broken network hardware is always fun
so, i bought this great little 3com office connect wireless ap like.. 8 or 9 months ago for $10 off ebay. it worked flawlessly with my whole network setup, rarely crashed, etc. then, this last friday, it decided to give up the ghost, which meant it was time to go looking for a new ap. i looked all over, saw all kinds of shit wrong with the linksys WRT/WAP54G/11 series, all kinds of problems with belkin devices not allowing the kind of features i need for my network, netgear devices dying after a year, etc. i settled on a dlink dwl-g700ap. i got it with a rebate, etc from newegg and figured it’d just be one of those 1. configure, 2. connect, 3. use sorts of things. i was so naiive. first, i checked the firmware; sweet, it’s the latest version with wpa2-psk support. second, i configured it for my network, using all appropriate gateways and whatnot for my m0n0wall (great BSD based routing/firewall platform) box. switched cables around so it was connected to m0n0, powered it up. ap appears in the intel ap viewer, connects fine, psk is working. tried to pull up a website–no dice. first the device refuses to allow all traffic, then it decides some traffic is ok and allows me to connect to the gui for the ap. well..shit. i unplug things, swap cables thinking that the port might not be mdix, no dice. i start a ping -t 192.168.5.1 (opt1 intf on m0n0) from my laptop’s commandline..destination host unreachable (surprise, surprise) i leave the ping running, and pull up the m0n0wall console from my wired desktop pc. i ping the ap’s ip address, it echoes. wtf? i look over at the screen, and it’s getting an echo from the gateway. i try to connect to the vpn on m0n0, it connects. the internet is now available. i see it’s working and leave it alone because i had work to do. went out for awhile, came back, wlan is still working. make a change to the device to turn off psk for a bit so i can apt-get some updates for the ipw2200bg driver in lunix, and it stalls out again. no connection to the internet. i ping the device again, the connection starts working. within 5 mins, it stops again. i start pinging it again with the m0n0, it works, then stops less than a minute later.
now, i hate calling any level 1 tech support (with the exception of speakeasy, they rock) dlink is no exception- after being on hold with dlink’s tech support number for almost an hour, some really under-enthusiastic technician answers the phone. he takes down my info and asks my problem. i explain the issue and his reply? “what do you want *me* to do about it?” i tell him that i was hoping that he might be able to put me in touch with someone who knew what they were doing. his response? *click* the fucker hung up on me. now, just because it’s like 3 am or whatever, i call back. wait on hold for another hour, i get some other poor sad soul. he listens to my problem, seems to understand what i’m saying when i use terms like ‘big router’ and stuff (since he thought the ap was a router) at any rate– he tells me there’s no one available at this hour other than tier-1 techs. he asks me for my info so he can add to the ticket the first tech opens– lo and behold, tech #1 had deleted my request and cleared all info and put in that i didn’t speak clear english. cute. tech #2 puts in that i’m to be forwarded to a tier-3/4 tech as soon as i call back at 8am the next day. so, this morning, i call at 8:00 pst. i wait 25 mins, get another level-1 tech who asks for my info, i give it to him, he asks me if i’m still having issues. i say yes. he transfers me up to tier 4. the highest tech support dlink has to offer for consumer products. i wait for 25 mins for the technician to be on the phone. he checks my info– tech #2 had entered the wrong product and put my issue as “WEIRD NETWARK SETUP”. i explain to mr. leet my issue. he repeats it back to me 5-6 different ways before telling me that it’s unacceptable that i bought a product from them that doesn’t perform its most basic duty (no shit..) he then tells me i have two options: 1. reflash the firmware because SOMETIMES they’re buggy from the factory or 2. take the POS back (he said piece of shit. it did me proud.) he wished me a good day and hung up.
now, at this point, why am i bothering? because i didn’t buy locally. i bought from newegg, which is the best internet-order pc parts store in the world. i’d have to rma and shit and i really didn’t wanna mess with it. so..next order of business: reflashing the same firmware onto the unit. i already had downloaded the firmware in anticipation of having to update it from the box. i connect my desktop, flash the firmware, reconfigure it and reconnect it to m0n0. my fingers shake with anticipiation as i select OMFGOGGLES as my ap. it connects, authenticates…and…annd…..ANNNNND…it still has the same problem. i go into m0n0, and ping the unit..but this time, no internet? ha! fuck that. i boxed the fucker up and got in contact with newegg. rma refund, here i come. i’m just gonna get an enterprise level 802.11b ap that’s like 5 years old instead of fucking with this shitty consumer stuff.
how’s your day been? haha.
Pickets to Tittsburgh?
c/o patrickÂ
A guy with a black eye boards his plane bound for Pittsburgh and sits down in his seat. He notices immediately that the guy next to him has a black eye, too. He says to him, “Hey, this is a coincidence. We both have black eyes; mind if I ask how you got yours?”
