ContributionsMost RecentMost LikesSolutionsRe: Cox email transition - has anyone completed the transition to Yahoo Does anyone have detailed transition instructions that actually work? I received a notice to make the transition and followed the instructions on the linked web page. First, I entered my Cox email address and email password . . . so far, so good, it recognized me correctly as a Cox customer. Next, I was required to enter a Yahoo email password. I tried several, which were all rejected because they resembled the Cox password. Evidently, there are undisclosed Yahoo password rules. After, several more rejected attempts, by luck I found a password Yahoo found acceptable. Finally, I clicked on the "complete the transition" button, and the screen went completely blank. I returned to the original Yahoo mail login URL, and it would not accept either the new Yahoo email password or old Cox email password. In both cases, I received a "invalid username or password" message with a link to a Yahoo Help site URL. The Yahoo help site directs me to a Cox help site, and the Cox help site directs me back to the Yahoo help site, so both options are a dead end. It appears my only viable option is to create a new Gmail account with a name similar to the Cox account I attempted to transfer to Yahoo. Re: Where to obtain connectors for Cox buried distribution cable Forgot to mention . . . this cable was installed in the late 1980s when the neighborhood was developed. I have no idea who actually dug the trench and laid the cable, or if they even use this type of cable any longer. I moved here in 1995, and was already a Cox subscriber, so just transferred the account to this address, Re: Where to obtain connectors for Cox buried distribution cable Bruce; thanks for your suggestions. There is a classic "catch-22" at play, one cannot e-mail Cox without a working internet. However, I did email them this morning after patching the cable and received a reply within 2 hours with a number to call. I was connected to a pleasant lady located in Florida, who insisted there is no such entity as Cox cables buried in the street, and that my internet is transported by satellite. Ergo, the problem has to be within my house. She must have received her training at Starlink :). In any case, that episode was, unfortunately, an exercise in futility. The only customer service organizations less responsive than Cox are those associated with the Government, where resolution of a complaint in less than a year is considered the standard of excellence. Once Winter arrives, I will not be able to perform an adequate repair and will have to switch to FIOS. I did check for both AC and DC voltage on the cable before preparing the end terminations, and did not measure any. I also took care not to short the inner conductor to the shield so as not to disrupt the service to "upstream" customers. I am the last house on the street, so there are no other downstream customers on this distribution line. After crossing the street, it terminates in the pedestal next to my driveway. Where to obtain connectors for Cox buried distribution cable Through absolutely no fault of Cox, the buried Cox neighborhood distribution cable was severed by a utility crew working nearby because it "was in their way". This cable runs on the other side of the street from my property and parallel to the sidewalk. I phoned Cox and I have 3 options: 1. Fix it myself (which I think means hire my own contractor). 2. Pay $75 for a Cox truck to assess the damage and provide a quote for repair. 3. Sign up for the $10/month complete care premieres wiring protection subscription and they will waive the $75 assessment charge, but still not fix it. Since the break is not even on my property, I doubt if it meets the definition of "premises wiring". It is located on the opposite side of the street. After 2 days without internet service, I decided to interpret Option 1 literally. I exposed both ends of the cable, and spliced in an 8 foot piece of RG-6. Incidentally, the data meter indicates I continued to rack up 5GB-10GB of data each day even with no service! To my amazement, this repair, which would be generous to describe as a "hack job" not only works, but a speed test indicates normal download and upload data rates. However, I need to follow up with a permanent weatherproof repair and re-bury the cable, but I do not know where to purchase connectors for this cable. The existing "fix" will never survive a New England Winter frost. I think the cable is called "one-half inch P3 hardline direct burial cable. It consists of a ~14 gauge solid copper inner conductor, polyethylene insulator, thick aluminum foil shield, self-sealing "goo" and an outer plastic jacket. Overall diameter is approximately 0.5 inches. I see connectors on the internet that look line giant F connectors with threaded barrel housings. They are available in several sizes and I am not sure which are the correct ones. Perhaps