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General discussion

New internet installation

Jun 26, 2013 9:58AM PDT

I am a new Comcast customer who had internet and phone service installed just yesterday. (Waiting for confirmation of fiber optic in my neighborhood before I get TV service. )

The question is about the wire cable installed from the signal source at the rear of my house around to the front office where my computers are. I have just remodeled my older home and have painted and prettied up the exterior. As part of this, I had a professional some months ago rewire the various existing wires and cables under the eves for a neater appearance. The Comcast contractor yesterday insisted that running the internet cable from the back of the house to the front would best be done over the fascia and across the roof. When I asked to run the cable around the house under the eves with the rest of the wires, he said that the extra 20-30 feet of cable required for this "could" deteriorate my signal to such an extent as to lower speeds considerably and that I "could" be unhappy with the result. I have little knowledge of these matters, so I immediately called a tech at Comcast and she rather unconfidently said that yes that 20-30 extra feet "could" have such a slowing effect. Her supervisor said the same with the same lack of conviction: it "could". Now I live in the desert Southwest. It was hot outside. My conspiratorial side comes out and I wonder if the installers are just trying to avoid all the under-eave stapling, get done with the job, and get home. Were the Comcast techs beyond their depth?

And every Comcast person I spoke with said "could" too many times. When you think about it, almost everything in the world "could" happen. For those of you with more knowledge of these matters than I, "could" the speed be slowed by a few extra feet of cable? If it "could" be, how much and how likely is it? Incidentally, I am quite happy with the speed - nice, but I just don't like that big black wire running over the roof and down my newly painted fascia.

I thank you appreciatively for lending me you thoughts.

Discussion is locked

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Yeah Well
Jun 26, 2013 10:28AM PDT

all of the miles of cable it took to get that wire to your house could all get sun burnt and brittle too but that didn't stop them from running it. I would have made them run the wire the way you wanted it. You pay them for a service and should have it your way.

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I seriously doubt significant slowdown
Jun 26, 2013 11:05AM PDT

I always heard about a nanosecond's delay for every foot of wiring. Now when you figure 30 feet is .03 microseconds delay, it would seem obvious to the casual observer that they're BSing you. I've been using Comcast for Internet and TV for more years than I can remember and we added phone service about 3 years ago. In my experience with them about 1 in 4 of their technicians knows what he's talking about, and even then not in great depth. I'm in the southeast and you're in the southwest, so it could be different where you are, but it sure sounds like you're being BSed to me.
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Good luck.

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File a Complaint
Jun 26, 2013 11:29AM PDT

Running a cable over the roof is unprofessional and sloppy. An extra 30 feet of cable would not have made a bit of difference. Unfortunately this sort of thing is done more often than you might realize. I recommend filing a complaint with Comcast early and often until it is fixed to your satisfaction. Hopefully your complaint will get through to the right person.

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Issue resolved
Jun 30, 2013 2:25AM PDT

After having read these postings and others I got in touch with Comcast about the across-the-roof-install. They sent someone out, the cable was installed under the eaves (25 minutes) as I requested, and it looks much, much better. As far as I can tell the download speeds are exactly the same. The upload speed is, if anything, actually faster. Thanks to you all the problem solved.

As a humorous wrap-up, here are some issues I had discussed with Comcast directly in an online chat and how they were resolved:

1. I insisted that an employee of Comcast, not a sub-contractor, come and check the installation. Comcast agreed. I confirmed this, and reconfirmed this.

The original sub-contractor appeared.


2. Comcast set a firm 11-1pm time window which I had to firmly agree to.

The sub-contractor came at 7:45am.


3. Comcast warned me that I would get 3 pre-arrival phone calls to which I had to respond correctly, or the appointment would be cancelled.

Guess. That's right, nada. Just the doorbell.

4. And as a further chuckle, the original install had the cable just popping into the room out of jagged hole in the drywall. ("The company doesn't give us anything to use there. You can get something at ACE.") Now, there is a nice connector and faceplate. Company policy obviously has shifted.

Thanks again. Your help is much appreciated.