Feeling Some Satisfaction

If you're anything like me, you feel like you have both hands tied behind your back when you complain to your utility company about service.  Just this year alone we've lost our Internet connection three times; we did the old disconnect everything and reboot routine to restore our service but that's not what I paid for.

When we lost our WIFI  Saturday night,I didn't complain  because I  switched over to my unlimited data plan  4G speed on my iPhone and iPad and went about about my business. I wasn't even aware that my wife was in the next room calling Suddenlink to schedule an appointment.I’m glad she did because I’m now getting what I paid for.

I paid for the 15 Mbbs bandwidth knowing that I needed a high-speed connection to be able to view live and prerecorded television programs on my iPad. I bought a high speed router to support the seven devices we have on our home WIFI network.  It worked so-so at the lower bandwidth, but it’s not a feature I used very much because of that reason. A faster WIFI connection helps you navigate the VA on line forum which has a lot of page loads embedded in their startup screen.

Yesterday, the SuddenLink technician showed up, but we didn't get off on a good start because as soon as he entered the front door, he said that our trouble might be our router. It was as though he was laying out his excuse beforehand.  This upset my wife and got her into the arguing mood, so I sent her to the store, so I could play the good cop. I convinced the tech that I couldn’t be hoodwinked, so he agreed to check the outside wiring and then I suggested that he check the Internet speed up to my modem using a the website Speedest.net. He then insisted on replacing the old cable, tighten up connections before testing and that’s just what I observed because I have a sneaky suspicion that he boosted the signal. He then tested my connection showing that I was receiving a download signal of 20 Mbbs which was more than what I was paying for.

There are some advantages of playing a good cop sometimes because after engaging in a conversation with him; I found out that Suddenlink is upgrading 2400 new homes in Victoria, so WIFI and cable TV is being disrupted without the customer's knowledge.  This technician was from Houston because Victoria’s technicians are overwhelmed. He was surprised my order was tended to so fast.

I’m now a happy camper thinking I finally won one over the man, but I’m also keeping my fingers crossed. How bad was my connection? My iPhone is seven times faster now, and I’m now getting a true HD quality picture from a prerecorded television show on my iPad. Put that in the plus side column of being retired because if I was working I would have worked around the issue until I found time for a resolution. I’m retired, so the time is now;I have the time.

I'm not done Suddenlink because if the connection speed doesn't hold ,the technician told me that I might need an updated coaxial cable ,one that has the dual routing purposes of an internet connection..You know the kind ,the download and upload capability that a television connection doesn't need.