I mentioned before about the problems I’ve been having with my Internet connection. More specifically, with my phone/DSL lines. So, I needed to look at other options. I decided to try a new 4G wireless service. Apparently, someone placed a voodoo curse on me, or my house’s ghosts don’t care for Internet. I don’t know.
I went to one of those “kiosks” in the mall to sign up. I talked to the sales representative, got my questions answered, and was assured it was simple. I’d even get a seven day trial period to return everything at no cost if it didn’t work out. I left with a modem and a voice adapter (for phone service) and was pretty excited to try it out. It’s supposed to be three or four times as fast as DSL, so that will be great for watching movie downloads.
First I was having some trouble understanding how to set it up. My little quick-start Internet guide showed a power plug, then a cable from my new modem to my wireless router (or computer). Easy enough. But then the voice adapter showed a power plug, cable going from the new modem to the adapter, and a second cable going from the adapter to my wireless router. But there’s only one port for a cable on the new modem. I’m confused. So, I call customer service.
I have to say, they have outstanding customer service. The gentleman that took my call was very helpful, and offered to stay on the line while I made sure everything was working. He noted I was pretty knowledgeable about Internet/computer stuff, and I told him I’d like to record him saying that to play back for others. He offered that he’d been married 37 years. He said the first 25 yerars were pretty hard, but he was well domesticated by now. He noted that loves his children, so he’d advised them not to reproduce. He wondered if he and his wife were just too boring or lazy to get divorced and remarried like all their friends.
So everything was working, but not at the speed I’d been expecting. So, the next day I tried their live chat option. Again, the representative was nice and helpful. Things went well until she asked for the ID from the bottom of the modem. That’s when I discovered the modem was defective, because when I picked it up the cable loosened enough to lose connection (and my live chat).
So I called technical support again. I told them of the modem problem and they offered to send a replacement right away. We then started performing various tests and experiments to narrow down my speed issue. After little progress, they transferred me to some support “guru”. One hour and 43 minutes later, we knew their tower nearest my home was having trouble and I couldn’t seem to get the modem to connect to another tower.
They did extend my trial period, so I have some more time to make a final decision risk-free. They’ve already replaced my defective modem. I think I’ll be pleased, though I’ll be more pleased when I’m surfing the web at the break-neck speeds I want. I’m already at speeds faster than DSL, and I don’t seem to lose connection EVER (at least not so far) so this column should be submitted fairly pain-free!
Submitted for publication in The Greeley Citizen.
