[ale] So, Comcast says 8-16ms to their first hop is... OK?

[Steve Litt]

On Sat, 6 Sep 2025 16:22:23 -0400
Jeff Lightner via Ale <ale at ale.org> wrote:

> That reminds me of an incident with my home cable TV a few years ago.
>   One channel wasn’t coming in but all the others were.  On calling
> them they went through the usual rigamarole (power cycle the cable,
> box, the TV and check all the coax connections).  I was incensed
> again noting it was only one channel having an issue.   I said if it
> was a connection issue it would affect more than that one.
> 
> Finally, I checked the coax connections just to make them get off
> that idea.   The one on the back of the cable TV box was fine.
> However, as soon as I touched the end of the one at the wall jack it
> fell on the floor.  That wall jack was on the wall nearest the
> exterior breezeway and it had been years since I initially connected
> the cable to it.   My guess is that it was vibrations caused by
> people walking through that breezeway over the years that caused it
> to unscrew.    
> 
> After reseating the cable at the wall jack and screwing it back into
> place the one channel that had been an issue began working.  I’ve
> often told people since then I hate it when THEY are right.  😊

This is why, in my Universal Troubleshooting Process course, I teach
people the "Humor me" technique.

"Please check all the coax connections."

"What good would that do, the other channels are good, so it's not the
coax connections!"

"Humor me, just for the heck of it, check the coax connections."

With the "Humor me" technique, the Troubleshooter makes it clear that
the customer or user is the smart one, everybody puts away their tape
measures, and a 15 second diagnostic test gets done.

Now of course, if the customer is on his third escalation, and he's
done the diagnostic test twice before and reported the result twice
before, the "Humor me" technique doesn't work. But then again, asking
the basics on the third escalation is customer abuse in the first
place, and in my course I teach everyone to be ready troubleshoot tough
problems, and if management is in the room, I tell them to avoid
escalation by using trained first line people.

SteveT

Steve Litt 
Spring 2023 featured book: Troubleshooting Techniques of the Successful
Technologist http://www.troubleshooters.com/techniques