Comcast, outbound dropouts, questions - Resolved

Posts: 34 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Jun 20, 2006 Posts: 34

I hope that Comcast will start to watch this thread and others like it, their is a serious problem with the Motorolla SB51xx series on their network or just simply with the SB51xx that they are not suitable to be used as an authorized modem for their service. Ironic that most places around me only have the Comcast modems, SB5120, only and no other type. I had to go to three stores before I found what I was looking for, so far so good. I haven't had any problems yet with Linksys modem, works great with my two Linksys routers as well. I hope that Comcast will take these postings seriously and look into their infrastructure, more than just Vonage is affected by UDP. Vonage is a small portion of UDP usage. I think that a class action lawsuit should be brought against Comcast for their lack of service and denying customer complaints regarding their service. Their are other qualified individuals out there who are looking at this besides them and seeing the negative results with this one single series of modems. I believe that Comcast has a large stake in these modems, since primarily they are the leased and most widely suggested modems they allow to be used on their service. If they had to admit their was a problem with their service or the modems they would have to recall all of the modems in service, a very expensive fix to a very large problem. Better to sweep it under the rug!!

Posts: 31 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Jun 11, 2006 Posts: 31

Well said Fred, for other folks interested, as if there aren't enough threads here - have a looksee at: 
http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,16611154?hilite=comcast+decertify for Comcasts SB5120 problems. 
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,15929720~days=10~fmode=full for a survey on modems freezing/pausing/upload issues - look at all the SB51XX's. http://www.broadbandreports.com/nsearch?q=SB5120 for a list if SB5120 threads, most of which seem to mention Comcast. 
http://www.broadbandreports.com/nsearch?q=Comcast+upload&cat=remark for Comcast upload issues. Problems go on and on - search any key words you wish - you'll find folks pulling their hair out and like us - being completely blown off by Comcast. 
The ONLY problem they saw after visiting me this morning was one of their advanced engineer's name and phone number on this forum and the mere suggestion Comcast has any issues whatsoever.

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 25, 2003 Posts: 6

how you get themto believe you is call them on the viop line and tak to them the tech said several time he can;t hear me ans is seeinght epacket drops of ciurce he have the NOC look at it to see i ther is a issue and is sending a tech to the house again

Posts: 31 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Jun 11, 2006 Posts: 31

I drop out every call more than once, no worries, and yes they see it - they tell me I've lost signal, they can see I've lost signal in the logs, BUT when the techs come to the house they tell me 'the phone support people don't what they're talking about'.
We've been dealing with this since April and done EVERYTHING, every DX, run the system without the Vonage adaptor, dumped the network and run just one pc thru the modem - loss loss loss..... we kow what the problem is..... denial! Good luck, it sounds like your adventure is just beginning.

Posts: 533 · Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 8:33 pm Post subject:

oly_fred wrote:

I hope that Comcast will start to watch this thread and others like it, their is a serious problem with the Motorolla SB51xx series on their network or just simply with the SB51xx that they are not suitable to be used as an authorized modem for their service. Ironic that most places around me only have the Comcast modems, SB5120, only and no other type. I had to go to three stores before I found what I was looking for, so far so good. I haven't had any problems yet with Linksys modem, works great with my two Linksys routers as well. I hope that Comcast will take these postings seriously and look into their infrastructure, more than just Vonage is affected by UDP. Vonage is a small portion of UDP usage. I think that a class action lawsuit should be brought against Comcast for their lack of service and denying customer complaints regarding their service. Their are other qualified individuals out there who are looking at this besides them and seeing the negative results with this one single series of modems. I believe that Comcast has a large stake in these modems, since primarily they are the leased and most widely suggested modems they allow to be used on their service. If they had to admit their was a problem with their service or the modems they would have to recall all of the modems in service, a very expensive fix to a very large problem. Better to sweep it under the rug!!

Sorry, I'm not buying it. I guarantee there are a hell of a lot more people that are not having problems with their 51xx than there are people that have problems. You hear about the 51xx's more because they are the largest install base, I'm willing to bet by far.

How do you know the 51xx is the most widely suggested modem to buy by Comcast? I didn't see any reference to that on their website; all I found was a list of approved modems, in alphabetical order. I'm not even sure they are the ones that are leased the most. From my experience, all the techs ever have in their truck is some junk RCA modems.

Posts: 31 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Jun 11, 2006 Posts: 31

I had hoped for a Linksys swap today Ez but the tech told me Comcast only has contracts with Motorola and RCA (preferred vendors) with the 5120's being their most popular. It was a super modem - until whatever went pear shaped in April.
So far as most not having problems - you may be right - most don't have Voip, video conference, do gaming or VPN into work.
Their web pages may be slow to load sometime, but they'll likely blame the web sites and not think a thought of it otherwise - we're the folks who do the things where problems like this hit you in the face.

