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outlier_lynn

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Tuesday, May 16th, 2006 05:33 pm
Today, we lost our Internet connection twice.

Stacey called Time Warner. She told them that the cable modem drops back into sync/search mode looking for the Time Warner signal. That is, the "receive" and "send" lights go through a blinking ritual to sync up to the cable signal. It will do this forever if there is no signal and it will do it sporadically if the signal is weak or inconsistent.

And what did the helpful but stupid tech support person ask? Do we have a router or wireless box hooked up to the cable modem?

sigh.

It's the same issue I've had in the past with internet tech support. I tell them I have no signal at the modem and they ask me what operating system I'm using. I tell them the modem is on fire and they tell me they don't support linux. I tell them the wire fell off the pole and they tell me I should get a Microsoft computer.

I understand that a lot of computer illiterate people will call in with really stupid questions. I get that MOST solutions will be at the end users MICROSOFT computer. I really do understand that. But when you are being told that the damn receive and send lights are blinking, stop asking me about down stream equipment.
Wednesday, May 17th, 2006 02:12 am (UTC)
I remember back in the bad old days of dialup, we had an ISP whose answer to every request for support was "Check your DNS settings".

"But I'm not even using name resolution. I'm typing in physical IP addresses!"

Made no difference, they'd still insist on going through the Windows DNS settings and if that didn't fix the problem then obviously we needed to reinstall or upgrade Windows.
Wednesday, May 17th, 2006 04:10 pm (UTC)
It's because front-line techs don't actually have a big-picture grasp of systems. They are trained to go through a procedure. They are not allowed to think for themselves. If the situation doesn't fit their procedure, they will make it fit.