3/1/14 -- 1:31 AM Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
7:38 AM 6 down, 1.4 up. 15 down, 11 up. 17 down, 11 up. 19.52, 10.95.
4:27 PM -- Steady lower than they should be speeds today of 20/11. Charging new phone for hookup tomorrow.
3/2/14 -- Not on much today. Pulled a bunch of errors (below). Installed new telephone. Wait, watch. Phone still broadcasting our city instead of our name to call-ID for some reason.
Sun Mar 02 06:50:40 2014 Critical (3) Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Sun Mar 02 01:07:45 2014 Notice (6) TLV-11 - unrecognized OID;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Sun Mar 02 01:07:45 2014 Warning (5) DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response ;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Sun Mar 02 01:07:36 2014 Notice (6) Overriding MDD IP initialization parameters; IP provisioning mode = IPv4
Sun Mar 02 01:06:49 2014 Critical (3) No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.0;CM-VER=3.0;
Sun Mar 02 01:06:31 2014 Critical (3) Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Sun Mar 02 01:05:58 2014 Critical (3) Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
3/3/14 -- "Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;" with speed of .73 down, .04 up. Calling WiFi support. Multiple Speedtest tests result in related unusable speeds.
Support had us wire up directly with an ethernet cable. Fixed nothing. Had us run the test on the Xfinity website, speeds of 0 up, 0 down. I ask if he sees anything and the answer is 'upstream noise.' Recommends getting a tech. I say good-bye.
Reset the modem. Error: "Mon Mar 03 07:03:15 2014 Notice (6) TLV-11 - unrecognized OID;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;" Followed by "Mon Mar 03 07:09:12 2014 Critical (3) Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;"
7:13 AM ET we finally are back at our normal bad speed of around 20 Mbps. This weekend we were told 30% loss is expected when taking wired v WiFi speeds. We pay for 50 so 20 is...60% degradation.
11:56 AM -- New phone is certainly cleaner but...sounds of key tones heard on our end again, not on this caller's.
3/4/2014 -- 12:51 AM Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Will stop posting recurrent modem logs that are not different at this point. Waiting to hear from Comcast as to what they're going to do next.
6:46 AM -- On phone with Comcast. Unreal. Tech says modem is in timeout. Speedtest .54 down, .02 up. Interesting is the code from 12:51 AM is gone but there's a new one from 6:39. Tue Mar 04 06:39:55 2014 Critical (3) Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Confirmed via Speedtest.Comcast.Net
Tech has us do a full one minute reset. Which means we have to go through all the changes to passwords, etc. Modem back up and we have our normal (not great) speeds of 20/10. Here is what a HSN modem reset looks like:
Tue Mar 04 06:53:25 2014 Error (4) SW upgrade Failed before download -TFTP Max Retry Exceeded
Tue Mar 04 06:52:20 2014 Notice (6) SW Download INIT - Via Config file d11_v_tc8305c_speedtierextreme2_c02.cm
Tue Mar 04 06:51:10 2014 Critical (3) REG RSP not received;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Tue Mar 04 06:51:07 2014 Notice (6) TLV-11 - unrecognized OID;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
'Andrea' remotes in and runs traceroutes, etc. Fine on her end at this point. It is now 7:29 AM. Wait for it - suggestion is ... get a tech out again. Though Cathy Brown -- Supervisor, Executive Customer Relations, wants us to know that Comcast phone & internet service is not guaranteed steady.
3/5/14 -- 6:30 AM -- Internet is down and WiFi support Sal Sanchez cannot hear us clearly on the phone.
Sal cannot see our IP address. Refresh signal sent.
Asked to do a full 30 second reset of the modem, we ask not to. Ask Sal to just put the notes in.
Yeah, Catherine Brown. The interconnectivity is really fixed now. And not surprisingly, checking in with DSL reports for the time right before we were online and working - this.
12:15 PM ET -- Internet is out. Right after this Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Tech sees a lot of 'very low signal strength' in the area. Degraded. Needs to open a 'back end' ticket.
As we're transferred to a CSR to open the ticket -- the phone drops. Call back and CS transfers us to..WiFi support...At which point we begin recording because something smells. He reads and clarifies the problem - the cable from the box back needs to be checked as signal is bad to multiple boxes, by their readings, in the hood.
15 minutes later. Cut off again. Each subsequent rep had no idea what the one before him had said/ordered/written. Audio to follow. Call directly in and the CSR has no clue. Hang up after he wants to trouble shoot. Call WiFi support. And now this guy, the third, has no idea what we're talking about.
4 phone calls following an actual Comcast employee saying that 'the problem is outside past your box' and all of a sudden disconnects and lost notes. Fishy. Here's the calls.
3/6/14 -- Wake up 5:20 AM to Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Internet out. Phone crappy. Call support. They see, wait for it, 'red' upstream noise. He'll talk to the CSR before transferring. The CSR is one of the Manila dudes from yesterday. Sounds like they didn't speak. Sets up a tech visit. No idea whether it is a backend truck rolling tech because this CSR is clueless.
Rep. Rush Holt's office has stepped in.
