[Erinites]

My son is trying to study for exams... all weekend my isp conked out..
4 hours off line at one point...
Give em a call...everything including our router was blamed...(firewall,antivirus, get this Browsers!)
Oh Heaven forbid it should be the modem.
Now I phone them again to find out why things are so glitchy...and they can't pull up my file cause their system is down...
I am going back to sympatico effective June 30th!!!!

Thank goodness I have my in house tech expert...

[bossdog]

That can be one of the most frustrating things to happen in the home. I feel your pain!

[-Mario-]

So how long are you on line for??

[bossdog]

It really sucks when that happens in our home becuase our phones are VoIP. It rarely happens but when it does it's a pain n the ass.

[Erinites]

Sympatico kicks in June 30th.. rogers kicks out July 4th (independence day )
MWAHAHAHA that gives me four days to get things up and running...
By then exams will be done but I am hoping for a steady connection again.)
And yes it is a pain in the router... three computers and no internet and for this I pay uber bucks a month...
Me no think so no more!

What really gets my modem fried is all the kids' studies are computer related.

[Johnny_Utah]

Erinites wrote:

My son is trying to study for exams... all weekend my isp conked out..
4 hours off line at one point...
Give em a call...everything including our router was blamed...(firewall,antivirus, get this Browsers!)
Oh Heaven forbid it should be the modem.
Now I phone them again to find out why things are so glitchy...and they can't pull up my file cause their system is down...
I am going back to sympatico effective June 30th!!!!

Thank goodness I have my in house tech expert...

I have the same problem when I have issues. Last time I couldn't get a connection, so I called and the guy I was talking to was going on and on what it could be while being rude so I hung up on him..

I called 5 mins later this time I had young woman who was nice and helpful, she couldn't read my modem and instead of going on and on what it could be she said I should bring my modem in and exchange it for a new one free of charge, so I did that and it works fine..

It depends on who you have taking you're call..

[Erinites]

Yeah... my favorite part is when my son called... they told him to shut down security center, zone alarm, norton and every other protective program we run.
Against his better judgement .."Spawn" did just so.
Connection worked great... so the diagnosis on that call was "We are running too many programs".

[figfarmer]

There are certain things you have to troubleshoot on connection calls. They aren't 'blaming' the router, firewall etc. They just are eliminating them from the equation to simplify the troubleshooting. If the area isn't on the trouble board and the modem looks good in the tech's troubleshooting program he will eliminate as many variables as he can before troubleshooting.

I'd say that a good eight times out of ten, if you have a router, then powercycling the router, or better yet the whole system, will get you on line. Turn off the router-turn off the modem-and unless you have WINXP turn off the computer. Wait a minute. Turn on the modem. Wait for a solid cable/online light. Turn on the router. If the computer is off turn it on. Try for a couple of minutes to get on line.

If you're not on line, bypass your router and power cycle again.

If your still not on line turn off your firewall and try.

If you're still not on line, depending on your OS run WINIPCFG or IPCONFIG.

If you are getting an IP address that doesn't start with 169. or 192. then it's probably good. You are on line. Clear cache-cookies-and history in IE, reset security settings to default. Reset all IE settings to default. If you're not browsing call your OEM or Microsoft.

If IPCONFIG drops down to the prompt check your adapter in Device Manager. It has a problem.

If you get a MEDIA DISCONNECTED message and you're plugged in there is a deeper rooted problem with the NIC.

If you get a DHCP server error your ISP can likely help.

I do this for a living. Why do people who know nothing of it screw with it for 5 days then call their ISP only to find out the problem was only that their modem was accidently put in standby, but in the meantime they've wrecked their browser settings, screwed their tcp/ip settings, corrupted their tcp/ip stack and dropped their monitor on their foot?

[Erinites]

Been there done that.
I make damned sure all systems are operational before I call the company.
But when I call on a Friday morning and am told the system is down for 8 hours due to repairs and then look at my bill... where the @#$%^& is my credit for inoperativity?
Unacceptable.
Modem crashing at the drop of a hat.
Unacceptable.
The phone techs do the best they can but when I am told my file cannot be pulled up...because the net is down, doesn't say much (to me) about the connectivity.
I have been "netting" for the better part of 12 years now.
I go through a complete system analysis (yes checking for loose connections to) before I make the call.
Thanks for the input Fig farmer.

[Wada]

Fig your right on. I absolutely LOVE my ISP. If they are going down I get an email notification beforehand, their help system is A++, they provide NewsService with download speeds up to 10 mb per second. They are awesome. In four years I think they've been down two or three times and always between 3 and 6 am when I should to in bed.

[bootlegga]

I can share your pain.

I'm on Telus ADSL and it stinks. It disconnects at the worst possible times and then I have to do the release and renew my IP and it's such a pain in the ass, especially when you're online playing games or chatting with a friend overseas.

I can't wait for my contract (October) to expire so I can use someone else. Does anyone know of a good ISP in Edmonton?

[Wullu]

Erinites wrote:

My son is trying to study for exams... all weekend my isp conked out..
4 hours off line at one point...
Give em a call...everything including our router was blamed...(firewall,antivirus, get this Browsers!)
Oh Heaven forbid it should be the modem.
Now I phone them again to find out why things are so glitchy...and they can't pull up my file cause their system is down...
I am going back to sympatico effective June 30th!!!!

Thank goodness I have my in house tech expert...

Has there been high humidity or radical temperature swings lately? I had a problem like that a year or so ago and the folks on the tech support line spouted all the stuff you cited and maybe a few more inventive ideas. Having 15 years electronics experience I noticed right away that it happened during high humidity and large temp swings. They would not buy that it was a line problem at all and completely dismissed it as a possibility. A few weeks later I had a tech out to the house to upgrade my PVR to a newer model and mentioned the problem to him. He IMMEDIATELY said "oh that is a problem out on the line, probably at the pole connection. Happens all the time." He finished with the PVR, went out to the pole and fixed the problem in about 2 minutes. Have had a rock steady connection ever since.

[ziggy]

bootlegga wrote:

I can share your pain.

I'm on Telus ADSL and it stinks. It disconnects at the worst possible times and then I have to do the release and renew my IP and it's such a pain in the ass, especially when you're online playing games or chatting with a friend overseas.

I can't wait for my contract (October) to expire so I can use someone else. Does anyone know of a good ISP in Edmonton?

Switched to Shaw a few years ago,goodbye telus!

Way better service and I cant remember it ever going down yet.

Now I am going to shut down my 2 Telus mobility accts and change to someone else after telus fuc*ed me around a few weeks ago and canceled my cel while I was 200 miles from anyone,they even phoned me and told me it was going down after this call. Billing error on their part. But all of a sudden I realized how alone I was way out there without any means of communication.

So it will be voip for home now,still dont know if my Sierra wireless aircard for the laptop will work with other companies.

[Regina]

I've got got Shaw and haven't had many problems with them at all.......touch wood.
*rubs head*

[Bodah]

Erinites wrote:

Now I phone them again to find out why things are so glitchy...and they can't pull up my file cause their system is down...

If their system is down, I dont think it has anything to do with the hardware/software on your end, switch ISP's