Constant Outages with Xfinity

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ross11988

n00b
Joined
Sep 2, 2021
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Hello, bought a house last year. Xfinity is the only service provider in the area so we went with them. Bought my own modem, hooked it up and all was well at first. Setup a Eero mesh network too. Since last year our internet connection reliability has drastically decreased. Before we would get a notification there was no connection to the modem once a month for a couple of minutes. Now it’s multiple times daily. A tech came out a couple of months ago, checked the fittings, replaced some and tested the signal, showed me that everything was at full strength, but told me that he was limited because we didn’t have an xfinity modem. If we had an xfinity modem he would’ve been obligated to fix the problem. After he left the reliability was better for a couple of weeks, then it went bad again, I decided to buy another modem, not from xfinity, same issue, I also tried another coaxial hookup in the house, same issue. Finally bit the bullet and ordered an xfinity gateway, but got it in writing from an xfinity rep in the chat that if the gateway didn’t work then they would need to replace the wires to the house. Sure enough the gateway doesn’t fix the issue. Has anyone else had this issue and is xfinity replacing the wires really the only resolution?
 
You aren't giving us a lot to go on. You said that you tried several modems. Do any of them allow you to view your SNR and power levels? That can give you an indication of what the problem might be.
 
Have you noticed any kind of pattern to the failures, such as time of day, weather, apps in use, etc.?

You should probably review your home's coax topology. Make sure there are as few splits as possible, and any splitters have no open ends. It's possible the splitters are bad and need to be replaced. If they're outside, make sure no moisture is getting in (even dew/condensation)

Have you pulled a diagnostic report from the modem? It should look something like the following:
Code: 
Startup Procedure
Procedure     Status     Comment
Acquire Downstream Channel     507000000 Hz     Locked
Connectivity State     OK     Operational
Boot State     OK     Operational
Security     Enabled     BPI+
IP Provisioning Mode     Honor MDD     honorMdd(4)
 
Downstream Bonded Channels
Channel     Lock Status     Modulation     Channel ID     Frequency     Power     SNR     Correctables     Uncorrectables
1    Locked    QAM256    20    507000000 Hz    -7.9 dBmV    39.9 dB    10936    714
2    Locked    QAM256    4    405000000 Hz    -8.8 dBmV    39.6 dB    13376    1288
3    Locked    QAM256    5    411000000 Hz    -8.7 dBmV    39.5 dB    13294    965
4    Locked    QAM256    6    417000000 Hz    -8.5 dBmV    39.6 dB    13312    1396
5    Locked    QAM256    7    423000000 Hz    -8.5 dBmV    39.7 dB    12487    839
6    Locked    QAM256    8    429000000 Hz    -8.4 dBmV    39.7 dB    12184    765
7    Locked    QAM256    9    435000000 Hz    -8.4 dBmV    39.6 dB    11655    674
8    Locked    QAM256    10    441000000 Hz    -8.4 dBmV    39.6 dB    11209    643
9    Locked    QAM256    11    447000000 Hz    -8.5 dBmV    39.6 dB    10686    716
10    Locked    QAM256    12    453000000 Hz    -8.6 dBmV    39.6 dB    10087    660
11    Locked    QAM256    13    459000000 Hz    -8.5 dBmV    39.7 dB    9634    667
12    Locked    QAM256    14    465000000 Hz    -8.3 dBmV    39.7 dB    10005    810
13    Locked    QAM256    15    471000000 Hz    -8.6 dBmV    39.7 dB    10416    1056
14    Locked    QAM256    16    477000000 Hz    -8.3 dBmV    39.7 dB    10272    929
15    Locked    QAM256    17    483000000 Hz    -8.4 dBmV    39.6 dB    9936    710
16    Locked    QAM256    18    489000000 Hz    -8.5 dBmV    39.6 dB    9998    740
17    Locked    QAM256    19    495000000 Hz    -8.1 dBmV    39.8 dB    10064    666
18    Locked    QAM256    21    513000000 Hz    -8 dBmV    39.8 dB    9546    639
19    Locked    QAM256    22    519000000 Hz    -8.1 dBmV    39.7 dB    9367    631
20    Locked    QAM256    23    525000000 Hz    -8.5 dBmV    39.6 dB    9040    678
21    Locked    QAM256    24    531000000 Hz    -8.4 dBmV    39.7 dB    8807    674
22    Locked    QAM256    25    537000000 Hz    -8.5 dBmV    39.6 dB    8694    651
23    Locked    QAM256    26    543000000 Hz    -8.5 dBmV    39.6 dB    8476    673
24    Locked    QAM256    27    549000000 Hz    -8.7 dBmV    39.6 dB    7901    677
25    Locked    QAM256    28    555000000 Hz    -9 dBmV    39.4 dB    7633    674
26    Locked    QAM256    29    561000000 Hz    -8.9 dBmV    39.4 dB    7634    690
27    Locked    QAM256    30    567000000 Hz    -9.1 dBmV    39.3 dB    7499    698
28    Locked    QAM256    31    573000000 Hz    -8.8 dBmV    39.4 dB    7903    679
29    Locked    QAM256    32    579000000 Hz    -8.8 dBmV    39.3 dB    8131    669
30    Locked    QAM256    33    585000000 Hz    -8.9 dBmV    39.3 dB    8046    636
31    Locked    QAM256    34    591000000 Hz    -8.9 dBmV    39.2 dB    8685    681
32    Not Locked    Unknown    0    0 Hz    0.0 dBmV    0.0 dB    0    0
 
