Comcast and Vonage, Part 2

Freshness Warning
This blog post is over 14 years old. It's possible that the information you read below isn't current and the links no longer work.

After two months of intermittent phone problems with the unholy duo of Vonage and Comcast I tweeted my displeasure.

Comcast tweeted back (on Christmas day!), suggesting that they might have a line problem and would test it out.

Today I get a call from a Comcast tech. I didn’t catch his name because I was jumping out of the shower to answer the phone, but he was calling from an east Bay area code.

He explains that the problem I’m having is because Vonage doesn’t work with Comcast. Vonage, he says, is an analog line and won’t work on Comcast internet because Comcast is a digital internet connection. His solution? Start using Comcast’s phone service, since it’s 100% digital.

Dumbfounded, I explain to him how voice over IP really works. I point out that there’s no such thing as an "analog internet" and a "digital internet." He then tries to tell me that 100% of every phone conversation, on both ends, is 100% digital with Comcast. So I explain the PSTN and how every call, unless it’s between two Comcast subscribers, will eventually pass over the phone network. And that once the call gets inside the caller’s house, the signal is converted to analog since phones are analog.

I ask him why the service works fine on AT&T DSL. He tells me that he used to be an AT&T tech and that AT&T service is analog, so that’s why Vonage would work.

At this point, there’s not a chance that I’ll believe anything this idiot tells me. He’s lost all credibility.

Finally, I ask him why Comcast and Vonage would announce they’re working together if Vonage was fundamentally incompatible with Comcast. The tech tells me that it’s not true that they’re working together. He’s seen the story on message boards and blogs, but it’s not real. There aren’t any credible publications that reported it. You know, like the Wall Street Journal. Or Comcast’s own press release on the matter.

I started with a positive reaction to Comcast. @comcastcares did a fantastic job of responding to my issue and getting a resolution started. But this single tech was either stupid or lying and blew Comcast’s credibility.

The only choices for broadband at my house is Comcast. But I’m carefully watching other providers and the moment they offer service, I’m switching. I won’t use a company who messes with my packets if I have a choice.

ComcastCares
December 26, 2008 10:42 AM

I agree the information provided on the call by this person was incorrect. The trouble you are having is most likely due to the receive power level at negative 3.1. This would cause exact issues such as this. It would also require a tech to come out. This is the reason it was sent to a local person to correct and schedule. According to them you stated you were not interested in having a tech out. I would say this would be necessary from what I am seeing in the data. I apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you! Frank Eliason Comcast

Adam Kalsey
December 26, 2008 11:13 AM

They didn't exactly try and schedule a call. They called and tried to sell me phone service. When I resisted, they said they could send someone out, but there's nothing wrong with my line and the solution was to get rid of Vonage. I told the rep that if Comcast was planning on blocking packets belonging to competing services, I'd be looking for a new provider. He did tell me several times that since I seem to know it all, there's nothing he can do to help. I'm afraid that since he insisted on claiming as fact things that were ust plain wrong, it made it hard for me to listen to anything he had to say. I'd love to have a tech out.

KK
January 22, 2009 9:39 PM

I had a similar experience with my comcast business service, except the tech actually came out. All was fine with Vonage and Comcast until early December. Then, all heck broke loose. The modem dies 3 or 4 times a day with no load. After five minutes of traffic load (downloading an ISO image), it will roll over. The response time for every 5th ping spikes off the chart, which kills voip. Things are fine for a half hour after the modem reboots, then deteriorates. The tech on the phone reviewed the history of the modem rolling over and said that she thought it was faulty hardware. When the tech (contractor) came out, I unfortunately mentioned that I typically noticed the issue first because the Vonage dialtone would be dead. He wasn't very interested in looking at the modem, but he thought I needed Comcast phone service. He went on to say that he would get a commission if he could pass my name along to a sales rep. He power cycled the modem, said "see its working now", and left. Today, I signed up for DSL.

This discussion has been closed.

Recently Written

The Trap of The Sales-Led Product (Dec 10)
It’s not a winning way to build a product company.
The Hidden Cost of Custom Customer Features (Dec 7)
One-off features will cost you more than you think and make your customers unhappy.
Domain expertise in Product Management (Nov 16)
When you're hiring software product managers, hire for product management skills. Looking for domain experts will reduce the pool of people you can hire and might just be worse for your product.
Strategy Means Saying No (Oct 27)
An oft-overlooked aspect of strategy is to define what you are not doing. There are lots of adjacent problems you can attack. Strategy means defining which ones you will ignore.
Understanding vision, strategy, and execution (Oct 24)
Vision is what you're trying to do. Strategy is broad strokes on how you'll get there. Execution is the tasks you complete to complete the strategy.
How to advance your Product Market Fit KPI (Oct 21)
Finding the gaps in your product that will unlock the next round of growth.
Developer Relations as Developer Success (Oct 19)
Outreach, marketing, and developer evangelism are a part of Developer Relations. But the companies that are most successful with developers spend most of their time on something else.
Developer Experience Principle 6: Easy to Maintain (Oct 17)
Keeping your product Easy to Maintain will improve the lives of your team and your customers. It will help keep your docs up to date. Your SDKs and APIs will be released in sync. Your tooling and overall experience will shine.

Older...

What I'm Reading

Contact

Adam Kalsey

+1 916 600 2497

Resume

Public Key

© 1999-2023 Adam Kalsey.