Comcast is killing me

I live in an apt complex with internet bundled with my rent. They for some reason chose comcast which has been absolutely terrible. On XBL i cannot play multiple games in a row most times because i lag out in the middle of the second game. Surfing the internet, it will drop out for 5 minutes every hours or two. I keep notifying the desk and they email comcast and of course when the repair guy comes everything works fine. Is there any sort of logging program that can log how poor my connection is so i have proof. I am going to break the lease if they cannot get this fixed and i will need some evidence to get them to co-operate.
-James
-edit.. also i get from 6.1/1.4mbps all the way to 754/245 kbps depending on when you test it

 

It sounds pretty bad, but I'm guessing that your apartment complex is (possibly illegally) sharing a single connection amongst all the tenants. I'd ask Comcast about if the complex has a business account, as well as the maximum throughput of the account.

More likely than not, there isn't enough bandwidth being shared amongst all of you and that is causing your issues.

 

is there a program i can use to track the fluctuations as bandwidth is allotted? Also i doubt its illegal, as the comcast guy comes in frequently... also i get the connection from comcast from a CAT5E port, shouldnt there be a modem somewhere, possibly with a firewall causing the XBL to not work even when the internet is?

 

Which modem did they give you, and when you go to 192.168.100.1, look for the signal page. What kind of dB and SNR are you getting?

 

Your event logs should show the dropped connections; if not, you can set up a custom event log that will. You could also run something like Microsoft's Network Monitor, which produces a rather copious record of all the network traffic it "sees" and should be able to indicate when the network signal gets disconnected and when it gets reconnected.

 

Your cable modem already is logging this information and Comcast can see it quite easily from their end if they wish.

Do as Modly suggests and you may be able to wave the information in their face. Borderline signal strength could be the cause, but so could a failing modem.

Are you the only one having issues, or do other tenants as well?

 

Sounds like a 7/1.5 connection shared between everybody. The length of the cable is probably causing your lag on XBL if the modem it at said place and cable going through all the appartment.

 

Comcast doesn't offer a 7/1.5 plan anymore.

The reason I want the modem model number is, I know which modems have failure problems, and I know which might have issues with certain parameters. (Cable modems are one of my hobbies).

Second, I know based on levels on the signal page if it's a line issue, or an from the modem/computer side.

For signal, you can use anywhere between -15dB through +15dB, but 0dB-10dB is best. (More than 10dB will cause signal to noise ratio to drop, which is not good). Upstream signal levels should be below 55dB and above 30 dB. Preferably between the 35dB-50dB range.

My favourite two modems so far are the Motorola SB5101 and the Linksys BEFCMU10 v4. Both of which use the Broadcom BCM3349 chipset, which is one of the best Docsis 2.0 handling chips on the market. (If you are trying to go for Docsis 3.0, you have to rent their modem though, regardless of the fact that you can buy them new for under $100).

Edit; Greg, here is the legality of sharing an internet connection like that. If there is only one power meter on the building, you can share the cable (and cable devices) to any room you want. If there is multiple power meters, you must have multiple cable lines ran to the building.

 

A lot of cable companies will lock you out of your own modem once you connect to their network...drives me nuts. They don't want you to know that the problem is their signal

 

How would i filter the logs on event viewer to show drops in connection. I have a Linksys wrt54g router that provides us with wireless so that is connected to the wall, however the xbox is plugged straight in so im going to connect that cord and try to see if i can get into my modem that i dont know where it is