We Have Canceled Your Request.....

We've been having wonky internet at our house for a few days, but we've managed to make do. We've used our phones, my iPad, and I've resorted to using my connect card on my laptop when necessary. When it became obvious that the problem wasn't going to resolve itself, however, I was forced to call our provider.

Not many people say this, I realize, but we've always had excellent service from our internet provider. They resolve issues quickly, they can usually talk me through fixes over the phone, and they are always courteous. Sometimes I even get a customer rep who speaks English. Sort of.

When our problem couldn't be fixed by resetting the router and the modem, I suspected there was an issue with the modem. Like most pieces of technology, it was probably outdated the minute we installed it. And I can't even remember how many years ago THAT was.

When the (very nice, very cute) technician arrived, he said the first thing he was going to do was check the modem, and sure enough that was the problem. He said we had a good signal coming into the house, but the modem itself was bad. He also said the new modem would have a built-in wireless router, so we got rid of one of the boxes. (Now if we could just do something about all the WIRES.)

We used to have a secure wireless network, but once when Sweet Girl was home and couldn't get on the network, I removed the password (bad idea) and then couldn't remember it to put it back (stupid). So we've gone for years with an unsecured network, and I realized anyone who stumbled across it and wanted to sit in our yard and use our internet could do so. And the security issues, yada, yada, yada. So far no one has been intrigued enough with my identity to want to steal it. So far.

The technician said the new router would build a new network anyway, password protected, and I was giddy that I didn't have to make ANOTHER call to get that issue sorted out. (The woman I originally called said she would be glad to help me for $29.00. Probably plus tax.)

He was only here about 20 minutes, he said it probably wouldn't cost anything because all they did was replace the modem (huh? can it really be FREE?), but if there was a charge they would just put it on my phone bill.

About 30 minutes later I got an automated call on my cell phone letting me know that I didn't have an internet issue, that there was a widespread outage, and they were canceling my request for a technician to come. The outage would be repaired as soon as they could get to it, and they apologized for any inconvenience.

Well. I was mightily surprised that the problem the technician fixed never existed at all.

I hope he doesn't come back to reclaim the modem that the automated call said I didn't need.