Comcast, Comcrook, Concast ripoff, dishonest, lazy, incompetent Denver Colorado

Dennis, the modem is working fine, the phone is doing well.

So far no problems. I have Satelite internet service. So far no problems.

Troy, the service has been available for a couple of months now.

To the other people, what difference does it make if my mother uses VoIP or not. She inquired about VoIP with Comcast weeks before she got her service.

DUH! My mother is not a casual user. She is a retired CPA that provides tax services during tax time.

So to all Carmine lovers, talk about what you know and what you don't know and in Carmine's hood, that ain't much.

Since you claim that my mother has a sex operation business and you cannot prove that in a court of law.

Your mama was fired because you complained about the bl*w j*b she gave you.

yes there are bad techs outthere, but in the system that I work for the tech support people can get a hold of my dispatch or even me if they need too. In most cases they just call the dispatcher in my office and then forward the message to me, but in some cases I have talked to the tech support folks when they have called me about something, there is also a special assistance line that I can call to resolve any customers situation here. Hopefully you will be able to do this in your area soon. but to be honest most of the problems we run accross have been caused by contractors, now I know there are contractors that are very good at their job but here in my system we seem to be lacking in the good ones that know what to do.

I know not all tech's are lazy and incompetent, and I am not accusing you of being one of them, but I get several calls every day about a tech wiring something wrong or a tech showing up late or a tech not showing up at all. So there ARE bad techs out there just as there ARE plenty of bad tech support agents out there as well. In this case, however, I don't think Regina is a victim of either of those.

And I do know that you guys have cell phones BUT we tech support agents have no way of contacting you or your dispatch office and we don't have a local number for a customer to call. The local numbers we ARE given transfer the customer right back over to us, so they are of no use.

Here's Regina's real problem: Comcast doesn't have their $#1T together. The company is structured so that the only employees that a customer can interact with are ones that have no way of fixing alot of problems, most of these problems have to do with either billing or with technicians. If Comcast had a way for field techs and tech support offices to communicate than most problems like Regina's wouldn't exist.

As far as Voip is concerned, I'm still against it but you do whatever you think is best. In my area a land line is much cheaper than voip, because believe me, I don't make a ton of money doing tech support and can't afford that kind of service. Not to mention I have a cell phone with free long distance.

By the way, I make $9/hr and have to listen to people chew me out all day because some other tech support agent somewhere down the line screwed something up or someone else is passing the buck. Try putting yourself in my shoes. I'm also taking 30 credit hrs. worth of classes trying to get a degree in computer networking. Try to put yourself in my shoes the next time you call Comcast. The nicer a customer is the more time and effort I'm willing to put in to help them.

Thanks for clarifying that Troy. That is the exactly way I've experinced my cable service, even though mine is from a different cable company.

What this whole report amounts to is the OP ended up having a modem not able to handle the VOIP bandwidth requirements. When a new modem was obtained and set up, her VOIP worked fine. I went thru the same thing here when I got VOIP and needed a newer modem. Times have sure changed since I first got line with that old 2600 baud analog. LOL.

The other problems should not have been mentioned probably, but never having Comcast I couldn't comment on them, other than wonder why it sounded so much different than the service I'm getting. You are appreciated by all I'm sure for taking the time to explain how it all works from the inside out. :)

I am a Comcast Commtech 3 Field tech mainline and inhouse. We have Nextels we use to communicate with whom ever we would need to speak to. Before we go to a job we have to call dispatch and tell them what job we are going to and when we are done with that job we call them to complete it and tell them the next job we are going to. We communicate our location very well we also call every job before going over to let the customer know that we are on our way. And if there is a job that i would of somehow missed then it would show up to the dispachers PC and they would call me to ask why the job was still not done, If it where not done then we would call the customer and go out to complete the order. That is all there is to it. I do not know why Denise would say these things but some of it is realy hard to believe, at least to me it is since I do this 5+ days a week. Also did anyone read my last post? If so did it help? and just one more thing to clear up. if we were to call a job say at 10:00 am and didn't get an answer on the phone, then we go to the home and knock on the door, still no answer, now it is 10:15 am I call the phone again, still no answer, now I have to wait untill at least 10:30 before I can leave a tag on the door and go to my next stop, BUT before I can leave I have to call my dispatcher and have them try to contact the customer a third time before I can leave and if we do get ahold of the person on the third call and they say they are on there way over or will be there soon I set and wait for them to show up so I can get there order done. Thanks hope this gave you an idea of what the field staff has to do

