VoIP Tech Chat

Ever had a story to report that was shocking, offensive, and hilarious all at the same time? Imagine this scenario, if you will:

You’re surrounded by family and friends watching the Super Bowl in your living room on your brand new, HD big screen TV. It’s the Steelers vs. the Cardinals and just when you think the Cardinals have all but lost, an amazing run by Fitzgerald switches the lead to Arizona and you can’t believe it. You watch the screen waiting for the replay, when instead of seeing a ball caught by Fitzgerald, you see a whole other kind of ball, courtesy of Club Jenna.

And yes, in this case, that ball is full “in your face” frontal male nudity. Literally, in your face.

Viewers in Tuscon, AZ watching the game via Comcast on KVOA channel 4 lived that exact scenario. For approximately 30 seconds after the touchdown, viewers in Tuscon watched the game transition from touchdown, to porn, and then right back to touchdown celebration. KVOA has posted this statement from Comcast:

Tucson, Arizona

Updated 8:30a — Comcast Releases Statement Apologizing to Customers

KVOA-TV is investigating pornographic material viewed during the Super Bowl by some Tucson area Comcast viewers.  Just after the last touchdown by the Cardinals, approximately 30 seconds of pornographic material was shown.  It appears this material was only viewed by some Comcast customers.

Comcast has released a new statement today:

“We are mortified by last evening’s Super Bowl interuption, and deeply apologize to our customers for the inappropriate programming.  We are aggressively investigating the situation including the possibility of foul play,” said Kelle Maslyn, Comcast Corporate Affairs Manager.

When we contacted Cox last night, we received this statement:

“We have received no evidence that any inappropriate material was broadcast on any of our channels during the Super Bowl.  The alleged incident appears to be isolated to the Comcast territory.  We will offer our support to all appropriate organizations to help them determine what happened,” says Mike Dunne, Cox Director of Media Relations.

KVOA is dismayed and disappointed that some Comcast customers and their families were subjected to this material.  Nielsen says, “KVOA will continue to investigate what happened to our clean signal and make sure our viewers get answers.”

If you would like to see the video, you can find it here: (although be warned, full frontal nudity not safe for work or kids or people who don’t like videos showing full frontal nudity):

• Gizmodo
• Comcast Superbowl Porn

Linksys WRT310N Wireless N Router

So in July, Fred purchased a new wireless router (Linksys WRT310N) for use with Comcast’s high speed internet. Having had used Linksys routers with VoIP for many years, Fred remained confident that the new model would perform nothing less than “awesomely.” Bottom Line: Fred was wrong.

When first installed, the Linksys performed well. Speed tests indicated downloads of 6 – 8 MBs and the wireless N router provided excellent range. Transfer speeds between wireless devices were excellent, VoIP devices performed well, and the 4 ethernet ports allowed non-wireless devices to integrate nicely.

Sometime around October, the home network started to act less that satisfactorily. The internet would randomly become accessible to only certain devices, the wireless signal would randomly “die,” and most annoyingly, the speed of the Internet became significantly slower (as in less than 1MB down and and around 1MB up).

As with most networking issues, the problems can be attributed to many sources. With the exception of Internet speed, most problems would immediately be resolved after rebooting the Linksys router. At first, Fred incorrectly thought that Comcast was to blame for the slow speeds… and yes, it was an incorrect thought. To test this, the modem was connected directly to a device; bypassing the Linksys. Download speeds topped 15MB.

Apple Airport Extreme

After switching back and forth and reproducing results consistently, the connection speed through the Linksys never topped more 1.5MB down. No matter what settings were modified, the speed simply did not increase.

Enter the Apple Airport Extreme (imagine Fred really emphasizing “Extreme,” kind of like Dan Cortese from MTV Sports… and yes it’s an early 90’s reference). With the exception of the iPhone, Fred has been very happy with Apple products. Although the Airport Extreme has only 3 ethernet ports, the router does have a USB port and built in support for USB printing and/or shared drives (with a USB hub, you can do both). The Linksys does not natively support printing or shared hard drives.

Set-up was simple, although different than the Linksys. And, all techs know, different is never a day in the park. That being said, very simple, very quick, and up and running within 5 minutes. Connecting an ethernet switch to one of the Airport’s ethernet ports allowed additional wired devices to connect at Gigabit speed.

Oh, the download? The Linksys WRT310N would hit the wall at 1.5MB. The Airport Extreme? 20MB down, 3MB up.

Speed Test from SpeakEasy.net

TMCnet reports a 44% increase for phone revenues in the 2008 3rd quarter. Although new subscribers have slowed, Comcast anticipates an additional 2 million users by the end of the year.