So, my 13-year-old son is heavy into gaming on Xbox Live and has begun live streaming. Begging and crying he comes to me needing more speed, "I need more upload speed Mom, I just need it". I gave in and called our company, signed up to go from our then 6 mb bandwith to 20 mb bandwith for only $7.50 more a month, with cost being deferred to my son. We had to wait a week for the technician to come, as if that was easy with a nagging teenager. You know the routine "poor poor pitiful me, I have to wait a whole 7 days, how will I ever survive?" and I'm thinking you might not if I have to hear this one more time. Nonetheless we made it.
Technician comes in and looks at our antique system (8 years old) and almost breaks down in tears. The real tears came when he told me that we would not be able to keep our cable box that runs 3 television and can piggy back any number of other tvs. We instead have to go to a box at each tv. Deep breaths, deep breaths... decisions made I let him pull all of the vintage hardware and install new systems all around, I didn't need to watch The Bulls on the kitchen set while cooking after all, now did I? Proudly done, he high steps it out my front door, and speeds away, onto the next poor hapless mother.
My son gets home from school, all ready to try out the new system, not caring of course that I stare at a blank screen in our workout room (also a tv I lost); only to find out that yes our download speed is now at an amazing 19+ bandwith, but the upload speed has remained unchanged. Lord help me now, a full on pout is brewing. "Mom, Mooom, Moooooom." Now I don't tell many people this, but I am pretty darn good with computers, my son knows and expects me to wave my magical computer wand and make it all better. Wand in hand I sit down at my laptop and ask Googe the 'stupid' question "how can I increase my upload speed?" Google tells me that 1. I may have not purchased the right package from my provider, 2. to hardwire my wireless, 3. to runaway to the Bahamas, become a recluse, and forget that computers were ever invented.
Day two of this adventure has me on the line with tech support, who by the way was very helpful when the understood language like "live streaming". Here is the news I get to break to angelic thirteen year old face when he gets home from school: first the good news, I have figured out how to hardwire a network while maintaining a wireless network so that if your computer kicks you off line you can switch to the other router ie network and be fine, second good news you should no longer lag out when I or your father watch Netflix because it normally only takes up about 7 mb of download speed leaving you an extra 13 mb to play Xbox live, Now for the bad news: our town was built by old cronies who couldn't foretell the future and only ran copper lines instead of fiber which means 1 mb is as high as possible for it go for upload speeds (he wanted at LEAST 1.5 mb).
What is a mother to do? (with only 3 tv's)
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