I can't afford a land line or a cell phone. I can afford the $22.90 that I pay for my Lingo service. It's that or no phone at all. For some of us it IS a good thing. Now I can talk to my daughter who's having her first baby (a girl we found out yesterday) in May every day and who's a few states away from me. I can check in with my elderly mother to make sure she's ok, she is on the east coast. I couldn't do that without VOIP. It was a Godsend to me when it came out. I went 2 years with NO phone at all. I can now call anywhere in the USA, Canada or Western Europe for free anytime of the day or night.

It's great that you can afford a real phone. A lot of us can't. I am homebound and ill. I need a phone. VOIP fills my needs perfectly. Yes I am aware if my cable goes out I can't call, that's when I open my front door, yell down to my manager and he uses his cell to call 911 for me. Not a big deal at all. We've had VOIP for 6 months now and have had only one outage for about 5 minutes and that was when our electric was down when they were working on something in our apartment building.

I am curious about your techs not being able to check in when they get to a customer's home. Don't they carry cell phones so they can call to say they have arrived at such and such address and then call again when they are ready to leave for the next job? Every Cox Cable tech I've deal with in my home over the past 8 years has done that. Cox knows where they are at all times in case something changes in their daily route plan, so they can be instantly advised of it. I can't belive Comcast is trying to do business that way. No wonder their customers are getting so upset!

Ma'am, I work at a Comcast call center as a tech support agent (St. Louis office), I actually know the PJ you are talking about in your complaint, he's a good agent and I believe he's a supervisor now.

Anyway, I agree that Comcast does terrible things and doesn't care about the little guy. BUT, having a Voip phone is a BAD IDEA, mainly because every cable company everywhere (even my own cable ISP in St. Louis) has down times and crappy service here and there. Unless you have DSL you should never ever get Voip as your main line, not until the internet is considered a utility as opposed to service by the FCC.

If your internet connection works on your computer but doesn't work on your phone then it IS most definitely an issue with the phone/phone company. Comcast modems do not block any ports or have incompatibilities with any network devices whatsoever. This is a fact.

When a tech support agent directs to a Comcast service office to swap a modem they use http://www.comcast.com to find the office. You go to "Find Payment Center", put in the address, and search. The results are supposed to specify whether the center's exchange equipment, but most often they don't list that information either way. Your mother was most likely directed to drop them odem off there initially because she could do it at her own convenience whenever she wanted to without waiting for a tech to hopefully show up within a four hour window. Believe me, it's a lot easier for us in tech support to send a tech out than to lookup service center info. So David did not do that out of laziness.

As far as scheduling technicians goes it's really a hit-or-miss thing. We have no medium for communication with the technicians, if they are late or don't show up we don't why and we don't know when they'll get there. Usually what happens is if the earliest appointment available is the same day as the call then the tech won't be told about it and won't show, unfortunately the software we use to schedule tech's doesn't realize this so some agents will put the appointments thru for same day calls.

Also, the techs do run late from time-to-time. Sometimes there are calls that take alot longer than they are supposed to and they run overtime. If anything that is good, it shows the tech will actually finish the job and not do the "ill finish it tomorrow" cop-out.

Basically just understand 2 things:
1) Voip is a bad bad idea
2) omcast tech support has limited powers and has no communication whatsoever with any other aspect of the company (no tech's, we don't work in the same time zone as your billing or sales departments, and we don't get off on not helping people).

I hope your problems get resolved.

Hi i am a system tech in Indiana and I just have a few things to say. I do not know if you will ever get this, but anyway Just want to let you know if your mother had a Scientific Atlanta modem not "American", It would not be more than three years old, as fare as I know here. Comcast didn't use SA modems until about two years ago. And all of those modems are still able to take a bandwidth upgrade. As fare as us supporting a VOIP service other than our own phone service, we do not.

I do not doubt that the modem was bad but that dosn't mean it was too old to run the VOIP, it just means there was a simple problem with the modem and or there is a RF issue with your inhouse wireing, which we do have an obligation to fix, but even if it were a wireing issue and we did fix the signal problem, and your VOIP still didn't work but the Internet worked fine then that is as fare as we can go unless you have the phone service that we provide.

