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Cable Woes

Do installation headaches justify its cost?

By Donna DeFlorio

 

WE USE THE INTERNET for personal and business needs. It's our phone book, medical guide and resource library, and e-mail center. It's also as a way to listen to college hockey games broadcast by an alma mater in other states. One irritation was that our ISP disconnected us frequently during broadcasts. I thought it was because we were only receiving and not sending anything to them for a long period. The cost justification of dropping a phone line and the ISP cost worked for us, so cable luring us with a fast connection was an easy decision.

Installation woes

We bought the package before the WIZ promotions and the child installer, so I don't know how the child gets the cable where he needs it. My installation cost $100 plus parts, but the installers didn't come that day. Two people came the next week for free. One installed the software, and the second drilled a hole in the floor to get the cable to the desired location.

I wanted a plate in the family room wall for the installers said we would have to make another appointment. I called the manager to complain about not knowing beforehand about the additional delay and cost. Meanwhile, one technician installed and grounded a splitter where the TV cable enters the house. He ran new cable to the family room through the cellar and then put in a plate, not charging us for the extra time since he used an existing hole in the basement joists.

Fast if it stays up

With cable and software installed, we experienced a superfast connection, which you get used to very quickly. Getting or maintaining the connection was a problem, however, especially in the early morning. Based on service for cable TV, we kept wondering why we expected the Internet division of the cable company to react as quickly as a corporate PC help desk. After learning the names and outside activities of each support person on every shift, we finally discovered the name and phone number of one of the managers. For six months we never paid a full month's usage charge, since they readily discounted for days with bad service.

The solution

A senior technician arrived to spend the morning and solve the problem. Within a few minutes he had disconnected a ground wire that was picking up interference from every appliance in the house from the shared ground pipe. The system has been up ever since-except for Windows crashes from being up too long.

Happy ending

We saved the installation costs, half the monthly fees for six months, and the ISP costs. We also ended up keeping the second phone line for inbound faxes and outbound business calls and network connections. The increased cable speed has allowed us to be even more dependent on the Internet for information and enjoyment. I suspect installation problems like ours may have been a catalyst for outsourcing installation to the users via a WIZ installation kit.


You may write Donna DeFlorio at deflorio@home.com.

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