blogging about not blogging

i was just going to post a very tiny post apologizing for my blogger neglect, but i figured i'd try to muster some energy and get out a decent post.

i had another late night last night, but this one for a purpose (other than watching all 24 episodes of real world: las vegas in under two weeks, only watching between 11:30 and 2am).

i was fixing the internet.

the rogers debacle

ever since we switched our services to rogers we've had issues of one kind or another.

and because of that, we've actually hung on to our bell internet (which they were supposed to be sending us a return kit for).

but last night, i attacked it with fervour.

should i even call it tech support?

after having to get a tech in twice to fix our cable, and then having an incredibly unsuccessful call with a tech over the fact that our modem lit up but didn't provide any actual 'surfability', where he told me to call apple because it was probably a 'mac problem' i'd had enough.

not to mention the fact that they've charged me the installation fees that i was told would be waived if i bought a $20 pack in store when i booked my installation.

so last night i was not going to take no for an answer.

earlier in the week the modem had begun working plugged straight into jen's laptop, but i couldn't get it to work with our wifi router or with my xbox.

method and results

last night i started by trying out the bell internet with the router.

aha! the router worked. so it was not the bad link in the chain.

then, in between the first and second overtimes (i know! seriously tense!) i started testing all the cables i had used in my chain. i had 4 different ethernet cables going and was convinced that if the router wasn't the problem, one of the cables must be.

i was right and ended up throwing away the s**ty cable the came with the router.

hooked it up with the bell internet, it worked, so hooked the entire thing up with the rogers and presto! working wireless internet.

warning! overly technical section coming up next!

now, since i'd received complaints from jen in the past as she didn't like my security methods (wpa2 with password and invisible ssid) because she said she doesn't like having to write out the ssid each time or having to remember two things, i finally figured out how to use mac ids in wireless security.

so i kept the wpa2 and made it a visible ssid, but changed the security to allowable only from an assigned list. this makes it just as safe (i hope) but easier for jen. and that makes my life easier. hehe.

end of technical jargon-y section! phew!

so that's why i'm groggy and cranky today. all because of a useless tech at rogers (who should have just told me one of two things: a) that i should wait a couple days because rogers internet is testy and sometimes doesn't work right out of the box and b) that I should have tried another cable) and because it takes a long time to troubleshoot wireless internet that is designed to be used with windows, and a router that is designed to be used with windows, with a mac.

but it's all hooked up and working now, now if i can just get back my installation fees they inadvertently charged me...

JD