Try this get online and type in 192.168.100.1 and hit enter if you have a Motorola Modem a screen will pop up and there will be a tab that says SIGNAL click on that this is what you should have for the VOIP to work properly.
Downstream Transmit power can be at least
a -7 (negative 7)
Upstream Trasmit Level Should be at least
a 47 (posative 47)
Upstream and Downstream SNR levels should be close to a 35 to 30 dbmv

If these levels are not close to what I have posted and you are tring to Run a voip service though the modem then you may experience trouble with it.. Note: these signals may range from plus or minus 5 to 6 points on the up and down signals.

Also keep in mind that if Comcast has not offered the Comcast Digital Voice service in your are yet, then that means the Nodes have not been sertified for voip service and cannot quarantee that a Voip Service will work.

Yes, I have Comcast, an dI am very happy with it. Only thing I have ever had trouble with was that an employee had a family emergency on Sunday when I was supposed to have my cable hooked up, he called and told me. I said I do not care, we will just have it rescheduled, and by the next weekend (I go to school and have two jobs), I had cable.

No problems here at all, as a matter of fact I my internet runs at higher speeds than it is supposed to, up and down.

No "D" from Naples, I'm not married to Carmine, Carmine is in New York, I'm in Florida. No we haven't met, nor do we know each other. No, Regina, I'm not Carmine, try reducing your Meds, Dr. Feelgood has got you WAYYYYYYY to pumped on pills. Regina, anyone that can read saw you attack Comcast, as a whole company, Carmine works there, hence... you follow, he was trying to help you out. Carmine stuck out a hand and you bit. "D" from Naples can't pay for her cable and BLAMES Comcast, still can't figure why they won't give it to you for free. d**n your outta luck. Regina is STILL mad about paying too much for her McDonald's Big Breakfast, maybe you should get something to eat sweetie and you'll lighten up. If you attack someone they have a right to defend themselves. My Husband and Carmine work at a good company, you will not be the first in line, nor the last to complain. They do not claim to be perfect. No matter what Comcast could do for you, nothing would make you happy. You seem miserable to begin with, you too "D". Get the Dish if your so pissed. Let them deal with you. Comcast has many happy customers, and when they have a problem they don't freak out over it. Don't deal with Comcast if they are SO BAD. If I don't like a company, I don't use their service. End of story.

No "D" from Naples, I'm not married to Carmine, Carmine is in New York, I'm in Florida. No we haven't met, nor do we know each other. No, Regina, I'm not Carmine, try reducing your Meds, Dr. Feelgood has got you WAYYYYYYY to pumped on pills. Regina, anyone that can read saw you attack Comcast, as a whole company, Carmine works there, hence... you follow, he was trying to help you out. Carmine stuck out a hand and you bit. "D" from Naples can't pay for her cable and BLAMES Comcast, still can't figure why they won't give it to you for free. d**n your outta luck. Regina is STILL mad about paying too much for her McDonald's Big Breakfast, maybe you should get something to eat sweetie and you'll lighten up. If you attack someone they have a right to defend themselves. My Husband and Carmine work at a good company, you will not be the first in line, nor the last to complain. They do not claim to be perfect. No matter what Comcast could do for you, nothing would make you happy. You seem miserable to begin with, you too "D". Get the Dish if your so pissed. Let them deal with you. Comcast has many happy customers, and when they have a problem they don't freak out over it. Don't deal with Comcast if they are SO BAD. If I don't like a company, I don't use their service. End of story.

No "D" from Naples, I'm not married to Carmine, Carmine is in New York, I'm in Florida. No we haven't met, nor do we know each other. No, Regina, I'm not Carmine, try reducing your Meds, Dr. Feelgood has got you WAYYYYYYY to pumped on pills. Regina, anyone that can read saw you attack Comcast, as a whole company, Carmine works there, hence... you follow, he was trying to help you out. Carmine stuck out a hand and you bit. "D" from Naples can't pay for her cable and BLAMES Comcast, still can't figure why they won't give it to you for free. d**n your outta luck. Regina is STILL mad about paying too much for her McDonald's Big Breakfast, maybe you should get something to eat sweetie and you'll lighten up. If you attack someone they have a right to defend themselves. My Husband and Carmine work at a good company, you will not be the first in line, nor the last to complain. They do not claim to be perfect. No matter what Comcast could do for you, nothing would make you happy. You seem miserable to begin with, you too "D". Get the Dish if your so pissed. Let them deal with you. Comcast has many happy customers, and when they have a problem they don't freak out over it. Don't deal with Comcast if they are SO BAD. If I don't like a company, I don't use their service. End of story.

