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An epic saga full of Internet woes (LONG)

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  • An epic saga full of Internet woes (LONG)

    So it all started in September of 2013. I just moved into my new condo, and just got a 300GB/mo plan with Rogers. When I set foot into my new condo, the tech called from the lobby. Since it was Saturday and the Management Office was closed, I escorted him to our Security Office instead and had a security officer take him to where, I guess, the cables were so that he could connect our unit to the Internet. Meanwhile, we waited and he installed the modem in the downstairs part of the two-story condo (this is important). So far, so good.

    Now this modem has a built-in wireless router that supports WiFi. My PC can connect wirelessly, as can my devices. Unfortunately, my father sleeps in the master bedroom, which is upstairs (important, again), his PC doesn't have a wireless networking card and his wireless adapter was crap. So we had to have the modem installed upstairs and connect his PC through an Ethernet cable. I don't know if we installed the modem ourselves or had the tech do it for us.

    For more than 2 years, I've had to run upstairs to reboot the modem, disabling and reenabling my wireless network adapter; anything to get the Internet to work. I thought that we were saving a bundle by not having to buy a wireless router. However, it's been so aggravating that I looked forward to going to the Apple Store just to play games on their much faster Internet connection.

    Recently, my mother complained that the Internet wasn't working on her laptop. So I looked into WiFi range extenders, and came across a method called powerlining. That's a method where you use your home's electrical wiring instead of long, messy Ethernet cables or spotty WiFi to help you connect to the Internet. But it didn't work for me because the set I bought only used two lines instead of all three lines; in other words, it only worked if you used the set in the same room or probably any pair of rooms that shared the same fuse, perhaps.

    Therefore, off we go to Best Buy to return the stuff and buy a WiFi range extender. My mother then had the idea to replace the modem, which we did, and then went back to Best Buy to return the extender; her reasoning was that if we got a new modem for free, why bother with paying for "extras", right?

    Unfortunately, after I set up the new modem, as well as enabling guest WiFi (again, important), I experienced the same problems. So I took to asking Rogers Community Forums for advice. Some Community Experts advised me to buy the latest in powerlining that uses all three lines in my home's electrical wiring. The support staff also PM'ed me and asked me to log in to the modem, which I could not because I forgot the password. UGH!

    So he ran some tests and asked me to remove the splitter because the signal was weak. I did, and he ran those tests again and told me that it was fine, and that I would have to pay $50.00 for a tech to come and add a TV if I wanted to. I emailed my sister, giving her a link to my thread in the Community Forums. She then called and asked me to wait until my brother-in-law could come over to fix the Internet. In the meantime, I found a workaround by taking the modem off the dresser in the second-floor master bedroom and putting it onto the floor, where it would be in a more central place, as advised by the experts from the forums and from Best Buy and from online research that I did when my PC had a good Internet day. I still had to reboot the modem, though.

    So my brother-in-law came yesterday and he and my sister asked me why I had enabled guest WiFi. I thought that the WiFi would be safe as it was protected by a password, but nope. They said that enabling guest WiFi would make the signal worse, as I would be inviting strangers to log on and slow the Internet down. OK, disable guest WiFi; I get that, so I did. Then they had trouble logging in to the modem, when I suggested that they try calling Tech Support to reset the password. My sister was on the phone, and was about to be connected when my brother-in-law finally found the password. It was stored in my modem's Easy Setup Key, which I had used to set up and install the modem. I had changed it and forgot about it. Oops.

    They managed to fix it. They installed an external wireless router, disabled the built-in wireless, and plugged a WiFi range extender into a socket near to my PC. They then told me to call them first before messing around it if it breaks again. Ok, duly noted.

    I'm just glad to have my Internet running again. Thanks!

    TL;DR: Internet was wonky for more than 2 years, so I did as much homework and consulted people about certain products before my sister and brother-in-law finally fixed it.

    Anyone else have tales of Internet woes?
    Last edited by cindybubbles; 05-01-2016, 09:41 PM.
    cindybubbles (👧 ❤️ 🎂 )

    Enter Cindyland here!

  • #2
    Well, I am on the ISP end of these issues daily. And sadly, using a wireless modem is not the recommended way to go at all. Now having the modem on the bottom floor is never a good idea. However, what you did is the way to go. What I recommend to all my customers is using a wired-only modem, and an external wireless router (At this point, a dual-band 802.11 AC router). You also want this is on the 2nd floor of a 2-story home and as centrally located as possible. Also, those power line adapters are things we recommend as well, as they are quite useful if you don't want to/cant run Ethernet cables. So I am glad its working for you now, but what you experienced is very common. Good wireless connections unfortunately are not cheap or easy.

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    • #3
      I've told this before, but I still find it funny.

      Living in a triplex a few years ago, I get home and have no internet or tv. I do the whole song and dance of unplugging everything and plugging it back in, blah blah. I tried anything I could think of, with no luck. Finally I wandered outside and noticed a trench dug along the side of the building. I follow it down the driveway, and come across a bunch of cut wires in the trench.