The other guy says, “Well, it just happened. It was a tongue twister accident.
See, I was at the ticket counter and this gorgeous blonde with the most massive breasts in the world was there. So, instead of saying, Id like two tickets to Pittsburgh, I accidentally said Id like two pickets to Tittsburgh., so she socked me a good one.”
The first guy replied, “Wow! This is unbelievable. Mine was a tongue twister too. I was at the breakfast table and I wanted to say to my wife, Please pour me a bowl of Frosties, honey.
But I accidentally said, “You’ve ruined my life, you evil, self-centered, fat-assed bitch.”
oh man. so remember how i said it wasn’t windy or anything yesterday when it was supposed to be? turns out it got windy after the wind advisory expired. bullshit, i say! not really much to say today. nothing going on..new receptionist sucks. she’s got this brilliant thing where she’ll call me, but she won’t say anything when i answer for around 10 seconds. i’d hung up on her 3-4 times before i realized what was going on. i guess she just doesn’t know that when the other party answers, you’re supposed to say something.
in other news. woot-off today until midnight
woah.
so…winter weather/wind advisory for new mexico. it’s been breezy today, but not windy at all. with the way the weather here usually is..i don’t expect much. of course, by not expecting much, i mean that i’m hoping for an insane amount of snowfall and sleet and all that good shit. it’s been so dry this season..not like that’s abnormal or anything. last year was anything *but* normal in the precipitation department.
so far, it’s been hideously busy. it wasn’t so bad this morning; hardly any calls came in at all..then, i went to lunch– and as if by cue or magic or something, everyone and their best friend’s sister started calling about shit. granted, most of the calls we get are pretty lame. i just don’t want to talk to people. first guy that called today hadn’t yet mastered the whole “talking on the phone” thing. i know it’s hard for some people to be able to understand that 1. you don’t need to yell for the other person to hear you and 2. you really shouldn’t ask someone a question, and then interrupt them as they answer you.
so. that’s it.
i love it when..
i don’t feel tired until 4 am. as soon as i go to bed, some jackass calls my cellphone at 4:30. three times. of course, they use a blocked number so i can’t do anything to them for disturbing me at that hour. my sleep quality’s been really terrible since i was 14 or so– sometimes it works out and i’m able to sleep a bit..but not when this idiot calls me and wakes me up. if you’re going to be calling me at some hideous hour of the early morning– have the decency to leave me a fucking message.
i’ve found i really enjoy putting up the most obnoxious or possibly painful music on my myspace profile. people tend to put really obnoxious shit up unintentionally because it’s just their taste in music. me? i just enjoy making people suffer. haha.
cold
it’s really cold outside. i’ve been whining that it hasn’t been cold or winterlike for the last 3 months or so. typically, the weather here starts getting absolutely frigid in october, around when the balloon fiesta’s going. this year, of course, it was 70º outside at 11 am when cadie and i left the fiesta. i guess all my bitching and pandering has finally worked– mother nature has obliged and it’s now less than 40ºF outside. it was damned cold last night, and windy, too. not as cold as it us up in the northeast, mind you, but it was still cold nonetheless.
boring morning at MFI for tech support. i’ve had one call since i started at 9:30 am MST. it’s funny when someone calls frantically needing support, and i try to help them, but they’ve got someone (in this woman’s case–her husband) standing by the phone, so he can hear exactly what she’s being told to do by the technician. of course, he can’t just let her do anything, i can hear him in the background every time i say something, telling his wife “don’t do that, this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” or “don’t do that, i already did that.” stuff of that nature bugs the fuck out of me. why? because: 1. they called me. if i had my way, they wouldn’t be allowed to use a computer. 2. if the husband knows so much about computers and the inner-workings of our site and software, why the hell did he have his wife call me? 3. it’s way fucking rude to yell over the top of someone on the phone; that’s just poor fucking manners. at any rate, i told the husband that if he wanted my help, his wife would need to do everything that i’m asking her to, or i wouldn’t be able to help. of course, he got pissed off and left the room. lo and behold: the issue they were having was related to the ancient version of acrobat they’re using. go figure. hey sir, i thought you fixed this already or some shit? dumbass.
isn’t it funny? after all this shit– denying that there were ever meetings with bush and abramoff..and then suddenly this picture appears with bush shaking hands with him..and an eyewitness account of bush being really friendly with him, asking about his kids, etc. i suppose it’d be hard for me to forget someone who got me $100k in campaign funding. but..that’s me.
also, i went crazy and join a subscription music service. it’s awesome. it’s all independent label music, so there’s stuff that i love from relapse, southern lord, earache, etc. great shit. if you want 50 free songs, i have “the hook up”..or whatever.
SOCIAL MEDIA EXPLOOOOSION
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