So I am on Charter internet. I've tried connecting both through a wireless router and straight from the modem to my PC, this happens both ways. Every now and then my internet will disconnect. It seems to happen briefly but it doesn't cause lag, it completely disconnects me from what I'm doing. When I'm downloading something it will stop the download at random times (sometimes causing me to have to restart the whole download), when I'm streaming something it will sometimes stop for a couple seconds (not that big of a deal) and when I'm playing any games online it will disconnect me completely, not just cause a few seconds of lag. Any idea whats causing this? I've talked to Charter and they seem to avoid the issue.

5/31/2009 9:47:01 PM

sounds like it's an issue with the modem or signal level, probably why they are avoiding it

6/1/2009 7:27:55 AM

it's their problem

6/1/2009 8:36:12 AM

ugh I feel for you dude. I have Charter and the same thing has happened to me more than once over the course of me living here for 2 years as of this Thursday. I've gotten a new modem from them more than once and had people come out to look at stuff. Unfortunately I need internet and there is not another viable option where I am so I have been hard-pressed to get any sort of money back during the months that I have had the most problems. I'm still not sure what caused the problems but they've come exactly like this for a few weeks at a time 3-4 different times over the course of these 2 years.

Luckily I haven't had these problems in awhile (i've had connection problems lately but they've been my own hardware problems >.<, but Charter's customer service is absolutely horrendous to deal with.

6/1/2009 8:49:53 AM

sux2bu

6/1/2009 9:16:34 AM

yeah, my parents have charter (in Wilmington) and it does this exact same thing once or twice every two days.

6/1/2009 9:59:06 AM

Yeah it happened 3 times within 5 minutes so I got annoyed today and got on the chat to see if they were more helpful then the people on the phone. The lady said she repaired the signal and all I had to do now was reboot my modem. So far its been one hour and I havent had any problems, so she might have in fact fixed it. But what was so simple that she did it in 30 seconds and the people I've talked to for the past two years havent fixed it.

6/1/2009 10:37:15 AM

We had a similar problem at my parents house. Call they temp fix (rebooting stuff) but the problem always comes back later. A couple of other families around the area have the same problem. For us it was a money/line problem. There are too many people with their internet and the main line/station to our neighborhood need fixing/upgrading but charter guys said it cost to much to fix. (Area is at a smaller town). I think after complaining a lot our connection is not as bad (once a week) but our neighbors still get it a lot. (don't know what they did)

6/1/2009 11:22:03 AM

When I had this problem in the past it was due to a bad trap on the cable line. The cable company's service tech replaced it and all was well.

6/1/2009 11:22:36 AM

when you're directly connected to the modem, do you have a public IP address? If it's private, run a consistent ping to the gateway as well to a public IP (4.2.2.2 works).

If it's a public IP, see if the gateway allows ICMP and run one to that. Then you'll know for sure it's them and you have the logs to back it up when you're chatting again the next time it happens.

In my experience, the tech level of chat support >>> phone support. At least with Embarq, their chat reps are like tier 1.5 and won't run a "reboot, release, renew, reset, repeat" script on you.

6/1/2009 11:47:39 AM

Quote :

"The lady said she repaired the signal"

lolol

6/1/2009 3:14:14 PM

Quote :

"The lady said she repaired the signal"

should have been your first clue that they don't give a rat's left nut about you...then again, i think they can tell when they're talking to someone who has know idea what's going on and they realize it's easier to say big complicated words like "repaired" and "signal" and get you off the phone

6/1/2009 3:47:20 PM

I know they dont give a shit, thats why i came here, hoping someone here might have any idea whats causing it.

6/4/2009 9:04:57 AM

^^ one of the reason's I gave up on Charter technical support is because of stuff like that. They drag you through the 10 minutes of garbage (asking if your cables are plugged in right, release/renew IP, restarting your computer etc.) even when I tell them I've already done all that and have tracerts and everything available for them. And then try and push you off by saying they "repaired the signal" and to call them back if the problem persists.

6/4/2009 9:54:39 AM

I know Vista use to have a problem with random disconnects.

6/4/2009 10:55:13 AM

^^^ My bet is a bad trap. What service plan to you have? Do you have internet only? Do you have full cable TV?

6/4/2009 11:48:49 AM