I do have a question about one of the results of the Cox diagnostic tool. Both Doc Searls and I get this line about a local limitation of 10 Mbps Ethernet subnet. I am connected via ethernet cable to a 54 Mbps wireless / 100 Mbps ethernet router. Well, my PC says it’s on a 100 Mbps ethernet connection, and the advertised specs on the Cox cable/telephone/modem say it’s 10/100, so where is the hold-up? It must be that the Cox box is not supplying more than 10 Mbps ethernet. Am I missing something?

thanks,
Dan

The funny thing is that I am able to release and renew my IP address from Cox, so I know the cable modem is connected and talking to Cox’s DHCP servers. It’s just not getting beyond that point.

I know better than to try and call tech support, so I tried chat. We got as far as “you are going to have to connect your computer directly to the modem before we can troubleshoot” when I repeated for the third time that it wasn’t an issue on my end.

So i’ve sent in an email from the support page of their web site. Hopefully it will find it’s way into the deeper dungeons of tech support where someone might actually know something about what is going on with their routing (which I assume to be the problem).

I’ll let you know if I find anything. And please let us know if you do as well.

The problem with my local Comcast was that they had over enrolled and couldn’t actually provide the bandwidth promised to all their customers. This is pretty common with ISP’s that lack local competition.

I have seen similar events occur over the years. It almost always (80/20 rule) ends with, “we had no idea that the change that the guys in XYZ Department made last week could affect us.” Or words to that effect.

It is hard to believe that in 2009, given the success of the internet, that so called “technicians” have no concept of systems (or holistic) thinking. The unstated motto is “local optima to the max!”

I would bet two bits that a new fill_in_the_blank was recently installed. A new router perhaps. Or new routing entries in a table somewhere. A new monitoring agent of some nature. Something.

I have seen techies drop routes (for routers on their internal network) and deny having ever done so… until I produce trace routes showing that fact.

Bottom line, you are probably not going to have any success in the short term. Sorry. But as you only noticed it when you returned, you have no idea when they implemented the change that hosed your connection.

Again, I have called the very next day, and had it take a week to get a “techie” to figure out that some bozo hosed the system. Even when I started the conversation with, “you guys changed something or implemented something at 2:00AM this morning that caused the problem.” (Thank God for cron; but even with a smoking gun, almost no one ever consults common sense!)

Wish I was more hopeful… but until they connect the dots that an internal change caused the situation, they cannot help you.

-ski

FWIW, one of the techs who came to my house (nowhere near the middle of town) told me we were “way out there” and “at the end of the line.” Not sure what to conclude from that.

I think the 18/4 speed is a “burst” measure on the downstream side.

17/3

Talk about variance.