No "D" from Naples, I'm not married to Carmine, Carmine is in New York, I'm in Florida. No we haven't met, nor do we know each other. No, Regina, I'm not Carmine, try reducing your Meds, Dr. Feelgood has got you WAYYYYYYY to pumped on pills. Regina, anyone that can read saw you attack Comcast, as a whole company, Carmine works there, hence... you follow, he was trying to help you out. Carmine stuck out a hand and you bit. "D" from Naples can't pay for her cable and BLAMES Comcast, still can't figure why they won't give it to you for free. d**n your outta luck. Regina is STILL mad about paying too much for her McDonald's Big Breakfast, maybe you should get something to eat sweetie and you'll lighten up. If you attack someone they have a right to defend themselves. My Husband and Carmine work at a good company, you will not be the first in line, nor the last to complain. They do not claim to be perfect. No matter what Comcast could do for you, nothing would make you happy. You seem miserable to begin with, you too "D". Get the Dish if your so pissed. Let them deal with you. Comcast has many happy customers, and when they have a problem they don't freak out over it. Don't deal with Comcast if they are SO BAD. If I don't like a company, I don't use their service. End of story.

i think it would be a nice experiment for your mother to get satellite internet. let me know how your upstream data rate doesn't support the overhead and sustained data rate required for voice over internet protocol. Or how the latency involved in a satellite transmission causes voice quality issues which could be really fun when working your mom's phone sex operation. I'm sure I'm speaking for many technicians out there in saying that there are alot of times when we could do without dealing with some customers in the long run. You are the kind of person that requires somebody to come out to your house on a monthly basis to renew your IP address, or plug your router back in, just to hear you complain about how you should be reimbursed for time without service due to your own failures. or hear "Well I didn't have any G.D.! viruses until i got your service" when explaining why your computer is slow and having a bunch of popups. I also like hearing your snide, mildly retarded mispronunciations of comcast.. i.e. "Concast, comcrook" so go ahead call the supervisors in my area, hell call the president of comcast he'll be glad to hear how he'll be sitting in his hot tub at his mansion with his secretary because he has fools like you who are willing to pay so much for such crappy service

Shari, here is what Carmine said to me, now mind you, you're the turn the other cheek person. I'm not. I don't believe in catching flies with honey. I let my pet tarantula catch the flies. Reminder, here is Carmine's rude and insulting response.

Rebuttal REBUTTAL employee
Submitted: 11/24/2005 10:36:36 PM Modified: 11/24/2005 10:36:36 PM

has this problem been resolved?

has this problem been fixed? if so, what was the solution? was it her router? or did you people just hook it up wrong? or did they knock over the cell tower and did it fall on your trailer? and why does your mom getting in trouble at work have anything to do with comcast or it's services?

Carmine - Bronx, New York
U.S.A.

Now that you're there reading Carmine's insulting response, I accept your apology.

Now with that in mind sweetie, why is it that people like Carmine think that my mother lives in a trailer park? Do I have to point out the negative connotations to you? So in closing, when you are pointing your finger at me, remember you are pointing three at yourself. Now I will deal with Carmine.

Carmine, since you are not intelligent to understand the English language, let me put it to you another way. Money talks, money can walk. I know you are not a rocket scientist, the fact of the matter is moron, the modem did not work. The modem was defective and the modem was totally unsafe.

So in closing, since I have proof to back up what I have said. I am well versed in electricity and electronics, but the does not absolve Comcast of providing defective equipment that could cause physical harm and death.

Since you cannot figure out what the post is about, and you have been proven wrong by non-tech support lay people, I suggest that you go elsewhere.

Nina told me that SHE was a mother, and that her husband worked for Comcast in the field. Makes you think don't it. UNLESS?!? Carmine is her husband? I look forward to your response. And I am still waiting for an answer to my question.

I don't know why you think i'm going schizo in the threads. I still find it hard to beleive that you would complain so much about a modem that wasn't working right. and to whomever was saying that cox supports customer owned equipment. they troubleshoot over the phone to confirm that it isn't a service problem. that is why they charge for service calls to diagnose customer equipment. some gomers tend to think that ISP's are supposed to be computer tech support.

