Finally…

In my last two Blog entries I’ve described frustrations associated changing out my defective modem here in our motorhome. The day before yesterday involved three hours of frustration. yesterday was an additional three hours of frustrations. During 1.5 hours on my cellphone with the router technician since it was not recognizing the new device…I took this self-photo…

You can see just how much fun I was having by the expression on my face! Since I had borrowed a short ethernet cable to use during the process…I had to sit in the passenger’s seat so I could connect to the router which can be seen of the shelf below the curtain. While there I had to balance the computer upon our large bread board atop my lap while the cellphone was on speaker so I had two hands to balance everything in addition to doing the typing associated with the functions.

You probably know a little about interfacing the modem and router. Download updated software, restart the computer, figure out new configurations, restart the computer. Nope…didn’t work…set a new configuration…can’t remember passwords, restart the computer. Etc……..

So…FINALLY…after six hours of frustrations…the system seems to have settled down and appears to be functioning correctly. When I began this process three days ago I was fearing that I was going to have this kind of experience. The system didn’t let me down. It was every bit frustrating as I was expecting. Hopefully it will be some time before I have to deal with a like matter in the future. Now to get back to my normal life. Today we expect to move the motorhome south  of Tucson, Arizona for a few days of seeing and doing attractions of the area.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
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Shifting Internet Gears…Part 2

The new router and associated cables arrived yesterday about 12:30 PM. By 4:30 PM everything was installed and appears to be running fine. Why are these things never easy? Four hours and 3 phone calls to the router store just seems a bit much. Anyways… the job is done.

In the below photo you can see both routers. The new 4G router (top) is just slightly larger the out going 3G router (bottom).

I installed the new 4G equipment in the same location as the out going 3G system.

Here’s a photo of the out going 3G system installation…

And here’s a photo of the new 4G system installation…not much difference…

So…with the new system…we now have 4G speed capability and a new 10 gigabyte a month plan. Verizon gives 14 days to return the modem in you are dissatisfied with the new purchase. I’ll be giving the new system a good workout over the next 12 days to ensure all is well.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://lulu.com/panamaorbust

HOME IS NEVER HOW YOU LEFT IT.

Amtrak to Sacramento was a breeze. Got to Sacramento Knee and Sports Medicine on March 9th, to have Dr. Wang, a shoulder expert advise me. I was given a cortisone shot without a definite answer yet about surgery. So, its a wait, wait situation, but,  if surgery can be avoided, its worth the wait.

Murphys seemed relatively unchanged. Yet, I knew a heavy snowstorm accosted the area on February 12 while I was gone. The power was out for 72 hours. Fixed as quickly as possible by PG&E. With the live line across my driveway and orchard gone, only the telephone lines were left lying waiting for AT&T. It took them 9 days to restore phone service. That strikes me as a misuse of the word service. They apologized and made promises they didn’t keep. And, from a bill of $84?  My credit amounted to $6 for internet and phone services. Doesn’t compute. Being angry with the phone company is a lost cause. Then, when I attempted to blog yesterday?  It seems my modem was not working. I suspect the loss of service to be part of the problem.

So, even though all the lights light up, it won’t take the signal from AT&T. And, the AT&T repair service did not reset this modem after the lines were down. They want to sell me another modem for $100. One that has horrible reviews by users. I’d be three to five days without service, unless I pay a premium to have it mailed overnight. I drove to Sonora and bought one off the shelf that AT&T told me they would not support or help connect for me.

My Linksys router that allows me wireless reception gave up the ghost around Christmastime. Its only given me about 3 years of service.
So, I bought a replacement for it. Its a nifty device called a Cisco Valet.

At $79, not cheap, but really user friendly.
So, now add the new modem for another $75. Is this a racket? My friend Jerry observes he has his old Royal Typewriter in his garage that still works like a champ and its 60 years old. Does make you wonder.

So, here is the new Zoom X-5 modem. I’m up and on-line. But, it hasn’t figured out how to communicate with the new Cisco Valet, so I’m hard-wired to this modem and must blog from my office. All wireless capability is lost. I’ll leave that for another day and be thankful I can check my mail and see to my blog. Basically, yesterday, besides shopping for a modem and filling my refrigerator,  I killed all the spiders that moved in while I was gone. I don’t spray, but one on one? Wham! They are history.