Cox Tech Hell, Day 21

July 8, 2009 in Call center hell, infrastructure, problems, VRM | 15 comments

I’ve left two messages with the very nice senior tech guy who came out on Monday and confirmed the problem without solving it. Another guy came yesterday when the problem wasn’t happening, and gave me the number of the senior guy to call.

Anyway, no response so far. Meanwhile, the usual: hjigh ping times and traceroutes that show the big latency starting at the first hop: inside Cox’s network.

A smart tech friend, suggests we just replace the cable modem and its power supply. Can’t hurt. Of course, that’s Cox’s gear and their job, and they’re awol, still.

Meanwhile, the quanity of work not getting done is huge.

If I had a choice of carriers, I’d switch in a heartbeat, but I don’t. Verizon is the only alternative, and my house is too far from a central office to get competitive data speeds. So, not much leverage there.

Another friend suggests calling the CEO’s office. If I don’t hear back from the senior tech guy today, I’ll try that in the morning.

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15 comments

  2. Richard Bennett’s avatar

    Richard Bennett on July 8, 2009 at 8:04 pm

    This really is a sad affair.

  3. Andrew Leyden’s avatar

    Andrew Leyden on July 8, 2009 at 10:30 pm

    I went through 45 days of hell with Verizon, with each techie not knowing what the other had done, starting over at Tier 1 level of support each time, etc.

    Then I heard about something (from one of the techies actually)–Executive Appeals. I asked for the number of ‘Executive Appeals’ and was given this phone number. The call center folks hushed up–“we’re not suppose to talk to you if it has gone to Executive Appeals’.

    Within 12 hours I had a call back from a very confident sounding woman (who I didn’t think was a techie). I explained me problem and how each group within Verizon was blaming the other, etc. 6 hours later my service was restored.

    Apparently, with Verizon at least, they have an office that cuts through all the BS if need be. You might want to see if such a group exists with Cox.

  4. rob friedman’s avatar

    rob friedman on July 9, 2009 at 1:07 am

    You’re actually renting a ~$39 piece of hardware from Cox?

    Go buy a DOCSIS 2.0 cable modem, most anywhere Tech sells them these days, save the monthly/annual, and in 3 years when it dies you will have saved money.

    I wouldn’t worry about the DOCSIS 3.0 hardware any time soon the cable companies are too happy sucking away our money to improve their networks, unless of course you live in Fargo, SD.
    http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/103345

  5. Chip’s avatar

    Chip on July 9, 2009 at 8:19 am

    Suspect those North Koreans who have been fingered for targeting NYSE, Pentagon, WhiteHouse etc with massive Denial of Service Attacks have you on their list (G)

    Note that I’ve been having multiple reboots here in the Northwoods on Charter .. but likely the seasonal problem – many seasonal and rental properties with modem ID pinging.

  6. Brett Glass’s avatar

    Brett Glass on July 10, 2009 at 12:36 am

    Doc, do you really have no WISPs in your area who say they can cover you?

  7. ross’s avatar

    ross on July 10, 2009 at 3:57 am

    maybe you could get one of those A list bloggers to blog about it

  8. Doc Searls’s avatar

    Doc Searls on July 10, 2009 at 4:09 am

    Dunno, Brett. Last I looked the only choices were Cox, Verizon and other companies piggy-backing on those companies’ infrastructure. But I’ll check.

  9. Brett Glass’s avatar

    Brett Glass on July 10, 2009 at 10:32 am

    Try http://www.covadwireless.com/ or http://impulse.net/. I’m sure there are others too.

  10. Doc Searls’s avatar

    Doc Searls on July 11, 2009 at 6:37 pm

    Thanks, Brett.

    Covadwireless looks attractive if they really do provide solid 6Mbps symmetrical data rates. Same for Impulse if they really do 9Mbps symmetrical. Neither, however, discloses prices. To your great credit, LARIAT does provide prices — and attractive ones. The vibe I get off these other two tells me they have something to hide. Still, I’m interested in doing a fair comparison. FWIW, I’m getting top speeds of 20/4Mbps from Cox currently. Usually runs more like 18/3.7.

  11. Brett Glass’s avatar

    Brett Glass on July 12, 2009 at 4:08 am

    Doc, one of the reasons that independent ISPs often play their cards close to their vests is that the more they reveal, the more they expose themselves to anticompetitive tactics from the telephone and cable incumbents. So, don’t be to hard on them for not putting everything on their sites. Get quotes. I’m sure there’s no charge for them.

  12. Doc Searls’s avatar

    Doc Searls on July 13, 2009 at 3:46 pm

    Just got a call from one of the WISPs I sent emails asking for quotes. Covad. Nice guy. Had a good talk. 6Mb symmetrical, max (better on the upstream than Cox). Didn’t ask for a quote, because I don’t have line of sight to either of their local nodes: one at Painted Cave and the other on Gibraltar Peak. Even though my house is 500 feet up, with a view of downtown and 180° of coastal land and Pacific Ocean (a “five island” view they call it), I’m terrain shadowed. This is bad even for VHF and UHF, but for 5.x GHz and up, forget it. We’ll see how the others do.

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