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Five Hours I'll Never Get Back

(This is just a computer rant, and a pretty boring one at that. You may want to skip it and make better use of the five minutes it will take to read it. Just saying....)

Yesterday afternoon my Netgear AC1900 router (an R7000) lost its connection to the internet. Nothing would restore it. Both my networks (2.4 and 5GZ) were no longer in the list of recognized available networks. They were disconnected.

I spent an hour on the phone with Comcast doing the usual, turning on and off the cable box, modem, router, etc. They told me it was a Netgear issue and helpfully gave me the phone number for Netgear support. (Comcast was right because when I moved my laptop to the living room near the router and modem, and plugged an ethernet cord into the laptop, the LAN worked fine.) But I wanted my wireless back so I'm not tethered to the living room couch. So then I spent almost half hour on the phone with Netgear. [More...]

(Sidenote: I have no problem with support people being located in other countries, but why do all the help people in the Philippines and India repeat your every sentence before answering the most basic question, making the call 5 times longer than it needs to be? At least support people in the U.S. know have to have a dialog or conversation. I wonder how much less our hold time would be if the companies would just train their overseas support staff to have a conversation rather than mechanically repeat every word we say and then, even worse, sum up every few minutes.)

Essentially, the Netgear support person told me since the router was two weeks past its warranty expiration, I could either pay $100 for a service contract or $40 for a one time help fee to have their support people diagnose the problem and "reconfigure" the router if necessary. They couldn't or wouldn't explain what might make reconfiguration necessary. I think what they intended to do was take my money and then have me grant them access to my computer so they could try and find the problem and fix it. I asked why I couldn't reconfigure it myself. They said I could and I might find an article on "reconfiguring" on their support site. I hung up on them. (I never did find such an article, but I only spent 10 minutes looking. It would have taken two days to comb through all the articles on their support site.)

(Sidenote 2: I'm tired of downloading programs that give these people access to my computer to rummage around in their attempt to fix things. Too often they make it worse and make changes I have no idea how to undo afterwards.)

A little while later, the TL kid came over to drop something off (totally unrelated to this) and even though he was in a hurry, he tried for an hour to restore the wireless connection. No luck. He's pretty handy with this stuff, and since he approaches computer problems totally differently than I do, between us, we usually cover most of the bases. Not this time.

He left and I kept at it. I upgraded the firmware. That prompted the router to reset itself yet again. Then I tried again to activate the wireless. And all of a sudden there appeared a little note that said in order to turn the wireless on or back on, I had to physically press the wireless button on the router. After figuring out which of the 7 or 8 buttons on the router was the wireless button, I pressed it. My wireless was back.

What made it go off? Who knows.

So if I'm not blaming the router or Comcast, and was able to log on from the living room using a LAN, why am I writing this?

First, because when I google my router, I see a lot of people are having the same issue. And the answers in Netgear's "community " support forums are all over the place.

Second, because it seems Netgear is clearly aware of the problem with this particular router suddenly not recognizing customary networks for no apparent reason.

They should have a fix prominently displayed with an accurate description on their support site, or send out a mass email to registered users telling them what to do if this happens (they have no problems mass-emailing ads for new products.) Well, it turns out they kind of do have a fix on their website, but the title doesn't tell you it's a fix. They call it "Enabling the wireless network using the WiFi button" (as if it's for first time set-up rather than sudden cessation after the router has worked fine for months). Why couldn't they just have called it " a fix " and called it something like "If Your router No Longer Recognizes Your Network"?

Third, and most importantly, what this ordeal made crystal clear to me is that companies like our cable and internet providers, manufacturers of modems and routers, and the like absolutely own us. We have ceded all control over some of the most important connections in our lives to them. We pay our bills online, get our mail online, receive important messages from doctors and banks (and in my case, courts) online.

In other words, when even one of these necessary components to accessing the internet stops working and we can't access the internet, we're screwed. How did we get to a point where we gave up so much control over our lives? Medium and large businesses have IT departments on beck and call. What do consumers have? Zilch, but a choice between opening their wallets and/or wasting hours of their time that could be spent so much more productively doing other things.

