[TriLUG] troubleshooting spotty internet connectivity with TWCBC

[Scott G. Hall]

On 07/22/2014 10:18 PM, Dewey Hylton wrote:
> i have a customer paying for TWC Business Class service. they run a small shop (~20 computers) behind a *nix firewall,[...]
>
> friday, they called and said they had issues getting to several external websites that they use daily. [...]
>
> i called TWCBC support. the first tech tried "accessing those 2 sites via the cable modem" and failed. so, believing the problem was on their end, he escalated the ticket. but the second level tech refuses to work with me until i've connected a computer directly to the cable modem. 
>
> does this make sense to anyone? the firewall _is_ a computer, and is much more capable of network testing and such than any of their windows desktops or servers. and it is directly connected to the cable modem already. 

I've had the same issues with both TWC customer support, and at another location
Comcast's Xfinity customer support.

What you are running into is "customer no-support" help-desk types that are only
trained to use a troubleshooting script. They have no knowledge or expertise on
network configuration, network troubleshooting tools, or even concepts of how
the network works in the first place.

To even get somebody remotely knowledgeable who can even listen and understand
the basics, you'll have to force the issue and escalate to at least Tier-3. If
they won't escalate that high, make noise with one of the consumer advocates
(5-on-your-side, etc) and get a message to a VP or high-level manager. Otherwise
you are just wasting your time.

-- 
Scott G. Hall
Owner & Chief Engineer
Hall Communications
Raleigh, NC, USA
Scott at HallComm-Inc.Com