Here follows the sad story of my attempt to change my router.
So I ordered a new 802.11g wireless router. I got it, and I tried to install it last night. That seemed to go OK, and I was on the net fine, and all seemed well. That is, until I tried to get on a few websites, and they wouldn't load. (Most disturbingly, SG was one that would not load at all.) Firefox would immediately pop up a little box that the site could not be found. I thought the firewall probably needed a little tweaking, so I called their tech support.
And here the nightmare begins. I got routed to a center in India, which, in itself, doesn't bother me that much. But they wouldn't help me unless I registered online. The problem was that their web site was one that would not load. I explained this, and got some limited help, and that didn't work. So I had to call my cable company back and get them to help me put my computer back onto my cable modem directly, so I could register.
It was a little late by then, so I waited until this afternoon to try again. I got another tech in India, who said he couldn't pull up my serial number, even though I know I put it in. I asked him if I could give him my phone number, address, or something. He claimed he could not, which is probably bullshit. So I had to go back onto the cable modem directly and register yet again.
I call back. The third tech still says she cannot find my registration, but I'm looking right at the web site that says I am registered. I tell her this. To her credit, she does give me some support, but I find her accent almost impenetrable. In a political sense, this embarasses me, in an emotional sense, it enrages me. We talk for about half an hour, she has me try various tweaks, and suggests I download new firmware. Which I do, but that doesn't work.
So fuck it. I put my old, 802.11b router back on, and here I am again. I'm debating sending the router I bought back, because I don't want to deal anymore with their shitty support. (I should mention that they had the most convoluted phone tree I've ever encountered.) They can go fuck themselves.
I'll name the company on request. I will say it's not Linksys, because that's the router I'm back on. But I doubt I'll buy anything else from these bastards.
So I ordered a new 802.11g wireless router. I got it, and I tried to install it last night. That seemed to go OK, and I was on the net fine, and all seemed well. That is, until I tried to get on a few websites, and they wouldn't load. (Most disturbingly, SG was one that would not load at all.) Firefox would immediately pop up a little box that the site could not be found. I thought the firewall probably needed a little tweaking, so I called their tech support.
And here the nightmare begins. I got routed to a center in India, which, in itself, doesn't bother me that much. But they wouldn't help me unless I registered online. The problem was that their web site was one that would not load. I explained this, and got some limited help, and that didn't work. So I had to call my cable company back and get them to help me put my computer back onto my cable modem directly, so I could register.
It was a little late by then, so I waited until this afternoon to try again. I got another tech in India, who said he couldn't pull up my serial number, even though I know I put it in. I asked him if I could give him my phone number, address, or something. He claimed he could not, which is probably bullshit. So I had to go back onto the cable modem directly and register yet again.
I call back. The third tech still says she cannot find my registration, but I'm looking right at the web site that says I am registered. I tell her this. To her credit, she does give me some support, but I find her accent almost impenetrable. In a political sense, this embarasses me, in an emotional sense, it enrages me. We talk for about half an hour, she has me try various tweaks, and suggests I download new firmware. Which I do, but that doesn't work.
So fuck it. I put my old, 802.11b router back on, and here I am again. I'm debating sending the router I bought back, because I don't want to deal anymore with their shitty support. (I should mention that they had the most convoluted phone tree I've ever encountered.) They can go fuck themselves.
I'll name the company on request. I will say it's not Linksys, because that's the router I'm back on. But I doubt I'll buy anything else from these bastards.
I had an experience with a computer company that also moved their support to India, and one call I had no idea what they were saying to me. I was trying really hard to listen too.