Late Sunday afternoon I lost my Internet connection. I am currently using my AT&T Wireless account as a hotspot, which is churning out data around 78Mbps instead of the normal 300-680Mbps depending if I am at my computer or streaming tv. This same service went out May 23rd but there have been various technicians out since the storm damage on May 26.
A few weeks ago a crew that was tightening the big 5" cables on the pole, also worked on the fiber line that has been laying on my bushes on the berm and in my neighbors backyard. These three photos were taken yesterday in her yard. Why the crew last week didn't hang them back in the air on the big 5" cable is beyond me. Yet, my internet service worked after they finished their work. BOi is s contractor for AT&T and Spectrum that tightened the cables but originally weeks ago an AT&T crew did this cable set up on the ground.
My technician is scheduled between noon and 4pm today. You know how that goes, sometimes they are on time and other times you wait all day only to have them text you after 4pm saying they are 30 minutes away.
AT&T Fiber is great internet service as long as it works. Here on this side of the street for some reason it doesn't work as well as my neighbors across the street and my old friends up the street who also have AT&T and NEVER had trouble with their service. It will be interesting to see what the problem is today.
It was really hot but a relaxing Sunday. You can tell by the eight photos the hounds and dogs just kinda hung out, played and slept. I am finding it really really hard to keep Ava from playing with the hounds and running full speed, when she is outside. I imagine my lack of discipline for her, has caused the swelling in her injured knee.
Yesterday around 3pm I thought I would give her another chance to roam without the cone on. I have been keeping a close eye on what she does. Anytime I see her nose move to that cut, I say "no" and she immediately moves away from it. I took a chance last night and let her sleep without the cone. I was hoping I would not wake up to four missing staples. I did not, but I could tell by a little redness she had licked it. As of this morning at 7:37am, she is still coneless and and sleeping on her dog bed.
Although the temps said 90° at 5pm ... Walter made an appearance outside. In fact I heard him barking at the door inside wanting to join the rest of us. It may have been 90° but by that time it did not feel like it. It felt cool enough to turn off the AC and open the windows, yet what little humidity is left prevented me from doing that. It is that way this early morning ... not quite hot enough for the AC to kick on but a little sticky to open windows.
After calling the AT&T Technical Dept, to test and then get an appointment for a technician to come out, I called Spectrum Internet to see what kind of deals they had going. I had been tossing all of their mail into my recycling bin and not paying attention.
WOW ... they must be losing customers because they gave me even a better offer than they did after I canceled them last November, 2023. Free wireless for one year, and unlimited data internet with 500Mbps download speed for $29.99. That price would NOT change after 12 months but I would start to pay another $29.99 for the wireless phone service ... So in 13 months I would be looking at $59.98 per month for both phone and internet!!!
The problem was I WAS NOT paying attention in November 2023 or I had heard him and then forgot when AT&T Wireless rep showed up while the Fiber was being installed. That FREE iPhone 14 they offered is NOT really free. I found that out yesterday after talking to the AT&T Wireless rep over the phone to see what would happen if I changed my wireless service and internet service back to Spectrum and accept their fantastic offer.
That free phone comes with a 36 month commitment. Oh I can cancel anytime and change service but the catch is I have to pay for that phone they gave me instead of sending it back to them. Of course, why would they want a USED iPhone??? Stupid me.
I still have 28 months left on that commitment, or $567.75 worth of phone. I didn't want the new phone in the first place. I was happy with my large iPhone 11 Max Pro and still have it in my desk drawer deactivated but a click away from using it again.
I decided to do a cost analysis but this time with old fashion pen and paper, no spreadsheet involved. Spectrum's offer on one side of the 5"x 8" tablet and AT&T costs on the other side, with the $567.75 added in.
Surprisingly if I would to pay for that phone and switch to Spectrum, I would have a savings of $214.41 that first year. Starting in month 13, or the 2nd year Spectrum would charge me an additional $29.99 for wireless service and $7 per month for their router/modem. Even with the phone paid off the year prior in a lump sum and at the current AT&T prices I would still save $28.19 per month if I moved with Spectrum.
Is it worth changing the service? It might be if AT&T Fiber Internet keeps falling offline.
I will say when I use SpeedTest to check my internet speeds, AT&T Fiber is much faster than I pay for. My plan is for 500Gbps and it is always around 680Gbps out by the router and tv and all the iPads. Spectrum advertises 500Gbps and that was the plan I paid for before, but SpeedTest showed it was always around 360Gbps.
I do remember last November after the AT&T Fiber installation I did like the internet service better than what I had with Spectrum.
So, unless the AT&T Fiber continues to fall offline and technicians keep coming out, I will stay with AT&T since the savings per month is minimal.
Besides my technician coming out today, their is going to be more excitement ... I have to keep the dogs inside the house because neighbor is finally getting a Spectrum crew to come out and fix the damage their truck did to her yard when they back all the way back into her yard, where they were hanging the three large internet cables back to the utility pole in her backyard.
That will also include the yard in front along the fence on my side. Their heavy truck tires sunk into the saturated yard last month as the backed into her yard towards that utility pole. Watson would go ape crazy if he sees them near his fence ... nothing I can do but keep him inside and the patio door closed until that crew leaves.
Then when I get a text that my technician is on the way, all four will go into the cool garage that is dark and stay there until he leaves.
Should be an interesting day.
Never ever a dull moment here in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.
I have Spectrum for internet and telephone. Would switch to Frontier with their fiber optics, except local reviews of Frontier say the customer service is horrible and service can go in and out. Not being a hi tech person, I am just sticking with what works even though Spectrum is slow.
ReplyDeleteI later got a text from AT&T telling me my tech appointment was on hold because there was an outage in my area. He worked up the street for 4 hours and it came back 4pm local time. He didn't use his latter. He parked his truck in front of my neighbors house. I saw a phone size machine in his hand and nothing else. He did walk the line we are all on and turned toward the street right as he got to my house. It is great Internet when it works.
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