As for Netgear, I'm not happy that I lost 5 hours today for no apparent reason. I will probably buy another brand next time around. Not because another brand will be problem-free (it won't) but because there needs to be accountability for their un-helpfulness and for me, it starts with customer loyalty.

If you have any rants about wasted time due to hardware, software, or cable, internet or other service providers, feel free to post them. Just keep them free of potentially liable remarks like "X is a thief" and profanity. Let us know what happened and how you felt. Writing this out made me feel better, I'm just offering you a place to do the same.

(Endnote: I would have prefaced this post with an embedded you tube of the Eagles' "Wasted Time," but as usual, the Eagles' minions have scoured You Tube scrubbing all versions of it for "copyright reasons." At this point in their career, they should welcome the attention to their 40 year old songs.)

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  • Display: Sort:
    Comcast (5.00 / 2) (#1)
    by Ray Radlein on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 01:26:59 AM EST
    If you can get back into the configuration screen, you might look for a way to turn the wireless button off (I'm assuming that mean a WPS button). WPS buttons are actually a bit of a security hole, as the methods they employ to make your router able to connect to things with a simple button push are usable by hackers to do likewise without pushing any buttons. If "wireless button" wasn't referring to a WPS button, then never mind.

    We had our own Comcast annoyance this last week, when a bad thunderstorm Wednesday night blew out the network port on our cable modem. After all of our service was restored and the internet still wasn't back, I called Comcast support at 3 AM or so and we figured out that the cable modem had been damaged and needed replacing. Fortunately, we were able to set up an appointment first thing Thursday morning to replace the modem....

    ...except that we got a robocall from Comcast first thing Thursday morning informing us that since there had been an area outage in our neighborhood which had been repaired last night, they had gone ahead and cancelled our service appointment (which had been made, remember, after that outage had been cleared). And by then it was too late for us to reschedule, and the next day was Christmas, of course, so we had to wait until first thing in the morning on the day after Christmas to get our modem replaced.

    Thanks, Comcast.

    In the years I've had Comcast forced on me (5.00 / 3) (#3)
    by shoephone on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 02:01:14 AM EST
    (there is, seriously, no other alternative for internet where I live) I've had exactly one service person arrive on time, correctly fix the problem, and give me pointers for the future. One.

    Comcast: The overpriced monopoly from He[[.

    Parent

    Jeralyn, you nailed it with this: (5.00 / 2) (#2)
    by shoephone on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 01:56:29 AM EST
    Third, and most importantly, what this ordeal made crystal clear to me is that companies like our cable and internet providers, manufacturers of modems and routers, and the like absolutely own us. We have ceded all control over some of the most important connections in our lives to them. We pay our bills online, get our mail online, receive important messages from doctors and banks (and in my case, courts) online.

    In other words, when even one of these necessary components to accessing the internet stops working and we can't access the internet, we're screwed. How did we get to a point where we gave up so much control over our lives? Medium and large businesses have IT departments on beck and call. What do consumers have? Zilch, but a choice between opening their wallets and/or wasting hours of their time that could be spent so much more productively doing other things.

    I, for one, never wanted to sign my life over to these companies. And I resisted it mightily, even as I found I had to use a computer for working on research/writing projects, continued schooling, and banking and medical. It's very difficult to succeed at not getting sucked into the Borg when every single entity we deal with in life insists we communicate with them online and pay them online. They've got us over a barrel.

    And, as I have recently found, when it comes to matters of healthcare and insurance, you don't want to take the chance of being cut off by not getting a check to them in the mail by a certain deadline. When I checked my lab tests results and other medical records, I was stunned to see how much of my personal information is online, going back for many more years than I have been owning and using computers. The powers-that-be want the corporations to have this all encompassing power over us. Complaints to my state's public officials evporate into the ether.

