Soo... A few weeks ago..Well maybe closer to a month ago now I came back in a big way. I got a new banner, explained some art stuff, made 2 post within a week of each other, Indie Nation! - I was psyched to be out of school and back into gaming, looking forward to sharing with all of you.

BUT, things don't always go as planned.

As some of you may have known I am the last dial up user on the face of the earth. That said my modem got fried about 5 weeks back and since then I've been actively pursuing a high speed alternative - which has never been available to me.

This is going to be a long rant/rambling so, if you aren't interested in tech support/sales horror stories turn back now.



Lets start with Bell. This company should just call it quits now- sure this guy may have invented the telephone but they have slandered his name and should be embarrassed of their service. That said, my father is not really a 'tech' guy </understatement> and he couldn't care less about 'service' so long as he can make a phone call.

So I call up Bell, my long time dial up provider and tell them that my internet is no longer working. After running through some diagnostics they come to the conclusion that my modem is not functioning properly and the solve the problem I will need a new one.

Eff that.



Less than a year ago I paid 40 bucks for the current technological artifact that kept me downloading at 22kps, so why would I spend any more to stay out of date? I needed to thoroughly explore my options here so I didn't go for the 'brand new' 56k. Instead I inquired about what faster services Bell could offer me. I call annually and ask about high speed services but they never had anything for me- until now! Portable Internet! I know it isn't great- hell, using anything 'portable' as your permanent solution is never a good thing but like I said I had no other options. So I go for it and after a few phone calls/weeks I finally received it in the mail. I received this modem because my address was approved, the service was available in my area, but lo- I got no reception at all. So, I call and they flat out tell me that it won't work, after waiting and calling so many times I was pretty frustrated and just asked for a return kit - more on that later.

After this failed attempt, being worked up and let down, I was pointed to Rogers- don't know why this never occurred to me... Anyway, I give them a call and ask what is available. I'm told that they have high speed available to me- so I ask specifically "So will I need to get the wireless modem?" And they quickly correct me, "No sir, I'm showing here that DSL is available in your area, so it wouldn't be a wireless connection."

Alleluia.

It was like getting set up on a blind date- you don't know what to expect but you have really low expectations and just want to get it over with- and then you find out that your friend set you up with God, and he has bestowed upon you his greatest gift, the internet. [so my metaphor got lost...]



Anyways, I was elated- I know it isn't the fastest in the world but its like being in 2002 when for the past 8 years you've been in 95. I was thrilled, and they began processing the account and my address and would call me back.

So I never got that call, I was anxious though, so I called back and was told something that will haunt me until the day that I die.

"Oh, Rogers has stopped providing DSL services as of six months ago."


wat.



I was just sold something that the company wasn't selling anymore. WAT.

So I asked about my options and they suggested- ya- portable internet. I went along with it. They told me it was available in my area and that I would need to pick up the modem at a Rogers store. I do it. No reception. I call and report the same thing I had to Bell a little over a week ago, I got three responses. "Oh, well I'm showing here that your address doesn't qualify for our portable internet." I get transferred, "You are definitely within range." Transferred back, "Well it says here that this connection requires a special 'Outdoor modem'. "

WAT.

So they told me to go back to the Rogers store and exchange the modem I got with the outdoor one.

Around this time I get a bill from Bell. Guess whats on there? Yes. A 30 dollar portable internet charge. ugh. So I take care of that pretty easily but still hadn't received my return kit so I ask again and they tell me there was no record of the request and that they would send one right away. Alrighty.

So I'm at the Rogers store and I tell the guy what happened to which he responds, "I don't have outdoor modems, we've never carried outdoor modems."

sigh...

So he calls up Rogers and tells them whats up then offers to solve the problem with me on the phone. So we go through the motions and the woman says she needs to cancel my current portable account in order to get me another one. Sure- whatever. So this all takes about 30 minutes and then her system crashes. Luckily the delay is only an extra ten minutes. So allegedly she sent an 'outdoor modem' to me.



I didn't get the outdoor modem and I waited over 2 weeks. So I call and they say they have no record of that transaction, so they send me another one. 2 weeks later I get it and I'm getting mixed reception but I'm optimistic. Ultimately though the thing never was consistent enough to get me an IP address and thus I've wasted my time, and about 350 bucks in modems that I had not been reimbursed for yet. So we play with the device for a few days, try it on the roof and what not...A second modem arrives...Hm. So now I dont really know what to do, and I'm still deciding. All I know is that I'm going to be stuck with dial up so I should at least get that working.

I go out and get a new modem and around the same time receive two return kits from Bell [after something like 4 weeks and 3 calls]. I plug the new modem in and - NOTHING HAPPENS. Its still broken. So I call Bell and tell them that THEY told me to get a new modem and that THEY cost me over a month of my life testing various products and spending hours upon hours on the phone. So I demanded to be reimbursed for the phone and my last months bill of dial up- since I hadn't used it and they charged me anyway. Couldn't do anything about the modem but I got my months payment back.

I call tech support about the service and we go through a whole bunch of tests which yield no useful results. I'm on the phone with a woman from India who I can barely hear for a good 40 minutes. Eventually she wants to run msconfig - and that crashes my computer. Somewhere within the 10 minute boot sequence she gets disconnected...


Luckily she calls me back but msconfig crashes my machine again and she tells me I have a problem with my RAM and that I should get more. I'll admit the machine is in rough shape. So I finally upgrade to 1.5GB RAM and still haven't had any luck.

So thats about where I'm at Dtoid. Sorry I haven't been around, I'm at my girlfriends right now and she's asleep...so...

I know nobody is going to read all that but I needed to get it off of my chest.