In addition, the message stated there are firmware and downloadable fixes for many products. The wait was so long that I peeked at the LG web-site and voila, there was a known anomaly about the player and a suggested “free” upgrade and fix for it…. talk about one hand not knowing about the other. My nieces’ download was quick, her device working perfectly, no money spent and now I await the issue to affect my player.

The Ugly
But now the fun really starts. I have an original five year-old HP media Center PC in one room and a new video-enabled Mac in another and a ten year-old rebuilt Dell in another. All I wanted was enough band-width to run my small home network so that I can edit video and audio files and transfer the same from room to room. Cablevision wanted another $40 a month to renew my contract for high-speed voice and data and TV. AT&T ‘s local adds talked about a new DSL even faster than Cable and with this speed I could use Cinema Now, Netflix and other services and actually save money on pay cable stations.

No matter what service I chose it would need a video (HDTV) capable N level router from D-Link, Linksys, 2wire or Belkin. I chose 2wire because it came for less money with the AT&T package. Just say the nightmare started then because there was not enough bandwidth to run my printer no less do some fancy footwork with room to room audio and video. AT@T, which seeming took at least 25-45 minutes to reach after each call, blamed its 2wire for not operating properly. I quickly dumped Ma Bell and switched back to Cablevision which promised to actually have a technician in my home who knew about routers, bandwidth and whole home media. 

The technician arrived bright and early and had the phone and Internet working in minutes and my brand new D-Link N-series video-gaming-everything Wi-Fi router in hand. Browsing speed went up 300-percent and with that speed, I was confident that my whole home video solution, albeit a little more expensive with Cablevision, would be a reality.

The expert and very patient Cablevision guy couldn’t get the D-Link router working, even after a 3-way call… the Cablevision guy, the D-Link guy and Cablevision. I was ready to give up multimedia for good when a support lady from Cablevision called to say she had about 100 calls last month concerning the same issue and that D-Link forgot to do one small software upgrade in its product which could and would disable any Internet access for any Wi-Fi product linked to a users’ home network.

I called D-Link and, this time, a sheepishly low voiced, level two tech support man admitted that, yes, their products had a bug that might make any and all of their new super video routers not work with a high speed home system. I then had to disconnect the router, reattach the modem and download a patch from the D-Link web site, log on again with Cablevision. Only then did my home network miraculously appear.

But, wait, there’s more! In the time it took to fix this D-Link problem, my PC was apparently vulnerable to attacks from the outside during its sporadic Internet access and, you guessed it, it was full of spam and viruses.

A quick call to my anti-virus maker’s hot line (Webroot Anti-Virus) was actually answered in less than a minute. The support person was already aware of this latest spam-virus menace and, like the good Microsoft repair man (can you say Maytag?), cleaned-up my hard drive and restored my sense of self worth and faith in mankind and computer kind for another day.

Do you all have any nightmare stories of times wasted on hold?  I’m sure you do. So share and we can compare notes…

Page 2 of 2
Previous  < 1 2