Lightning strikes and broadband
Posted by: Aiken Drum on 09 September 2005
This post is being made illicitly on my PC at work, but I need to have a mutter. The broadband at home has been totally nadgered since lightning strikes plunged us yet again into (deeper) darkness with power cuts last Sunday night/ Monday morning.
We use UTV internet for our broadband rather than BT - the cost and VFM is so much better. The downside is that the rectification process has to be coordinated by UTV with BT and they are subject to whatever SLA they have with BT. Consequently we are at the mercy of both parties.
I didn't notice the lack of broadband and phone service until Monday night. I rang UTV and they lurched into action. I was told BT would be in touch first thing Tuesday, and surely enough, they were. The call I got from the BT engineer was to check that the house he was standing outside of was ours. Now both of us work in Belfast (35 miles from home), and with neither my wife or I at home, it was pointless that an engineer had turned up to fix things. This is especially so as it had been agreed that BT would be in contact in advance to arrange an appropriate time when someone would be in.
You just sense when something is going to be a bugger to sort out.
I flew to London Tuesday afternoon and got home last night. Eager to fiddle, I found that when I disconnected the DSL router from the splitter/filter box, the phone worked. In my simple world, this told me the problem was with the router. Not so apparently. I have spent the day in various conversations with UTV, hoping that things would be fixed before the weekend. It has been explained to me (against my logic) that the problem is with the line, and specifically with the main phone socket in the house. Maybe they are right, maybe they are not, but I am fast losing the will to live, so I have given up arguing.
The final call was to arrange for a BT engineer to be at our house next Tuesday so that a BT engineer can have access. This is a bit of a bollix as I have used up all my leave entitlement and have to rely on my boss's good nature for me to grab a half day and make up the time.
Why is nothing ever simple?
I did ponder following up on a fellow forum member's observation that time away from the forum created time to enjoy your system. A sage observation. However, my system has been shut down since the first roar of thunder on Sunday, and with further bad weather on the way, I am loth to switch it on and have it warmed up in time for the next power cut.
Maybe I should buy an ipod, and a big lightning conductor.
Thank you for reading.
Brad
We use UTV internet for our broadband rather than BT - the cost and VFM is so much better. The downside is that the rectification process has to be coordinated by UTV with BT and they are subject to whatever SLA they have with BT. Consequently we are at the mercy of both parties.
I didn't notice the lack of broadband and phone service until Monday night. I rang UTV and they lurched into action. I was told BT would be in touch first thing Tuesday, and surely enough, they were. The call I got from the BT engineer was to check that the house he was standing outside of was ours. Now both of us work in Belfast (35 miles from home), and with neither my wife or I at home, it was pointless that an engineer had turned up to fix things. This is especially so as it had been agreed that BT would be in contact in advance to arrange an appropriate time when someone would be in.
You just sense when something is going to be a bugger to sort out.
I flew to London Tuesday afternoon and got home last night. Eager to fiddle, I found that when I disconnected the DSL router from the splitter/filter box, the phone worked. In my simple world, this told me the problem was with the router. Not so apparently. I have spent the day in various conversations with UTV, hoping that things would be fixed before the weekend. It has been explained to me (against my logic) that the problem is with the line, and specifically with the main phone socket in the house. Maybe they are right, maybe they are not, but I am fast losing the will to live, so I have given up arguing.
The final call was to arrange for a BT engineer to be at our house next Tuesday so that a BT engineer can have access. This is a bit of a bollix as I have used up all my leave entitlement and have to rely on my boss's good nature for me to grab a half day and make up the time.
Why is nothing ever simple?
I did ponder following up on a fellow forum member's observation that time away from the forum created time to enjoy your system. A sage observation. However, my system has been shut down since the first roar of thunder on Sunday, and with further bad weather on the way, I am loth to switch it on and have it warmed up in time for the next power cut.
Maybe I should buy an ipod, and a big lightning conductor.
Thank you for reading.
Brad
Nice one Bazz. 
Still no broadband - got an engineer coming out tomorrow afternoon to hopefully sort things out.
B
Still no broadband - got an engineer coming out tomorrow afternoon to hopefully sort things out.
B