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Packet loss due to upstream channels dropping

A Cox Customer
9 months ago

I've been getting outages due to the upstream dropping out on my internet connection for more than 6 months now.

Downloads, watching streams, podcasts, hearing and seeing people on voice/video calls and are fine if they've already started.

Uploads drop, voice/video calls break up for listeners, website requests take forever, games get disconnected.

Modem upstream during packet loss:

Bottom row with red question marks is packet loss. Other rows are just hops which sometimes don't respond (`mtr one.one.one.one`):

  • I can't even get a screenshot without packet loss over the past few hours.

  • I've rebooted my modem.

  • I have a new cable and connectors from the box outside directly to my modem 2 times over.

  • I've upgraded my modem 2 times and now have one of the best (MG8702) if not the best one supported by Cox.

  • I've had several techs out to troubleshoot the issue. Some of them have replaced the same cable or connector as previous techs have done.

  • One tech actually worked on something up the street, which improved the connection dropping a little.

  • Another of the techs said there wasn't really anything they could do to fix it and that the lines are over-saturated because everyone is working from home now. If this is actually a problem, it sounds like a case to expand infrastructure rather than telling me it's all used up.

  • I've confirmed with the techs that have visited that there's an issue with the upstream signals somewhere between the box at the utility pole and further up the chain.

It doesn't seem like this issue will every be fixed. I've burned a lot of my time (days and days), burned money upgrading hardware that was fine, talking with customer support, and waiting for techs.

I've been having to use my phone as a mobile hot-spot to ensure a consistent connection for voice and video calls. If this keeps up I think I'm just going to stop wasting money on useless internet and dump Cox and switch to a mobile hot-spot, since I end doing that anyway.