Upstream Bonded Channels
Channel     Lock Status     US Channel Type     Channel ID     Symbol Rate     Frequency     Power
1    Locked    ATDMA    1    5120 Ksym/sec    16400000 Hz    45.8 dBmV
2    Locked    ATDMA    2    5120 Ksym/sec    22800000 Hz    45.3 dBmV
3    Locked    ATDMA    3    5120 Ksym/sec    29200000 Hz    45.5 dBmV
4    Locked    ATDMA    4    5120 Ksym/sec    35600000 Hz    46 dBmV
5    Not Locked    Unknown    0    0 Ksym/sec    0 Hz    0.0 dBmV
6    Not Locked    Unknown    0    0 Ksym/sec    0 Hz    0.0 dBmV
7    Not Locked    Unknown    0    0 Ksym/sec    0 Hz    0.0 dBmV
8    Not Locked    Unknown    0    0 Ksym/sec    0 Hz    0.0 dBmV
 
Downstream OFDM Channels
Channel     Lock
Status     Modulation /
Profile ID     Channel
ID     Frequency     Power     SNR /
MER     Active Subcarrier
Number Range     Unerrored
Codewords     Correctable
Codewords     Uncorrectable
Codewords
1    Locked    0 ,1 ,2 ,3    48    850000000 Hz    -12.3 dBmV    37.3 dB    1108 ~ 2987    80628106889    72108795790    23410
2    Not Locked    0    0    0 Hz    0 dBmV    0.0 dB    0 ~ 4095    0    0    0
 
Upstream OFDMA Channels
Channel     Lock Status     Modulation / Profile ID     Channel ID     Frequency     Power
1    Not Locked    0    0    0 Hz    0 dBmV
2    Not Locked    0    0    0 Hz    0 dBmV
 
Current System Time:Sat Sep 11 02:05:40 2021
System Up Time:83 days 07:31:17

The modem can usually be accessed at http://192.168.100.1 (assuming your LAN is not set to use 192.168.100.0/24 as its subnet or a superset of that). Pull reports when its working properly and failing.
 
That is interesting that even with their gateway they wouldn't fix the issue. Usually this is the route I would go to get a properly working service and then go from there.

Personally, what you have described definitely sounds like a signal issue on their end, and the inside wiring sounds like an excuse because it was working before.

I would run some tests wired directly to your network. I'd start with packetlosstest.com on the 1080p setting.
 
ross11988 said:
Hello, bought a house last year. Xfinity is the only service provider in the area so we went with them. Bought my own modem, hooked it up and all was well at first. Setup a Eero mesh network too. Since last year our internet connection reliability has drastically decreased. Before we would get a notification there was no connection to the modem once a month for a couple of minutes. Now it’s multiple times daily. A tech came out a couple of months ago, checked the fittings, replaced some and tested the signal, showed me that everything was at full strength, but told me that he was limited because we didn’t have an xfinity modem. If we had an xfinity modem he would’ve been obligated to fix the problem. After he left the reliability was better for a couple of weeks, then it went bad again, I decided to buy another modem, not from xfinity, same issue, I also tried another coaxial hookup in the house, same issue. Finally bit the bullet and ordered an xfinity gateway, but got it in writing from an xfinity rep in the chat that if the gateway didn’t work then they would need to replace the wires to the house. Sure enough the gateway doesn’t fix the issue. Has anyone else had this issue and is xfinity replacing the wires really the only resolution?
Click to expand...
Here in Florida, lol, I would have periodic down time, call them out, each tech says my signal is low and too many hookups for the line without an amplifier. He would indicate that he will talk to his supervisor and get an amplifier installed on the pole. Yeah right, after about 5 techs, a couple of years, few new modems from Comcast - the tech said the same thing, got his ladder out and installed I presume was an amplifier on the pole. Most of our problems went away. Very frustrating service and terrible pricing which forces you to get these bundle deals that you never use, such as a phone service -> Which you forget about and then notice WTF, why is my bill so high??? for the last couple of months when the discount ended. As like you, not much else out there to choose from.
 
Sounds like wiring in the house or closer to the node. What does the signal report in the modem? How many errors are you seeing?
 
Replacing wires sometimes has to be done. But the tech will be able to narrow down which wires are problems pretty well. It may even be the wire (drop) from house to the poles/street, not in the walls. It could be something else.

At this point you might want to pay to rent an Xfinity modem for a month to make them fix it for certain, then go back to your own modem.
 
If you don't mind a new hole in your wall I'd suggest a direct connection. (Drill for a new drop to be wired up) Don't use the existing house wiring. This way there is no splitters and as few connections between the modem and the pole.
 
You need to figure out why it's going down. Look at the logs in the modem. Is it a hard signal loss? Is it a higher layer loss at the gateway? Are you sure it's actually the ISP/cable, and you aren't just basing these outages on something that could be explained by your router/wifi taking a shit?
 
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