Posts: 34 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Jun 20, 2006 Posts: 34

EzCo wrote:

oly_fred wrote:

I hope that Comcast will start to watch this thread and others like it, their is a serious problem with the Motorolla SB51xx series on their network or just simply with the SB51xx that they are not suitable to be used as an authorized modem for their service. Ironic that most places around me only have the Comcast modems, SB5120, only and no other type. I had to go to three stores before I found what I was looking for, so far so good. I haven't had any problems yet with Linksys modem, works great with my two Linksys routers as well. I hope that Comcast will take these postings seriously and look into their infrastructure, more than just Vonage is affected by UDP. Vonage is a small portion of UDP usage. I think that a class action lawsuit should be brought against Comcast for their lack of service and denying customer complaints regarding their service. Their are other qualified individuals out there who are looking at this besides them and seeing the negative results with this one single series of modems. I believe that Comcast has a large stake in these modems, since primarily they are the leased and most widely suggested modems they allow to be used on their service. If they had to admit their was a problem with their service or the modems they would have to recall all of the modems in service, a very expensive fix to a very large problem. Better to sweep it under the rug!!

Sorry, I'm not buying it. I guarantee there are a hell of a lot more people that are not having problems with their 51xx than there are people that have problems. You hear about the 51xx's more because they are the largest install base, I'm willing to bet by far.

How do you know the 51xx is the most widely suggested modem to buy by Comcast? I didn't see any reference to that on their website; all I found was a list of approved modems, in alphabetical order. I'm not even sure they are the ones that are leased the most. From my experience, all the techs ever have in their truck is some junk RCA modems.

I am confident, as GINA516 has posted as well, that the SB5120 is their preferred modem because it all that they have in stores available for comcast and also it is the only modem they have suggested to me when I was describing my problem to them before I informed them I was using a SB5120! Most people probably do not use UDP protocols on a daily basis, perhaps because the "small" percentage of users actually use something besides http:// which is really a small portion of the internet base traffic. I stand by my statement earlier, it is unfortunate that Comcast has this same philosophy that a small number of people are having this problem, remember a class-action lawsuit is for a specific group of people affected by someone else's negligence. Just because you are not a part of this group does not mean that it is not happening. "If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to see it, did the tree still fall?" or in this case "If you didn't see the tree in the woods fall, did the tree still fall?

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 17, 2006 Posts: 1

I'm considering switching to Vonage but like others in this thread I'm also having problems with packet loss. It's the same thing 6-10 times a day. 5-30 seconds of packet loss. We only notice this with our gaming connections (alot in my family) and my VPN tunnel connection to work. I'm not too keen on switching to Vonage with a problem like this though.

For what it's worth, my modem is a Motorola SB4200, not the 51xx series. We have a tech coming out today to look at it. Over the phone support (the last 3 times I've called) only gets me disconnecting the modem for 30 seconds. In fact, that's thier cure for everything. Smile

This is Comcast in Harrisburg, PA, by the way.

Posts: 31 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Jun 11, 2006 Posts: 31

Yeah, gaming and VPN is where you'll notice you have the problems so unfortunately Voip would also be affected. I've had Vonage for 3 years without a problem - been deliriously happy getting off the grid - but alas - once this issue started with Comcast in April - the phone is impossible, i can't video conference anymore - beyond frustrating - and they'rein complete denial of any issues whatsoever. Every piece of equip has been swapped out, every DX, I'd of stood on my head if i thought it would help.

I do have friends all over the country with Vonage and they're doing fine - Cox out west and Brighthouse in FL have no problems whatsoever. The Michigan friends (3 homes worth) had to switch from Comcast to DSL to stay with Vonage and they're fine on that.

The common denominators to everyones problem is Comcast and Motorola modems. I have a Linksys on the way and will report back once we're up and running with it. Some thought the docsys 2.0 was the poison dart but those with Linksys 2.0 and or D-Link are doing fine - hence a Motorola firmware issue.

Stay tuned and we'll be your guinea pigs I guess, if simply another brand modem solves your problem, Vonage is well worth jumping too.

Posts: 34 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Jun 20, 2006 Posts: 34

Boogs wrote:

I'm considering switching to Vonage but like others in this thread I'm also having problems with packet loss. It's the same thing 6-10 times a day. 5-30 seconds of packet loss. We only notice this with our gaming connections (alot in my family) and my VPN tunnel connection to work. I'm not too keen on switching to Vonage with a problem like this though.

For what it's worth, my modem is a Motorola SB4200, not the 51xx series. We have a tech coming out today to look at it. Over the phone support (the last 3 times I've called) only gets me disconnecting the modem for 30 seconds. In fact, that's thier cure for everything. Smile

This is Comcast in Harrisburg, PA, by the way.

My suggestion to you is purchase a linksys modem and then see if this fixes your problem, I have had my new modem for nearly a week and I love it, no dropped calls or other problems.