Futuristic - a Texas based ISP

[david]

It's been about 2 months now since I convinced my girlfriend to switch from dial-up to the wonderful world of CABLE.

.. or so I thought.

She lives way out in the boonies, so not a lot of choices, but this mom & pop cable provider has been a total pain in the butt.

First things first... the cable provider is Futuristic, providing cable TV and internet service to a very small area near Leander, TX.

I live in Austin and have been enjoying Time Warner Cable's internet service for the last 10 years. I'm paying $45/mo for speeds about 6500-6700 kb/s downloads and 360 kb/s uploads. However, out here with Futuristic we're looking $40/mo and speeds at 830-1017 kb/s downloads and 108 kb/s uploads. I could probably accept those lower speeds on their own, with so few choices out here that would be better than most the current alternatives, if it were not for what I'd say is terrible service. It's not uncommon for the connection to be out at various times throughout the day. So much so that I've written a short script that checks the connection ever 60 seconds and reports back (logs) if we are online or not. A typical day can be seen below.

As it turns out, we know a couple other people in the area who've dealt with Futuristic also, and have had similar BAD experiences. From them, I've learned that one of them ended up replacing 100-200 feet of bad coax cable themselves which seems to have fixed some of their problems. Their main "tech guy", Andre at first thought about just laying the cable on the ground, but was told the dogs might chew it up, so the solution seems to have been a half-ass job of stringing 2 different cables from a spliced in section at the road up to the house 200 feet away, having one of the cables drooping a bit more than I would want, and hanging in to the top part of a fairly young tree that's sure to grow at least a foot or two each year. We'll see how quickly that causes problems, but already when the wind blows, and the tree sways, the wire gets pulled a bit. Andre's answer was "when it becomes a problem, we'll move it". And as I look at our sporadic connectivity problem it appears likely that wind and swaying trees could possible be one cause.

I'll update this post as new things pop up. There are SEVERAL other key issues/points that come in to play.
Here's a short list:

• This IS a mom&pop operation which means extremely limited support times. Limited to when they are awake and at home and not eating dinner.
• One day we were told the job was done, but after several calls with connection problems we were told there was actually more to do.
• It took MANY phone calls to get them to come out and finish the job.
• They like to cut corners when it comes to expenses (like using older cable) which has been seen not only from our personal experience, but also the accounts from other customers we know.
• "Reboot the modem" seems to be the only diagnostic tool they have.
• After spending 2 hours of my time with them and the modem in their office, and not being able to get the modem hooked up to their service again, they said I should take it back to Walmart and exchange it for another.

Anyway, here's yesterdays online/offline log:
The connection was dropped at 10pm the previous day, then...
Tue Jul 31 00:00:36 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 00:02:16 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 00:03:56 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 00:05:36 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 00:07:16 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 00:08:56 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 00:10:36 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 00:12:16 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 00:13:56 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 00:15:36 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 00:17:16 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 00:18:56 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 00:20:37 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
...
Several hours pass...
...
Tue Jul 31 04:00:38 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:02:18 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:03:58 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:05:38 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:07:18 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:08:58 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:10:38 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:12:18 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:13:58 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:15:38 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:16:39 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 04:18:19 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:19:19 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 04:20:59 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:22:39 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:23:39 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 04:24:39 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 04:25:40 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 04:26:40 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 04:27:40 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 04:28:40 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 04:29:55 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 04:31:05 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 04:32:45 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:34:26 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:36:06 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:37:46 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:39:26 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:40:41 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 04:41:41 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 04:42:41 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 04:44:21 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:46:01 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:47:41 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:49:21 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:51:01 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:52:41 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:54:21 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:56:01 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:57:41 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 04:59:21 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:01:01 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:02:41 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:04:22 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:06:02 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:07:42 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:09:22 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:11:02 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:12:42 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:14:22 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:16:02 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:17:42 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:19:22 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:21:02 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:22:42 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:24:22 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:26:02 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:27:42 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:29:22 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:31:02 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:32:42 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:34:22 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:36:02 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:37:42 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:39:22 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:41:02 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:42:42 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:44:22 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:46:02 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:47:42 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:49:23 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:51:03 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:52:43 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:54:23 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:56:03 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:57:43 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 05:59:23 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 06:01:03 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 06:02:43 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 06:04:23 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 06:06:03 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 06:07:43 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 06:09:23 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 06:10:23 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 06:11:23 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 06:12:23 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 06:13:24 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 06:14:24 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 06:16:04 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 06:17:34 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 06:18:34 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 06:19:59 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 06:20:59 CDT 2007 - online
...
online a couple hours...
...
Tue Jul 31 08:11:42 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:12:42 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:13:42 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:14:42 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:15:55 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:17:35 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 08:19:15 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 08:20:55 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 08:22:35 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 08:24:15 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 08:25:55 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 08:27:35 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 08:29:15 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 08:30:55 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 08:32:35 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 08:33:35 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:34:35 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:35:36 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:36:41 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:37:46 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:38:46 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:40:01 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:41:11 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 08:42:12 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:43:52 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 08:44:52 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:45:52 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:46:52 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:47:52 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:48:53 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:49:53 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 08:50:53 CDT 2007 - online
...
online more hours...
...
Tue Jul 31 10:17:36 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 10:18:36 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 10:19:36 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 10:20:46 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 10:21:46 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 10:22:46 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 10:23:46 CDT 2007 - online
...
online for an hour...
...
Tue Jul 31 11:43:03 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 11:44:04 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 11:45:04 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 11:46:14 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 11:47:14 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 11:48:14 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 11:49:14 CDT 2007 - online
...
online almost 2 hours...
...
Tue Jul 31 13:38:39 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 13:39:39 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 13:40:39 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 13:41:50 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 13:42:55 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 13:43:55 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 13:44:56 CDT 2007 - online
...
online 30 min...
...
Tue Jul 31 14:17:15 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 14:18:15 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 14:19:15 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 14:20:26 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 14:21:26 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 14:22:26 CDT 2007 - online
...
online 4 hours...
...
Tue Jul 31 18:37:15 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 18:38:15 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 18:39:15 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 18:40:25 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 18:41:26 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 18:42:27 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 18:43:27 CDT 2007 - online
...
Tue Jul 31 19:16:34 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 19:17:34 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 19:18:34 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 19:19:45 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 19:20:45 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 19:21:45 CDT 2007 - online
...
Tue Jul 31 19:45:49 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 19:46:49 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 19:47:59 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 19:49:00 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 19:50:00 CDT 2007 - online
...
Tue Jul 31 21:05:19 CDT 2007 - online

