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Internet Connection Down? Some Tips for Dealing With It

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Today begins day three without my once trusty and dependable Charter Internet connection. When online, it’s fast, considering we live in a rural setting. Monday the sync light starting blinking at me, taunting me. A blinking sync light means your modem can’t get a connection to the service provider.

What To Do If Internet Goes Down

First, power cycle the modem and your router while hoping that just a reboot will fix the problem. In my case, I did that: and still no sync. So I called tech support and they claimed there was an outage in my area. I needed to wait it out. This information turned out to be false since my office at church had internet the entire time. So check with your neighbors (my church is next to my home) to see if there is indeed an area-wide outage.

Blinking Sync light indicates the modem cannot connect to the Internet

Tuesday morning the maddening sync light still blinked incessantly so I demanded they send someone out and this morning I am waiting for the “cable guy” to show up sometime between 8 & 10 AM. At least It’s not 8 and Noon like it used to be.

If you find yourself in this situation, demand a discount. I did and got $20 off my bill. Not a lot, but it helps.

Wireless Service Providers as a Backup

As a backup, I’m using my Verizon Wireless MiFi and my AT&T iPhone and 3G iPad. Be careful, since you usually have a limited amount of data with a wireless plan. I checked my data usage and found that I’ve only used about half a gigabyte (GB) on the MiFi since the outage. I can’t check with AT&T since I made a change to every line on my account when the iPhone 4S arrived last Friday. AT&T won’t tell you how much data you’ve used till the next billing cycle starts after you make such a change.

The MiFi works for basic stuff, but inside our house it’s too slow for hulu Plus and Netflix, which my two sons watch almost exclusively. They’ve been popping in DVD movies, and they pulled out the Mili Pico Projector last night to watch a movie on the dining room wall. Their Facebook time has been on their cell phones.

Finding an Alternative Internet Connection

In order to get some work done I stayed late at my church office last night. Also, there’s a local coffee shop that will let you get online so long as you spend at least $4, so I got a drink and a muffin for breakfast yesterday before going to my office.

Wi-Fi Finder

If you don’t know where you can go for free Wi-Fi, there’s always Starbucks and McDonald’s. Pizza Hut for lunch, or supper, and even Denny’s has free Wi-Fi. To find less obvious places download one of the Wi-Fi finder apps in either the Android Market or Apple App Store. I use one on my iPhone called Wi-Fi Finder.

Good news – the cable guy showed up just after 9 AM and found a wire disconnected on the pole outside my house. I should be up and running in less than an hour!

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Joseph A. Yager

    10/19/2011 at 9:58 am

    The dude even showed up within the 2-hour time frame – that’s even more impressive!

  2. Anonymous

    10/19/2011 at 8:39 pm

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