Technology is not my friend

[pegkerr]

Rob is trying to clear the laptop of a virus that has rendered it unuseable.

Our home wireless network keeps going down--unrelated problem. Attempts at diagnostics come up with the tentative answer "our signal is too weak." What the hell does that mean? And why can't Comcast fix it, with all the times they've been out to our house? Naturally, since we use Vonage for our phone, everytime our network goes down, so does our home phone number. This is infuriating.

And now (even more infuriating) my cell phone also decided to die this morning. Is it the battery? Didn't I just go through this?

I think the heavens are trying to cut me off from everybody. Bad timing, when we're just about to leave for Portus.

Comments

[slrose.livejournal.com]

Do you have cordless phones? Some of them use the same frequency that the wireless network does.

Our wireless has been very good the last couple of weeks, since I got a new set of corded/cordless phones. [Of course, the new modem and router might also have something to do with it, too.]

Wireless interference

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

As I said to DD-B:

We also have intermittent wireless failures, probably device interference from a nearby neighbor, but this is a different problem. That only affects the desktop and the iMac, not the Vonage and the (now down for the count) laptop which are hardwired to the network. Our own cordless phones are on 5.8 GHz, not the same frequency (2.4 GHz) as the wireless, therefore not likely the cause of this failure.


Rob

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

I feel your pain. Oh, our wireless works fine--when the network is working at all. It starts out good most mornings, but by early to mid afternoon, internet pages are load soooooo slooooowly, if they don't simply time out.

J is on the second router and has spent uncountable hours on the phone with various tech supports, as well as talking to local friends who have techie-fu (I wouldn't be surprised if he and Rob have talked). The common answer seems to be, these things do that. Gaaaaaah!

Any idea how you got the virus--anything we should watch out for?

Forget technology and have a great time at Portus!

Virus alert

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I think Fiona opened the wrong email. We have the Sasser worm and another worm and I have to rehabilitate Windows so the the antiviurus software can load and tell me how many virii are there. Webroot Spy Sweeper identified over 67 spyware threats needing quarantine.

My mom got an email from Fiona's account that was not sent by us and not accepted by her Mac, so it has definite viral properties.

Rob

Re: Virus alert

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

Oh, ugh. Good luck!

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

We have strange wireless failures intermittently (but most weeks). They have persisted across two access points, the first a widely-liked open-source based big-name brand model, the second a business-class box with multiple wireless network capability and such. Periodically, one or more computers just can't get an IP address (no, I haven't configured it for such a small dynamic pool that it's out).

I haven't investigated if Lydy's wireless phone is involved; that makes some sense, it might be. The lack of improvement when I ugpraded the access point is worrisome.

I'm not clear on how Comcast and wireless can interact with Vonage; wouldn't Vonage be before the wireless access point in the circuit?

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

No: Coax to splitter; coax to modem; cat-6 to router/accesspoint/firewall; cat-6 to vonage box, cat-6 to laptop, wireless to airport card on iMac, wireless to USB receiver on desktop.

I was thinking it may have been a failure to change modem settings after the RoadRunner to Comcast transition, but the Comcast tech didn't. He was concerned about the very low signal strength received by the modem. Said it was one of the newest modems, so not likely a hardware issue. When it's down, you can't even connect to the status logs. It has to be online to talk downstream, which makes no sense to me. I can talk to the router when it is on but offline, but not the modem. Baffling.

I'm putting in another call to the techs today. Sigh.

We also have intermittent wireless failures, probably device interference from a nearby neighbor, but this is a different problem. That only affects the desktop and the iMac, not the Vonage and the (now down for the count) laptop. Our own cordless phones are on 5.8 GHz, not the same frequency (2.4 GHz) as the wireless, therefore not likely the cause of this failure..


Rob

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Is it the city wireless network interfering with yours?

K. [I have heard rumors of that problem]

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

We can see the city network on the list of available access points, so it is here. I suppose it is possible it goes into overdrive on occasion and overpowers local networks, but the problem is so intermittent that I am dubious that this is the culprit. I don't know if we'll ever figure this one out. The total lack of internet connection is a much more frustrating and immediate problem and can in no way relate to the Minneapolis wireless network (unless transferring to it provides the solution to the problem).

Rob

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

Clearly, one of the girls is a wizard. Dresden-style, not Potter.

[nsmom.livejournal.com]

I had this problem with Comcast re: the signal - it turned out that my cable had been split too much, and they had to move the splits so that I had only one between me and the outside. It took months to resolve this though. What I did was to call them EVERY TIME the service went out - it took a couple of techs coming out, but they fixed it and we haven't had any problems since then.

And our wireless kept going out when my router started to go. Getting a new router fixed that problem.

[aome.livejournal.com]

If technology cooperates while you're AT Portus, would you take a photo of some favorite event/activity/something that especially tickles you, for me?

*kicks your phone and laptop to get them to work* Kicking works, doesn't it?