Subject:
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Cable Modem, Day 1: Elation and Nausea
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.geek
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Date:
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Thu, 19 Oct 2000 06:49:41 GMT
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Viewed:
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295 times
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Wow. After 6 months of DSL he** (Covad/Bell Atlantic) that failed to deliver
even a copper wire, I got a sales call from Road Runner, and was up and running
(ha ha) on a cable modem within 3 business days. AMAZINGLY, Covad's stock
crashed by 55% while the cable modem installers were here! Coincidence?
Still, however wonderful the bandwidth--180k/second is heady--there are a number
of PECULIARITIES of this cable company playing "ISP". Time-Warner-Roadrunner
that is.
The two installers were friendly and seemed to like the Lego that is all over
the place. So far so good. They finished the hardware connections and told me a
PC tech would be arriving soon to fix up my computer.
Except the sales lady had told me that one of these two guys would set up my
Mac. I guess she forgot to tell me to expect a SECOND VISIT.
Two hours later, nobody else has showed up.
Not being content to leave it alone, by that time I have figured out that the
only configuration necessary is to use DHCP as my TCP/IP connect method. Boom!
It's off and running. So at least I was able to enjoy the full experience whilst
waiting for the tech to show up to finish the job.
Now I am still wondering about basic details any ISP would be at pains to
communicate: what is their DNS server address? WHAT IS MY FREAKIN' PASSWORD?
Where is the mail server? Come on guys! They didn't even leave a phone number!
RoadRunner's web site (www.rr.com, I had to guess what the URL would be--and
www.nyc.rr.com is inexplicably down) is so minimal that the word "pathetic"
comes to mind. They don't have a FAQ. (Of course not, it might give away crucial
details like their DNS address.) You can change your password, but only if you
know your password. It turns out my password is on my receipt where it says P=
XXXXX. Still, they don't have a tech support phone number. I don't who to call
to say "Uh, the 'PC Tech' didn't show up." When I typed "Support" into the
Search box, it suggested web pages for Post-Abortion Support! Here's a good one:
you have to access the web site somehow to find out if service in your area is
down... They don't even have tech support EMAIL ADDRESSES. For crying out
loooud! How many letters in "ISP" do they get?
Seeking to confer with other clueful users in my area, I hied off to grand ole
Usenet. Oops. While using RoadRunner, I'm banned from my plain-old-telephone
ISP's news server. I don't suppose RoadRunner operates a news server? Maybe it's
in the FAQ...
THIS JUST IN. Weird or what? The October MacTech arrived today with a back-page
article by Ilene Hoffman, "Cable Modem Guide". All I know of Ilene is that she's
the chick who organizes the parties at MacWorld. Anyway, the article is a cruel
parody of a cruel process: trying to reach cable modem tech support by phone.
Among its practical recommendations: if you have a choice of cable monopoly
franchises, research and choose your provider carefully, in advance--check out
how hip their phone queue music is.
There. I feel better, if not less absurd. The cable modem is working, presently.
All's well, right? ACK! THEY MISSPELLED MY FREAKIN' NAME!
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Cable Modem, Day 1: Elation and Nausea
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| (...) We've had the same problems here in Champaign-Urbana (Illinois) with DSL delivery. McLeod put in two fiber rings around the twin cities over a year ago, but still haven't made *DSL available to the public despite promises to have it ready by (...) (24 years ago, 19-Oct-00, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)
| | | Re: Cable Modem, Day 1: Elation and Nausea
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| off-topic.geek replying to my own message... Uh. There was a little "Help" link on the www.rr.com page. That helped. Got the darn smtp address. Now I can finally mail my "Auczilla" bids, the true purpose of having a cable modem. (24 years ago, 19-Oct-00, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)
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