talkingDigital

Most people have discovered that Bresnan is back up, but if your Internet is still down, the problem could be on your end. I have been 100 percent successful in getting all my friends and family back online today but it took a few tricks. I am not 100 percent sure that each of these steps is required but, like I said, it has worked.

This process will not work if the outage is on the cable company’s end.

Before you begin – check with as many people in your neighborhood as possible to make sure that the outage isn’t on the cable company’s end. Don’t call your neighbor across town as an outage can be limited to a single block of service. It is best if you have neighbors next door, across the street or somewhere close to break a window with a rock. Do not throw a rock at your neighbor’s window. That was simply to explain how close your neighbor’s house should be.

These steps are recommended before you call the cable company. I also recommend giving the outage at least 2 hours before you call for help. Cable companies tend to assume that an outage is on your end and may walk your through steps that make the problem worse if the problem is on their end. There is no harm in preforming these steps at any time. Sometimes it will help speed your connection up if it seems to be a little sluggish.

1. Visit OpenDNS.com and follow the directions for changing the DNS numbers in your router or on your computer. If you don’t have a router, you will need to change the DNS numbers on each computer. If you have a router, you only need to add the numbers in the router.

OPEN DNS NUMBERS:
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220

GEEK NOTE: Yes, there are other public DNS numbers you can you, but I am trying to keep this simple.

2. Apply any changes you made to the DNS settings in your router. This is usually done with a link that says something like “Apply” or “Apply Changes”

3. Now, unplug your modem (usually a black box with lots of lights. The lights are usually labeled Internet, Ethernet, Power). You will also need to pull the battery out if your phone has lights for Telephone as well.

4. Unplug the router and turn off your computer(s).

5. At this point, your modem, router and computer should all be off.

6. Put the battery back in your modem and connect the power and wait for about 5 minutes for it to acquire a good connection.

7. Connect the power to your router and give it a few seconds to establish a solid connection.

8. Turn your computer(s) back on.

This should bring everything back up. If not, call the cable company and insist that a tech come out.

When you are a computer guy, you know when the Internet is out somewhere. Calls come in all at once.

Last night, I was mini-golfing with my kids and my cell phone buzzed. It was a friend informing me that their Bresnan Internet and phone service wasn’t working. I had them do the usual modem and router reset. That didn’t fix the problem, so I blamed Bresnan and told them to wait it out. As I was hanging up, my call waiting went off – it was someone 20 miles away from the previous caller with exactly the same problem. I blamed Bresnan and answered the next call waiting call.

I walked the last few holes so that I could talk on my cell phone to comfort people during their time of loss. Read the rest of this entry →

Anyone who follows tech news knows that today, Facebook announced that they have acquired FriendFeed. Not a big deal to most people.

What does FriendFeed do?

FriendFeed is a social media service that tracks “friends” across all of the other social media services – Twitter, Facebook, Netflix, Tumblr, etc. etc.

FriendFeed allows users to watch what their friends are doing everywhere – but it also allows users to post everywhere more easily.

Like Twitter, Facebook is searchable. However, FriendFeed also aggregates Twitter feeds. This means that a FriendFeed search could yield what everyone is talking about everywhere. Read the rest of this entry →