Regina:

I must say that I agree with Ken. You are rude and insulting. I understand that your Mother was ripped off, but where does that constitute it's OK to insult, call names, etc. I also understand you were insulted, by my goodness!

I believe your ripoff report is the truth because we have had problems with Comcast, too, but look at how you pose yourself to others.

Sugar and spice makes friends. Lemon juice and limes do not.

Take care!

I can tell by your post that you are functionally illiterate. Now with that out of the way. Hasn't it ever occured to you that all avenues were covered? Yes they were before the services were ordered. Just because you think from between your legs, it does not mean that other people do. Now since you are posing as Carmine, why don't you read his initial insults? You didn't because you wrote them. My mother is not a casual user of the internet and the phone.

So before little girl/boy you start slinging insults, for one consider the fact that people have enough intelligence to cover the basis. What it still boils down to is that the cable modem was defective and you as a whinning little boy cannot face it. Lorainne explained the situation to you Carmine,oops shall I say Nina or Ken, but yet you still attack me and my mother.

I have every right to post my comments whether you like it or not, but as I have noticed based on the complaints on this site and all other national complaint sites, my mother is not wrong.

IT IS YOU, CARMINE AND NINA THAT ARE WRONG. Unlike you, I have enough "B" to back up what I have said.

BTW Kennie, I did purchase a cable modem. So far no problems.

So in closing, I prefer Brie with my wine, and you can only afford 1 slice of American cheese with your whine. The problem is, I can afford to pay cash for my cheese and wine and you cannot afford food stamps.

So please move on. I through with dealing with trash.

I dont know why I even open myself up to this, but I have to say that you, Regina, are pretty much the more unpleasant poster I have seen on here. There was nothing offensive in Carmine's suggestions, and they were pretty much on target.

VoIP just isn't for everyone, and certainly not if your mother is both a senior citizen and a casual user. It's great when it works, but I can't seem to understand why you feel it is Comcast's problem just because you plugged it into their network? Did you even call them ahead of time to ask if the support the QoS you need? Do you even know what QoS is?

Anyway, I am done with this thread. You posted a complaint, got some helpful feedback, and you turned it into a b***h-fest. Best wishes for success with VoIP, and Happy Holidays.

Nina aka Carmine, please get back into the closet. You've just proven that you are Carmine, just a different name and location.

I never threatened you, unless you are Carmine in drag. Hmmmm, maybe I should contact Comcast in your area. I've sure that their employment policy does not cover transvestites or transsexuals.

I can tell by your post that you're either Carmine or his bump in the road. Now sweetie, let's get to the brass tacks shall we?

1) Comcast was the one that screwed up. I can accept a company that screws up or admit that the equipment is faulty. In this case, Comcast is a long ways from absolution. What you cannot accept little girl is that Comcast's equipment was faulty. Are you a flunky for Comcast? One wonders based on your post.

2) At least my mother has a bad attitude when it comes to customer service, however your mother works on all sides of the street just to get noticed, are you following in mommy's footsteps? YES! Get a pet and then you will have all of the undivided attention in the future.

3) As for the techs, what's your point? A call was scheduled and they never came out. If you can actually read beyond the second grade level, you would see that Comcast screwed up.

So in the meantime, if you want to play with adults, make sure you're mature enough to learn the rules and read the handbook.

Customer service and minimizing screw-up maintains the black line aka bottome line in business. Since you don't understand or are intelligent enough to understand.

Here's the 411, maintain a high customer service/tech support performance or you can look for employment elsewhere or your job will go overseas to either India or Pakistan.

A mature person would know that "lay" people have experienced the same problems and with that experience comes knowledge on solving that problem if it were ever to surface again. What you cannot understand Carmine aka Nina is that someone outfoxed you, your other half and tech support.

Understand sweetie? Now you're dismissed.

I can tell by your post that you're either Carmine or his bump in the road. Now sweetie, let's get to the brass tacks shall we?

1) Comcast was the one that screwed up. I can accept a company that screws up or admit that the equipment is faulty. In this case, Comcast is a long ways from absolution. What you cannot accept little girl is that Comcast's equipment was faulty. Are you a flunky for Comcast? One wonders based on your post.

2) At least my mother has a bad attitude when it comes to customer service, however your mother works on all sides of the street just to get noticed, are you following in mommy's footsteps? YES! Get a pet and then you will have all of the undivided attention in the future.

