Wednesday, August 29, 2012

My Bout with Internet Problems

I'm spoiled.

Really, I am.

I've had high-speed Internet for years, and combined with the laptop I bought earlier this year, I couldn't believe how productive I became.

My daughter took this picture of me. I think she did an amazing job! And I was able to upload it--finally!

Don't get me wrong; I've always been productive with writing. But before my new laptop, the social media/e-mails/online stuff took forever!

My new laptop changed all that. Suddenly, my online sessions were being cut in half--simply because everything loaded quicker. I was thrilled. I really had found more hours in the day.

However, when we moved, something went wrong. I had to switch Internet providers, and my loading times slowed down, way down. I couldn't upload pictures from my computer to my blog. Facebook took forever to come up, and often, I would type an update, but it wouldn't go through. Commenting on blogs was futile.

Within two weeks, I was on the phone with our new provider. They were very helpful, talking me through all the possibilities. I finally concluded the service I subscribed to was too slow, and I upgraded.

Unfortunately, the upgrade didn't solve my problems. Still no uploading. Still super-slow loading times for fun sites like Facebook. I couldn't watch a YouTube video all the way through without it stopping and pausing, caught in some loading loop.

I got on the phone again. This time for 2 hours. Again, the tech support was helpful, courteous, and thorough. But I was very frustrated when he came to the conclusion my Wi-Fi adaptor card was to blame. I hadn't had any problems with my laptop until we moved and switched Internet services.

A month went by. Yeah, I procrastinated. I just don't have 2 hours to do the same things over and over on the phone and not have my problem resolved. And I really didn't want to buy a new adaptor card for my computer (the solution the tech guy gave me), since in my heart I didn't believe anything was wrong with it.

I decided to test it. I figured if I could upload pictures and watch YouTube videos at a different location that provided Wi-Fi, it meant my laptop was fine. So I headed to Panera and tried it out. I was able to upload pictures just fine and had no trouble viewing YouTube videos.

Back on the phone. Instead of even wasting any time with more useless tests, I told them I wanted a new modem. I explained the process I'd been through with tech support previously and the fact my computer worked fine on any other Wi-Fi network. They sent someone out.

He switched my modem, but the problem persisted. I thought maybe I was wrong--maybe my computer really did have a bad card. But, thankfully, the support guy tried a different model modem. I really appreciate the extra mile he went because the new modem solved the problem. I have my fast Internet again!

It's amazing how much I can get done. Checking Facebook takes a few minutes, where with the old modem, it took close to an hour. I can watch a full YouTube video, too! Sometimes, my e-mail would lock up when I tried to reply to a message. Not anymore! I was able to quickly send replies without any problems.

I didn't realize how much my faulty Internet stressed me out. I'm actually looking forward to being online tomorrow! And I can finally share a ton of before and after pictures of our new house.

Have you ever lived with a problem for weeks or months because tech support couldn't find the issue? Did it stress you out?

Have a fantastic day!

17 comments:

  1. I know your angst! Back on Ohio, I used to have problems with my Internet/cable connection. I got good at saying, "Assume I've checked everything before I called you. Now YOU fix it at your end. Glad you're up to speed again. Here in Mexico, my Internet connection is great. And the owner of the company lives two condos away, so I need it, I get serviced right away. Wait! That didn't sound so good.

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    1. Em: Ha, ha!! You're funny! Yeah, sometimes it just takes persistence and firmness to get things fixed! So glad to hear your "service" is great in Mexico! By the way, I just read The Healing Code--you were right; it's amazing!

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  2. I was away on vacation last week and had tons of problems with my email. It would take forever to respond (partly because the keys are my kids' laptop are stick (in many ways) and I kept getting typos). But mostly it was the internet. My emails kept crashing. I'm not sure though if it was the laptop that was the problem or the internet provider, though I suspect it was the service provider. My kids don't seem to have problems with it at home.

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    1. I was willing to consider the possibility my laptop was the issue, but logic told me it was unlikely. If you get back home and your e-mails work fine, it was probably the provider. Hope you got rested up!

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  3. I would be a mess without my high-speed wi-fi. :) I hate to admit it, but it's true. Although, I also have to admit, sometime I purposely spend time at my parents' house out in the country where the Internet is much slower...because I know I won't be willing to put up with the slowness, which means I will be able to focus on writing. :)

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    1. There's something wonderful about being offline, isn't there? I just wouldn't want it to be full time! :)

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  4. Oh my, yes. My husband and I still struggle to be online at the same time. One of us is always kicked off. We've had numerous people come and look at it. It all comes down to my computer needing an enema.

    So glad you are full go!
    ~ Wendy

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    1. I know! It took hours of testing and trying for the technical support people to finally get it working correctly. What a pain!

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  5. Once we switched Internet providers because our apartment complex required a specific one...and it was such a pain!! So slow and way more expensive. I'm glad to be back with the provider we originally had. Having slow internet or no internet can be sooooo frustrating! Glad your issues are over!

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    1. That's the downside to fabulous high-speed Internet--it's not cheap! Thanks!!

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  6. Funny that you post this today because I have no internet access at my house. We're having some work done and when we unplugged the main cable box it disconnected cable and internet in the house. Hopefully, I'll have it back in a couple of days!

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    1. I hope so too. It's disrupting to not have all our tools available. *hugs*

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  7. Gorgeous picture! I love having high speed internet...wherever I go on the web loads up less than five seconds. I dislike dial-up...it does take forever and I agree with you on this one. Great post, Jill!

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  8. Hooray! Internet problems are the worst and in our world of social media we really need to be able to move around lickety split.

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  9. Yes. Every time I have a computer/internet problem, it stresses me out. I'm glad that your problems were solved.

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  10. I am awaiting our ISP to switch over from DSL to wireless.I have been told they will send me a new modem. Since I got a laptop a bit over two months ago, I have had great ease of getting online.But my DSL modem acts contrary. I,too, can get stressed when something goes wrong with my computer.

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  11. I’m glad you were able to resolve your problem, Jill. The problem sometimes lies in the modem used because it may not be compatible with the computer you are using or the connection you have. I once had the same problem with slow connection that bugged me for months. Thankfully, I was able to sort things out with my provider and they were able to fix my connection. I hope you never experience the same problem again! :)

    Thelma Osborne @ T Link BroadBand

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