Reset Button

Remember Scott Simon's "Technology Vortex"? I spent the day in it.

Last October, I got a notice from Comcast saying that I had to get new equipment in order to still have cable TV come March, because they're going all digital. I dutifully ordered the various boxes and adapters and then let them sit in my dining room for 4 months. Today, in a fantastic stroke of poor judgment, I decided to hook them up. Right before sitting down to do a ton of work for a deadline. With all the kids happily hanging out watching TV. This will only take a sec, right?

I won't bore you with all the gory details (as I usually do), but let's just say that things didn't go so smoothly. I spent nearly two hours on the phone with Jen, a very patient and helpful customer service rep at Comcast, and ended up with only the little kitchen TV working. The other two, in the living room and basement, both have complicated wiring through VCRs and DVD players, and they're also both in these gorgeous but completely impractical cabinets that don't allow you any access whatsoever to the tangle of cables back there. As soon as you slide any component forward to try to take a peek at what's hooked up to what, the cables fall out and disappear into the void. So I finally told Jen that I would have to spend some time moving furniture, investigating with a flashlight, labeling wires, and possibly visiting Radio Shack for some new cables.

In the midst of all this, the Sears delivery guys showed up with the fridge! (I had to hang up with Jen, but she later called me back as promised!) It turns out that the fridge does indeed fit, but JUST barely. It is jammed so tight into that cavity that it will likely never come out. It is also considerably deeper than the old one (which we knew), so it sticks out farther into the kitchen, but that's the trade-off for having more room inside, which we desperately needed. It is really spacious and beautiful! And so far it works!

But I had to miss the fun part—deciding where to put everything inside—because I was off on my next adventure. I had gone upstairs to send a quick work-related email only to find that I couldn't get online. My modem's lights were happily blinking and flickering away as usual, and my MacBook showed full-signal strength from my Linksys router. I called Comcast again (different department), and got a guy who said that I had a something-or-other ("wallgarden"?); I asked him to repeat the word about 50 times and then finally gave up. He said he would try to "push it through" and that we might get disconnected, but he would call me back. Which we did, and which he did. That didn't work though, so he said he'd try something else. We got disconnected again, and that was the last I ever heard from him.

I called back, and the person I got this time said that it sounded as though the problem was with the router. I suggested that it was awfully coincidental that as soon as I called Comcast to activate my new digital TV signal, I lost Internet connection, but she pooh-poohed that idea. Instead, she connected me to a very pleasant Linksys guy in Mumbai who spent a long time with me and finally determined that my router probably died of old age, since it was at least 6 years old (prehistoric). Some timing, huh? Yeah, that's what I thought too. Anyhow, he sold me a new router and gave me a $15 discount and free shipping, and it's the fancy-shmancy new N-series or some such thing. In the meantime, I plugged the modem right into my MacBook, so I can be online as long as I'm sitting at my desk, but Andy and the kids can't go online on the PC downstairs. For 2 days anyhow, until the new router arrives.

Tomorrow I'm not turning on anything.

Comments

[Margaret]

So, don't come over to my house and touch anything mechanical, OK? The kiss of death? But at least you have the new fridge!!

[Tonya]

What a week you've had! I'd be a frustrated mess. At least you HAVE had nice customer service reps. That's such a rarity these days.

[ComcastMark]

It appears that you have been very busy with technical stuff! :) Anyway, if you need further assistance on your Comcast service, feel free to reach out to us.

Regards,

Mark Casem
Comcast Corp.
National Customer Operations
[email protected]

[Elena]

Wow, it's like you're Amish or something for a few days. I hope you get it all ironed out soon so everything is up and running.

[Kerri]

Even though they gave you good customer service (and apparently stalk you on your blog! Hi Mark!) :-), switch to Uverse if it is available to you. So much more awesome and a better value in most cases. No, I do not work for AT&T!