Can I trust Spectrum Cable company? Update NO!

[ralphc1]

For the last two weeks my internet service has shut down at random times. I was going to call Spectrum but I didn't have their phone number and couldn't get online to get it so I tried powering down the cable modem and the router. My internet came back right away the first time. I then stored Spectrum's number in my phone. Three days later it happened again and powering down the modem and router cured it. Then a few days later it happened again three times in one day about 2 hours apart. Saturday it happened again but powering down the modem and router didn't bring it back. So I called Spectrum again to try to get through to a human.

To do that I had to give them my name,address, last 4 numbers of my Social Security number. Then they wanted a customer code that I didn't know. They told me it was on my bill. I told them I get online billing not paper and since the internet is down, I can't get online to access it. Finally a human answered and he had me do the same thing and it still didn't work. He said my modem could be bad and he would try resetting the modem which could take up to half an hour and that I should call back if it didn't. It finally came back. Them it went down twice Sunday. This time I tried only powering down the router and it came back so now it seems that the router may be the problem.

Now I know very little about the process but using Windows troubleshooting earlier, it said that there was no valid ISP provider address. I have my own modem and router so I don't rent them from Spectrum. I've had the modem since 2010. I had been considering replacing it because some months back I received notice from Spectrum that my internet speed would be boosted to 300 MBPS but it has only gotten to 90. I thought perhaps the modem was too slow but a check shows it was advertised to be able to handle 1GBPS. The modem was new in 2021. Correction, the router was new in 2021

 

[ralphc1]

I'm wondering if it is a problem with my hardware or a Spectrum service problem. They don't have a good track record with me. I can't call the local facility. The calls are routed to a national center. Some years back, the remote stopped working on my cable box. After swapping batteries and the remote from my second cable box I also found out that the second cable box remote didn't work on either box. A call to charter and the usual unplugging the cable box and plugging it back in and Spectrum trying to reset the boxes, the tech told me the cable boxes would have to be replaced. I loaded them up and took them to the local Spectrum facility and found many others with the same problem. It turns out it was a software problem that showed up after an overnight update. I did opt to get new equipment while I was there but I also asked why the tech service didn't know about the problem. Why they didn't notify customers via email that there was a problem that they intended to have fixed shortly.

 

[MTT]

I'm not a fan. If you call them and threaten to leave they will give you better prices.

 

[ralphc1]

Since I own my own equipment, I suspect they might blame that. I considered that when I decided to purchase my own devices but I decided that if I did have rented devices and they failed, it would take a day or two to get a tech to replace them or I would be driving to their facility to get a replacement.

 

[Get To Da Choppa]

For the last two weeks my internet service has shut down at random times. I was going to call Spectrum but I didn't have their phone number and couldn't get online to get it so I tried powering down the cable modem and the router. My internet came back right away the first time. I then stored Spectrum's number in my phone. Three days later it happened again and powering down the modem and router cured it. Then a few days later it happened again three times in one day about 2 hours apart. Saturday it happened again but powering down the modem and router didn't bring it back. So I called Spectrum again to try to get through to a human.

To do that I had to give them my name,address, last 4 numbers of my Social Security number. Then they wanted a customer code that I didn't know. They told me it was on my bill. I told them I get online billing not paper and since the internet is down, I can't get online to access it. Finally a human answered and he had me do the same thing and it still didn't work. He said my modem could be bad and he would try resetting the modem which could take up to half an hour and that I should call back if it didn't. It finally came back. Them it went down twice Sunday. This time I tried only powering down the router and it came back so now it seems that the router may be the problem.

Now I know very little about the process but using Windows troubleshooting earlier, it said that there was no valid ISP provider address. I have my own modem and router so I don't rent them from Spectrum. I've had the modem since 2010. I had been considering replacing it because some months back I received notice from Spectrum that my internet speed would be boosted to 300 MBPS but it has only gotten to 90. I thought perhaps the modem was too slow but a check shows it was advertised to be able to handle 1GBPS. The modem was new in 2021.

I've had them before, and I trust them as much as I trust a fart during squats after eating a heavy Taco Bell burrito

I'm not a fan. If you call them and threaten to leave they will give you better prices.

This. I've done this multiple times. When you threaten to leave (if you have options), they'll usually offer you better price and possibly new equipment

 

[CutStryker]

No. Damn corporations will rape you one way or another. But when you need what you need, what choice do you have but to dance with the devil.

 

[bandicoot]

Absolutely not, you should go off the grid immediately

 

[Long Dark Blues]

I have Comcast, and that was happening to me. I called them and they sent a technician out, turns out some sort of signal relay box on the pole or line was malfunctioning.

 

[NoSmilez]

Just go to the office and swap out the router/modem.

 

[Fedorgasm]

I'm confused. You say your modem is from 2010 and then you say your modem was new in 2021. Did you mean router in one of those instances?

Whichever one is from 2010, I would replace it. I've had modems go bad before. I've read that it's fairly common due to heat or something like that.

 

[ralphc1]

Just go to the office and swap out the router/modem.

They are mine so I would have to buy new ones. I did swap in a new modem Saturday when I had the technician on the phone. He kept telling me that I should go to Spectrum's website to check compatibility. I asked him how I could do that when there is no internet connection.

 

[GSP_37]

I use my own modem/router. I don't recall ever having to hand over my SSN and shit like that to Spectrum tech support. Sounds like them phone operators are working a side hustle to take your personal info to steal your ID. I get paper bills, so can get my secret code there.

