Cox does not provide the services we pay for.
And they appear to banking on there being nothing we can do about it. The so-called support portion of the website is an utterly useless and deliberately includes infinite link loops. Even the "chat with our AI assistant Oliver" thing is a fake link. Not even a dead or nonfunctional link, but a FAKE LINK. Like, the thing that looks like a link ISN'T EVEN ACTUALLY A LINK. I'm paying for 200Mbps download service and all weekend the norm has been more like 2Mbps. 20% packet loss when pinging freaking www.google.com or www.amazon.com. That's beyond unsatisfactory. And this "forum" appears to be the only venue even remotely associated with Cox that allows me to say I noticed that Cox isn't keeping its promises. I guess what I'm trying to say, Cox Inc, is that I've noticed that you aren't providing the service I'm paying you for. If it's your problem, fix it, if it isn't, please share information about your troubleshooting and diagnosis. Your soon-to-be-former-customer, -Tom
Internet Has Been Out for Days, Yet Cox Tells Me I'm the Problem
I'd like to find out if anyone else has had an experience with Cox as terrible as my recent experience in Oklahoma City, OK: My home internet has been out for 3 or 4 days now. It started when our modem suddenly stopped getting any signal from Cox. The modem has power and has shown zero issues up to this point. I thought maybe it was that particular coaxial connection, so I tried hooking the modem up in other rooms around the house that that have a connection available. Same issue: modem powers on, but no connection to Cox. I then got on the Cox website to verify that my modems MAC and Serial Numbers were correct, as well as to try and reset my modem from my online account settings. Still no improvement. So, I decided to chat with a Cox support agent. The FIRST agent I talked to looked into all kinds of things and ended up telling me that I needed a new modem (which, of course they immediately started trying to sell me one of theirs). I said no thanks, went to the store, and bought a new modem. The new modem is the exact same brand and model (Netgear CM500) as the previous modem I'd been using for years with Cox, so I know for a fact it is compatible. I get home, I hookup the new modem, but still no connection to Cox. I try to activate the modem according to both the manufacturers instructions and the instructions on the Cox website, but I can't finish it myself because, of course, Cox can't establish a connection to the modem! So, I decide to chat with a Cox support agent AGAIN. The SECOND agent has me provide the MAC and Serial Number of the new modem so that they can activate it on my account for me. I provide them all of this information, and they tell me that they have activated the modem on their end, but that they still can't establish a connection to the new modem. Then, all of a sudden, the chat session ends before I can get anything else from them. Big help that was, Cox! Once again, I reach out to a Cox support agent. I tell the THIRD agent everything that's happened up to this point, about the sudden disconnection on my old modem, going out and buying a new modem, going through the headache of getting the new modem activated, and getting disconnected from the previous agent. This agent wants all the MAC and Serial Number information again so they can make sure the modem is activated. I provide all the information to them, they tell me the modem is activated "on their end", and that I need to reset the modem (unplug it, wait 10 seconds, plug back in). Then they tell me to "wait a while", I'm assuming so that Cox can try to connect to the modem. After about 10 or 15 minutes of waiting, and still no connection, this agent tells me that it's a problem with my modem. UM, EXCUSE ME? You mean, this brand new modem that the FIRST agent told me to go buy for absolutely no reason? Not likely. At this point I told the third agent that I'd like a technician to come out to my house and check the Cox lines outside because the only remaining possibility is that there's an issue with their equipment. The third agent then told me that they can't send a technician to my house because they're not allowed to touch equipment that's not provided by Cox (in reference to the modem). I tell them that's fine, because I'm not asking them to touch my modem, I want them to check up on their own equipment! The agent then goes back to insisting that the issue is with my brand new equipment. Well, of course it is, because Cox is just infallible, right?! At this point, I'm ready to drop Cox all together. I've never had such a poor customer service experience in my life. I worked in customer service for a number of years, and it never once occurred to me to tell a customer "it's not us, it's you" if I hadn't already exhausted every possibility on our end first. It's a shame too, because this is really the first issue I've ever had with Cox. At this point, the hot spot on my T-Mobile phone is providing a more reliable connection for my home than Cox seems able to. In the meantime, I've talked with co-workers who live in nearby cities who've told me that their Cox service has been out for the exact same amount of time, with the exact same symptoms (modem suddenly receives no signal), who've been told the exact same thing by customer service agents (go buy a new modem), then been treated the exact same way after the recommendation doesn't work ("it's not us, it's you"). Is anyone else starting to see a pattern here?You're Not Crazy It's Happening To Everyone
I can't read one more. I can't read one more post that says, "my modem drops dozens of times a day, and comes back up minutes later, sometimes it's unusable for HOURS, I've rebooted, and reset, and refreshed, and I've replaced ALL of my equipment, I've called Cox dozens of times, techs have visited my house over and over, and it's STILL HAPPENING, EVERY DAY." It's not a user-end issue, and I can't believe that with ALL OF THESE IDENTICAL REPORTS (and you can add mine - identical), that Cox is just plum mystified (and always, EXTREMELY RETICENT TO ISSUE ANY KIND OF CREDIT FOR THEIR BREACH OF CONTRACT). It's too much. That's enough. The Federal Communications Commission is there to protect consumers from this fraud and abuse, and by God, I'll be calling on them to do so. Investigative journalists live to expose greed and corruption, and the lack of antitrust measures governing utilities like Cox is fertilizer for the kind of stink Cox gives you for hundreds of dollars a month. So anyway, does anyone have any suggestions, he asked rhetorically. (incidentally, the sheer VOLUME of tags, crowd-sourced, shows where the stakeholders are:)"Increased internet traffic" and "Network impacting event"
How would Cox react if I sent a note to their payment center stating that I had "Increased banking traffic" that created a "budget-impacting event", therefore making it impossible to pay my bill? Well, we all know, they'd turn OFF my service at a minimum. I wish I could "turn off" Cox by firing them, and choosing another broadband service, but there are no other choices where I live.packet loss all the time.
