That was weird

So I got up around 2 am, as seems to be my style at this time*. Walking to the bathroom, I can see into my living room, especially the power-strip area where everything is plugged in.

The wireless router was doing its "I'm broken!" cycle-thing: blue light (which indicated "Everything's OK!") then no light then orange light ("Everything's NOT OK!").

I groaned inwardly and thought, well, maybe my ISP is doing some weird overnight maintenance; sometimes they do that, though usually they push-notify a popup ad the day before.

(*No, I don't wear an onion on my belt)

Got up again somewhat before five. It was still doing that. "Cool, cool," I thought, "I'll start my workout and when I do a water-break I'll also unplug everything and do a power cycle**"

(**Which I will forever hear in my mind as "power suckle," because of a now-ten-years-ago phone call I had to make to the company that was my ISP two companies ago, and got someone with a very deep-Georgia accent, so "cycle" sounded like "suckle" to my Northern ears)

Did that. Also hit the tiny reset button on the back of the router after everything had powered back up (And I HATE that reset button. I get that it has to be tiny so people don't hit it inadvertently, but I have to find a tiny crochet hook or small-gauge knitting needle to depress the recessed button)

Nothing. Still doing the light-show.

I finished my workout and wondered: okay, so, is my modem borked? Or my router? Or the whole connection?

I figured: something's wrong with the signal coming out from the ISP was most likely, and also was the thing that would require the least input from me - I'd just have to wait it out for them to fix it.

So after finishing the workout and washing up, I called my ISP (they have overnight help-desk people, and often it's easier to get someone very early in the morning). The woman I got was helpful, but she regretfully said: "No, I'm sorry, it looks like the internet is totally up in your area. Are the lights all on on your modem except for the last one?" And darnit, they were: "I hate to say this but it's probably your router."

Dang. So, I thought: where do I go to buy a new router and am I smart enough to set it up all by myself with appropriate security so no one can leech my internet or see what I'm doing? (The last time I got a new router was when I got the new laptop and the nice dude from the computer shop set it all up for me)

And I thought: dang, no early-morning internet for me.

But then I thought: wait, couldn't I just "hard-wire" it? As in, take the cable connecting the modem to my router and plug it into the port on my laptop? Nothing's lost if it doesn't work....

It worked. I had internet. So I did my few minutes of early morning surfing (and did Duolingo for the day) but still felt unhappy that I'd have to "jack in" until I could buy and set up a new router (today is going to be a long day. I might have been able to tomorrow....). The modem is in my living room, but I like to use my computer sitting on my bed at times, or at my dining room table. And the charger is buried under a ton of stuff (so I can just plug the laptop in to the charger, but can't easily move the charger, not without moving a bunch of crap) in my office. Definitely suboptimal.

So after I got done with that, I thought, "Hell, I'll unplug the router again and see what happens if I leave it unplugged for a longer time" (Even though I thought five minutes was what a power cycle took, and the lady on the phone said "unplug it for at least 1 minute")

So I unplugged it. Left it unplugged while I retrieved my clothes for today and put them on and put my makeup on and ate breakfast and packed a lunch. And plugged it back in after all that, not holding out much hope.

The light turned blue.

It stayed blue.

I turned my computer back on; it connected to the Wifi no problem.

Routers, how do they forking work?



That said, I'm glad it's working for now but this might be a warning I'll have to replace it soon. At least I know on an emergency basis I can hardwire in with the cable....and if I really had to I could tear up my office to get access to the plug and charger and plug it in to the powerstrip and just work from there. Awkward, and it's darned nice to be able to "roam" about the house with my laptop, but it works.