[david]

More frustrating times tonight...

I ran a speed test today, and thought I'd post a link with the results:
http://www.speedguide.net/speedtest/stats.php?host=fastputer

Yes, the provider (which you can search on) is "fastputer.net"



tonight's log...

Tue Jul 31 21:14:25 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 21:16:05 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 21:17:33 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 21:19:13 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 21:20:54 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 21:22:34 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 21:24:14 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 21:25:54 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 21:27:34 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 21:29:14 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 21:30:44 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 21:31:44 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 21:32:44 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 21:33:44 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 21:34:45 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 21:35:45 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 21:37:25 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 21:39:05 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 21:40:45 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 21:42:25 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 21:44:05 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 21:45:45 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 21:46:45 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 21:47:46 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 21:48:46 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 21:49:46 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 21:50:47 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 21:51:52 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 21:52:52 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 21:54:32 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 21:55:37 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 21:56:37 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 21:58:17 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 21:59:17 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 22:00:17 CDT 2007 - online
... online for an hour...
Tue Jul 31 23:13:30 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 23:14:31 CDT 2007 - online
Tue Jul 31 23:16:11 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 23:17:51 CDT 2007 - CANNOT CONNECT
Tue Jul 31 23:18:56 CDT 2007 - online

[david]

Today's update...

Last night I had some computer issues and so couldn't run my minute-by-minute ping check, however, we lost internet connectivity about 11pm, and didn't get it back until about 1am, but just called it a night by then, and didn't make any phone calls even thought each night this week has seen downtime starting around 8-11pm on various night.

This morning I woke up to no connection. Actually, the Motorola SB5101 cable modem we're using has been seeing a DIFFERENT problem this last week than the previous weeks. Now, it's most common that the Power light and the Receive light are on solid, but the Send light can't lock on, or if it does, then the Online light blinks continuously... until the whole modem seems to go through some kind of reset and start over.

Even though we are told "rebooting the modem by unplugging the power should fix it", THAT action itself rarely seems to actually be "the fix". I can let the modem sit, untouched, and after some amount of time (perhaps hours) it will connect again.

So, the rest of this week I'm going to get on a full blown CALL-ON-ANY-OUTTAGE, and I did this morning. Vivian answered, and I let her know the lights status. She asked if I unplugged the power. I said "yes. 3 times" She asked how many minutes, and I let her know the longest time was 10 minutes unplugged. She said she'd let Andre know. After about another hour, the modem connected on it's own, and now we've been connect ALL the rest of the day (so far).

I did another speed test for the fastputer.net provider and it seems we're still at half the DL speed we were a the first month. I was told a few weeks ago that all their customers share a 1.5MB pipe, so I'm wondering if they got a few more customers, or perhaps they just cut down OUR limits? -- Unknown a this time.