Why Oh WiFi? #Orbi #WiFi #WirelessNetwork #GeekSquad

I admit to being a bit of a geek girl when it comes to computers and other electronic gadgets. Love’em when they work properly; loathe’em when they don’t.

I suspect you think I’m obsessed with finding dependable WiFi after reading my posts whining about it. I’m not obsessed with it exactly, but I have been seriously perturbed about it for some time–until now. More about that later.

Ever since My Macho Guy and I moved to the lake, we have been bedeviled by poor cellphone reception and slow Internet speed. When we decided to create a wireless home network, we added a weak wireless signal to the list, creating an electronic mediocrity trifecta.

That inadequacy was magnified when our Firstborn and family visited over the 4th of July holiday. Strangely enough, the last WiFi disaster we endured occurred over a 4th of July holiday.  I hope this does not become an annual occurrence. It’s not the way I would choose to celebrate our country’s independence.

There are six in Firstborn’s family, each with an iPhone, an iPod, an iPad, and a MacBook. All those devices, plus MMG’s and mine, taxed our inadequate wireless network to its insufficient limits. We each kept losing the WiFi signal and having to sign on again and again to our network.

Frustration was mounting. Discontent was brewing. Rebellion was imminent.

Firstborn, the family computer guru, decided to investigate. He followed me downstairs to my home office, aka The Michigan Triangle, where objects enter never to be found again. We swept the mounds of paper and books aside, uncovering two chairs–to think all this time I believed I only had the one.

I pulled the Geek Squad paperwork on our home network from my overflowing file cabinet and Firstborn studied the setup. The system has a gateway router and a 2TB Apple Time Capsule that acts as modem and backup drive. Upon inspection of the hardware, Firstborn discovered one problem almost immediately. Both the gateway router and the Time Capsule were set up as modems. They were fighting each other and that messed up our wireless signal. I told him the gateway wasn’t set up that way; its modem function was disabled by the Geek Squad Agent. The Geek Squad paperwork bore me out. Then the lightbulb clicked on. The original gateway had failed and our ISP’s tech must have set the new one up without disabling the modem function. Firstborn corrected the error, bless him.

We still had a rather weak wireless signal because of the way our house is built. Even though the time capsule has a strong modem, it still wasn’t strong enough to penetrate all the walls and the ceiling above. Firstborn declared that we deserved better and dictated the necessity of a trip to the hallowed halls of Best Buy, also home of the Geek Squad gods.

There we found WiFi salvation, thanks to the Geeks. Salvation came from Netgear® and its name is Orbi™. It is a triband, whole home WiFi system that maximizes Internet speed, and its signal covers up to 5,000 square feet. Orbi™ comes with a WiFi router and a satellite (attractive enough to put on one of my living room lamp tables) for whole house coverage. We get a full signal throughout the house, outside the house in the front and back yards, and even get a strong signal on our pontoon boat when it’s near our house. I think I’m in love.

Of course, Firstborn installed Orbi™ for us immediately upon our return from Geek Squad Olympus. He roamed the house testing the superior signal and extolled the virtues of the system in rapturous terms, proclaiming he would buy the system for his own home. Everyone in the family was delighted to use his/her electronic devices without incident. Firstborn, Geek Squad, and Orbi™ saved the day and made a successful visit possible. Thanks be to all three.

The chance that you will hear me whine about my WiFi system again is pretty much nil. I imagine you’re relieved to learn that. 😀