3) As for the techs, what's your point? A call was scheduled and they never came out. If you can actually read beyond the second grade level, you would see that Comcast screwed up.

So in the meantime, if you want to play with adults, make sure you're mature enough to learn the rules and read the handbook.

Customer service and minimizing screw-up maintains the black line aka bottome line in business. Since you don't understand or are intelligent enough to understand.

Here's the 411, maintain a high customer service/tech support performance or you can look for employment elsewhere or your job will go overseas to either India or Pakistan.

A mature person would know that "lay" people have experienced the same problems and with that experience comes knowledge on solving that problem if it were ever to surface again. What you cannot understand Carmine aka Nina is that someone outfoxed you, your other half and tech support.

Understand sweetie? Now you're dismissed.

Now either you do things my way or you do things my way. Either way, you lose.

So show some respect for your elders or slither back into your Petrie dish.

Regina - Denver, Colorado
U.S.A.

Comments about his "Parts" too, HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Comcast will see that you talk to people like they are trash. Sweet , sweet, Regina, your mother probably talks like this too. Age or not, I respect those who respect me. Lorraine, to out tech a Tech 1 or 2. A tech one is a new hire, I can out tech and so can most, out do a tech 1 or 2. Don't pat yourself on the back too much. By the way the techs are in the field, NOT ON THE PHONE.Those are dispatchers and customer service people. They don't train people and have them sit in a office all day. They send the techs to the field. Forcoming threats and slander are awaiting me from Regina and friends, you guys make the world such a beautiful place.

Now either you do things my way or you do things my way. Either way, you lose.

So show some respect for your elders or slither back into your Petrie dish.

Regina - Denver, Colorado
U.S.A.

Comments about his "Parts" too, HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Comcast will see that you talk to people like they are trash. Sweet , sweet, Regina, your mother probably talks like this too. Age or not, I respect those who respect me. Lorraine, to out tech a Tech 1 or 2. A tech one is a new hire, I can out tech and so can most, out do a tech 1 or 2. Don't pat yourself on the back too much. By the way the techs are in the field, NOT ON THE PHONE.Those are dispatchers and customer service people. They don't train people and have them sit in a office all day. They send the techs to the field. Forcoming threats and slander are awaiting me from Regina and friends, you guys make the world such a beautiful place.

Now either you do things my way or you do things my way. Either way, you lose.

So show some respect for your elders or slither back into your Petrie dish.

Regina - Denver, Colorado
U.S.A.

Comments about his "Parts" too, HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Comcast will see that you talk to people like they are trash. Sweet , sweet, Regina, your mother probably talks like this too. Age or not, I respect those who respect me. Lorraine, to out tech a Tech 1 or 2. A tech one is a new hire, I can out tech and so can most, out do a tech 1 or 2. Don't pat yourself on the back too much. By the way the techs are in the field, NOT ON THE PHONE.Those are dispatchers and customer service people. They don't train people and have them sit in a office all day. They send the techs to the field. Forcoming threats and slander are awaiting me from Regina and friends, you guys make the world such a beautiful place.

Now either you do things my way or you do things my way. Either way, you lose.

So show some respect for your elders or slither back into your Petrie dish.

Regina - Denver, Colorado
U.S.A.

Comments about his "Parts" too, HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Comcast will see that you talk to people like they are trash. Sweet , sweet, Regina, your mother probably talks like this too. Age or not, I respect those who respect me. Lorraine, to out tech a Tech 1 or 2. A tech one is a new hire, I can out tech and so can most, out do a tech 1 or 2. Don't pat yourself on the back too much. By the way the techs are in the field, NOT ON THE PHONE.Those are dispatchers and customer service people. They don't train people and have them sit in a office all day. They send the techs to the field. Forcoming threats and slander are awaiting me from Regina and friends, you guys make the world such a beautiful place.

Your mother's best bet would be just to buy a new one (rather than rent one from Comcast).

But a temporary solution may be to unplugged the modem for a few minutes when she gets these balloons constantly. It works for me. I see them, unplugged the modem and play a game of solitaire on the computer, plug it back in and all is well.

Thank you for your informative response. Hopefully Carmine will put his small ego back in his pants and take note of what you've said.

Now my mother has noticed a couple of things with her modem.

1) She gets a little balloon saying that she is connected.

