I knew it!

It was the software! What am I talking about? I'm just so pleased, I'm starting at the end.

I have Verizon mobile broadband for internet. This is my only option for highspeed, other than satellite and I did not want that. The price I pay for living out in the sticks. I had the 3G modem and it was good enough. Big improvement over dialup which was all I'd ever had before.

Then Verizon offered a $10 break on the monthly bill if I switched to 4G modem and plan, and the modem was free after rebate. I figured, what the hell, might as well go for it to save $10 a month. I'll get 4G here eventually I hope.

That damn thing has done nothing but give me fits! I never had this much trouble with the old 3G modem. I had to install new software as the old wouldn't work with the new modem. Don't have 4G here yet, but it's supposed to connect to 3G when 4G isn't available. Which it did. Some of the time. It was the rest of the time that pissed me off.

I think what was happening was that it was detecting the 4G signal from the big cities about an hour from here. But it wasn't strong enough to connect with it. Once it detected that signal, it left the 3G signal and I had nothing. Not only that, but the software constantly phased out. Don't have another word for it. It wouldn't stay connected, grayed out the connect button so I couldn't reconnect, and there were long delays while it attempted to reset to a signal. And I sat here fuming and swearing. I often had to close the 'ware and unplug the modem to force a reboot. I have the modem on a long extension cable so I could hang it high in the window to get the best signal (2-3 bars). I found it helped to hang it lower (like 18" from the floor!) to avoid detecting the 4G signal it couldn't connect with. Even then, the 'ware was still wonky.

After an especially frustrating morning, I called tech support, and the guy walked me through some steps to get to some hidden settings. For some reason, these settings are only available with a password. Once there, I saw what I had been wanting all along...a way to make the modem only connect to 3G. Now why couldn't that option be available in preferences? It certainly solved that weak 4G signal glitch.

At the time, I didn't think to write this password down, and I needed it to fix my other device, the Netbook. A little googling about the issues, and I stumbled across the password. Guess it's not really a secret. Cool. I didn't have to call tech support again.

But the software was still wonky. I was still shutting down/rebooting, unplugging/plugging the modem to force a reset. And it seemed to be getting worse as though the 'ware was degrading with each reboot.

I had mentioned to the tech guy that the 'ware needed some work. Maybe he heard me, or maybe I'm not the only one who had problems. Every now and then, I'm asked to check for updates. In hopes something new would happen, I always did. Finally FINALLY an update was ready! Took a while to download and set up, but when it did, the first thing I saw was the 'ware looks different. Kept my fingers crossed that appearence wasn't the only thing changed.

I do believe it's fixed! The 'ware has been stable. The password still works so I could set to 3G only on my own. The only complaint I have is that the widget (connect button thingy on my desktop) is bigger and uglier.

Now all I need is 4G. I was told that we were supposed to get it here, but the tornadoes this spring put that on hold. I guess they had to replace some damaged equipment on the towers, and they weren't ready to go to 4G. Now it will probably be longer before we get it since they had to install new equipment. Why they didn't just go to 4G then, I don't know. As long as I have reliable and reasonably fast internet, which I do, I can wait.

Still can't view videos like everybody else, but I can sometimes. I sure don't spend as much time as everyone else seems to on them. Probably even when I do have 4G, I won't do that as much. My plan does have a bandwidth limit, and so far, I've never used more than half my allowance. Since it usually takes longer than I care to wait to download a video, I'm very selective about the ones I waste time and bandwidth on.

Happy Thanksgiving. I give thanks for a decent internet connection again.

Good morning.