An Offline Life
Posted by Cottontimer on 24 Feb 2006 | Tagged as: London
After waiting more than two weeks for broadband to be connected at home, I’m starting to wonder if we’ll have to live in London without the internet.
We signed up with Wanadoo Wireless & Talk and now I’m finding out via surfing that countless people have had to wait weeks and weeks to get internet access. And, I can’t cancel my account because upon signing up, I entered into a year-long contract with them. Just hope they don’t try to bill me before I even get online.
The thought of having to come to the library every morning for a measly hour of internet time on a computer that doesn’t allow me to download or upload is absolutely depressing. Not being able to find a wireless hotspot on my main street means I can’t even bring my own laptop. Worse comes to worst, when Stephen starts school full-time in September, I’ll just schlep my laptop on the bus with me and find an internet cafe further afield where I can buckle down and churn stuff out.
I had thought to send the directer of Wanadoo a complaint letter but after reading what other customers have said, I don’t think it will make a whit of difference. I’ll just cross my fingers that the network upgrade they’re claiming to be disrupting our service is for real and it’s not some other issue entirely.
My writing career is going down the tubes as I type this.
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Normally you have a 30-day period where you can cancel and get a refund, surely? Most companies provide this… =(
You sound so unhappy… I wish I could let you use our wireless! I haven’t locked our network, because I don’t care about other people using it. I’ve been wracking my brains trying to think of a good place for internet access. We have great wireless at uni, but it isn’t public access.
You have all my sympathy *hug* I have a full-blown internet addiction, so I get withdrawal symptoms pretty quick… And I’m sure you’ll catch up your writing soon enough, please don’t worry too much =(
I’ve missed you…
My husband’s comment when I mentioned your troubles, was that he thought the biggest problem with crap response time for internet service in the UK is because only one or two companies own the wire everyone uses. :/
I would hate using the library computers, because I’m so used to my monitor, keyboard and mouse that using something else feels completely foreign and unpleasant. Will be thinking of you!
Have you considered a cell-phone PDA with significant data services? David just got a blackberry and says it has increased his productivity significantly. He doesn’t have to bother with hot-spots and the like anymore.
That’s weird. I remembered when we were at UK (not London though), it took less than a week to get the broadband fix up at the apartment. Then again, that was more than a year back.
I know how hard it is to live without internet. GPRS-enabled devices are good alternatives. Otherwise, just take this downtime to explore London!
oh my…I can’t imagine how you survive!! We throw a fit if the local internet provider takes over five days to come and fix up the internet! But luckily the starbucks here are always a wonderful back-up in case! None of that is provided there? or is it too far away? heck - even the mamak stalls are offering wireless here these days. sigh. I can’t imagine life without the internet. I feel your pain! I hope they come soon!!! >
Boy that really is depressing Hsien. In the meantime don’t be so hard on yourself, just enjoy some offline time while you can
I MISS U!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Awww, you guys brought tears to my eyes when I read your comments. The internet situation is very depressing. I’m sure some people think I’m a nut for feeling this way but it is constantly on my mind. I miss all of you too and catching up on what’s going on in your lives.
Rosie: Thank you!! I bet you have a few happy neighbors surfing on you now. I tried to sneak a peek at my neighbors’ wireless but they’re all locked up. boo hoo hoo
Deb: I think your husband is absolutely right about the lack of competition. More broadband companies are popping up all the time, though, so hopefully service will improve along with it. I’m thinking of switching if things don’t get better this week but with all that we had to go through to get even be allowed to register to Wanadoo, it might not get better with another ISP. Because everything’s ADSL, the archaic phone system in the UK gets involved too.
river2sea72: A Blackberry would be great if my work mostly involved e-mail but I really need to be able to download and upload files. *sigh* If I had a “real” job, this wouldn’t be an issue. LOL
Smitha: Malaysia and Singapore are definitely advanced when it comes to internet access. The SF Bay Area is great too. Can you believe there is no wireless hotspot at the high street near my home and the on internet cafe that I heard about is a schlep. *SCREAM*
kimellee, mel, roa, and anny: You all made me smile.