All I can say is Opal is getting a lot more help from tech support than I usually do. It’s not that they’re completely useless, it’s just that often their advice doesn’t quite work.
Yesterday morning our modem died — no internet. Because I had bought and checked out a spare a couple of years ago, I just plugged it in and it worked. But the new one has its own wi-fi router — we use the Apple Airport — and I wanted to make sure we could shut off all wi-fi when we wanted to. So I phoned our phone company tech support and he said we needed to “bridge it out” and put me on hold while he looked up the instructions.
So I Googled “bridge out” and the modem model number, and it told me how to get into the innards of the modem and check the settings. It turns out wi-fi was already off and I would have to set up a new network if I wanted to turn it on. Problem solved.
I did wait for the technician to get back on the phone. He didn’t know about my way but had something else to try. I figured I might as well learn something new, so I tried to follow his instructions. Unfortunately his instructions didn’t match what I saw in the settings, so they didn’t work. I explained to him why my method solved the problem, and he said, “Oh, that could work too.”
I later Googled “disable wi-fi on gt701-wg” and it gave me a link to how to enable wi-fi:
Wireless networking is disabled by default in your Actiontec GT701-WG. With just a few simple steps you can enable the wireless feature.
Okay, so in this case it would have been quicker to just use Google. But tech support didn’t slow me down that much.
I must say, this is not my favorite way of spending my time, and all sorts of things have needed fixing lately. I hope things have been working better for you! If not, how much luck have you had with tech support?
February 17, 2015
I usually start with Google, as my experience with tech support parallels yours.
Yes, bless Google!
I bet you enjoyed your anti-lesson with computer tech support.
Tom is on the roof with Dish Network guy because our TV won’t record a lot of stations, breaking-up of picture, etc. Guy drove an hour to get here. I hope it all works.
We may have to start dealing with that now. Our new landlord says they’re going to take down the over-the-air antenna we’ve been using for over 40 years. We will have to put up our own antenna fastened to a board and weighed down with sandbags or cinder blocks. Andy is going to ask them how we’re supposed to get the signal into our apartment. The gal wasn’t there today. I will you know how it turns out. I’m relaxed because I don’t watch TV. Andy watches the weather almost every night.
I’ve had wonderful experiences with tech support and terrible experiences, too. These days, I usually browse the Internet for an answer or check YouTube for a video before reaching out for customer service. When I get too frustrated at how long it takes to figure out some of these techie things, I remember the hoops through which I used to jump to complete writing assignments, much less a technical task. I trekked to the library, searched through various types of sources, including eye-scrambling and head-hurting searches via microfiche, or requested materials through Interlibrary Loans (ILL) and waited days or weeks for those materials to arrive. I wrote or typed out my notes or stood in line to copy pages at the library’s copiers. When I first started collecting a few publication credits, I usually had a toddler in a sling or a preschooler holding onto one leg while I performed that research. Now I’m impatient if I have to spend ten minutes sitting at my office desk with birds singing outside the windows and my dog at my feet, weeding through bunches of URLs to get to one that provides the needed information.
Learning new things is good for the brain, too, I remind myself when I try to figure out if I need a nano or micro SIM in my phone. When I was majoring in physics way back when, I gloried in utilizing reams of paper to work out Fourier series. Some of my brain functions appear to be growing cobwebs now. They need to be dusted off every now and then.
I always use these problems as a chance to practice patience and to learn something new, too. Bless Google and good tech support when one can get it!
My tech support is resident! Somehow I have never had any problems with my peripherals. Nor my various other gadgets at home.
I am having tech problems with a professional that has nothing to do with gadgets unless you can call the appendage at the bottom of my leg, the “foot” a gadget.
Yesterday after a medium to lengthy “sitting right next to her” I came away not sure whether I should laugh or cry.
I do know I won’t be sitting next to her ever again, let alone any other similar sort of tech person!