The cable guy showed up at the first minute of the two hour window we were told. Thank you cable guy.

It seems that the thunderstorm killed my ethernet port and my wireless router. So, he connected the modem to my computer through a USB port. I went and bought a new wireless router, but now I can’t connected it between the modem and my computer because it doesn’t have a USB jack. For now, until I can take my desktop box in to a repair shop (maybe in a couple days), Cowgrit will have to use my desktop computer for her Internet needs.

We went a week without Internet access at home (I had a connection at work), and poor Cowgrit was about at her wit’s end. She had no email, she couldn’t get to her regular Web sites, she was half cut off from her normal world.

I was in my hometown over the past weekend, so I was able to post a couple of days through my mom’s Internet connection. And the short notes I posted announcing my Internet problem, I posted from work. Even though no one would probably notice or care that I was posting to my blog from work, I don’t want to make that a habit.

So, yay, I’m back.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

So after the failed fix for our Internet connection on Thursday, I started calling the cable company number again the first thing Friday morning. Surprisingly, I got past the automated system and actually got a live tech on the line.

The first thing the tech did was ask for our account information. Now this is something that annoys me about any help system that uses an automated system as the gateway to getting a live tech. The automated system gets account information in the beginning, but when you get to the live tech, they still have to ask for account information. Why does the automated system not forward that stuff on to the tech when you get transferred?

I explained that a thunderstorm had knocked out our connection, and that we had gotten a new modem, but we were still without the Internet. The tech had me go through all the basic procedures that I had already gone through before, on my own: shut everything down, restart in a certain order, etc. Unfortunately, my keyboard stopped working.

I have a wireless keyboard, so there are a  number of things that could have been going wrong. I tried a couple of quick fixes, but they didn’t work. I told the tech I’d have to call back once I figured out my keyboard. She gave me a ticket number for my call, and I hung up. I ended up just plugging in an old wired keyboard. Then I called back.

I went through the automated system, again giving my account info and going through the first level of “diagnostic” that I had to do every time I had called before (just before getting disconnected). Then I was connected to another live tech. I gave the tech my account information and my ticket number.

This tech again had me perform the basic procedures for checking my system. We tried some more options but nothing was working. This tech needed to transfer me to another department to see if they could help me. Fine, let’s resolve this. He transferred me, but I waited on hold for 30 minutes, and then got disconnected. DAMMIT!

I called back, went through the damn automated system again — giving my account info, doing the basic diagnostic — and got through to another live tech (my third of the morning). I explained what had happened a few minutes ago, and he read what the previous techs had written under my ticket number. He tried to help me again, but ran into the same problems the previous tech had.

All three techs were friendly and helpful, if ultimately, unfortunately, ineffectual. I have no complaint about the people. But this tech had to transfer me to that other place, too. I waited on hold another 30 minutes only to be disconnected again. DAMMIT TO HELL!!!

I had wasted two hours of my morning trying to get this problem resolved, and I was no closer to a solution than I was a day before. We had been without Internet access for over 24 hours, and we were looking at a weekend of more. Cowgrit said she’d go by the cable office and demand someone come out to our house and fix it. I went on to work, and she went to the company. Because of this problem throughout the area, the earliest they could get a service person to our house would be Wednesday afternoon.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

I already mentioned that a thunderstorm knocked out our cable Internet connection last Wednesday night. All of our hardware — computer, modem, router, etc. — seemed to be working fine. Even our normal cable TV was working.

When the connection wasn’t back up by Thursday morning, Cowgrit started calling the cable company. The automated system kept hanging up on her, so she asked me to give it a try. I got the automated system, too, which of course couldn’t solve our problem. When the system tried to transfer my call to a live tech, the line disconnected. We tried several times to get through, past the automated system, but every time, we were disconnected. We even tried calling the local, physical office, but still just got the same automated system.

That afternoon, Cowgrit went to the cable office. The woman at the front desk said to bring in our cable modem for a replacement. When Cowgrit called me to tell me that, I said that wouldn’t solve our problem. Cowgrit had only told her that our Internet connection was down, and the woman hadn’t asked anything about the problem. She just said to get a new modem. Our modem showed all green, so I didn’t think the problem was our modem.

But Cowgrit wanted to try the replacement anyway. We were talking about it on the phone (I was at work), so I just made sure she knew which box on my desk was the cable modem. She knew, and she could unplug it and take it in.

When she called back a couple hours later, she said she had the new modem, but needed me to reconnect it all. She didn’t know which cables went where. No problem; I’d do it when I got home.

She mentioned that there was a line of customers at the cable office all there doing the same thing. Apparently the Internet outage was a problem for more than just our home. The people also had problem with their digital phones and digital TVs. That told me the problem was with the digital cable — the Internet connection is digital. Our normal cable TV was fine.

When I got home, she and the boys were out at swim lessons. I walked into our home office and nearly had an aneurism. There were cables and cords strung out all over the place. “Holy crap!” I said. I stood there staring at the mess of wires for a minute wondering just what the hell she had done to disconnect the cable modem. Not only were many more wires disconnected than needed to be, from equipment that has nothing to do with the modem, but the desk and book shelf were moved so things could be disconnected from the wall.

Cowgrit can insert a needle in a blood vein, connect and disconnect an I.V., and stanch blood loss from a severed artery, but don’t let her near your computer wires.

I set about reconnecting everything, including the new modem, and I pushed the furniture back into place. Finally, I repowered all the hardware. Still no Internet connection. Dammit. I knew it wasn’t the stupid modem.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

Our Internet connection is still down, and it may be another couple of days before it’s working again.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com