Category: Personal Page 9 of 10

I had my wife take the DSL filter just off of the modem and since then I’ve only had one minor problem (for like 10 seconds based on monitoring). Why don’t they just tell you to plug your DSL modem straight into the wall and to not put the filter on it at the very beginning, thus bypassing all the tech calls to India and problems I’ve had? Argh, oh well. God is sovereign and it has been good in working on my sanctification, so praise Him for the problems (as if this was a real trial at all in the scheme of trials in the past and the trials of others). Well it was frustrating to me dern it 🙂 But it looks like taking the filter out of the picture may have done it, so woo hoo! I’ll keep all of you updated who even care to read this far about something that affects no one but me.

Well, you learn something new everyday I guess. I have had a problem with my DSL for several months now where it will drop in and out, sometimes dropping for 30 minutes. I have called SBC’s tech support over and over again to no avail. Occasionally they are able to tweak the line to some degree, but not enough to triumph over the problem. It was always like putting a band-aid on a wound. I called so many times that I just learned to have the first level tech support guy (in India usually) transfer me to the line department directly. So after this went on for several months, the connection dropping, me calling tech support, them fixing it temporarily, I finally got someone that knew something I didn’t know (something that may help the rest of you on a DSL connection if you ever have this problem). The guy at the line department said that looking at the logs on my connection he could tell the problem was more than likely an issue with my line filter. What was more astonishing (and I didn’t know this before), the guy said it’s a good rule of thumb to hook your modem’s telephone line directly to the wall jack without a filter but to put filters on every other telephony device in the house that lies on the same line! I did that and I am seeing significantly less errors in my firewall logs than I was before. However, I’m not holding my breath because this same type of thing has happened before where it appeared the issue was fixed and then it failed over and over again. I’m not understanding why they give you filters that have both a computer jack and a telephone jack if all you’re filtering is your analog voice connection. Anyway, what really amazed me and proved to me that was indeed the problem is that yesterday, when the connection had dropped for about 30 minutes, I called SBC (again), and upon learning that vital piece of information I had my wife take out the filter for me, and bamm: it connected instantly. So it seems this may have fixed it … so if you have a DSL line, you may try hooking your modem up directly to the wall, just so this never happens to you 😉

I’ve been having this problem with my laptop where I’m just doing my normal thing and for no stinkin’ reason, it just shuts off, instantaneously, with no warning. It first started happening at work, so I thought maybe it had to do with the power outlet I was plugged into. So I switched out the plug to a different outlet. No go. It did it again. After that I then attempted to switch out power strips. No go. I then took it home and it did it there too! I took the battery out, unplugged it from the wall, and just let it sit for about five minutes thinking maybe it just needed the electrons to fully drain out of it (due to possible static build-up or whatever). After I did that, I carried along with my business for a while, but then it happened again and again, both at work and home. So I’m thinking maybe there’s an issue with the power regulation on the laptop. It doesn’t seem to be the power cable for the laptop itself either because I have two different power cords, one at work (in my docking station) and one at home. Argh. That’s my frustrated rant for the day. Oh Lord, be my light, and sanctify me in the midst of frustrating, insignificant issues like this, that I may not burn with anger because I don’t get what I want in my way, but that I might turn from myself and give you glory and be satisfied by You. I pray You work in me to put my theology into practice.

For those of you who utilize my websites on a frequent basis, if you don’t know this already, I run all my sites off of my home DSL connection. Well, within the past several months, for whatever reason, the connection has been highly unstable. I have called SBC over and over, and have learned to just have them transfer me to the line department. Even though I’ve had the line department check out the connection, they seem to always find an issue and fix it, but it only lasts about a week, two tops. I wanted to let everyone know because sometimes my site maybe down, and that’s why. I’ve attempted to get SBC to fix it, but they seem to be totally unwilling. At this point, I’m waiting for a new ISP service to be released sometime this year: BPL (Broadband over Power Line). TXU has teamed up with Current Communications to offer High Speed internet service to over 2 million customers in the DFW area at very competitive prices (Dallas-Fort Worth Earns BPL Clout). I heard a rumor (haven’t actually read this anywhere), but apparently they are going to be offering speeds of 3 mbps down / 3 up! Oh man. This will basically give DSL and cable internet providers a run for their money. But this competition will actually be good in the long-run for the consumer, 1) because we will benefit as far as prices are concerned, and 2) we will benefit from increased bandwidth (mainly because DSL providers will soon be offering ADSL2+ connectivity (~20 mbps down / 3 – 5 up) over existing phonelines and cable providers will be offering DOCSIS 3.0 connectivity (10 mbps down / 3 up)). I say bring it on, but hurry up, this instability is killing me!