Blogging may be sporadic for the next little while. Because we don’t live in town, we are at the mercy of limited choices where internet access is concerned. Our service has been – in a word – shitty for the last week and finally crapped out almost entirely Friday night. There are brief, and I mean minutes only, windows of service*, but it is too hit and miss to bother sitting and waiting on.
So today, feel free to rant about the shite service you pay for because you haven’t a choice. Our provider never returns calls or acknowledges email. They assume that if there are problems it is because the customer is an idiot. That is the way of all IT people I have ever known. It couldn’t possibly be the equipment or them. It is always the user.
So rant people. I will check in from the library – which has equally abysmal service by the way but a bit more consistent than I have right now.
*Mysteriously, service was miraculously on all evening but I don’t expect to wake up to service in the AM. Al Gore giveth and ISP’s capriciously deny access.
UPDATE: Rob went to the ISP’s office today and talked to one of the owners. Apparently he thought we were freeloaders using the signal for free which is why he hadn’t responded to us. Rob assured him that we are indeed paying customers and the owner quickly went on to assure him that we were slated for a new radio within the next week or two because the company had just received permission to put up another radio transmitter in a location that is actually closer to where we live. Hopefully this will improve our signal and ensure less interruption of service.
The service is actually quite good when we get it but the lack of response from the company when there is a problem is irksome. It is, sadly, typical of the kind of service a person can expect here in Alberta however. Despite the slowing of the boom economy, there is still more demand than there are workers and everyday services are very taxed by the lack of warm bodies. And, like the U.S., infrastructure really doesn’t extend much beyond the major urban ares.
anniegirl1138 
It’s strange when the internet goes away for awhile, isn’t it? I’m so addicted that it feels like I’ve travelled back in time to some distant culture and must relearn all the rules of communications.
when i started, just as silverstar’s experience, there were just indie ISPs. while they sucked a bit, they sucked equally (typically due to equipment failures), so no one really missed out on better. they were slowly bought up by the big guy. yeah, singular. it wasn’t until about 6 months ago we had options. now i’m anxious to see if service…and prices…are going to get better.
hopefully you won’t lose service…you’d be missed.
Service is holding steady for the time being. And you are kind to say I would be missed but the blogosphere is a cruel and fickle master. I would pass away without much comment.
When I first got on the internet 12 years ago, all there was were little independent ISPs. And they sucked just as much then as they do now. I can’t believe the owner just “assumed” that you were a freeloader. Doesn’t he keep records?
I think it is in the IT training programs to always start with “is the computer plugged in?” type questions. Even when you have given them a description of the problem that should indicate you have some idea what is going on. And it’s either some kid with little experience on the line, or somebody in Bombay that you can’t understand. *sigh*
I always have to fight the temptation to defend IT people, having been one for so long, but you know what? They’ve made the bed they’re lying in. If you think they’re condescending on the phone, you should hear what they say when you hang up. Embarrassing.
I feel your pain on ISP service, though; after being a tech for 13 years, getting treated like a moron on the phone by someone half my age with less than a year of experience gets annoying. I’ve told more than one of them off and made them feel as incompetent as they act. On the downside, not having a choice (we do here) is really hard to deal with.
Good luck with it all.
I was hoping you would respond to this because I knew with your background you would have a different vantage point than I. So thank you.
When I was teaching, I was one of the first to “go computer” and than use the web, intranet and grading programs. I wasn’t a whiz, but I knew the systems I worked with and I could trouble-shoot to a point. It always annoyed me when the IT (who were just teachers with a bit of extra training) would assume that any problem I was having was a result of my not being them. A number of my co-workers did deserve the contempt because they did not bother to learn and grow, but to apply the broad brush of stupid and lazy to all of us was unfair.
Thanks again for commenting:)
When you live in a rural area with one provider, you really are at their mercy. Thankfully, knock wood, we have steady DSL service through our phone company, which is changing hands this month. I am hoping for the best.