I am a Comcast VOIP customer, the service works good. Comcast is a sleezy company, and I have had experiences with their IP blocking and/or packet interruptions.
------ Original Message ------ Received: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:36:45 AM PDT From: Mike Naruta AA8K <[email protected]> > Remember when "network neutrality" was voted down? > This means that your Internet provider can delay > or tamper with your packets. > > > Here is my personal experience. > > I started having trouble with packet loss on my > VOIP traffic on my broadband connection, both on > my IRLP node and other VOIP. I did extensive > troubleshooting with my PC (Windows XP Home > Edition). I substituted another clean PC with > Windows XP Pro. I built another PC with just > Ubuntu Linux on it. I tested with only one PC > directly plugged into the cable modem. In each > case I was experiencing about a 10% packet loss > with garbled voice and delayed syllables. > > On a whim, I tried using the original PC, but I > disconnected my Comcast High Speed Digital LAN > connection and had my PC dial up a modem on my > other Internet provider. The connection was at > 45.2 Kbps. My packet loss dropped to ZERO! > The voices were clear, without garbles and delays. > > Each time that I have repeated the test, whenever > I use the Comcast High Speed Digital, I get 5% to > 15% packet loss and when I disconnect the Comcast > and use a dial-up modem on my other Internet > provider, I get 0% packet loss. > > > Now, I do not use the Comcast Digital Voice VOIP > service that Comcast sells, because I cannot use > it for the IRLP or my other app. I'm guessing > that the customers that do use Comcast Digital > Voice do not have the same problem, or they > would not still be customers. > > Of course, if you were using a Comcast Digital > Voice competitor like Vonage and had this VOIP > type of problem, you would probably discontinue > Vonage. > > > I appear to not be the only one experiencing > problems: > > < > http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080129-p2p-users-blast-comcast-in-fcc-proceeding.html > > > > I am on waiting lists for DSL and fiber optic service, > but they are not available to me yet, even though > I am a short distance from the telephone office. > I used to use two-way satellite for my IP and now > regret ending that service. I had only very brief > storm outages compared to my downtimes with Comcast. > > > Also, during power failures, Comcast has been going > down here not long after the power does, so your > Internet connection may not be available when you > need it the most. > >
