I’m so happy to be writing this post from home, via the internet!
After being proud on Monday that we were done with cable, things took a turn yesterday (Tuesday). It all started when I returned the cable box just before lunch. As I’m handing it off, the representative confirmed that I have the faster internet AND the basic cable package - say what?! How many times did I say on Monday that I only wanted internet and wanted to cancel cable? I confirmed the price with the representative (what I was quoted, around $55/month). Okay. Guess we still have some cable. He then sent me home with a little digital box to help with the cable going to the TV and also a new modem that can accept the faster internet speed (the old modem can only handle up to 15 Mb). There’d be a guy out between 1 and 3 to change some stuff outside, but he wouldn’t need to come in.
I brought some lunch home, and Mr. PFL called to find out why we still had cable. He didn’t change anything.
Just before 3, the guy was outside working on stuff. Before 5:30, Mr. PFL had hooked up the new, faster, modem (which required another call to the cable company to verify set-up and decommission the old modem).
By 7:30, the internet stopped working.
Mr. PFL tried everything he could think of to get the modem working again. It was definitely a modem issue. It wouldn’t reboot. There was no IP address. When we plugged the old modem in, just for a test, he could see it. Due to being decommissioned, it wouldn’t connect all the way through.
At 7:56, I realized we didn’t have a DVR anymore. TV just became real-time again, with commercials. We took a break to watch The Flash in HD through our new little digital box. (Great show, btw.)
Ok. Break over. Internet still didn’t work. I initiated yet another call with the cable company at 9:06. This lady was trying to help us, but I blew up her script when I told her I couldn’t switch the ends of the ethernet cable between the computer and the modem because they are on different floors (this clearly wasn’t the problem since the other modem worked). She, allegedly, was working on the problem in two ways: 1) trying to fix the new modem and 2) trying to get the old modem back online. She never did figure out what was wrong with the new modem, even after giving us wifi passwords to try (which wouldn’t connect, because THE MODEM DOESN’T WORK!).
After more than an hour of being on the phone, she confirmed that the old modem worked just fine, but she couldn’t reactivate it (even though it worked) because we had increased our internet speed. She confirmed that we’d have the internet within 24 hours. That’s when I finally lost it. I asked to reduce our internet speed then; I’d need to speak with sales or retention to do that. Say what?!
Mr. PFL took over. He laid down the ultimatum: give me internet or cancel everything right now. She said she’d be right back.
After being on hold for more than ten minutes, we ventured downstairs to watch some TV. It was after 10:30 by this point. Finally, around 10:50 p.m., she came back and told us the internet was working. We both confirmed. I asked her if our bill would change since we now have the slower speed and she emphatically confirmed, “Absolutely Not!”
I hung up.
With wifi access!