What do less technical people do with these new fangled electronics

[jwmay]

Question: What do less technical people do with these new fangled electronics​

Use them as is? I’m so ignorant of the magic that allows me to type this message, that it has literally never occurred to me to make a single change. I called some company. They installed it. I pay a monthly fee. Done. Lol

 

[tim81]

I should have the 950mb/s but latetly they are limiting the number of connections I can make. If they bother me too much for my remote work will get the STARLINK internet and be done with them.

 

[WobblyHand]

Question: What do less technical people do with these new fangled electronics​

Use them as is? I’m so ignorant of the magic that allows me to type this message, that it has literally never occurred to me to make a single change. I called some company. They installed it. I pay a monthly fee. Done. Lol

I have been cursed knowing what is possible. I change lots of stuff, sometimes to see if I can make it better, or faster, or just for the heck of it. Most of the time I learn something, and it does get better. Sometimes I fall flat on my face - and I learn from that too.

 

[WobblyHand]

Question: What do less technical people do with these new fangled electronics​

Answer: They call me, then I get to tear my hair out figuring out the new and "improved" hardware.

Spent an hour with my ISP trying to get my speed back UP to the usual 1.1 mbps. (I don't want to hear any of you whining about your speeds). It was clocking in the .2-.4 range. She told me to turn off the router to disconnect all of the wi-fi devices (I was on an ethernet connection) and run a speedtest. I reminded her that the device they provided to me was a combination modem/router (they have been for over a decade) and turning it off would disconnect me completely. I think she got offended when I asked if she was new at this. She then directed me to their company branded speed test instead of speedtest.net. Suspiciously, their test reported higher speeds than the generic one, even though they are both powered by Ookla.

First level support at an ISP is tough. They just aren't that well trained or knowledgeable. I did try to maintain my cool, but it was tough, especially when they suggested I connect to my wireless, which was the very thing that wasn't working. Poor soul, just didn't get it.

I won't comment on your link speed. There's a trade off that is made living in nice places. From your pictures of the area, I'd say you made a good choice.

The company speed tests are just checking comms to their server, nowhere else. Of course they run fast, they can make it fast, or fudge it, and you'd have no way of knowing. I use speedtest.net which claimed today I was the 50 billionth test. What counts is how "fast" you can access the outside world, not the ISP's central office.

 

[mmcmdl]

My flip phone has worked for over 10 years now with no issues . My work supplied I phone went un-used for 5 1/2 years until I called my flipper to find it . I'm still having trouble with the 8 track though , no match packs around .

 

[RJSakowski]

@WobblyHand, I have been with Britespeed, formerly Centurylink, formerly Centurytel, etc. for over twenty five years and I can empathise regarding tech support. Later this month, another provider will be activating fiber optic service in our location and we will be switching providers. They are a loval company and you a real person still answers the phone . Hopefully, they will be providing a more personal service. The 80x increase in speed will be nice too.

 

[MrWhoopee]

First level support at an ISP is tough. They just aren't that well trained or knowledgeable. I did try to maintain my cool, but it was tough, especially when they suggested I connect to my wireless, which was the very thing that wasn't working. Poor soul, just didn't get it.

I won't comment on your link speed. There's a trade off that is made living in nice places. From your pictures of the area, I'd say you made a good choice.

The company speed tests are just checking comms to their server, nowhere else. Of course they run fast, they can make it fast, or fudge it, and you'd have no way of knowing. I use speedtest.net which claimed today I was the 50 billionth test. What counts is how "fast" you can access the outside world, not the ISP's central office.

A couple of years back I had one of the local Frontier techs at my house. I mentioned that I had been on the phone with tech support. He turned, giving me a puzzled look and said "What are you talking about? We don't have tech support. "

 

[vvanders]

Associating MAC w/ your connection sounds like where they went wrong in the first place but then again we also have cell providers who want your IMEI instead of just accepting a SIM as-is. I've been on various forms of the internet for way too long, I almost always bring my own modem and then have the router/etc all just downstream from that so you can separate the upstream pieces from the downstream bits. It makes it a lot easier to troubleshoot on their end when you can confirm direction connections to the model are/aren't working. The modem/router combos are usually more trouble than it's worth(or these days they allow sharing your connection via wifi as a "feature" which I don't want anywhere near my networks thank you).

It's not feasible for everyone but these days if the provider offers a business line over residential I usually opt for it. You skip the queue and most of tier-1 tech support, usually have an SLA of < 4hrs to have someone come out and look at physical infrastructure if you still don't have a connection.

 

[jwmay]

I have been cursed knowing what is possible. I change lots of stuff, sometimes to see if I can make it better, or faster, or just for the heck of it.

Just listened to a story yesterday about a doctor who had that misfortune as well. Diagnosed somebody with some super rare condition which required a surgery. Discovered on the OR floor that he was wrong. Anyhow, he had the same thought as you. If I knew less, I’d have not got myself into this. Lol

 

[WobblyHand]

Associating MAC w/ your connection sounds like where they went wrong in the first place but then again we also have cell providers who want your IMEI instead of just accepting a SIM as-is. I've been on various forms of the internet for way too long, I almost always bring my own modem and then have the router/etc all just downstream from that so you can separate the upstream pieces from the downstream bits. It makes it a lot easier to troubleshoot on their end when you can confirm direction connections to the model are/aren't working. The modem/router combos are usually more trouble than it's worth(or these days they allow sharing your connection via wifi as a "feature" which I don't want anywhere near my networks thank you).

It's not feasible for everyone but these days if the provider offers a business line over residential I usually opt for it. You skip the queue and most of tier-1 tech support, usually have an SLA of < 4hrs to have someone come out and look at physical infrastructure if you still don't have a connection.

I'd love to have a business line for the support, but being retired and the fact that a business line costs a bit more for lower throughput is a bit of a negative for me. On the other hand, skipping the queue would be great. The access to higher tier support is baked into the price of a business line. If I need to spend more money, don't laugh it's a real requirement these days for IRA's, I may consider it. For now, I'll take my chances on a standard line.