Jul 05 2008
Internet access: easy in bars, difficult at home
We’ve been fighting with Virgin Media for about 6 weeks now to get our net access transferred over to the new flat. The entire time we’ve been paying for a service we do not have. This will definitely require remuneration when we finally get a service.
We’ve been surviving thus far with a couple of open WiFi connections that we could pick up. Neither were very close to us — this requires careful positioning of laptops to maintain signal levels — but they were still usable.
Were usable. Past tense. On Thursday night both of the networks we used disappeared. One of them hasn’t come back and the other has but appears broken. I can occasionally get an IP address but it doesn’t forward packets past the router. :-( We are bereft, cast loose in a sea of microwaves, all encrypted… we’ve been really suffering!
We’re currently in Montpeliers, downing cocktails and jealously guarding access to the power socket that is powering my laptop. I can highly recommend their Whisky Sour, which is really delightful, and the Espresso Cocktail, which was apparently made with the wrong ingredients but tasted grand anyway. It’s pouring with rain outside and I feel no motivation to get wet.
Email and blogging may be rather light this weekend because we’ll be snatching whatever access is available in cafés and bars (carrying an Eee around is awesome). Please bear with us!
One Response to “Internet access: easy in bars, difficult at home”
I feel for you, I had a similar problem when I moved to my new place (except that it took 2.5 months for BT to manage to connect my line!).
One thing I tried (which didn’t work as the building wasn’t connectable to BT at all initially) was to ask my neighbours if they had wifi. Have you tried that?
Strangely enough I was looking at this just before your post. They have SMC ones too.