    One thing I would suggest to you is getting a referral for a good IT person that can troubleshoot issues when you may not have the expertise to fix it in a short amount of time. I used to have a guy who worked for a small company that was fairly priced do this stuff for me on a periodic basis, and it was worth it. I don't have the patience to spend hours on the phone with strangers or try and fix it myself. (I eventually ended up having to cut him loose when his bosses raised the company's prices without telling me, and I received a surprise bigger bill for the same services!) But, I would think that in your case, with the kind of work you do and the kinds of deadlines you face, that having your own occasional IT helper would make sense, not to mention, give you some peace of mind.

    If I'm not mistaken, I believe Comcast (none / 0) (#4)
    by NYShooter on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 02:12:53 AM EST
    was voted "Worst Customer Service in the U.S.A. (or, possibly, "in the world," not sure.) They were in the news a lot due to their proposed merger with Time Warner.

    I paid particular attention to any Comcast news as I had recently transferred my New York cable Co. to Comcast.( not by choice)  And, just from my anecdotal experience, I thought Comcast was tied for first place with JP Morgan. Just my, unofficial, opinion.

    Parent

    You're not mistaken about that (none / 0) (#5)
    by shoephone on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 02:25:00 AM EST
    LOL!....you know, after I wrote (none / 0) (#6)
    by NYShooter on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 03:11:39 AM EST
    my comment, I wanted to do a quick Google search to find out the actual reason for the merger's failure. So, all I did was type in, "Why did Comcast merger fail?" And, Wowee!

    I got this for the opening:

          The Most Hated Merger in America

    Customers, companies, and even regulators mistrust Comcast. No wonder its deal to buy Time Warner Cable fell apart.

    LINK: Slate,
    By Alison Griswold
    April 24 2015



    Parent

    I was trying to remember what it was like before (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by ruffian on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 03:46:00 AM EST
    I was so dependent on my 'connecttivity'. I wish I felt more connected to myself these days...not that you all aren't decent substitutes.

    But being held captive by those companies doesn't feel good even if you we relatively satisfied with your setup.

    I do have a workaround to offer for emergencies - Karma wireless hotspot. Small little device that has a cellular connection and gives you a wifi signal. I got it to be able to use my personal laptop occasionally at work, since it is not allowed on the company wifi. You only pay for the data you use- no monthly minimums or anything like that. Trying to remember how much it is per gig - pretty much the same as the cell providers data plans., but they offer frequent specials. The speed is not as good as your normal home wifi setup, but it comes in handy in a pinch if you are not able to tether your laptop to your phone.

    Ask, and ye shall receive. (5.00 / 2) (#8)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 03:48:39 AM EST
    Jeralyn: "I would have prefaced this post with an embedded you tube of the Eagles' "Wasted Time," but as usual, the Eagles' minions have scoured You Tube scrubbing all versions of it for "copyright reasons." At this point in their career, they should welcome the attention to their 40 year old songs."

    Here's a live version of The Eagles' "Wasted Time," recorded in Houston on their 1976 "Hotel California" tour. 40 years old next year, and still one helluva fine song.

    Aloha.

    thanks Donald but (none / 0) (#23)
    by Jeralyn on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 01:39:46 PM EST
    on my computer there was no embed choice under the share selection. Does your have an embed code?

    Parent
    This is why it needs to be treated as a utility (5.00 / 2) (#10)
    by CST on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 08:55:01 AM EST
    The last time I signed up for cable, I wanted to "cut the cord" so to speak to the TV.  I rarely watch TV and if I do it will be netflix or something that can stream online (HBO GO).  Only when I tried to do that I realized that my bill would be roughly the same, because they've "bundled" the two services.  I do not need TV.  I do need the internet, for work, to pay bills, etc...  Yet if I want this basic service to run well I essentially have to pay for all of cable TV whether I use it or not.  A few years ago it wasn't like this, when internet was less critical it wasn't like this, your cable/internet bill was split roughly 50/50 between the two services.  Once they realized you can't live without internet and you can live without TV they changed their pricing model drastically.

