At work, that is. Our internet connection was down the entire day. And there wasn’t a thing I could do about it except wait for the tech from OneEighty Networks (née HighSpeed Communications née EmpireNet) to try to fix it. With no luck.
The problem? Well, for starters we have OneEighty’s goofy LMDS “wireless broadband” service, which, instead of an actual T1 or DSL or other hard line, employs a line of sight microwave relay system to connect to the internet. “Line of sight” means that anything getting between the roof antenna and the transmitter on Awbrey Butte will block the signal and put you out of commission. Oh, and really foggy/rainy/snowy/etc. days can interfere with the signal too.
(This was all set up well before I started with the company; I just inherited the problems.)
So today it was offline, and the tech can’t figure out why, but his favorite theory is that one of the new giant metal construction cranes that went up last week is blocking the signal. Sounds reasonable, except the crane went up last week and we didn’t start experiencing any problem until today (or possibly yesterday but no one was in the office to tell for sure).
So work sucks when there’s no internet, because it really drives home just how much we rely on having a live connection. Probably 90% of what I do requires internet access. Stupid crappy “wireless broadband.” I think I’m calling around tomorrow for quotes for a real connection.
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3 responses to “Sucks when there’s no internet”
I was in a place that experimented with the wireless gig too and for a business that needs to be connected it ain’t the way to go. I switched to a T1 while I was there 😀
It’s still down for them today 🙁
Dude, that’s a crappy way to get ‘net access for a biz. Sucks almost as bad as my DSL connection out here that drops on a regular basis because of all the bad phone lines (lots of really old copper). But the cable company out here (that’s right across the street, mind you) can’t get me better upload speed than 256K, which won’t work for the Web server I have upstairs — so I just have to grin and bear it.