I could purchase some from Cox (along with ~8 feet of the cable)? Would a Moderator know? Fake data, estimated data, or diagnostic data? After reading the numerous accounts of unexplained quantum leaps in Cox data assessments, I have become diligent and regularly check my daily and weekly metered usage on Cox.com. Over the past year, the Cox meter says I typically use just under 300GB each month and the weekly pattern is consistently uniform. Refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 in the linked JPG image: www.dropbox.com/.../data use meter.jpg. These are screenshots of my data usage graphs copied from my account information on the Cox web site. The weekly pattern corresponds to my usual internet habits and the claimed data consumption is similar to a rough estimate. So I think Cox claims regarding the accuracy of the data meter do have merit. This Fall and Winter, however, there were some strange anomalies, though I still have not come anywhere near the 1TB cap. During November, a windstorm toppled a tree that severed the power line to my entire street. We lost electrical service for 36 hours while the affected pole and wires were replaced by the utility. Naturally, I expected the data consumption meter to show at least one day with zero use. But the graph for that week was virtually identical to the weeks before and after the incident, which was curious. Perhaps, I theorized, Cox is able to power the phone modem and cable modem by supping DC over the cable, similar to my outdoor antenna amplifier, so data continues to flow despite lack of electrical service. Between Christmas and New Years we traveled completely across the country to spend the holiday with relatives. Since no one would be at home to use the internet, I not only switched off power to the modem and router, but also completely disconnected the incoming cable (for 10 days) while we were away. What resulted was completely the opposite of what I expected; according to the Cox data meter, daily data consumption during those 10 days was much higher than normal, and did not match the usual weekly pattern. Once the cable connection was restored on January 2 , the historic consumption pattern magically returned. Refer to Figure 3 in the linked JPG image for a labeled screenshot. Had I left town for a month instead of 10 days, I would have exceeded the data cap without actually using a single Byte of data.. So, if I accept the Cox data meter is accurate, how were these 2 events possible? I have three theories that may explain both, as well as some of the experiences reported by others: Estimated data When a day occurs with zero data consumption, the Cox meter (which is probably an outsourced computer program) algorithm assumes an error occurred and substitutes an estimated data consumption based on historical use. Utility companies regularly substitute estimates when bad weather or employee absence impact the meter-reading schedule. An estimated water bill that seems too high or low does not mean the water meter is inaccurate. This theory could explain why the day-by-day data consumption did not change during the week we lost electrical power. Fake data When the cable was disconnected, the Cox meter algorithm interpreted this as an attempt to defraud the company, so invoked punitive countermeasures, one of which is to assume you are actually using data at a high daily rate, but somehow blocking the meter from seeing it. The same thing could happen if a external system failure interrupted the cable connection to a residence or multiple residences. Often, when the electric utility thinks a customer has tampered with the meter, they over bill to compensate, based on some assumed actual use. It becomes the responsibility of the customer to prove innocence and challenge the "fake" electricity they have been charged for using. This theory would explain why the daily data usage during the aforementioned 10 days was fairly uniform, rather than following the historic pattern of higher use on weekends. Diagnostic data Perhaps, when the incoming cable was disconnected and/or the power to the modem was off, Cox began to transmit diagnostic data in an attempt to determine if there was a regional failure. Evidently, the data meter does not differentiate between diagnostic and requested data, both flow from Cox to the customer, and are consequently recorded as data use. In other words, the Cox meter measures the data Cox sends your way, not what your modem actually receives. This might explain why some folks who independently measure inbound + outbound data with their own modem find it does not match the consumption reported by Cox. I am not convinced that malice was intended. More, likely, no one at Cox knows how the data meter works and what policies it enforces, because it is outsourced. This would explain the often-silly advice offered by customer service representatives when someone questions an unexplained spike in claimed data use.