Parents without Internet
This is in response to a post by Daughter Eldest (DE)
ludzu_alus . Who I wanted to e-mail about something, but had to resort to a phone call when my internet access did not function correctly.
All is well in the world. Almost*.
The background. Friday after getting home and trying to fetch my e-mail I got a message after the first e-mail saying that the remote server timed out. I've had this before, usually with only one of the two e-mail servers I get mail from. And then regular internet access still works. Usually after a wait of a few minutes or an hour and all is well with the internet again. "Your patience will be rewarded." This time after several hours and attempts on all three computers, I only received partial web pages or e-mails. Time to call tech support. After an hour of "try this, that, and the other" (all of which I'd already done, and more) the person told me they would dispatch a tech the next business day. Saturday afternoon we received a phone message that I should call tech support because they wanted to try something else before dispatching an on-site tech. A glimmer of (soon dashed) hope appeared. The 'something else' turned out to be the same as the night before, with the addition of an extended ping (30 iterations instead of the normal four). All tests passed with flying colors. Once again, I was told a tech would be dispatched the next business day.
Talked to a local tech person Tuesday (the "next business day" that the phone tech support people referred to when asked when the problem would get more attention - it being a holiday weekend when this started). He said that even though my MODEM/router was working correctly, it was old and could not keep up with the new technology. Translation: the TELCO** has installed new equipment in their central office that is not quite compatible with my equipment, even though the TELCO sold me my equipment in the first place***.
Luckily, Pond Branch is a small (though not locally owned any longer) TELCO. When the tech asked when I'd be home to meet with him and I said after 7:00 pm, he offered to leave the unit on my porch after I assured him I could handle installing it. He did call me back and say that he'd have to leave some paperwork I had to sign since my unit is purchased and not leased.
What would have helped is someone at tech support with the proper tools to 'packet sniff' and detect that there was a 'lack of communication" between my MODEM and their MODEM. And then some local knowledge about the equipment at the TELCO office. Unfortunately, there was no person with knowledge and test gear available (at least to a customer like me), and tech support is being handled by an organization separate from the one providing the service, so the tech support people (at least at the level I was dealing with) were unaware of the equipment change. This is not the first time equipment changes have affected my use of the internet, though it was the worst outage since it involved all aspects of the internet. The longest outage was when I could not get news groups because equipment was added/changed and the correct configuration was not made to the new equipment. That was another battle.
So we are e-mailing and surfing again.
gS - male parental unit of Ludzu_Alus
* The new MODEM/router, while configured for my account, did not include documentation or the password to access the configuration. So, rather than the easy way (change the router to match the settings on my network) things were done the hard way (reconfigure all the printers with static IPs to match the new router, then reconfigure the drivers on the PCs to use the new IP numbers for the printers). My PCs use DHCP to get an IP address so that was not a problem. When I called today the TELCO folks seemed surprised that anyone would want the documentation. Sigh. Having the documentation would not only have made installing the new MODEM/router easier, but more secure. The new MODEM/router is also a wireless access point. I want to disable wireless since I don't use it. Or at the very least secure the wireless to prevent others from using it without my permission.
** TELCO - TELephone COmpany. Trivia: years ago, small, local phone companies were referred to as 'Boonie Bells'.
*** I tend to purchase my equipment if possible. In the long run it is less expensive than leasing, especially since I can maintain (configure) it myself. If you've ever looked, Cable MODEMs can be purchased at your local 'big-box' store. DSL MODEMS are not available - I'm assuming because of compatibility issues between different brands of consumer DSL MODEMs and the Central Office equipment.