10:15 AM -- The tech showed up and it is the gentleman we've been working with which is a nice surprise. He played back a VM we left for him while the modem indicated a Time Out this morning. It is completely muffled worse than we knew. His supervisor, Mike Alexandersen, has heard the audio and, while monitoring our line...wait for it -- they know there is a problem somewhere from the node to the pad! They admit that now. Here's the caveat: With nodes crashing dead in other spots, and with how small a crack or nick (and the fact that it is underground to boot) could be causing these outages, the maintenance guy is going to have a heck of a time finding it. ie, it is going to take some time.
11:52 AM -- 1.37 down, .09 up.. At 11:57 AM: Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
11:57 AM -- Phone fails. Call drops, goes to busy signal.
3234 ms tracert to 24.0.248.1 = Comcast Princeton, NJ
12:03 PM Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
1:45 PM -- Chris called. He said Comcast maintenance was in the area around the time of our last outage and 'found some stuff.'
4:30 PM -- Comcast maintenance truck is in the hood. He goes from box to box. Here for over 2+ hours. Never needed to rip any sidewalk or street up...but that's a long time for work that they couldn't spot for weeks and, after talking to a neighbor who left Comcast over similar complaints -- years.
8:00 PM -- Comcast Corporate calls. Our executive representative Jessica. We have a 30 minute conversation. She confirms that they found and repaired things. We'll need to watch over the next week for errors before we're able to say they found this problem.
But here's the astonishing kicker. Billing never fixed anything and Comcast will attempt to pull cash from our bank account that is roughly three times the true amount due.
3/07/14 -- No modem errors. No severe swings.
Corporate called. Will check back in on Tuesday for a larger sample size. Will 'stick with us' through the billing cycle if all is better.
3/08/14 -- No modem errors this A.M.
Contacted Senator Cory Booker, Bob Menendez with no return contact. Emailed Gov. Chris Christie and President Barack Obama late yesterday with no reply or form email. Filed complaint with Board of Public Utilities over the billing issue.
Working on our issue to date: Us. Multiple media outlets. Rep. Rush Holt. State Senator Linda Greenstein. Democratic leader and NJ mayor Janice Mironov.
1:22 PM ET -- Comcast maintenance has been in the area for 4 hours. Another truck just relieved him. Dave tells us that they've detected a home sending noise into the system. Egress. Bingo. We have a potential answer. Now, they need to catch when it happens as it is cyclical, in order to fully remedy it. Here's the FCC's take on signal leakage.
'JayInAlg' over on the Comcast forums, explains:
A RF cable system is kind of like the water pipes in your home, there can't be any leaks. The coax cable has a center conductor that carries the RF signals, and there is a multi-layer aluminum shield on the outside of the coax cable to keep those signals from leaking out. Damage with the coax cables, rubbing on the coax, and mostly, poorly installed / corrorded / loose F connectors (fittings) will cause leakage, along with cheap splitters, and cheap drop amplifiers.
Leakage can affect both the downstream signals from the local node feeding the RF portion of your neighborhood, and the upstream return signals that come back from cable modems & eMTA phone adapters and cable set top boxed / DVR's.
Leakage can affect neighbors for blocks around, ingress can be from electrical equipment interference getting into the RF system. Downstream leakage can cause interference with public saftey and aircraft frequencies, thus the FCC demands every cable systems to be swept for leakage once a year, usually by aircraft with highly sensitive equipment to detect leaks. Sometimes, neighbors report issues with HSI, CDV and On Demand which the tech finds leakage from others causing the problems. Sometimes, subscribers unknowing hookup the coax to their TV antenna, broadcasting to the whole neighborhood. Many times, in high density buildings it is caused by "illegal" hookups from neighbors hooking up to other's coax to receive TV without paying for it, and those splices leak.
The tech will have a leakage detector to sweep near where the coax cable runs in the house, and visually inspect fittings, and condition of the coax cable looking for damaged shielding.
Sometimes when a house is found to be leaking badly, the drop gets cutoff until repairs have been made, and a tag is put on the front door, and a call from the cable co to tell the sub of the issue.
5:00 ET Comcast NASR Repair calls via 888-824-8988. Our Caller-ID issue is apparently due to other companies, Verizon et al, reading the incorrect info in the CID database. Comcast and other phone companies do not manage their own so the tech will contact the managing company who in turn should update Verizon...
3/09/14 10:09 PM ET -- Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out.
3/10/14 -- Our tech in the field called to check in on us. One time out since Thursday. Pretty Good.
3/11/14 -- Comcast corporate did not call.
3/13/14 One week post Comcast repairing pads around us and finding egress via a local's home, we've only had one modem time out. Corporate called today to check in. We've been online for 99% of the time. Almost ready to stamp this solved. Two remaining issues: Bill on Saturday and why we have such a degraded WiFi (50 to an avg of 20Mbs down).
3/16/14 Corporate called. We appear to have fix. Our bill was also ok. Our ticket will remain open for 3 months (hopefully) to make sure we receive the credits we're supposed to receive because, for some reason, instead of just making next month's bill a zero balance...we have to have it applied over time.
3/19/14 -- Warning (5) Auth Invalid - Invalid Key Sequence Number;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
Wed Mar 19 19:55:54 2014 Notice (6) TLV-11 - unrecognized OID;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
3/20/14 -- Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out;CM-MAC=44:32:c8:25:fc:ed;CMTS-MAC=00:01:5c:24:52:c2;CM-QOS=1.1;CM-VER=3.0;
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