see the dropped Internet inside my house suggests there really is a problem, and I certainly notice it a lot.
It's an Xfinity cable modem, very new, late model.
There must be some way to isolate the problem. Equipment? Software? Monitoring? Can anyone be a hero and suggest some way for me to figure out what's going on?
HerrimanCoder
Posted 2015-12-29T14:02:13.987
Reputation: 397
does it happen for all devices (another PC, or even your smartphone) too? That would show you if it is on the machine or in the network. – Aganju – 2015-12-29T15:05:08.520
When I had this identical problem it was caused by signal noise, the modem was sensitive enough, that it was erroring out each time. Once the firmware was updated the problem went away. A strong signal can still have outside noise – Ramhound – 2015-12-29T15:12:23.673
One week ago Comcast finally fixed a problem I've been calling them about for 4 months. In the end it was a faulty tv receiver adding noise to the line. When I called they always told me there was no problem, your signals look good etc etc. I finally took to posting vids of me taking speed tests (< 1 mb usually) to Twitter. Eventually that got me "escalated". The last tech that was here was amazing, and so much different than any other, he tested literally everything everywhere. The moral of the story is not all techs are equal, and be loud about the issue until you get "escalated". – Tyson – 2015-12-29T16:27:36.663
I think it's actually fixed. It was definitely happening before, but since the last time a tech came out, it's fixed. I had assumed it was still spotty because my remote desktop connection goes out every 5-10 minutes, but I verified it's not because my local connection dropped. – HerrimanCoder – 2016-01-03T15:20:24.313