      Turns out my landlords had come into town (they lived out of state) to do maintenance work, including digging a trench to put a drainage pipe in. They called but did not wait for the guy to come and mark underground pipes and such. As I'm staring down at these mangled wires, the call-before-you-dig guy walks up and we have a mutual "wtf" moment. He said he came out the same day, and I think I've heard that you need to give three days notice, so that makes it even dumber.
      Replace anger management with stupidity management.

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      • #4
        Landlord probably got a VERY big bill for the damage he did by digging before the "call before you dig" guy had a chance to mark things. At least he didn't (or if he did, you didn't mention it) dig up the gas line.
        Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

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        • #5
          One day, I got on my computer, and couldn't get an internet connection. I rebooted both the computer and the modem, checked all the settings, and couldn't find the problem. So I broke down and called tech support. They had me check a bunch of settings, and everything was correct. Since they couldn't find the issue, they escalated me to the next level.

          The other tech had me check a bunch of other settings, but those were correct as well. So they scheduled a visit for the next day. After I got off the phone, I was sitting there pissed off about having to wait until the next day to get on the internet, and I was just kind of staring at the wall.

          Then, something caught my eye. It was the cable coming out of the modem. Something about it didn't look right, like maybe it wasn't pushed in the whole way. I reached over, pushed on it, and click! And just like that, I was connected.

          I felt kind of stupid when I called them back to cancel the appointment, but at the same time, I can't believe both techs missed that simple thing. You'd think that would have been the first thing they would have had me check.
          Sometimes life is altered.
          Break from the ropes your hands are tied.
          Uneasy with confrontation.
          Won't turn out right. Can't turn out right

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          • #6
            There's a reason why the first tech support questions are:

            "Is it plugged in?"
            "Is it turned on?"

            I missed the last one back in the '90s with a SCSI hard drive and a couple of expensive phone calls to the US later, I found the problem. The internal power cable wasn't snug, thus the machine couldn't see the drive - that didn't have power to it.

            DOH!

            B
            "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."- Albert Einstein.
            I never knew how happy paint could make people until I started selling it.

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            • #7
              I recently had to RMA a burner in my system -- it appeared to be plugged in, it was recognized by the system, but it could not read nor burn any discs. When I finally took it out to get a good look at it, it turned out that the data connector had snapped off and was stuck in the end of the SATA cable x.x Fortunately, the warranty still had a month left on it.
              "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
              "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
              "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
              "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
              "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
              "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
              Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
              "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

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              • #8
                Here in Germany you can normally buy your own router with integrated Modem and hook it directly to the cable from the provider. Sou you don't have to stick to the crappy and expensive ISP-Router. You can use a good brand, and with wifi N or better AC on Both Ends, in "normal" Homes you might get enough connection for most needs. (Not always, it depends on the materials used for building the walls e.t.c.)

                Of course, a good Ethernet Cable directly connected to the router or extended by a switch is always the best, fastest and nearly the most reliable connection (only fiber is better, but for home-use a bit expensive).

                If the wifi signal is not strong enough everywere, i can highly recommend not to use a repeater, but a second wifi-accespoint (or even better, a router with disabled routing and dhcp) hooked with an ethernet cable direct to the "real" router. The advantage is a more stable connection from the AP to the "real" router. And if it has a few ethernet ports, you can ethernet-cable-connect a Computer or Notebook directly to it.

                These Power-LAN-Thingies might work well, but not always, even the new ones, its a bit like playing lottery, and there might be security-issues.
                Native German, so my writing might be a bit ... special. I try my best to get better

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                • #9
                  This thread made me think of my own recent Internet issues.

                  As I'm living with my folks, and don't have cable in my room, if I want to watch live TV, I have to hope Mom or Dad isn't using the TV already. Now, some of the shows I want to watch are available via Sling, so I have that subscription and watch it on my Xbox, and then I decided to try out Playstation Vue, and had good results. So I signed up for it.

                  Within the week, my Internet suddenly stopped working so well. My PS4 could not connect reliably to PSN and any streaming services could not connect at all, including Vue. My Xbox had issues with streaming services, getting low-resolution and repeated buffering issues. Even my phone was having problems getting a strong signal.

                  This happened immediately after there was a brief (like not even half a minute long) power outage at our house. I knew this had to be the cause, but I wasn't sure if the problem was with my stuff or with the net in general.

                  I hadn't heard anything from Mom or Dad about any issues they might have been happening. But the internet issues got especially bad when I tried to play the Overwatch beta. I could not stay connected to the servers for longer than five minutes at a time. Even just using the Practice Range would kick me out after about thirty seconds, maybe a minute at a time.

                  I finally asked Mom if she'd noticed any issues with her Internet. She admitted that she had problems now and then with Yahoo or AOL not being available or not working, or buffering on videos. So I rebooted the router.

                  Bam. Everything worked.

                  I should have done it sooner, but I'm glad it was a quick and free fix, rather than having to call up Red Checkmark for help.
                  PWNADE(TM) - Serve up a glass today! | PWNZER - An act of pwnage so awesome, it's like the victim got hit by a tank.

                  There are only Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse because I choose to walk!

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