I have been getting trash packet loss, just filled a complaint to the fcc in hoping they will do something, cox is not a good provider, they do not fix anything. they give you the run around, reset modem, send tech, and NOTHING GETS FIXED i am so close to dropping cox for something else, cause at this point it is not even funny. cant play my games in peace with out lagging.
Inconsistent Service Disruptions (i.e. T3,T11,T4) - since July service work
Location: 85255 Modem: Arris SB6183 , no spliter Service Level: 300mbps Issues: Modem Event logs (see screen shot below) Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out; TLV-11 - unrecognized OID Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 time out Unicast Ranging Received Abort Response - Re-initializing MAC DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out Description of Issue: No internet service for 2-5 minutes that occurs periodically between 3-5 times during the day. I noticed the issue began approximately a week after notification from HOA that Cox was completing 2nd service operation in area, which occurred near end of July. Resolution Actions: Called Cox support - 25min with online chat Tier1 support that gave me support # then waited 45min to speak with Tier2 support to have a person run a reboot and tell me all levels check out fine after reboot. I explained the logged events the Tier2 was not sure what to do, so offered having a data tech come out, though I would have to pay $100 if nothing is found. Researched T3,T4, & T11 events - https://docsismodem.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/t1t2t3-t4-timeouts-descriptions/ T3 event - "This typically is caused by noise on the upstream that causes the loss of MAC-layer messages." and "If the cable modem cannot raise its upstream transmit power level to a level that allows successful communication within the maximum timeout period, it resets its cable interface and restarts the registration process." ; which is reason for the service disruptions. Researched Cox Internet forum : I found the following posts that started approximately 3-4 weeks ago, which coincides with the 1st scheduled field maintenance notification I received from HOA. Prior to the maintenance I and seems these events were not as common. Constant Outages (1month ago) Frequent Internet Drops (30 days ago) Intermittent T3 timeouts (30 days ago) Internet Drops and Intermittent Modem Reboots (27 days ago) Constant Outages / Chandler (1 month ago) CONSTANT OUTAGES (26 days ago) Random disconnects, packet loss, fluctuating power levels (1 month ago) Random disconnects getting worse (12 days ago) Intermittent Disconnects T3 time-out, CM1100 status and logs (16 days ago) Internet constantly dropping for the past week (9 days ago) Dynamic range window violation ( 9 days ago) Internet going out again every day between 10 and 12 (11 days ago) Outcome from Resolution Actions: Issues still exists for me, and was informed neighbors are having similar issue Cox suggested having a tech come out, though I have to cover the $100 if nothing is found. This is odd since I found the above posts, people are calling to cause waits of a minimum of 30min, but Cox acts as if this is all being made up. Many others in the Phoenix metro area have same issues , therefore this is not an isolated issue or related to a specific modem. Conclusion: Field maintenance modifications during the month of July has resulted in consistent issues across the area. The service disruption issues are "... signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) on the upstream to a point where the cable modem’s power level is insufficient to transmit any messages." , which results in "...it resets its cable interface and restarts the registration process.". Cox only you all are aware of the modifications made in July the result was been disruptive during the past 3-4 weeks. This situation will only get worse as more schools start! I have no idea what needs to be resolved, but I've got many years in IT; when a change is bad back-it-out. Cox what do you need from customers to get this resolved? What do I need to do to get this resolved? IMO if this continues during the next 2 weeks as schools come online the calls will increase to support, city counsel, and state organizations ; people are going to not be kind. Screenshots from Modem Monday Aug-3 to Sunday Aug-9
