Tag Archives: dsl

one confusing mess and much geekery

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Okay, so I just got off the phone with the somewhat helpful girl at Qwest, who is upgrading my DSL from 256/256 to 640/640. The reason I’m getting this upgrade is so that fojar can come live at my house, which has a variety of advantages, including allowing Steve to cancel his phone line (to use his cell) and DSL service, and get rid of the cables that run all over his house.

Now, being the type of guy who tends to map things out in his mind, I’ve already come up with a rough concept of what the networking situation is going to look like in my house after fojar arrives

  • The phone line exits the wall and travels around my desk to plug into the DSL modem, which sits on top of my computer.
    • Aside: the phone line exits the dsl modem and plugs into a DSL filter.
    • The DSL filter plugs into the back of my computer, in the modem I have for receiving faxes.
    • The phone line exits my computer’s modem, and travels around the wall into the caller ID box, sitting on top of a speaker.
    • The caller ID box has a phone cord running into my cordless phone’s base unit.
    • The cordless phone is usually stuffed between the couch cushions.
  • An ethernet cable runs from the DSL modem up the wall to plug into my 5-port switch (which is a fancy type of hub).
  • One ethernet cable runs from the switch back down the wall into my computer, giving it a static IP and leaving it outside of the fojar firewall, meaning I can now netmeeting with Steve!
  • Another ethernet cable runs from the switch across the room, into the back of Fojar, giving it a static IP address so it can continue to serve the world with Pokey and Hatelife.
  • Out of the second network card in fojar comes another ethernet cable, which travels back across the room and plugs into a 5-port hub, which will probably sit on top of the switch, just to be cute.
  • An ethernet cable exits the hub, travels around the doorframe, and up into the moulding in the living room, and travels all the way around the room, and back down around the doorframe into Annie’s office, where it snakes around behind some books to plug into her machine, which will get a shared internet connection from Fojar.
  • Any other computers, such a laptops or my other Windows 2000 computer, will also plug into the hub and gain a net connection through Fojar.

TOTALS

  • 1 DSL Filter
  • 1 5 port switch
  • 3 dirty magazines
  • 1 5 port hub
  • 2 static IP addresses
  • 4 phone cables – over 20 feet total
  • 5 ethernet cables – over 70 feet total

Screw Qwest And The Horse They Rode In On!

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Background information: About two weeks ago, I called Qwest and ordered phone service for our new house. At the same time, I ordered DSL. The guy took my information, and then completely ignored it and placed an order for MSN DSL. We moved in and discovered a dead phone jack, and Qwest saying they might not make my DSL due date (December 6). Then I got my first phone bill, which was for $72, which is shockingly high, since we don’t have long distance. So today I called up Qwest with the intention of addressing the following problems:

  • Removing extra items from my phone bill.
  • Getting the dead phone jack fixed.
  • Checking up on my DSL order.

Qwest Rep #1 (male, somewhat helpful): Two of the extra services on your bill you can have removed no problem. The third one: “Toll Restriction Service, Individual & Key Lines,” you cannot. That is the $2 that we charge you every month for not having long distance service. We will only stop charging you that if you pay the $100 deposit to turn on long-distance service. Now I’ll transfer you to the service-removal department.

Qwest Rep #2 (female, helpful): I can remove Call Rejection and Call Waiting if you want, but you get them for free. The bill you got is an error. Since you have DSL service, you get Call Rejection, Call Waiting and Caller ID for free, which the first salesman you talked to failed to mention. Now I’ll transfer you to the bill-sending department… ask for an updated bill.

Qwest Rep #3 (female, irritated): No, I can’t send you a new bill. We only send bills at the end of the month. Your next bill will tell you how much you really owe, and if we overcharged you, your account will be credited. I don’t know why the last woman transferred you here because we don’t do what you want. I’ll transfer you back to her. What? Yeah, I can transfer you to the repair department instead.