2) Then she gets another ballon saying that a network connection is unplugged.

Here we go again. I'll keep you posted on this one.

Soon as I read your report I knew you had the same problem we had with our VOIP service. Let me expand a little bit more for Carmine on some of what he said in his post. It may help you when you talk to Comcast in the future.

Carmine in quotes:

'just because your VoIP phone system is hooked up to comcast internet doesn't make comcast responsible for whether or not it works.'

But isn't Comcast responsible for their techs actually knowing enough about computers, modems, and related equipment so they can help their customers when they call in for said help? Had you understood the different types of modems your company uses and been aware of the service upgrades this past year giving customers more bandwidth, you would have known she needed a new cable modem immediately so she would get the needed bandwith to make her VOIP phone work.

'if the modem is working and you can go online without service interruptions or slow speeds or packet loss issues, then we have provided our service.'

Oh really? If she wasn't able to use her phone, the reason was due to it being an older modem and the resulting PACKET LOSS/slow speed. Are you really a tech?

You are also aware that VOIP boxes work independantly from the customer's computer aren't you? They use a lot more bandwidth, so while going to a website may look normal when they are online and they won't notice packet loss, that doesn't mean the modem is new enough to handle the bandwidth the phone is going to require.

'when you start hooking phone systems and wireless accessories up, that's when some people think for some reason we should support it. well comcast and any other cable company or ISP doesn't.'

Cox Cable does. When you call their tech support they ask you what all is hooked up on your system, so they can help you troubleshoot. I call in, tell them I have 2 computers I built myself, with USB hub on one, both to router, VOIP box, one XP home, one XP Pro and both having WIN TV cards. Then I normally tell them what the problem is, so I don't waste their time since I normally have troublehooted on my own and know the problem I need them to fix.

It's very rare that I get someone with your attitude that will talk down to me, but one time I did. That's the point I out tech talked him and confused him enough that he bumped me up to level 2 techs so I got someone who could understand. The level 1 tech kept trying to tell me it was my end and I just needed to reinstall XP Pro, when the problem was their node at the end of our block. Level 2 listened, bumped me to Data Soc and they sent an engineer out. They ended up replacing everything from motherboard down in the node and the neighborhood was back online again.

Funny that, some of us customers really DO know how all this works and can help you do your job .. if you will let us.

'and if the modem is working, you can swap it out all you want you will still have the same problem.'

Not true. Changing one of the older modems to a new one that can handle the increased bandwidth is the only way to get VOIP to work correctly. VOIP is very demanding on bandwidth and you have to have one of the new modems on the market that are made to give you as much as possible. The old ones can not handle VOIP. You should be aware of this since you are a tech.

Tell me again this isn't a Comcast problem. Far as I can see it is. Her VOIP box worked fine, it was a old modem from your company that was causing her problems.

Thank you for your post. It is people like Carmine that proves that some forms of life still needs to evolve.

The cable modem was swapped out and so far no problems.

Carmine, I have reported your comments to the Comcast office in your area.

Will this address do?

Comcast Cable
(917) 934-1540


1114 Avenue Of The Americas
New York, NY 10036

or will this address do?

Comcast Cable
(201) 997-0100


171 River Rd
North Arlington, NJ 07031

Cross Street:
Near intersection of Sunset Ave and River Rd

or better yet

Stephen B. Burke
Chief Operating Officer, Comcast Corporation
President, Comcast Cable


Where am I going with this? Let me put it to you this way. Your ignorance and stupidity reflects badly on your company, now I can take this a step further and file a formal complaint with the NY Attorney General and have him contact Mr. Burke.

Now either you do things my way or you do things my way. Either way, you lose.

So show some respect for your elders or slither back into your Petrie dish.

Carmine, the problem was with the cable modem. Everything was hooked up fine. The router is fine.

Carmine, the problem was with the cable modem. Everything was hooked up fine. The router is fine.

Carmine, the problem was with the cable modem. Everything was hooked up fine. The router is fine.

Carmine, the problem was with the cable modem. Everything was hooked up fine. The router is fine.

When we hooked up our Lingo VOIP box I could hear incoming calls fine, but they couldn't hear me. The VOIP box and router were fine, so I called Cox Cable and talked to them. They explained that since our cable modem was an older one (3 yrs old) that was indeed the problem. The older ones (we had the motorola) don't work with the increased bandwith the cable companies have added to their internet service in the past year.

