Over the past few years, my household has been nagged by a minor source of irritation. I have no idea what it means or how to deal with it.
It goes like this...
A couple of years ago, I replaced my aging 2004-vintage Airport base station. The base station was hooked via Cat5 cable to a Verizon DSL modem. We also used a (approx.) 2007-vintage Airport Express as a range booster and connection to an HP LaserJet via short Ethernet cable. I was having problems with the network (blackouts in WiFi service).
The solution: I bought a factory-refurbished Airport Express base station direct from Apple's web-store. I made the hugely disappointing discovery that my older WiFi and computer hardware was not compatible with newer Airport gear. The Airport software utility does not recognize the older Express and will not let it on the network. I have an ancient G4 iMac which I occasionally use as an (archive) file server. No go on the new LAN. I would up buying a refurbished Airport Extreme from Apple. I believe that both the newest Extreme and Express are the latest generation.
In the last couple of years, our household has been relying on the newest Extreme base station, which is connected to the Cat5 cable and ultimately the Verizon DSL modem and the internet. Most of the problems vanished.
Except: there is an occasional hiccup in the internet connection. It makes no sense. It could happen once a day, once a week or once a month. For anywhere from one to three minutes, there will be a total interruption in internet service. And just as suddenly as a blackout occurs, it vanishes as if it never happened. If you try to call Verizon technical support when it happens, the problem is gone before you can get anyone on the phone to talk to.
We replaced the ethernet cable from the modem to the Airport base station with a brand new one. We even tried replacing the Verizon DSL modem. Nothing changes. Verizon's newer modems are a real pain because they have a WiFi router built-in and if you don't want to use their WiFi, you have to get into their settings and turn it off, and they don't like to let you do that so you have to do a diplomatic dance with their foreign tech support personnel (who do not speak English as a primary language) to get them to help you turn the modem's WiFi off. They don't like to hear that you're using Airport.
Unless Apple is in the business of pedaling low-quality refurbished Airport gear on their site, I'm tempted to suspect it's a Verizon problem. I have no idea how to address it.
When you call Verizon for help, you get someone on the phone who obviously isn't even on the same continent and it is obvious they are told to put you through all kinds of rigorous tests that are designed to avoid consideration that the problem could be with Verizon's lines or hardware outside your house. The routine goes like this: You have to unplug your network from their modem, then you have to plug your computer directly into their modem via Ethernet. (The modem is in a storage room that makes it necessary to lug a computer in there, set it up, plug it in and go through their procedures to test the connection.)
We have had DSL service through Verizon here since Dec. 2002. Most of that time, there was absolutely no problem. There were occasional hiccups requiring we put up with the diagnostic procedure mentioned in the previous paragraph. They were few and far between. Then when we had to replace the old Airport a couple of years ago, this new infrequent interruption in service issue kept nagging us. It has never really gone away. Sometimes it also feels like our internet service has been throttled. It just seems slow.
I can't see how this is anything on our end.
We live on a side hill on the outskirts of town. The rest of the town got DSL the same time we did. The local cable TV company also offers high-speed internet, and both Verizon and the cable company slowly nickel-and-dime your monthly bill until they make phone, TV and internet all expensive.
About the same time we were having blackout problems, Verizon installed a new cell tower a few miles out our road and strung fiber optic lines out to the tower. We talked to the Verizon linemen and asked if this meant that we were finally getting Verizon FIOS (fiber optic service) in our neighborhood. (We were promised this by Verizon in 2007.) The line crew said no, this was just for the cell tower.
Verizon no longer allows you to complain to a local office or line crew if you have a problem. You have to call their tech support line and do the diplomatic dance with someone on another continent who's pre-programmed bias is that you have something wrong with your equipment, not theirs.
Short of ditching Verizon and moving to a cave somewhere, I was wondering if anyone else had any thoughts on this. At present, we're only using the newer Airport Extreme modem; everything else is shelved.
It goes like this...
A couple of years ago, I replaced my aging 2004-vintage Airport base station. The base station was hooked via Cat5 cable to a Verizon DSL modem. We also used a (approx.) 2007-vintage Airport Express as a range booster and connection to an HP LaserJet via short Ethernet cable. I was having problems with the network (blackouts in WiFi service).
The solution: I bought a factory-refurbished Airport Express base station direct from Apple's web-store. I made the hugely disappointing discovery that my older WiFi and computer hardware was not compatible with newer Airport gear. The Airport software utility does not recognize the older Express and will not let it on the network. I have an ancient G4 iMac which I occasionally use as an (archive) file server. No go on the new LAN. I would up buying a refurbished Airport Extreme from Apple. I believe that both the newest Extreme and Express are the latest generation.
In the last couple of years, our household has been relying on the newest Extreme base station, which is connected to the Cat5 cable and ultimately the Verizon DSL modem and the internet. Most of the problems vanished.
Except: there is an occasional hiccup in the internet connection. It makes no sense. It could happen once a day, once a week or once a month. For anywhere from one to three minutes, there will be a total interruption in internet service. And just as suddenly as a blackout occurs, it vanishes as if it never happened. If you try to call Verizon technical support when it happens, the problem is gone before you can get anyone on the phone to talk to.
We replaced the ethernet cable from the modem to the Airport base station with a brand new one. We even tried replacing the Verizon DSL modem. Nothing changes. Verizon's newer modems are a real pain because they have a WiFi router built-in and if you don't want to use their WiFi, you have to get into their settings and turn it off, and they don't like to let you do that so you have to do a diplomatic dance with their foreign tech support personnel (who do not speak English as a primary language) to get them to help you turn the modem's WiFi off. They don't like to hear that you're using Airport.
Unless Apple is in the business of pedaling low-quality refurbished Airport gear on their site, I'm tempted to suspect it's a Verizon problem. I have no idea how to address it.
When you call Verizon for help, you get someone on the phone who obviously isn't even on the same continent and it is obvious they are told to put you through all kinds of rigorous tests that are designed to avoid consideration that the problem could be with Verizon's lines or hardware outside your house. The routine goes like this: You have to unplug your network from their modem, then you have to plug your computer directly into their modem via Ethernet. (The modem is in a storage room that makes it necessary to lug a computer in there, set it up, plug it in and go through their procedures to test the connection.)
We have had DSL service through Verizon here since Dec. 2002. Most of that time, there was absolutely no problem. There were occasional hiccups requiring we put up with the diagnostic procedure mentioned in the previous paragraph. They were few and far between. Then when we had to replace the old Airport a couple of years ago, this new infrequent interruption in service issue kept nagging us. It has never really gone away. Sometimes it also feels like our internet service has been throttled. It just seems slow.
I can't see how this is anything on our end.
We live on a side hill on the outskirts of town. The rest of the town got DSL the same time we did. The local cable TV company also offers high-speed internet, and both Verizon and the cable company slowly nickel-and-dime your monthly bill until they make phone, TV and internet all expensive.
About the same time we were having blackout problems, Verizon installed a new cell tower a few miles out our road and strung fiber optic lines out to the tower. We talked to the Verizon linemen and asked if this meant that we were finally getting Verizon FIOS (fiber optic service) in our neighborhood. (We were promised this by Verizon in 2007.) The line crew said no, this was just for the cell tower.
Verizon no longer allows you to complain to a local office or line crew if you have a problem. You have to call their tech support line and do the diplomatic dance with someone on another continent who's pre-programmed bias is that you have something wrong with your equipment, not theirs.
Short of ditching Verizon and moving to a cave somewhere, I was wondering if anyone else had any thoughts on this. At present, we're only using the newer Airport Extreme modem; everything else is shelved.
