Edited. Let's close this out. Great folks on this forum who gave me way more support than the Cox help chat / voice. Connectivity issues continue. Cox will not elevate the issue beyond Level 1. Cox wins. Congratulations Cox! You wore me down.After 20 years with Cox, I'm looking to end the streak. I have had many issues with my phone and internet over the past 3 months. My modem goes into reset loops which makes remote access by the techs on chat/phone unable to check the service remotely. After going through their mindless Che k list, we always arrive to the same conclusion that I need a tech visit. The service eventually starts working I have to cancel the tech visit because I will have to pay $75 if the tech arrives and all my services are working. We'll After 3 months of poor connectivity, I give up. If COX will send out someone to investigate this well documented issue for this over 20 customer unless I pay for a tech visit, it is time to part ways. I will live with my less than 10 percent advertised internet speed and undependable phone for a short period. I start shopping tomorrow.

It will only cost money if it's a inside issue(after the demarc.) which Cox can't know until they get out there. If your concerned, tell the technician to only check the signal outside, but there is no way to guarantee success. You can also purchase Cox Complete Care for 10$ a month(minimum 3 months) which is 30$, which is less than 75$ at least. That will cover the issue if it's a inside wire issue. Speaking of which, how does the coaxial get from the pole/street to the room the modem is in? You might be able to fix the issue yourself if it's just a bad splitter.

Thanks, I thought that was how it worked, but I wasn't sure. Just kind of throwing out stuff to see if it triggers an aha moment.WiderMouthOpen Could asking Cox to re-provision the current modem help?

cflorin2 I know you don't want to sign up for Cox Complete Care, but I really think it's your best course of action. I'm a customer too and not trying to sell you anything, but it's unlikely things will get better until you get a tech to check your signal. If the issue is with your wiring, CCC will more than pay for itself. It costs the same if it takes multiple visits. It's my understanding you can cancel after 3 months. If you cancel before that, Cox charges for tech visits.

This reply was moved to improve discussion readability.

cflorin2 wrote:Never have seen speed higher than 80 MbpsWhat Cox plan do you have? What download speed should you be getting?If you pay for a plan with a maximum download speed greater than 100 Mbps, you may have a bottleneck in your setup that's reducing your speed. If you have a 100 Mbps Network Card, your download speed to your computer can never exceed approximately 95-96 Mbps. Your download speed to computer can also be limited to under 100 Mbps by cat5 cables. How to determine your Wi-Fi and ethernet connection speed will vary depending on your OS.How to determine Wi-Fi and Ethernet connection speed on Windows 10 | Windows CentralNote: This discussion is getting a little hard to follow. I posted this before I saw your reply to modem questions. WiderMouthOpen , see cflorin2's reply from 7 hours before this one.

Phone & Internet unreliable

45 Replies

CurtB
Valued Contributor III
4 months ago
cflorin2 wrote:
Never have seen speed higher than 80 Mbps
What Cox plan do you have? What download speed should you be getting?
If you pay for a plan with a maximum download speed greater than 100 Mbps, you may have a bottleneck in your setup that's reducing your speed. If you have a 100 Mbps Network Card, your download speed to your computer can never exceed approximately 95-96 Mbps. Your download speed to computer can also be limited to under 100 Mbps by cat5 cables.
How to determine your Wi-Fi and ethernet connection speed will vary depending on your OS.
How to determine Wi-Fi and Ethernet connection speed on Windows 10 | Windows Central
Note: This discussion is getting a little hard to follow. I posted this before I saw your reply to modem questions. WiderMouthOpen , see cflorin2's reply from 7 hours before this one.
- cflorin2
  New Contributor III
  4 months ago
  500 Mbps. No one gets that in my neighborhood. COX is the only game here. Sorry for the delay. Internet was down for about 30 minutes. I'll check out those links. Thank you.
- WiderMouthOpen
  Esteemed Contributor
  4 months ago
  I am getting tired of this sloppy UI. Any chance both of you would want to continue this on my Discord server? It's basically like a chat room which makes it easier to follow. We could private message there if you have anything you don't want to show the public(like logs). If so, here is the invite; https://discord.gg/y8F9P9TM
Allan
Moderator
4 months ago
Hello. We do value your tenure with our family and want to help get this issue resolved. I recommend sending an email with your full name, address, and a brief description of the issue to cox.help@cox.com.
- cflorin2
  New Contributor III
  4 months ago
  Helpful. Thank you. I used that address and received a very quick reply. Unfortunately, the proposed solution (tech visit) still left me as the risk holder to the tech service fee based on the judgement of the servicing tech. There is no provision to waiver of risk for the customer. While possibly not deserved, based on my interactions with the phone/chat techs, I have no trust or confidence with COX reps.
CurtB
Valued Contributor III
4 months ago
You didn't say what your phone and Internet issues are, but you probably just need a new modem. When they fail, it's not always all at once. It sounds like yours has been failing for three months. The Cox modem you had in January 2020 was 3+ years old then. Have you replaced it?
Have you reset the modem through Cox's website? It might not help, but it won't hurt to try. But, if the modem is failing, any fix would be temporary.
Sign into Cox > My Account > Equipment > Internet/Cox Voice > Get SmartHelp > prompts
- cflorin2
  New Contributor III
  4 months ago
  Good points. I swapped out a dependable yet out of date modem in September 23 from the COX store. The new modem would connect for about an hour and then disconnect. I replaced that modem in October 2023 and it would stay connected for about 30 days before requiring multiple reset to connect both through COX and through manual re-connect (on/off and reset button). I have received as many responses about the likely $75 tech service fees as the number of help desk folks I have spoken with.
  As for the issues, there is just a loss of connectivity when the modem goes into its loop mode. I have asked COX to waive the $75 risk, but they refuse to do so because I do not pay the extra $10 monthly. I appreciate your response. Best wishes.
  - WiderMouthOpen
    Esteemed Contributor
    4 months ago
    It will only cost money if it's a inside issue(after the demarc.) which Cox can't know until they get out there. If your concerned, tell the technician to only check the signal outside, but there is no way to guarantee success. You can also purchase Cox Complete Care for 10$ a month(minimum 3 months) which is 30$, which is less than 75$ at least. That will cover the issue if it's a inside wire issue. Speaking of which, how does the coaxial get from the pole/street to the room the modem is in? You might be able to fix the issue yourself if it's just a bad splitter.
CurtB
Valued Contributor III
4 months ago
WiderMouthOpen Whew! That blog was a lot. We're lucky I don't have to understand all of it.
- WiderMouthOpen
  Esteemed Contributor
  4 months ago
  Yea, sorry. I tried to look for something simple, but it is NOT a simple subject. It is DOCSIS engineering. Still looking though. Thinking of doing a post on DSLReports to see if they can suggest something. Even I only understand it on a basic level.
cflorin2
New Contributor III
4 months ago
Hey folks I was timed out on max use on this forum. To answer the modem questions. My old modem was an Arris DOCSIS 3.0. The question about the Panoramic I had was when the system first came out. So the modem progression was DOCSIS 3.0...the Panoramic (for about 6 hours)...back to DOCSIS 3.0. COX pushed me to upgrade to the new ARRIS DOCSIS 3.1 in September 23. The first modem would not stay on line for more than 24 hours. I fought that for a couple of weeks and turned that in for another ARRIS DOCSIS 3.1 in October (the current modem). This one will hang for about a month before I have to fight with it.