Flash... Bang, The Internet disappeared, but it's back now.

Never had Lightning do that before. Never really had a lightning storm actually pass thru town before either.

The house didn't get hit but, Comcast did, and passed enough juice into my cable modem to fry something. That was Thursday.

I must say Comcast left me with mixed feelings about the incident. The first call to service got me someone that was able to run the remote diagnostics, determine that an on site inspections was needed, and get someone out the next day, on time.

His inspection was total, from the curb to the modem. While the cable underground curb-house line was "ok", he ordered a total replacement. It looked like RG-57 and had been in ground for in excess of 20years. It wasn't very pliable.

That was all to the good. Then I bought the new modem, got home and called to have it registered. The twit ruined what should have been the easiest part. The stumbling block seemed to be that I couldn't recite either my Comcast account number, or what the amount of the last bill amount was. That bill is paid automatically by the bank. I open the bill long enough to verify all is well with the account, tear it up and toss it.

She was oh so sorry that the new modem couldn't be authorized, But didn't I feel better knowing that my account was secure from unauthorized changes.

Took about an hour of diving in the recycle bin to find a bit of paper with the account number. By then the modem had made a temporary connection and loaded a default account setup page to my browser. In less time than it took to navigate the phone tree, all was well.

At one point the tech that came to the house mentioned that Comcast carries something like 90v on it's lines. That sounded like bull.

90v on the line might be true-ish; I believe that they put the analog phone right on the coax which can be something like 70v AC ... but only when it's ringing.

Obviously, it's pretty much DC as far as TV and cable internet are concerned so it doesn't affect much.

Hugo

You really want them to change account details for anybody that called up claiming to be you without proof?

They could ask for a social security number or a pin instead of needing the bill. I would have the same problem I don't keep the bills and would go online if I needed the account number.

Security is good, but damn, after two previous calls and having had a man out to inspect, none of which required me to cite my account number, To be hung out, on a question that I would have answered by consulting a web page. Ya gotta appreciate the irony.