the conversion of my phone/computer connection from old copper cables to new fiber optic cables.
The switch was supposedly not mandatory, but I was gently advised that everybody with my internet service provider would eventually be compelled to do it.
Rather than go through a future ugly ordeal with gunfire and bloodshed, I figured I'd convert early and be done with it.
The outside preparatory work was completed last Tuesday. The indoor installation would be done on Wednesday.
This post is starting to bore me - which isn't a good sign.
The two workers arrived early Wednesday afternoon. My first impression was that they looked like a couple of bewildered bookends. I attributed that to the fact that they had to scale a mountain and plow through an acre of 25-foot-high weeds to get to my front door.
The process took about an hour and a half. I didn't learn much, since the workers were about as friendly and talkative as corpses at a wake.
(one of the guys had to crawl under the house to install some wires, and he did mention that it was about 40 degrees below zero under there).
I also learned that there's no insulation in the walls - - which I already assumed, since it's generally 150 degrees below zero in the house. Except in the summer - when it's hotter than the surface of the sun.
I breathed a sigh of relief when the workers finally left (I'm sure they did too), and then I inspected their handiwork:
They installed this contraption outside by the utility box....
....and this was installed inside - in the laundry area, right above the washing machine.
The inside contraption has a winking green light, which makes me feel like I'm under surveillance. I made sure the door was tightly shut when I went into the bathroom.
Cut to the chase, Jon. How has fiber optics changed your computer and phone experience?
My desktop computer was working fine after the conversion. However, surfing the Internet seemed only a fraction faster than usual - not much difference than before.
BUT
I couldn't get an Internet connection on my laptop - - no matter how hard I tried. So I decided to call the ISP for technical support.....
.......but my landline phone didn't work, either. I got a dial tone but wasn't able to dial numbers.
I messed around with the phone connection until I was finally able to dial numbers....
.......but then the number that I dialed wouldn't ring. All I got was an echo.
So I messed around some more and eventually got the phone to work.
To make a long story short (which at this point is a complete impossibility) I was on the phone with the computer technician for about an hour. He was polite and extremely helpful.
An aside:
at one point the technician asked for the serial number on my router. I had to run into the other room - and discovered that my cat Scruffy was sleeping on the router (Scruffy and Bosco like the router because it generates warmth).
Anyway, I had to PRY a sleepy Scruffy off the router.
FINALLY, after an agony of trials and errors, the technician discovered that I could access the Internet with my network security key (which is the password that I used when I first signed up with my Internet service provider).
So, it's a happy ending, I suppose. My desktop computer works, the laptop works, the landline phone works.
And my cats still sleep on the router.
I honestly don't see a huge difference between the copper cable connection and the fiber optic one - - but I'm glad the ordeal is finally over. I hope.
BTW - I hardly ever use the landline phone, but I'm required to have one with my Internet service "plan". More money for them.
