said by rickten:

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what are you using to monitor you line like that? IS that a dslreports feature or a program you setup on your own?

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said by Beth Curda/Enterprise staff writer, Dec 2, 2004:

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Comcast working out Internet service bugs

Some Davis residents who are new subscribers to the Comcast Internet service now available locally have reported problems with their service or brief outages. The company said it is working extra to expand bandwidth to meet high demand for the new service.

In August, as part of an extensive citywide upgrade in equipment and programs, Comcast Cable Communications Inc. made available to Davis residents high-speed broadband Internet service. Demand for the new service has been high, company spokeswoman Susan Gonzales said, and Comcast has had to expand bandwidth to respond to the need.

Customers have reported problems with breaks in connectivity and other interruptions in service.

In some cases, Gonzales said, customers have signed up for one type of service, when another program may fit their broadband needs more appropriately. As Comcast expands bandwidth in neighborhoods, service is interrupted briefly in the process, she said.

"In cases where customers are in new areas of service and they are using bandwidth beyond the scope of their service, it affects bandwidth necessary for that particular area," Gonzales said. "And we are expanding bandwidth throughout the area to meet everybody's needs."

The company monitors the situation daily, Gonzales said. She added that ultimately there will be enough bandwidth to meet everyone's needs and customers will be paired up with the right service packages.

She advised customers who experience other problems to contact Comcast's customer service line.

Jerilyn Cochran, Davis social services administrator and a city representative in ongoing contract negotiations with Comcast, said she has received a couple of calls from residents reporting Internet service concerns.

"I assume ... it's normal to have to work out kinks when they set up a system like this," Cochran said.

Comcast crews also have been busy in downtown Davis, tearing up city streets to install and upgrade cable infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the city's ongoing contract talks with Comcast have hit snags along the way, including funding details and a Comcast offer the city believed did not include enough support for public, educational and government programming.

Steve McMahon, chairman of the city's Telecommunications Task Force, said the negotiating parties are working on more detailed language of their positions in an attempt to understand better the stances. The fact that the parties are looking at draft contracts doesn't mean they have reached an agreement, he said, and big differences still could emerge.

"We are really at a point where we're trying to find out what we think Comcast is proposing and tie down the details of it, and we could have very big differences ... or it's possible that that agreement might put us closer to where we think we'd be willing to go ahead and sign," he said.

City staff involved in the negotiations likely will update the Davis City Council later this month.

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said by BBR:

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Random fortune (from work)

Carelessly planned projects take three times longer to complete than expected.
Carefully planned projects take four times longer to complete than expected, mostly because the planners expect their planning to reduce the time it takes.

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