Garruth
join:2008-07-08
Pflugerville, TX
 ·Suddenlink
|  Why can't they keep me connected and fix my packet loss???
Ok so I'm pretty far from a subject matter expert regarding networking and internet connections but here's my story...
Moved to Pflugerville TX last year and had no option but Suddenlink. Hadn't even heard of them before but I understand they used to be Cox so I expected solid performance. I subscribe to the 10mbps package which is their most expensive offered here as I play a lot of on-line games and lag kills in gaming. For a while the service was great. No downtime and always low latency. About three months ago though I started seeing tremendous lag spikes (starting at 110ms and spiking to over 2000ms) usually followed by a 10-15 second disconnect from the internet. The strangest thing was this seemed to happen mostly between the hours of 7PM to midnight. I could be up all day but like clockwork 7pm would roll around and I;d start disconnecting.
I ran tracerts tot he game servers and was finding packet losses on hops 2 through 5 (all suddenlink nodes).
tech came out, couldn't find anything wrong but the problem continued. I began e-mailing with the tech's supervisor, sending him copies of the tracerts which he was sending to his network specialist. Again, while they could clearly see the packet loss on their nodes they couldn't provide any solutions.
Two weeks ago I came home from a trip to find a note on my door saying a tech came by to repair some outside equipment and all should be working now. No such luck. The problems not only have continued but have gotten worse. Last night I ran tracerts and had one packet lost on every hop but the first. This morning the same thing and when I arrived home tonight, the same thing. Their only response is that there are known issues with some ATT nodes posted on the world of warcraft forums (though the forum mod posted that those issues have been resolved). They offered no explenation for the losses on the earlier hops. They have also stopped responding to my e-mails as of about 2 weeks ago so I'm assuming they think I'll just eventually give up.
Net/Net is between internet and tv I spend $160 a month with Suddenlink and another $40 a month for access to game services none of which I can enjoy any longer. It;s gotten so bad that my WoW guild has told me I can't raid any longer until this is fixed because my constant disconnects cause wipes (I don't blame them. Who wants their main healer disconnecting int he middle of boss fights?). I pay this money to be entertained, not to be frustrated with horrible service. As soon as FIOS comes out here you can bet I'll be making the switch. oh yeah, I mentioned fiber to the tech and was told it's an unproven tech and that it would be a waste of money. |
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SL Stinks
@cebridge.net
| I feel your pain brother. I've been having problems with Sl's service for over a year, and they haven't been able to fix the problem at all. Only thing they seem to be on top of is making sure I get a bill for almost worthless service. I pray everyday for another provider to buy them out.
Welcome to the world of SuddenStink! |
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DJBuzz24
join:2008-07-01
Fort Smith, AR | SL Stinks, what area are you in? You don't have to be specific, but if we're fairly close to one another I may have a solution for you  |
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Garruth
join:2008-07-08
Pflugerville, TX | reply to Garruth
I'm in Pflugerville over by Star Ranch golf course if you know where that is, right by where gattischool meets the 130 toll road |
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DJBuzz24
join:2008-07-01
Fort Smith, AR
·Suddenlink
| you're out of my area, then. However, my packets do hit the DFW node (old Dallasite myself!), ofc after they go to KC and bounce back down (I'm an Arkansan now).
They may just have an overloaded DFW node, as even right now my ping times are doubled between KCM and DAL, and it's only 15:00!
My issue is that my modem keeps getting reprovisioned to 256k by the network nazis. Once upon a time they stored the profiles in the modem's nvram, but after bricking a few by repeatedly rewriting the config, they found it to be more cost effective to have dynamic profiles upstream.
I just wish SinTel would get off their butts and flip the switch @ the CO. My DSL modem showed up today, so I'm itching to try some 10Mbit goodness! |
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Garruth
join:2008-07-08
Pflugerville, TX
·Suddenlink
| reply to Garruth
Well my post did catch the attention of a SL person and next thing I knew I was getting calls for the GM in the region. Over the past week they replaced the receivers, rewired everything, and have been following up daily. Since they completed the work Wednesday I've had no disconnects or related issues. Kudos SL (even if it took a while and a lot of work on my part) for taking care of my issue. |
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sgt
@sbcglobal.net
| reply to Garruth
amazing you are working. I had Cox before SL purchased it. I live in pflugerville as well, bit further south than you. Your issues described mine to a T. I finally gave up and switched to DSL. It's been solid for years for me.
I wish I could get faster than 6mbs down, but don't really want to deal with the headache of trying SL/Cox again. |
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