More Technology Equals More Pain

By TheWild1 at 22 June, 2008, 12:29 am, Categories : Deals and Others

This isn’t necessarily a financial post, but everybody has some form of a home network, so hopefully you can relate.

Update 9:38 PM est - I got a DLink Xtreme N Gigabit Router and everything seems to be running up and fast.

Lot of wires

Remember those days when it was just a luxury to have high speed internet. Then came along popularity of home networking. It was simple enough. Just plug in the wires into the back of the router, but then came wireless. Now the need for internet connectivity anywhere is almost a requirement (around my house at least).

There are networks, printer sharing, Slingboxes, video game system, and telephones. One false move on the router and it can all stop functioning, or, in my case, the Linksys router just stop working.

It was one of those nifty Wireless-N routers, although I am sure many don’t know what that means. The important point is that it was a good one and stopped working for no reason. I tried Linksys support; however, imagine my surprise when I found out it was located in the Philippines. Since my router was dead, and I needed to try and troubleshoot it, while on phone with support, the only option was a cell phone, but the reception was just terrible and there was a STRONG communication barrier. So I decided to just try and scour the internet, until I found my answer.

Don’t Say its True

Good news was that I found the problem. Bad news was that the router was dead. Luckily I had a Netgear old school freebie router that had never been open. I got it three years ago when I bought a laptop at CompUSA. It wasn’t the best, but it got the job done; however, everything was out of whack.

The Slingbox or Xbox 360 weren’t configured correctly. The printer wasn’t working for different computers, and, since this was only a temporary fix, I didn’t want to spend the time correcting it all. Not to even mention the the spoiled person I am who felt like I was on such a slow connection.

But Enough is Enough

The madness must stop. I will be buying a new router today. I don’t know what the brand will be, but it probably won’t be Linksys. It looks like it is time for a chance. Hopefully, I can be back in full action later today. I’ve missed the Slingbox.

The Lesson

In the age of the globalization and the internet, having your connection limited is almost just like losing power. Do you have a back-up plan? Do you even know what to do?

Technology can be a very good thing. Especially when they connect with each other, but one false move or outage and it can all get messed up. Suddenly you lost your connection with the world.

What kind of experiences have had with home networking and routers? Are there certain brands you like?

image source - idleroux