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.

There are lots of reasons I don’t watch the Sci Fi channel much. I don’t watch it because the shows are better on Hulu or Netflix. I can’t imagine that I will watch it any more often if they change the name to Syfy?

Who’s idea was this?

I can just imagine the marketing conversation that lead to this decision.

Sci Fi Channel Aims to Shed Geeky Image With New Name – TVWeek – News.

It has been a big week for me. I dumped my DSL and moved back to cable Internet.

I didn’t do it for price or performance. I did it because the phone lines in my house keep shorting out and the phone company said it would cost nearly $300 to fix the problem. So, I jumped to cable phone and Internet service and dumped the phone company.

Changing Internet services is a painless process. I thought I would write this week about how to get broadband Internet service at the best rate and make the process easy.

First, there are three types of broadband to consider if you live in a populated area. If you live on the outskirts, your only option may be satellite Internet. The only people who should consider satellite Internet are people who live in the toolies and RV folks.

Everyone else should stick with cable, DSL or microwave wireless service.

Here’s a breakdown of the differences:

Cable – fastest and typically the most expensive option unless bundled with other services such as TV or phone service.

DSL – Tiered service offers different speeds at different prices, but all are faster and better than dial-up.

Microwave wireless – typically about as fast as the slowest DSL (around 256k) for standard service and faster speeds are available at an increased cost. Great if other options are not available.

If speed doesn’t matter, as all are at least 10X faster than dial-up, price will likely be the deciding factor in which service to go with. Shop around. Make sure to ask the following questions:

• What is the absolute lowest price I can get broadband Internet for?
• Is this price a promotion?
• What else do I have to commit to to get this price?
• How fast is this service?

These questions will not rule any service out, they will just help you compare apples to apples.

Once you have found the best price, go with it. Don’t worry if it is only a limited time offer. At the end of the term you can switch to one of the other services for roughly the same price.

Hopping back and forth between companies and services is easy as long as you set up a new email address with gmail, yahoo or hotmail.com. Switching to one of these free services will mean that you will never have to change you email address again.

If you are an AOL or MSN user, go ahead and cancel your dial-up service. AOL and MSN both work for free once you have broadband even if you cancel.

Following this advice and jumping from one service to another will stimulate competition in the broadband market and thus lower prices. The US has the most expensive broadband fees of any developed (and most under developed) countries. As long as people stick with the same service even after costs have gone up, the industry will see no reason to change their methods.

Rick wrote a great article on how to save money on your telecommunications bill a few months ago. Click here to read that article.