Make sure your Internet experience is organized
Maybe you don’t care if your Internet experience is organized or not. As someone who works online only, I can tell you that I care DEEPLY that my Internet experience goes major smooth.
Guess what happened three days ago? My Internet experience failed to go smoothly. My modem died. No warning, no seemingly awkward pauses in service; it just flat out died. NO INTERNET. That’s nightmare inducing for me. My lovely Internet service provider folks wanted to send me a new modem super quick; like in a week or two. WHAT? Um, no.
Three days, three trips to the modem store, and countless calls with customer service later, here I am, back online. While I’m happy to be back online, the process could have gone smoother.
1. I could have known more about modems: I’m computer savvy, but only when everything is all nicely working and hooked up. Point; get to know your modem. Know what kind you use (say, wireless or cable), type if you have a preference, and make sure you take your Internet account number into the darn modem store. Seriously, the clerks at the store claimed that they could do nothing without that number - a fact I seriously doubt, since on day two, a clerk easily looked up my account with my name. However, save yourself some trouble and take the account number in.
2. I should have a back up modem: I don’t think this is a serious consideration for everyone, but if you need to be online, a backup is an ok plan.
Other ways to organize your Internet experience:
Have two computers; just in case one goes all funky. You don’t need to buy a second - unless you are a dead serious Internet user, but the next time you buy a new computer, don’t give the old one away or sell it, save it for back up.
Keep all your Internet stuff together. During service calls, I’ve found that it’s easier to simply have everything known to man associated with my Internet account within easy reach. Why? Because some customer service clerk will need some obscure bit of info. I file most of my bills, warranties, and so on, but I keep all my Internet info in the modem box and then I can just pull it out.
Watch your bill. I don’t pay too close attention to my Internet bill. It’s always the same; why bother? I just pay it. This weekend when I went in to find a new modem, the clerk looked up my account and it turns out my service provider was charging me monthly for a modem I outright paid for years ago. Lord. So, pay attention.
Do you have any tips that can streamline your Internet experience?
Tags: internet experience, internet problems, plan for internet issues, web experienceRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Calendars, Schedules, & Organizers
2 opinions for Make sure your Internet experience is organized
sherry
Jul 28, 2008 at 9:07 pm
I have one more tip! Keep a paper file somewhere safe that lists important URLs, user names, and passwords that you need to access on a regular basis. This is especially important for working online. You may think you remember everything even when your browser has all your bookmarks and your passwords saved, but if your computer dies and you need to use another one (say, your husband’s computer) and you’re panicking a bit, you might find yourself drawing a total blank.
ASK ME how I know this! :)
Michele
Jul 29, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Don’t over-rely on technorati or other blog tracking sites. Technorati was down for over a week a few months back, and I couldn’t read many of my favorite blogs, which is important for a blogger! I am now working on creating bookmarks for all of them.
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