DSL Honeymoon

It doesn't take long for the honeymoon to be over. My brand new wireless broadband connection has most inconveniently been dropping out for a while and then reconnecting. But its newest trick is to show that there is a strong signal, but none of the browsers will connect to the Internet. I finally called AT&T tech support tonight and the technician showed me how to select a different channel and power setting. So far, everything's working, and I also changed the name of the network from the default to a word that means "lightning" - only somewhat facetiously, since my DSL connection isn't as fast as the wireless cable signal we'd been "borrowing".

The Wireless Gateway Works!

I took it out of the box, read the instructions, and had a moment of panic - we needed to install filters on every phone jack using the phone number in the bundled plan. Got that handled, and was successfully able to connect and set up the DSL and wireless connections. It is noticeably slower than the cable connection, but not unbearably so. We don't have a cute name for the network, but it does require a l-o-n-g number for authentication, and the wireless signal is very good everywhere we would use the laptop. I think we're in business again!

Now all I need is a new cell phone: the display on my phone suddenly died yesterday afternoon. I can place and receive calls, but can't see anything in the display! They say my line isn't eligible for an upgrade until October, so I'm using a very old cell phone we keep as a backup for just such occasions. It has a monochrome display, and doesn't have an alarm or a camera - so I'm also back to setting the alarm clock every night ... How much more retro will I have to get?

What I really want is a Blackberry Curve or Samsung Blackjack II - but the data plans that come with those phones cost an additional $40-$70 over and above the cost of cell service, so I'm going to get a nice phone that has a deceent camera, an alarm, and an easy way to set the ring to vibrate.

Okay, I'm Coming In

I bit the bullet today, and ordered high-speed DSL Internet from AT&T. After a week in Hawaii with no Internet except for a half-hour per day next door, and after a weekend at home with no wi-fi, I gave up and decided to come in. Some adjustments needed to be made to the various accounts that will be bundled with the Internet service, but AT&T handled it efficiently, and it looks right now like the bundle with Internet added will cost about as much as I have been paying for the other two services: cell phones and land line. The wireless gateway is scheduled for delivery on Thursday; that will give us the option of being connected or using wi-fi. Assuming I can decipher the phone lines in the jack (there are three lines into our townhome; I am hoping to be able to set up my own connection before next weekend. Laurel is SO going to stay at home Thursday afternoon, so we don't miss the UPS delivery!