Folks -
Just had an amazingly pleasing experience with Cox and the WCG200. My dad has been complaining about Cox for many many months, and I finally decided to see what I could do to help. This forum was a big help as it relates to WCG200v2 firmware -- the punch line of this story is that after upgrading the firmware (his cable-modem/router was about three years old), his network is working PERFECTLY.
When I realized (1) his firmware was badly out of date, and (2) THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN UPDATE THE FIRMWARE is by going through Cox, we reached the conclusion that we'd rather buy a new device and pay the $100 in order to avoid going through Cox support. I started looking for the latest and greatest DOCSIS 3.0 combo modem/router device that was available locally for him, and realized there are only a couple of options. I decided I'd take a fly at upgrading his firmware, and since you know the punchline (we did it and it fixed all of his problems), let me cut to the chase. Here's what I did:
- Instead of calling Cox, I went through their Chat support online. I was ready to barrage the agent with tons of info that would demonstrate that I knew what the hell I was doing and that all I wanted was a firmware update. If you do this, be ready with all of your account info -- account number, pin, address, phone number and last four of the social security number.
- Once I got over the first hurdle (supplying all the account info), I told the rep the model number of the device and cut-and-pasted the firmware revision that's currently running. (By the way - someone on this forum posted a message saying that Cox keeps an eye on this and updates it when necessary - that's a bunch of mularky. Complete and total mularky. Not only that, but my dad has been calling Cox with problems for months and NO ONE has looked at the fact that his firmware is several years out of date.)
- I then pasted in the modem log error messages showing all of the disconnects. At this point, the agent knewhe was chatting with someone who knew what he was doing and said "I'm going to transfer you to a Level 2 technician.". I told him that would be fine, and did a Tiger Woods fist-pump.
- The level two technician came on to the chat line, introduced himself, and said "so you need your firmware upgraded?". I told him yes, and he started the upgrade process.
- In ten minutes, from the time I started the chat to the time the router was restarted, THE PROBLEM WAS FIXED.
I promise you -- if you try to go through the level one help desk and talk through the problem, they're going do diddle around, waste your time and eventually frustrate you to the point where you'd rather not have an interenet connection than deal with Cox. But by going through the chat support team and getting right to the level two tech with a specific request to update the firmware, I had the best support experience I can remember having. TEN MINUTES.
JUST TELL ME HOW TO DO IT!!! - If you're in Arizona using a WCG200v2, look at your firmware revision number. You do that by typing in "192.168.0.1" into the URL field in Internet Explorer. You'll be prompted for a username and password -- if you haven't screwed with it, it's a blank username and a password of "admin" (no quotes). At the top of the screen on the right side, you'll see your firmware revision number. As of November, 2009 (the time of this post), the proper number for this device on Cox's network in Arizona should be: Firmware Version: 2.0.3.9.31-0214. (If you're in a different area of the country or you're, say, a Comcast customer, this might not be the correct version. Just look at yours compared with this one -- if the fourth digit isn't a "9", you probably need to get your firmware updated.)
Prior to the upgrade, mine was 2.0.3.5.something -- obviously quite a bit older... And since the new firmware was installed (a week or so now), we haven't had a single disconnect. It's running perfectly -- responsiveness and speed is light-years better. And my dad is done griping about his crappy internet service and telling me how much he hates Cox. Sound familiar???
Take my advice - If you're a Cox customer with a WCG200, run -- don't walk -- to your PC and get your WCG200 firmware upgraded. And save yourself some pain -- CHAT with the COX techs and get your problem escalated to a level 2 tech who can do the firmware update. You will LOVE the improvement, and it won't cost you hours of your life and boatloads of frustration.
- John
