markw
04-18-2013, 06:11 AM
Well, not all, but mostly.
I ordered a Motorola modem/router Tuesday morning and it showed up at my door Wednesday about 12:00. One day turnaround time from Amazon. I'm impressed.
So, down to the basement office I went. I yanked out my old cable modem and router and connected my new one piece combo unit. With only one piece, it's a lot less crowded down there. Total time: About 1/2 hour and most of that was neatening up the wiring.
Now, the hard part: Registering the new hardware with Comcast.
First, when I clicked on the internet icon, it brought me directly to the Comcast website where it said I could do this.
Take 1:
I input my account number and phone number and it initiates a chat with a "tech".
I meet Suzanne. She asks what I need, I say I need to register my new modem. She wants a MAC number. I give it to her. She says she's gonna send a command sequence to my modem and I'll need to reset it and we're done.
Great!
She sends it and, on her direction, I reset the modem. She says to test it by going to google and msn to see if it works.
It doesn't and my chat session is gone.
Take 2:
I input my account number and phone number again and it initiates a chat with another "tech".
This time I meet Dennis. I fill him in and he says I shouldn't have reset the modem. He asks my modem's serial number and, again, my MAC address.
He tries to send that command string but says some problem with billing won't allow it. He gives me a number to call. I say this is odd since I've always owned my own modem and have never been billed for this. He said I have to talk to billing.
Chat 2 ends with the same results.
Take 3:
I call Billing. He says since I've always owned my hardware they have nothing to do with this but he offers to transfer me to someone who can help me, and does so. He transfers my call.
Take 4:
The person he transferred me to only deals with television prblems but she gives me a direct number to my local comcast service center.
Take 5:
I call the number, follow the maze and get through to some tough old bird who I can hear chawin spittin' terbaccy and she asks what's the problem. I like her already. So, I give her the rundown and she laughs, spits into er spitoon, and says she'll see what she can do. Somehow, by her attitude, I felt I was in good hands. She asks for a different MAC address, which was what they needed. It turns out there are two, but she was more specific in her request, and explained this.
She clicks at the keyboard, has me power down the computer, sends out the command string, and has me reboot the modem, turn on the computer and give it a try. Houston, we have liftoff.
Time with this last lady: about 15 minutes.
I should have simpky called the local service numer in the first place but, when setting the new toy up, it brought me to the Comcast website where it said I could do it all there. Why didn't the chat people simply tell me to call someone local in te first place?
Total time since starting this project: About three and a half hours, and that includes my hooking it up initially. Had it been done correctly, this would have taken less than an hour.
But, it did increase my speed. I'm doing 1 gig downstairs hard wired to the router, 54 meg on the two prehistoric, coal-fired Compaq wireless laptops and I stream Amazon prime around 15 meg on the upstairs wireless Blu-ray, which is enough for hi-def.
Comcast is staffed by idiots, well, mostly. That last lady was on the ball and cut right to the chase.
<!--INFOLINKS_OFF-->
I ordered a Motorola modem/router Tuesday morning and it showed up at my door Wednesday about 12:00. One day turnaround time from Amazon. I'm impressed.
So, down to the basement office I went. I yanked out my old cable modem and router and connected my new one piece combo unit. With only one piece, it's a lot less crowded down there. Total time: About 1/2 hour and most of that was neatening up the wiring.
Now, the hard part: Registering the new hardware with Comcast.
First, when I clicked on the internet icon, it brought me directly to the Comcast website where it said I could do this.
Take 1:
I input my account number and phone number and it initiates a chat with a "tech".
I meet Suzanne. She asks what I need, I say I need to register my new modem. She wants a MAC number. I give it to her. She says she's gonna send a command sequence to my modem and I'll need to reset it and we're done.
Great!
She sends it and, on her direction, I reset the modem. She says to test it by going to google and msn to see if it works.
It doesn't and my chat session is gone.
Take 2:
I input my account number and phone number again and it initiates a chat with another "tech".
This time I meet Dennis. I fill him in and he says I shouldn't have reset the modem. He asks my modem's serial number and, again, my MAC address.
He tries to send that command string but says some problem with billing won't allow it. He gives me a number to call. I say this is odd since I've always owned my own modem and have never been billed for this. He said I have to talk to billing.
Chat 2 ends with the same results.
Take 3:
I call Billing. He says since I've always owned my hardware they have nothing to do with this but he offers to transfer me to someone who can help me, and does so. He transfers my call.
Take 4:
The person he transferred me to only deals with television prblems but she gives me a direct number to my local comcast service center.
Take 5:
I call the number, follow the maze and get through to some tough old bird who I can hear chawin spittin' terbaccy and she asks what's the problem. I like her already. So, I give her the rundown and she laughs, spits into er spitoon, and says she'll see what she can do. Somehow, by her attitude, I felt I was in good hands. She asks for a different MAC address, which was what they needed. It turns out there are two, but she was more specific in her request, and explained this.
She clicks at the keyboard, has me power down the computer, sends out the command string, and has me reboot the modem, turn on the computer and give it a try. Houston, we have liftoff.
Time with this last lady: about 15 minutes.
I should have simpky called the local service numer in the first place but, when setting the new toy up, it brought me to the Comcast website where it said I could do it all there. Why didn't the chat people simply tell me to call someone local in te first place?
Total time since starting this project: About three and a half hours, and that includes my hooking it up initially. Had it been done correctly, this would have taken less than an hour.
But, it did increase my speed. I'm doing 1 gig downstairs hard wired to the router, 54 meg on the two prehistoric, coal-fired Compaq wireless laptops and I stream Amazon prime around 15 meg on the upstairs wireless Blu-ray, which is enough for hi-def.
Comcast is staffed by idiots, well, mostly. That last lady was on the ball and cut right to the chase.
<!--INFOLINKS_OFF-->