I used to use a powered active return cable signal booster for many years which made the cable and internet work, but those things need AC power and get really hot fast and then go bad after a few years and gets expensive replacing them every few years. I experimented with clamping a heatsink to it and sorta lowered the temperature, but ultimately it got screwy and out of desperation I switched back to non-powered plain Monster or GE splitter since I need one coaxial to DVR and one to modem. This worked, but almost every single day around same time of day in the afternoon, internet disconnects and if I do nothing, it might recover after half an hour or might not recover even after several hours. It also disconnects at night when it's cold outside. One night I noticed the internet was down since the modem's lights weren't all on like normal and kept blinking. It stayed that way until morning, so it didn't recover by itself.

What I do now is I don't just unplug and replug the modem power. To get the internet back much faster mostly reliably I unscrew the coaxial that goes to the splitter and unplug the modem's power and reconnect the coaxial to splitter and reconnect modem's power. Internet usually comes back in a few minutes, but sometimes it'll disconnect again after a few minutes. Not sure why that works. I suspect the cable equipment outside malfunctions and sends some screwy signal to the splitter that fades away after unplugging the coaxial to it.

What I suspect the problem is is the outdoors cable equipment that services my internet accumulates enough heat by 245p to 4p and then disconnects my internet. It does this daily, except for when it's cloudy or cold or rainy outside. Many calls to Spectrum tech support resulted in nothing. I think they need to attach heatsinks to their outdoor equipment and install some sort of mini roof to provide shade so the equipment doesn't get so hot and malfunction.

Another thing I tried out of desperation is I switched from RG6 quadshielded coaxial cables to RG-11 not sold in stores here but on Amazon. The reason I know RG-11 was an improvement is a channel I couldn't get using the RG-6 cables I was able to get with RG-11. I went with RG-11 after reading they have less interference than RG-6.

 

[GSP_37]

They are mine so I would have to buy new ones. I did swap in a new modem Saturday when I had the technician on the phone. He kept telling me that I should go to Spectrum's website to check compatibility. I asked him how I could do that when there is no internet connection.

Go to Target or wherever they have iPads demo turned on and connected to internet.

A few times at Apple Store, I saw someone basically using their internet and computer to check their email like internet cafe.

 

[GSP_37]

I'm confused. You say your modem is from 2010 and then you say your modem was new in 2021. Did you mean router in one of those instances?

Whichever one is from 2010, I would replace it. I've had modems go bad before. I've read that it's fairly common due to heat or something like that.

My first modem I used instead of renting from cable company eventually went bad. I thought maybe it was caused by some tech savy Playstation internet gamer who was pissed at me for some reason.

 

[GSP_37]

I have Comcast, and that was happening to me. I called them and they sent a technician out, turns out some sort of signal relay box on the pole or line was malfunctioning.

Next time I call tech support, I'll have to tell them to check for that specifically. They seem very reluctant to actually go up the poles to check.

I once stood in line to get a new DVR and apparently there's some old legacy cable that uses one type of cable box and a diff cable that needs a separate cable box. These assholes didn't even consider that when they just gave me some random refurbished box that didn't work right and had many channels missing. I had to go back and specifically tell them about that specific legacy name and ask for that corresponding cable box.

 

[ralphc1]

I'm confused. You say your modem is from 2010 and then you say your modem was new in 2021. Did you mean router in one of those instances?

Whichever one is from 2010, I would replace it. I've had modems go bad before. I've read that it's fairly common due to heat or something like that.

I screwed up in the OP, the router was new in 2021 but the modem was from 2010. I replaced the modem while I had the tech on the phone Saturday but I had another outage Sunday. That time I only rebooted the router and it came back. I'm suspecting the Spectrum has some problem with their program and rebooting the router reloads the program because the Windows troubleshooter says that there is no valid IP address when it goes out.

 

[GSP_37]

I'm wondering if it is a problem with my hardware or a Spectrum service problem. They don't have a good track record with me. I can't call the local facility. The calls are routed to a national center. Some years back, the remote stopped working on my cable box. After swapping batteries and the remote from my second cable box I also found out that the second cable box remote didn't work on either box. A call to charter and the usual unplugging the cable box and plugging it back in and Spectrum trying to reset the boxes, the tech told me the cable boxes would have to be replaced. I loaded them up and took them to the local Spectrum facility and found many others with the same problem. It turns out it was a software problem that showed up after an overnight update. I did opt to get new equipment while I was there but I also asked why the tech service didn't know about the problem. Why they didn't notify customers via email that there was a problem that they intended to have fixed shortly.

When I had to replace a DVR that went bad, I learned the remote controls don't necessarily work on whatever cable box. Even the guide and functions like sleep timer were different for different cable boxes.

 

[ralphc1]

I received an email from Spectrum titled Authorized modems and routers for Spectrum. They listed some routers but no modems. It did include a link to click on to lease equipment from Spectrum. It makes me think that Spectrum might be intentionally causing the internet problems to try to force me to lease equipment from them at extremely high rates. I seem to recall that I decided to purchase my own modem when back when it was still Charter and they notified me that they were increasing the lease from $5/month to I think $8/month. A guy I knew told me that I could buy a modem at Best Buy for under $40 so I did. I called Charter to tell them they could pick up their modem. They said I had to bring it to them so I did. I figured even if it only lasted a year, I would save $20 over the $5/month price and $56 over the $8/month price.

 

[NoSmilez]

They are mine so I would have to buy new ones. I did swap in a new modem Saturday when I had the technician on the phone. He kept telling me that I should go to Spectrum's website to check compatibility. I asked him how I could do that when there is no internet connection.

You might need a new router. Is everything down or just the WiFi? Also did you change your settings? You might have to download some sort of software for your new modem.

 

[chrisdiaz]

I use their modem with my router and have no issues but I am in a downtown metro area.