Need CF internet tech support

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ruxCYtable

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Aug 29, 2007
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I've been getting extremely slow download speeds for about a week now, between 0.70mbps and 1.7mbps. I called Mediacom tech support and they said I'm experiencing "severe packet loss." My question is, is packet loss something that could be caused by a router or not? I would not think the router would be problem since it is less than a month old, but I don't want them to get here and tell me it's a problem with my equipment. Unfortunately my wife is on a business call right now so I can't unhook it and try bypassing the router at the moment. Just wondered what anyone thought...
 

Gorm

With any luck we will be there by Tuesday.
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Cedar Rapids, IA
I've been getting extremely slow download speeds for about a week now, between 0.70mbps and 1.7mbps. I called Mediacom tech support and they said I'm experiencing "severe packet loss." My question is, is packet loss something that could be caused by a router or not? I would not think the router would be problem since it is less than a month old, but I don't want them to get here and tell me it's a problem with my equipment. Unfortunately my wife is on a business call right now so I can't unhook it and try bypassing the router at the moment. Just wondered what anyone thought...


Its not just you dude. I am seeing the same thing with my Mediacom out here in Amana. Are you close to Cedar Rapids? Probably a problem on their end for sure if so.
 

ruxCYtable

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Its not just you dude. I am seeing the same thing with my Mediacom out here in Amana. Are you close to Cedar Rapids? Probably a problem on their end for sure if so.
Yes, I am in Marion. I connected to my neighbor's wireless network and ran a speed test and it's also around 1mbps, so I'm assuming it's not just me.
 

akellar

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Nov 28, 2008
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From my experience with Mediacom even if it isn't your router causing the problem they will blame it on the router anyway. They rarely take responsibility for poor service. It's always the router or some other random thing that is out of their control. I would start by doing exactly as you said and bypass the router just to show them it's not the router with the issues.
 

Ames

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A month ago I switched from a Mediacom cable modem to one I purchased myself. When I was on the phone with them they mentioned a lot of backend upgrades going on. I'm sure ultimately it will mean faster speeds, but they are probably having issues with new hardware.

I've noticed the last couple of weeks I'm usually at 30 Mb, but a couple of times per week it has dropped to more like 2 Mb for a couple of hours. According to speedtest.net
 

ISUAgronomist

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Nov 5, 2009
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On the farm, IA
A month ago I switched from a Mediacom cable modem to one I purchased myself.

This is key to any cable internet. Never rent their old *** recycled cable modems. I've been out of central Iowa for a few years but evening slowdown on Mediacom was notorious.
 

ruxCYtable

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This is key to any cable internet. Never rent their old *** recycled cable modems. I've been out of central Iowa for a few years but evening slowdown on Mediacom was notorious.
If I could save a few bucks by buying my own over renting from Mediacom I would. But now their modems are included in their overall price, which is probably genius on their part because then you think twice about the added expense of buying your own.
 

Ames

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If I could save a few bucks by buying my own over renting from Mediacom I would. But now their modems are included in their overall price, which is probably genius on their part because then you think twice about the added expense of buying your own.

I got $5/month off mine. A friend got $7 off his.
 

ruxCYtable

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interesting. maybe it depends where you live or what plan you're on. I know for a fact I get no discount if I provide my own modem.
 

Ames

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interesting. maybe it depends where you live or what plan you're on. I know for a fact I get no discount if I provide my own modem.

When they run promotions you generally get to keep them forever. You modem could be wrapped up into the cost due to a promotion. I'm on some weird promo from back when ATT sold the Ames market to Mediacom; it wraps my internet with SHO and HBO. I can't ever drop SHO or HBO if I want to keep the plan, but it's some weird faster speed (but not the fastest) they don't list on their site for the price of the cheap speed. So I generally get 30Mb for the price of 5Mb, even though the plans are really 5, 20, and 50.

Every time a csr looks at my account they say I'll need to make a change at some point and lose my plan. They always have to look at my account for a while to figure out what it even means.
 

JY07

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Aug 20, 2009
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Every time a csr looks at my account they say I'll need to make a change at some point and lose my plan. They always have to look at my account for a while to figure out what it even means.

from my experiences calling in, i'm guessing they have a hard time figuring out what anyone's account means
 
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Ames

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Any recommendations for cable modems?

I asked friends and everyone seemed to like their Motorola Surfboard. So that's what I got. Most of my friends had the $50 Docsis 2 one: Amazon.com: Motorola SURFboard SB5101U DOCSIS 2.0 Cable Modem - RoHS: Electronics

I went with the Docsis 3 one; just to future-proof myself a bit:
Amazon.com: Motorola SB6120 SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 eXtreme Broadband Cable Modem: Electronics

You don't need to call Mediacom to switch. Although if you want your bill reduced you do have to bring the rental modem back to their office. These are the instructions I used:

1) Swap modem.
2) Go to any web page and the "Walled Garden" page will come up.
3) Enter your full account number from your bill.
4) Enter the last 9 digits of your account number as your Registration Code.
5) Click button to swap your cable modem.
6) It should show you your new modems MAC address. Whatever number is on back of modem.
7) Enter 99999 as the Tech ID.
8) Wait 5 mins and try another web page.