Buy Drugs alt=”Think it has a 500+ ft range?” width=”125″ height=”125″ />Think it has a 500+ ft range?
My family is not technically inclined, so I’m their answer to tech support. They call constantly with stupid questions, and I have to try very hard not to laugh at them.
My brother in law really pushed me to my limit last night though, I thought I was going to crack a rib trying not to laugh at him. He stopped up at the house to tell me where we were all meeting for my parents going away dinner, and he noticed that I had all my computers networked (without wires – he exclaimed). Well, first off, I’ve had my computers networked for years now, but the equipment was all hidden away under the bar in our old house. The only difference is that now, my Linksys router sits right out on my desk where everyone can see it. So I explained to him how the whole thing worked, that the kids have wireless adapters, and all that.
As I explained it to him, it was like seeing a light bulb go on over his head. His next big question was, could he tie into my wireless network from his house, and thus be able to cancel his very expensive cable internet. This is where I could hardly keep myself from laughing at him. As the crow flies, his house in only a few hundred feet away from ours, so it seemed to him that if I could access my network from my garage, which is at the bottom of the hill, why couldn’t he access it from his house, which is at the bottom of the next hill.
I try to be understanding when my family members ask questions that to me are ridiculous. I try to understand that not everyone is a computer nerd like myself. But to me the answer to this question was obvious.
There’s a big difference between a building that is 50 feet away, compared to one probably 500 feet. Not to mention – Why would I want to share my internet access with him to begin with? The highest available DSL speed in our area is about 3mb, because we live so far out from the main stations. This can hardly take all of us (four computers, for four people) at one time to begin with. When we are all on at one time, the DSL times out every ten minutes.
So acomplia approval trying not to be rude, I explained this to him. He still didn’t understand, and I think he’s slightly mad at me now, thinking that I just don’t want to share my connection with him (which I don’t).
I guess I need to get better people skills… or a smarter family! But I did offer to install a network for him, using his own internet connection, if he buys the router and other equipment.
I know how you feel, LOL! I am the free tech service of my family, some of my neighbours, and before I retired, of many co-workers. Maybe I have better people skills than you *sigh* because they keep coming. Some of them have called me at really odd hours, and probably I didn’t was too polite with them, but they being mad at me lasted only until their next PC failure
That’s how it usually works. They’re only upset with you until they need your help again. My brother in law will get over it – he needs me to get his daughter from school tomorrow.
But I guess what surprises me the most – is how clueless some people really are.
I wasn’t schooled in computers – everything I know is pretty much self taught, with some help from my retired CIA agent uncle. But to me it’s common sense, a $30 router isn’t going to have a 500 ft range… duh…
But I guess to those who use their computers only for E-bay, email and gaming – that’s not common sense. He was also surprised when I told him how inexpensive it is to set up a home network. He was thinking I had thousands into it, when reality is that it cost me less than a hundred about 4 years ago, even cheaper now a days.