My stuttering experience with AT&T

[Bob Of Burleson]

It started when I began having trouble listening to my Internet radio after midnight. The WiFi signal would become so weak that the radio would lose the station and I'd have to reboot. Terrible nuisance.

After a couple of months of this, I called AT&T, our provider for all communications services. After the usual round of India-to-U.S. phone help, the guy with the accent agreed to send out a techie.

The young man (he was 21) tested our signal and found that it was indeed weak, a condition he attributed to the cable into the house being old and degraded. So he replaced it, braving the heat of the attic to do so. Then as a bonus he put us on a new and stronger WiFi network, which entailed installing a new modem and resetting all the wireless devices in the house. In still another perk, he gave us a spanking new TV cable receiver for the living room.

All was fine and everything was courtesy of AT&T. I tipped the kid 20 bucks and he went on his way.

However, the next day while we were watching the news, the sound went off on both cable-connected TVs. No audio, not a squeak even with repeated reboots. So we were back on the phone to AT&T. This time we got somebody in the states and he was very helpful, tapping into our system and getting the sound back on — for a little while. A couple of hours later it went off again. Back on the phone to AT&T and another next-day appointment for a techie.

While we were waiting, I noticed that my wireless printer wasn't working. Trying to connect it to the new home network proved fruitless. I gave up and decided to let the techie take care of it the next day.

This is getting wordy, so I'll wind it up quickly.

• The techie found that the HDMI cable from the AT&T receiver was not compatible with our living room TV. Replacing it with an AT&T cable fixed that problem.

• The computer room TV, which also didn't have audio, was a different story. After many phone calls to AT&T experts, the techie discovered that I had left a headphone converter plugged into the TV jack, cutting off the TV speaker.

• The techie was also unable get the wireless printer to connect with the new network and finally determined that it was not compatible with the new modem. This necessitated replacing that modem with an older modem, which solving the connection problem. But that meant that all the other wireless gadgets in the house had to be hooked up to the new, new network. Which we did, and everything is working well now.

Tomorrow? I'll let you know.

[GRANDPA]

Oh, man. I can remember the hassle of rotating the rooftop TV antenna so we could pick up the third TV station (CBS), usually unsuccessful.

[marti]

I'm glad all is well.
I reckon I'm fortunate to be on satillite TV and internet!!! It sounds very confusing.

[Bob Of Burleson]

This AT&T setup is like the control panel of a Boeing 777. If the techies have trouble with it, what chance does a little old lady in Pasadena have?

The AT&T remote in the computer room doesn't turn off the TV, so I have to use the TV's remote. But I'm going to put up with that slight annoyance because all the other functions on the remote are working and reprogramming the thing is a %$*@&.

[BillB]

I remember a black and white TV, a radio and a black telephone with a brown cloth cord.
We lived pretty good then.

[planosteve]

I remember a black and white TV, a radio and a black telephone with a brown cloth cord.
We lived pretty good then.

Ah Bill.....wrong thread?