Jun 16 2007
Third time’s a charm?
Miss me? Wondering where I’ve been this week? My flaky Internet connection has kept me from doing important things like checking my e-mail and blogging. *gasp*
Bright and early this morning, I drove to Oceanic to swap out my ailing cable modem with a new one: the third Webstar in two years. The last one lasted one day short of a month. Not a very good track record, if you ask me. I don’t know why businesses purchase crappy equipment, causing frustration to customers and likely more cost to the company in the long run. I was an early adopter of broadband and remember the honkin’ huge cable modem they gave me back then. It was built like a tank and ran for years and years before it finally retired itself. Now, they have these small, cheap plasticky modems that seem to roll over and die if you just look at them funny. Frustrating!
Let’s see how long this one lasts before it craps out. Will this drive me into the arms of another ISP? After more than 10 years of being a loyal customer and enthusiastic supporter of RoadRunner, my dissatisfaction with the frequent downtime due to crappy equipment just may push me to look into other alternatives. RR, you better hope this modem lasts more than a month.
A 30-something Christian girl, blissfully wedded to her perfect match (the yang to her yin) of 14 years. A new mom to her miracle baby, born on October 4, 2008. Living life in Hawaii, less than 5 miles from her hometown, a slave to her mortgage payment, but seeking balance in her pursuit of family, faith, recreation, and rest.
Hey Donna! I just got back from Long Beach last night (see my blog). Do you turn off your cable modem when you shut your computer down? The last time I had a problem with mine - over 2 years ago - the tech who replaced it said that the modem should be on all the time, that the power shouldn’t be cycled. In any case I’ve not had a problem since then.
The main problem with the WebStar is (as you mentioned) that its made of plastic and totally unvented. Plastic is a excellent insulator, that is, the energy you put it doent have anyplace to go except to cook the guts.
To help mitigate this problem, I have mine sitting on a hefty chunk of aluminum to help draw heat away from the sensitive circuits
I’m on my 3rd webstar, and so far this heat reduced one has lasted the longest. If/when this one dies, I’ll probably take more drastic actions and cob a fan on it.
That’s not the cable modem they gave me the last time mine died… mine is a Toshiba, which has been okay (this is only the second one I’m on, after that initial gargantuan Motorola).
*hug* I missed you auntie. I was worried, sorry. Lots has happened to me since the last time. Quit work, enrolled in ITT, watched a movie. Yeah, I’m really excited about that last one. Woo! It’s been a weird week.
Plus I’ve been testing my weird ability of waking up at a specific time without an alarm clock regardless of what time I go to bed.
Get ADSL.
Doh. commented on the wrong post!
Ahh… but where would you take your business?
Have you ever tried DSL before? It’s NOT a pretty picture and it’s S L O W.
For consumers, Oceanic Time Warner is the fastest, but unless you’re a business class customer (like we are), service is just ok. But it’s still better than trying to deal with Hawaiian Tel Com or whatever they’re called now. Believe me. I had both at one time. When your DSL goes down, good luck getting in touch with anyone to resolve your issues quickly.
OTW Business Class users get top service. Usually same day with a real time frame. The actual repair guy calls you to let you know they’re coming to take a look at the problem if the NOC can’t figure out what the problem is at your location.
Good luck with the new modem!
I wish that DSL in HI was a reasonable option. Hawaiian Telcom is pretty much the only provider that’s “reasonably” priced and they require a phone line as well (no naked DSL option), so their standard package is pretty much equal in cost to RoadRunner and considerably slower.
Now, there are DSL providers in many areas of the country that are competitive with RoadRunner (or whatever cable provider they have in that area), but they don’t exist here, at least not right now.
Clearwire still hasn’t shown me enough to be considered as a competitor; quite frankly, I’d rather use EVDO through my cellular phone than any of the competitors. But it would be really tough to beat RoadRunner in HI.
Hey Donna,
That’s a really cool picture with the hard drives and modem lined up with just part of the router. The black background, the lighting, the reflection of the hardware against the table top. Too bad for that little triangle of white at the base of hard drive number 3.