    Of course, they have a localized monopoly everywhere you go, whether it's Time Warner or Comcast, or Verizon - they are all the same.  They know you can't switch companies, they know you need their service, and they can charge you whatever they want for it, because you have nowhere else to go.

    No wonder they are the most hated company in America.  If I don't like Walmart I don't have to shop there.  I hate Comcast, but there's nothing I can do about it, I have to give them my business anyway.  Because you can't live and work in modern society without internet access.

    CST, I know you lack a landline, (5.00 / 1) (#17)
    by caseyOR on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 11:18:35 AM EST
    which apparently only old people like Boomers and their parents still have, but you might try looking into DSL through your local telephone company. I think you can get DSL without getting a landline.

    I have DSL with AT&T in large part because I have never had cable TV and hope to live out my days without ever giving a dime of money to Comcast, etc. Dealing with AT&T can be difficult, but nothing seems to compare with Comcast.

    Parent

    We're doing the same thing CST, (none / 0) (#18)
    by fishcamp on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 11:37:02 AM EST
    We just started differently with ATT.  I have Direct TV, since I must have the tennis channel and other sport programs, and, of course all the news channels.  I love Direct TV with six different channels to choose from during Wimbledon and other big tennis tournaments.  Then you can subscribe to the NFL package, which gives you six or more games to choose from..  They also have programming in many languages if you want to pay more.  I have the middle of the road package and its about $100 per month.

    Parent
    that's true (none / 0) (#21)
    by CST on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 01:18:20 PM EST
    and I'm about to go first world problems on you a bit - DSL is way too slow.  The fastest DSL is 10x slower than the middle of the road cable speed.  And I live with multiple young adults who use a lot of internet.  If more than one person is online at a time, or if I need to work remotely, with the VPN already slowing things down further, that speed just won't work.  But yes, I could technically do that if I didn't want TV, I just can't get anything close to the speed I currently get without (more or less) paying for TV as well - I say more or less because they will sell it to you, and they will even charge you $10 less - out of $100.  So with $90 for just internet, vs $100 for internet and TV, I thought screw it, I'm essentially paying for it anyway, might as well get basic cable and HBO for another $10 a month.  It's kind of funny right now because I literally have about 10 channels and one of them is HBO since it was a promotion.  I don't even have FX or Bravo or TBS or anything.

    Parent
    Comcast told me they charge (5.00 / 1) (#24)
    by Coral on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 07:03:24 PM EST
    more for simple Internet account than for bundled Internet-TV. So now I have both, only use one. Very high-priced, and it's the only Internet Service Provider other than DSL (which is too slow for my needs).

    I use this for work. Town is re-upping with Comcast. Ugh.

    Parent

    If sat companies (none / 0) (#11)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 08:58:16 AM EST
    Coukd solve the "limited download problem" they could compete.  Until then, no.  I'm switching to csble the first day I can in spite of being very happy with the tv service.

    Parent
    It's also a non-starter (none / 0) (#12)
    by CST on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 09:07:17 AM EST
    For apartments unless you have your own balcony or something.

    Parent
    And only then (none / 0) (#14)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 09:12:42 AM EST
    If they face the correct direction and you have written permission,

    Parent
    we have (none / 0) (#15)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 10:54:08 AM EST
    a choice but not much of one. The last time I checked we had two choices for internet Windstream or Comcast. I had Windstream and the signal was constantly dropping and you could not stream Netflix or well, actually you could stream Netflix if you could stand the constant "buffering". Every time I called Windstream about the dropping problem they said it was my router. It was not the router. It was their service. I never have had that problem with Comcast. However Comcast says they have "unlimited" internet but they do not. It's unlimited to a certain amount. After that they start charging. With four people in the house running stuff during the holidays we are always going over. 110% this month so far. Ugh.