Qwest Rep #4 (male, somewhat helpful): A repairman costs $85 for the first half-hour and $25 for every extra half-hour. We can have someone at your house in 20 minutes. You don’t have the money right now? Yeah, I can transfer you to the DSL service people.

Qwest Rep #5 (foreign female, not helpful): No, we haven’t made any progress on your account in the last week because MSN still hasn’t canceled your DSL order, and until that’s done, we can’t get anything going. Yes, I can transfer you to the MSN department.

Qwest Rep #6 (female, somewhat helpful): Yes, your order is marked for cancellation. That takes between 10 and 20 business days. The only thing I can do to speed that up is put a priority flag on your request, but there’s no guarantee that will help. MSN is sorry to be losing a customer, but I hope that I was helpful with your customer service needs. Have a nice day.

Final standing: I have one piece of good news (that the questionable items on my bill were just a billing mistake, and they’re really free), but I can’t get a new bill (or even a corrected balance), I can’t afford to get my dead phone jack fixed, and my DSL account may or may not be delivered on time depending on whether or not MSN gets around to canceling my order, which was a Qwest mistake to begin with. HATE

So my job is great.

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So my job is great. I’m working with Steve, doing stuff I love. The boss has already upped my hours twice, and sounds confident that the two salespeople he’s hiring will enable him to bring me on full-time. The DSL’s due in a little more than a week, and Annie’s getting food stamps tomorrow, so we’ll be able to afford food! Life is starting to pick up for me.

About the only thing that isn’t working out perfectly is the fact that I’m online a good deal more often now that I’m working, which means that my family and I come into conflict over the phone line. It’s all been civilized so far, but just the same, I’m glad the DSL will be here soon.

Also, I relocated my computer. It’s funny, but just moving it to a different room in the house has totally increased my motivation to work on it. Maybe there’s something to this Feng Shui stuff.

Unfortunately, with my upturn in luck, Annie’s seems to be in a slump. Her sprained ankle got worse today, though how much of that is due to her forgetting to take her medicine isn’t clear. The doctor gave her one more week of light duty, which means more office work. Hopefully her leg will heal up quickly and she’ll be able to get back to doing the fun stuff.

DSL, Sprained Ankle, and a Punch to the Face

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We’re going to get a DSL connection here at my parent’s house. This will enable me to do work for my new job (did I mention that it’s a telecommuting position?) without having to put up with the 30-second lag time that I sometimes get when working in a telnet window. Hopefully, it will be in within a couple weeks and I can stop surreptitiously working from the tek room. That’s my news. Now on to the rest of my family:

Annie sprained her ankle at work. It was bad enough that yesterday she went to the doctor, who gave her codeine, a brace, and orders to stay off her feet for a few days. She’s currently doped up and sitting in my Dad’s armchair, watching comedy central. But she does seem to be doing well, and the doctor thinks she’ll be doing alright in a matter of weeks.

Ryan gave us a call a few nights ago, letting us know that one of his so-called friends had punched him in the face to convince him not to get married. Apparently, he has a small group of these friends who are convinced that getting married to Molli is the worst possible thing he could do, and when trying to talk him out of it failed, they threatened violence. One of these friends came to visit, and after letting Ryan buy him a drink, walked outside with him and punched him in the face. Then he ran away, shouting profanities behind him. It’s a big mess, and basically we’re all just confused about what’s going on. I’m sure ryan will post the details to his journal at some point, so I’ll let him tell the story on his own.

Plus, Steve’s been sick all week, Miles is on the verge of being deported, and my Mom’s having troubles with her boss. HAPPY OCTOBER, EVERYONE! Things can only get better from here!

In Which Steve Gets DSL

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i finally got dsl!! fast downloads, no dialing up to the internet, etc. now we can finally get these old projects we’ve been talking about forever off the ground..!

i miss you, stephanie. i can’t wait to see you again :)

by the way, now that there is no dearth of content, let us try to refrain from posting every little thing that pops into our heads, eh ryan? *glare*