Before you call Comcast – read this.

Have you called Comcast to let them know your Internet service is out? I know I have. In fact I called so many times (combined with the fact I could not get a good price for just “basic cable” and high speed Internet), that I canceled my account and went with Verizon’s FIOS (Which is not perfect but far more stable. Gone are the every other day cable modem resets). Now the last thing I want to do is call and talk to a tech support person at Comcast, and have them tell me that that this is my problem, or it must be that my “Mac” is broken. Sadly, Comcast is famous for this sort of issue. Don’t get me wrong, Comcast is still a great choice for Internet service and I’d take their “always on” connection over DSL any day.
Comcast has alot going on with their network, and it’s often hanging by a thread. So if they make a change on your street by adding someone new or adding Internet service, that can make your signal drop low enough so that your Internet won’t work.
The thing that gets folks is that the signal is strong enough for cable TV to work, and it’s often also strong enough for your modem to light up and appear to be working from Comcast’s end. That often convinces folks that the problem must be them and NOT Comcast.
It turned out, in my case that my cable line to the house was old, and when it rained and got wet I had issues with the Internet. It took me a year to figure this out. Even after they hand dug a new cable for me, I still had issues. When we would see a Comcast truck on our street, 9 times out of 10 the Internet would be down when I got home from work that night.
Comcast is great when it works, but the troubleshooting from the main office is not always enough to help you at your location. And the constant deferral away from Comcast no matter what the problem is is incredibly frustrating. It’s also a shame that so many tech support folks at Comcast are poorly trained or just generally misinformed about how Macs work. Come on guys, Macs work the same way PC’s do when it comes to connecting to the Internet.
I can’t even count the number of clients that have come to see us with a computer that Comcast says is not working and we put it on the bench here in the lab and it works fine. Time after time it turns out to be a Comcast issue. They just need to dig deeper. We get calls from home users all the time that Comcast tech support has totally convinced that the problem is the users themselves, their network, or their Mac. So far convinced that they are willing to PAY MacMedics to come fix the problem. We love coming to visit, but if it’s a Comcast issue, there’s not alot we can do. Many folks want us to talk directly to Comcast to solve the problem, and the support is so slow, it just ends up costing our mutual client more money.
If Comcast tells you that your computer must be broken or “you need a new network card”, feel free to stop by and we can usually test it for you while you wait and free of charge. Also, you can do the same thing with a friend or neighbor who has working Internet. Wired or wireless, there’s no reason you can’t test at a known working location. Generally if you were using Comcast’s connection one day, and woke up the next and it was not working, and you’ve not fiddled with your network setting, it’s probably a Comcast issue.
Before you call Comcast be sure to reset the cable modem by turning it off for a few minutes. Also, turn off your router (if you have one as well). Then (in this order) turn your cable modem back on, then turn your router (or computer) back on. If you don’t have a router and you’re plugged right into the cable modem, then re-start your computer. When you reset the Ethernet, Network, or LAN link light (for your connected device) and the Cable light should be lit up. If they are not on, you could have an issue.
Also, if you are troubleshooting a computer or a router in relation your Comcast cable modem, you must reset the cable modem each time you attach a new device. The cable modem “binds” to the computer or device’s MAC address, and in order to clear that info from the memory, the modem must be powered off in order for a new device to work with the cable modem.