Is it normal to have unstable Internet speed 940/50, and it drops multiple times per week?

DarkBladeMtl

I moved from Videotron to Fizz a few months back. Reason, constant price hikes. Quality of service was always dependable tho. Second reason, two teens that needed more data on their plans
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Started off on a 500 Mbit connection and it seemed stable. Then increased the speed to 940/50 which was a match of the plan I had with Videotron.

And it did not go well... The modem (CODA5610Q) was in the exact same location where I've had my Videotron Helix Fi modem for 6 years. Initially the new speed profile held, I was getting speeds very close to the speed I was paying for. Then things started to fall apart...

I would reboot the router, reboot the computer, connect the Ethernet cable, measure.. Router would stay in a linking state where it would alternate green/white. Then it would show solid white, but there would be no Internet.

I was advised to reset the router, move the router away from my monitor as it would cause interference, Contacted Fizz support, they finally advised it was an outage. Issue was resolved after 3-4 hours, nice job!

Meanwhile the Mobile Internet I had with Fizz on 4 phones became extremely slow as well. Was advised to remove and reseat the SIM cards (which I found odd). It did help... for a while.

Three weeks later, I am working from home and in a conf call... Amazon Connect dropped, VPN disconnected, Zoom call lost. Reboot router, no dice... Was advised to move router away from TV (why would any other router work for years, but the CODA 5610Q can't?). The location I can move it is about two feet... after the Tech support from Fizz did their checks:
Tech support tells me "You need to place the router in the middle of your house away from TVs, microwaves (this one I do understand), and windows... Well, this last part is hard to do since the coax entry is on the exterior wall and it is about 8ft long... and the CODA is not exactly artwork level beautiful to put in the middle of a room and walk around it, just so it gets internet, nor do I fancy the trip hazard that are the power cord and coax cable.

2 hours after finishing a support session that basically was... place the modem in the middle of your house my speed is again down from 250 to 20 Mbits down, ZERO mbits up. And this with the router now 5 feet away from the TV...

Waiting for a tech visit... Dealing with Fizz support and with unreliable Internet service has been quite frustrating... Service is cheap, but price alone is not sufficient to justify the loss of reliability required for remote work

Whizz

Hello,

Thanks for sharing. I understand and am sorry to learn about this unpleasant situation.

Checking your conversation history I can see that my colleagues provided you with all the helpful troubleshooting steps we have at our disposal.
I can also observe the fact the main cause of your service interruption were the less than favorable weather patterns  registered in recent weeks.
The appropriate technical team was dispatched in your area to remedy the damage network node, however, in my tools I can see that your connection signals are off from the optimal parameters, with some package loss and broadcast congestion.

As a solution to this, I kindly invite you to contact us via chat so we can discuss in details about scheduling an technician's appointment for you in order for you service to be restored to the desired norms.

This is done for free unless the source of the problem is attributable to your personal equipment, or to a modification made to your installation by you or a third party.
In this case, the applicable fee of $60+taxes will automatically be charged from the payment method associated with your plan.
No worries, this is purely informative as I'm obligated by Fizz to tell you this.

A person 18 years of age or older must be present at this appointment.
If this is not the case, the technician cannot complete the service call and a new appointment will need to be scheduled.

In order to contact the technical team, please indicate three available dates and time slots so that you can confirm the appointment.
During the week, the available times are: (7:00-12:00, 12:00-17:00, 17:00-20:30).
On weekends, the time slots available are between 7:30 - 12:00 and 12:30 - 17:00.

Also, please confirm your telephone number.

Please have these details shared with us via live chat through this link here:
https://fizz.ca/en/support

Thank you for your understanding and have a good one!
-Andrei, Community Moderator

Billy01

Scary story, I am considering switching internet provider from Videotron to Fizz as I am paying $53 for 30Mb, but after reading your adventure, my have to reconsider.

My Videotron modem and router have been next to my TV for over 15 years without any issue, and never had any internet issues. If was to go with Fizz, I would put the modem at the exact same place, which is in the basement, and it appears that is not recommended, but like I said, never had any issues. The last thing I would want is to play with my installation, as I also have Videotron TV service connected to 3 TVs, and everything is working perfectly.

Thx for sharing.