It's BAAAAAACK! And So is Val.

You may recall that I've been whining concerned about my internet for a few weeks now. It started with the loss of certain websites. No rhyme nor reason in my small mind. I could still get YouTube, but my hometown online newspaper wouldn't load. I could get some sites, but without comments. No Reddit would load. So it didn't seem to be subject matter, nor how much internet thingies I was soaking up trying to open certain websites.

We tried the old unplug it and then plug it back in technique, with moderate success. It would work fine, giving me all access for five or six hours. Then just a handful, like Blogger, YouTube, and Spotify. So I could still blog and read them, but no news or Facebook favorites like the lottery or casino.

Tuesday, my world came crashing down when I returned from town, and had NO INTERNET AT ALL! No storms. Nothing different. I was just cut off. BUT we still had internet access on our phones. I went so far as to leave the comment that I was internetless. But no way was I blogging on a phone! That's unnatural! What kind of psycho does that?

Genius tried his best to troubleshoot from Pittsburgh. I sent him the messages that popped up when I tried to access selected sites. He said it seemed like a combination of things wrong. Some seemed like HIPPIE, my laptop, who is at least 6 years old. Others were like a modem problem. Genius said to put our phones on AIRPLANE MODE, then turn wifi back on while in airplane. We had nothing. Which he said meant that our phones were just falling back on that amazing invisible juju that lets you get internet while you're driving around. NO! I don't mean I play with my phone while driving! I mean while being a passenger in a car. So the problem with my internet was coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE!

Wednesday, I called DISH, which is how we get our internet, over a little satellite that is different from the TV. After a 5-minute wait (I know, I was shocked at how speedy it was, too!), I got a guy named Clarence who sounded like he was in India. He was polite enough, and understandable enough. But he kept asking me, "Now WHAT is your TV doing?" Finally he said he would get me to the right department. That's when I talked to Tony, who sounded like a chill nerd who was talking me down from a crisis.

Tony listened to all my explanations, said he was running a test, and said that our modem was not talking to him. He thought it could be repaired, and set up and appointment for me on Thursday morning. I got an email confirmation, and then on Thursday morning, a notice that our repairman would arrive within 45 minutes. And he did!

I won't use his real name. Let's call him RP. Hick was home, and let him in, and promptly showed him to the basement where we keep the router under Genius's old desk, and the modem in the workshop, by the back door. Hm. Lots of puttering and rattling and talking and traipsing about from basement to porch, where the DISH is mounted. 90 minutes, a new modem, a new router, and STILL the internet would not hold a signal. So RP went back out to the DISH, and discovered that it had a bad eye.

Hick said the clear cover was gone off the eye. I don't know. I never looked my DISH in the eye. Hick's theory is that it got damaged from a limb (no trees around it!) or my suggestion of hail. And that maybe it got a crack, and moisture got in, which would fluctuate, and give me limited access, depending on how the sun hit it and caused evaporation. Good thing Hick isn't a detective, because the same five-or-six hour scenario happened in the dark of night, if Hick reset it in the evening.

Anyhoo... RP had a new satellite receiver eye on his truck, and installed it, but it didn't work. He called his supervisor, and discovered the closest one in our area was 2.5 hours away. OR he could pick one up the next day at the city warehouse. Which was the decision he made. Scheduled us a new appointment. Took back the new modem and new router. Nothing is ever easy for Val...

Friday morning, RP called Hick. He was on his way earlier than the scheduled noon-to-5:00 time slot. Got here before Hick could show up from his SUS2 (Storage Unit Store 2). I let RP in, and he went to the basement with a box under his arm, to let himself out the basement door, which has a springy deadbolt. I asked if the new eye was going to fix it, and RP said he hoped so, that he'd never had such trouble. Hick got home and couldn't find him. Finally they reunited. More puttering. 

When I sounded like they were just chatting, I tried it. Got my basic sites. But not the others. RP was starting to leave, so I hollered that I couldn't get all websites. He tried one, and couldn't get it. So not my HIPPIE. Back to the drawing board. Finally figured out it must be our router, which according to Genius is 15 years old. We have a teenage router!

Anyhoo... RP said he could put us in a new router (takes 2 to cover the house), and that we could get them cheaper elsewhere. Hick came up to discuss it. We (meaning ME) decided that since he was here and could do it RIGHT THEN, we'd go ahead. Cost us $350 plus some tax or fee, so around $375ish. Genius said that was worth it, since the new mesh something-or-other routers are around $250 minimum, and worth the rest to just GET IT DONE. Of course I would have been happier with the free repair of a modem, but since that was not the problem, I'm okay with the purchase and set-up of a new router. That's why I keep a miscellaneous fund!

I am back to annoying the innernets with my finger-jabbering, and happy as a clam with full access to any information or disinformation I desire to peruse!