    Parent
    CST, with ATT and dsl (none / 0) (#16)
    by fishcamp on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 10:59:52 AM EST
    They split my bill when I dropped my land line.  I pay $57 per month for dsl.  They said if I want my old land line back, they can just turn it back on with the same number.  I'm also in the phone book with the old number that isn't hooked up, and has my street address.

    Parent
    First thing. (5.00 / 2) (#13)
    by Chuck0 on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 09:08:44 AM EST
    Dump the Netgear router. After replacing at least two Netgear routers, I switched to a Belkin. Best router ever. Never a problem. Has been working consistently for 4 years now.

    I'll second that motion. (none / 0) (#19)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 12:51:30 PM EST
    I'm not a fan of Netgear in any event, but when our firm had repeated issues with TWC-issued routers, we bought a Belkin router and got rid of them. We've never had a problem since.

    Parent
    I'll be buying an OnHub when my cisco dies (5.00 / 1) (#20)
    by Mr Natural on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 01:04:20 PM EST
    I think it appropriate, at this time, to acknowledge the bought and paid for politicians of both political parties, at the Federal, State, and Local levels, for cooperatively making local cable monopolies ubiquitous and omnipotent.

    And while we're on the subject, a little shout out for the carnivorous pimpcraft of the corporation lawyers who make it all possible.

    Have a nice day.

    Been through the ringer... (5.00 / 3) (#22)
    by kdog on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 01:38:34 PM EST
    with the Verizon Fios tv "customer service" recently.  I needed to trade in my old-style Standard Def cable box for a High Def box.  I'd been putting it off for a year, but when my remote crapped out it had to be done.  Only certain Verizon stores do Fios equipment exchanges.  The website and automated phone system kept trying to send me to a location that has been closed for over a year...I could not reason this point with either blasted machine to get them to give me another location, over and over they sent me to a non-existent store.  Could not get a live human on the phone, and I know all the tricks...Verizon's system is f*ckin' impenetrable.

    Finally after all but giving up on High Def and a functional remote, I drafted my friend who owns a couple Verizon stores to talk to a human contact at Verizon and help sort me out.  I had a ticket number and an active location from him (that was actually closer than the phantom location lol) to pick up my new box and remote the next day.  

    Yep, I have similar problems (none / 0) (#9)
    by fishcamp on Tue Dec 29, 2015 at 08:19:35 AM EST
    all the time and I'm not even with the dreaded Comcast.  My Netgear page pops up all the time saying I'm not connected to the internet, when I am.  It pops up  when going to TL, after i've been online with The Aspen Times, or National Data Data Buoy Center, or almost any of my favorites.  When it happens I just load another favorite and then go back to TL and it comes up.  I've replaced my modem several times, since those little boxes get very hot, which can't be good.    

    Then my friend said get a new router, so I did, and it didn't work at all.  Apple is very good at giving full credit on returned items.  I think part of it is living down here at the end of the USA where the phone lines and people's brains are thinner.  Used to happen in Aspen too, where we were at the end of the line, and people's brains were frozen.                      

    Thanks for the heads-up about Netgear (none / 0) (#25)
    by CMike on Wed Dec 30, 2015 at 01:20:40 PM EST
    I don't have an 802.11ac compatible device but was thinking of getting a Vizio TV which would be and, now that you mention it, I had run across some criticism of Netgear along these very lines. Meanwhile I'm doing just fine with my N Linksys router. (By the way Jeralyn, do you still have your old router around and do you know how to set it up quickly as a temporary solution if you're facing a time crunch next time?).

    Anyway I'm sort of down to a best selling router at Amazon but don't know if I want to spend an extra 34% tax included (i.e. about $6.50/yr if I use it for five years) for capability I'll probably never need. I'd appreciate any thoughts on the subject. [LINK] [LINK]

    I have a net gear wireless router (none / 0) (#26)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Dec 30, 2015 at 02:19:15 PM EST
    That works with my DVR.  Never had a single problem but my usage is pretty basic.  
    And I'm generally lucky.   So they tell me.

    Parent