Comcast Outage

[km1125]

Comcast (and other broadband companies) rely on utility power for their distribution. If power goes out, they have to make accommodations to keep service running. Most of them utilize battery-backed-up power supplies in the field, but those will only run for a couple hours if utility is out. They do manage a fleet of portable generators and can usually keep the power supplies in the field running, but if there are THOUSANDS of them out over the whole area they just don't have enough generators to power all of the field units. Many of those portable units also get STOLEN while they're out in the field providing power too. All the major facilities have generator backup that is usually good for at least a couple days even if they can't be refueled, but they have contracts to supply emergency fuel if there's a big disruption.

They're also limited by down cables. If there are any down lines, then they have to identify if any are possibly power and if so need clearance from the utility before they can restore their own lines (for safety purposes). If trees took out lines (or telephone poles) those need to be resolved too before the cables can be restored.

[SolarMax]

My power went out overnight, around 4 AM Thursday, many hours after the storm systems had passed through. A generator, bought last year after those storms' outages, kept the refrigerator cold, the TV on and a couple of fans spinning. The outage estimate for restoration in my service area was Saturday at 1130 PM.
However, lucked out and the lights were back on at 7pm on Friday, only in my immediate area..
Comcast/Xfinity, on the other hand... No signals (internet carriers & TV) concurrent with the power failure. It returned briefly Saturday morning, then went out again overnight, back on for a while on Sunday, then out.
Monday AM it was back on and has stayed on. I did do the silly texting "OUT" to their service number, knowing an actual phone call would be impossible and futile.
My only means of online access was by tethering our phones to ATT wireless, with my wife and I quickly sucking down our non-unlimited data plan. In addition, in my area, ATT's wireless coverage is marginal even in good times, rarely above one "bar" on the S-meter, and frequent call drops, unable to send certiain types of info like SMS pictures.
I did discover I could set my iPhone to "4G".instead of "LTE" (their silly bogus "5GE"). This made things a little more stable for email and basic sites. ATT texted me a warning that I would be speed-throttled if I exceeded my data plan limit, suggesting I "use WiFI to minimize data usage". Duh. If i HAD wiFi I wouldn't be squeezing bits over your crappy wireless system, AT&T. Fortunately my monthly quota has since reset.
I've noted like others here that the outage coverage was always only about power and not a single mention of cable outages (wasn't just Comcast affected), or wireless and landline phones (which for many are literal lifelines).

[SteveS]

Comcast (and other broadband companies) rely on utility power for their distribution. If power goes out, they have to make accommodations to keep service running. Most of them utilize battery-backed-up power supplies in the field, but those will only run for a couple hours if utility is out. They do manage a fleet of portable generators and can usually keep the power supplies in the field running, but if there are THOUSANDS of them out over the whole area they just don't have enough generators to power all of the field units. Many of those portable units also get STOLEN while they're out in the field providing power too.

I've been out since about 7:45pm last night and early this morning Spectrum put in their chain secured gas generator around 5am. The red light just turned on for the box next to it so it is out of gas and running on the battery backup but now I see DTE trucks nearby so hopefully the end is near.

[km1125]

Not sure about Spectrum and all their coverage areas, but Comcast has remote monitoring on all their field power supplies. They can tell if they have utility power or are running on the batteries and predict how long they can run on the batteries. This helps prioritize when and where they need to deploy generators. They also predict the runtime of the generators based on the gas available and the load on the generator and schedule them to be refilled before they run out. Not a perfect system but they are taking advantage of technology to a large degree.

Not sure I can same the same about DTE. Our power went out on Saturday around 4PM. There were no weather events anywhere near here around that time. I took a quick drive around the affected area and didn't see any vehicle accidents or wires down. After it was out for an hour or so I checked the DTE Outage page to see if they had any anticipated restoration time. Nada. They didn't even show an outage in the area, and it affected over 1000 homes. I entered my own address into their reporting system, and my phone number to have updates texted. Never got a text, not a single one. Three HOURS later and there was still no anticipated restoration time, but at least they showed an outage in the area. The area they highlighted only covered less than HALF of the folks who were actually out though, and didn't even show my location which I had previously reported. Eventually they did update the restoration time to show Sunday at 5PM (25 hours). It did come back on between 1:30 and 2AM Sunday morning. Never received a text. Not a single one. Ran a generator for a few hours Saturday night to get the fridge cold again and so we could watch some TV (Internet never went out) and thought I'd have to use it again Sunday morning but glad I didn't.

There's no excuse for this. With the widespread deployment of "smart" metering in their distribution area, they should know VERY QUICKLY where there is a problem and be able to dispatch crews, at least to identify the issue if they can't resolve it. Their mapping should be MUCH more accurate and responsive than was displayed this past weekend. I'm really wondering now about the accuracy of any reports they have to file with the Michigan PSC in terms of "customer impacts".

[sfpcc1]

Well it happened again. My cable has been out since at least nine last night. Is anyone else facing this problem?

[sfpcc1]

Well it happened again. My cable has been out since at least nine last night. Is anyone else facing this problem?

In the words of Emily Latella, Never mind. My cable came back about ten minutes after my previous post

[SolarMax]

If you have a Comcast/Xfinity outage, you can text "OUT" to 266278.
The robo-reply will confirm if there is a known outage in your area, and if not, lets you report your outage (but unfortunately, not your outrage).

[sfpcc1]

Tonight around 12:30 My cable and internet were out for roughly 2 and a half hours. However this post is not a complaint. When this happened the front of my cable box said the word "hunt" in digital letters. Do those words actually mean anything or is it just something random that happens?

[km1125]

Tonight around 12:30 My cable and internet were out for roughly 2 and a half hours. However this post is not a complaint. When this happened the front of my cable box said the word "hunt" in digital letters. Do those words actually mean anything or is it just something random that happens?

Something like that usually means it is scanning all the frequencies to see if it can find the right one(s). Typically the boxes have to "boot up" and when they see a loss of all signals they'll start the process over. The first part of that process is scanning all the frequencies to find one(s) that have all their initialization data (things like the current time, what software rev they're supposed to be on, where the channels can be found, etc). Once it gets that initial info, then it can move to the next step which might mean a software upgrade. If no upgrade is necessary, then it loads the Guide info and is ready for use.