Not this time. Still no signal by the afternoon, and when Lisa called the help line, they confirmed that they could not see our cable modem. That could have given it away, but I didn't click.
This being this time of year, we were actually out overnight on Friday so that I couldn't get to inspect matters at home. Also, friends and neighbours were out the next day so I couldn't get my hands on another cable modem to see if it was the line (my suspicion at the time) or the modem. All I could do was call, go once more over all possibilities with the tier-1 help person -- and schedule a technician to swing by on Monday afternoon, i.e. on Christmas Eve, or about 48 hours later (!!). So I made do over the weekend with two trips to the local library to consume some of their wireless signal to catch up on things.
The big surprise came on Monday. The technician, was on time and rather friendly and knowledgeable, checked the signal strength at the box outside, and on two cable outlets in the house. All fairly well. So during the second call to Comcast, we turned our attention to the cable modem. A few years ago I returned the 'leased' modem and bought an inexpensive 3com cable modem. Only after checking that it was supported, of course.
Well now it seems that Comcast decided that this (old) modem can only talk Docsys 1.0. And instead of telling me in advance, they just fscking dropped it cold. Unbefriggable. I must be getting two fliers a month informing me how great Comcast's so-called (and IMHO rather overpriced) 'Triple Play' is. You'd think that they use that mail-out infrastructure to let me know about the service change. Or use email, after all they are my ISP. Naaah. Rather just drop the service cold right before the holidays. That's the spirit.
To clarify and repeat, I do not mind service updates. I do not mind improving standards and improved throughput. And as I am quite happy to buy a new modem on the spot on Tuesday afternoon -- yes, Christmas eve, because I then have nothing better to do than to troll in the mall to buy a new Motorola cable modem at full retail cost rather than somewhat more cheaply at Amazon or other places -- I could easily have done better if only they had told me in advance. I could go and use some choice terms , but as we're still in the holiday season I better stop... Maybe I should just go back to DSL and save a few bucks.