As soon as we put the new cable modem up, the phone worked wonderful. We've had the service now for about 5 months and I love being able to call all of the US and Canada and western Europe at any time for free for only 22 bucks a month.

VOIP is great and cheap, but you must have a new cable modem for it to work correctly. Make sure you have one or the phone will not work for you and you will feel you have been ripped off, when really you are just behind technology and just need to upgrade your modem.

When we hooked up our Lingo VOIP box I could hear incoming calls fine, but they couldn't hear me. The VOIP box and router were fine, so I called Cox Cable and talked to them. They explained that since our cable modem was an older one (3 yrs old) that was indeed the problem. The older ones (we had the motorola) don't work with the increased bandwith the cable companies have added to their internet service in the past year.

As soon as we put the new cable modem up, the phone worked wonderful. We've had the service now for about 5 months and I love being able to call all of the US and Canada and western Europe at any time for free for only 22 bucks a month.

VOIP is great and cheap, but you must have a new cable modem for it to work correctly. Make sure you have one or the phone will not work for you and you will feel you have been ripped off, when really you are just behind technology and just need to upgrade your modem.

When we hooked up our Lingo VOIP box I could hear incoming calls fine, but they couldn't hear me. The VOIP box and router were fine, so I called Cox Cable and talked to them. They explained that since our cable modem was an older one (3 yrs old) that was indeed the problem. The older ones (we had the motorola) don't work with the increased bandwith the cable companies have added to their internet service in the past year.

As soon as we put the new cable modem up, the phone worked wonderful. We've had the service now for about 5 months and I love being able to call all of the US and Canada and western Europe at any time for free for only 22 bucks a month.

VOIP is great and cheap, but you must have a new cable modem for it to work correctly. Make sure you have one or the phone will not work for you and you will feel you have been ripped off, when really you are just behind technology and just need to upgrade your modem.

When we hooked up our Lingo VOIP box I could hear incoming calls fine, but they couldn't hear me. The VOIP box and router were fine, so I called Cox Cable and talked to them. They explained that since our cable modem was an older one (3 yrs old) that was indeed the problem. The older ones (we had the motorola) don't work with the increased bandwith the cable companies have added to their internet service in the past year.

As soon as we put the new cable modem up, the phone worked wonderful. We've had the service now for about 5 months and I love being able to call all of the US and Canada and western Europe at any time for free for only 22 bucks a month.

VOIP is great and cheap, but you must have a new cable modem for it to work correctly. Make sure you have one or the phone will not work for you and you will feel you have been ripped off, when really you are just behind technology and just need to upgrade your modem.

has this problem been fixed? if so, what was the solution? was it her router? or did you people just hook it up wrong? or did they knock over the cell tower and did it fall on your trailer? and why does your mom getting in trouble at work have anything to do with comcast or it's services?

Sorry to disappoint you, but it was the cable modem that was defective. You need to connect the VoIP to the cable modem or DSL box in order for it to work correctly not the other way around.

As for the cell phone, a construction crew knocked over the Cell phone towers in the area and the signal drops every time.

I guess building a school is much more important than having a cell phone tower in the area.

As for the answering machine, if AT&T and other phone companies sell answering machines, yes you do call them about problems with the product especially if it is under warranty.

Qwest has a caller id box, if it is under warranty, you call Qwest and they send you a new one, if it is not, you are transferred to their reseller and you have to purchase a Qwest caller id box thru the reseller, either way, you have to contact the phone company.

just because your VoIP phone system is hooked up to comcast internet doesn't make comcast responsible for whether or not it works. if the modem is working and you can go online without service interruptions or slow speeds or packet loss issues, then we have provided our service. when you start hooking phone systems and wireless accessories up, that's when some people think for some reason we should support it. well comcast and any other cable company or ISP doesn't. do you call the phone company when your answering machine doesn't work? and as for the modem causing your phone adapter to catch fire.. i don't beleive that. if lightning strikes near your house or trailer or whatever you live in.. it causes particles in the air to become postively charged... and then it fries everything from your Network card, Wireless router, phone router, and even your garage door opener. and if the modem is working, you can swap it out all you want you will still have the same problem. and as for VoIP, i have my phone service through my local cable company which isn't the one that I work for and i understand that if my cable goes out, so does my phone, and just a recommendation-Don't get VoIP unless you have a cell phone.