|
Raw Bytes Computer News KPBX FM 91.1 Spokane Public Radio National Public Radio Network Frank Delaney Producer Broadcast on Wednesday Morning 7:35 AM During Morning Edition Support Public Radio ! The Theater Of the Mind |
In computer news this week 09/26/2007 Upgrading Your broadband
connection – or -
Who’s on first - My “Qwest” for an expert ... High
speed broadband services have matured over the recent years, and your choice
now is between telephone companies, cable companies, and local
ISP’s. I’ve
been satisfied with my DSL broadband 1.5 Meg with wireless networking
from Qwest,
and recently I got their multiple notices about offering a lower price for a
longer term commitment. So I
called Qwest up and told them I was interested in going on their 2 year Qwest
for life offer, which would reduce the price down again to $ 27 as long as
the speed and everything else was the same as I presently had. Their sales rep assured me that
everything would be the same – the price would be significantly lower,
and that I would have to get a new modem, which was fine with me, and I said
I wanted to buy rather than rent the modem, because it would pay for itself
in the 2 year period. Within a
week – UPS delivered a package from Qwest, with all new everything
– modem – plugs - cables – and Installation cd . The installation was simple – undo all the old
– install the new. Put the old stuff in a Qwest box to return prepaid
to them. The new
modem looked much newer than my old one, and had a much smaller footprint
too. But after configuring the basic DSL connection for my desktop computer,
I then went to configure the wireless connection for my portable. This had been easy for my old modem,
you just went to an ip address and configured the
modem for wireless networking, and assigned it a security code, so all my
neighbors couldn’t freeload off my connection. But the
wireless instructions were hard to find in the installation kit, so I called
their Technical support. A support rep instructed me to pop the top off the
modem, and I could see that there was a slot there for something to plug into. So he said he understood the problem
and was sending me a wireless adapter to plug into their modem which would
allow wireless networking, for about $ 40. I told
him I had been assured by their sales rep that everything would be the same
– and that it wasn’t – and that I wanted to get the wireless feature for
free. He talked to a supervisor, and then came back and assured me there
would be no charge, as obviously their sales people just didn’t
understand technical stuff. A few
days later another UPS delivery, and a very small package. They had sent me a wireless networking
card for a portable computer, which was totally wrong. So obviously their technical
support doesn’t understand technical stuff either. Another
phone call, a different tech support rep, and a promise they were sending me
a modem that would allow wireless networking for my
portable, which is what I wanted in the first place. Another
few days, another UPS package, and another modem about
twice as big as the first, another installation, and now I have a modem which
supports wireless networking, and also has a 5 port built-in router so I can
hook up to 5 of computers directly to it. Actually I only have one other
computer I would plug direct to it to get internet access, but the additional
$ 40 cost of this modem is a wash between my having to buy a wireless card
for my other computer, so I’ll keep it. So it
only took them 3 tries to get it almost right, and these people are
supposedly the experts. So
that’s like a .333 batting average in baseball today, pretty good and I guess all
you can expect. |
|
|
For Raw Bytes This is Frank Delaney (C) 2007 MTA Micro
Technology Associates http://www.mtamicro.com/kpbx.html PO Box 31522 Spokane, Wa 99223-1522 (509)624-7230 |
|