Cause and effect

Last week one of the Internet jacks in our bedroom died (there are two). It was the one I was connected to, so I decided to start using wireless, since our new router does that, and I wouldn’t need a jack at all. I got it up and running pretty easily and all was well.

Since then, though, I noticed that my connection would die from time to time. Gone. The wireless network wouldn’t even show up on my list. And I had no idea why.

Two nights ago I had a dream, that my roommate was somehow the cause of this, and whenever he used his computer to access the Internet, my connection would die. I woke up all excited to have found the source of the problem, but quickly realized that my brilliant cause-and-effect had no bearing in reality — I could use the Internet just fine when he was on his computer. And so I went on my way, mildly annoyed when my connection died (particularly if I was in the middle of a conversation), but not really sure what to do about it.

Then five minutes ago my roommate got on the phone. (It’s a landline — he doesn’t have a cell phone.) And my connection died. Could it really be that easy, I wondered? I waited for him to hang up. Five seconds after he turned the phone off, my Internet was back in business.

Dang, I’ve got to get my subconscious to solve problems for me more often! ;)

I’m not actually sure how to go about fixing this yet — I left a message on my landlady’s phone to see if she can send someone to look at it — but at least I know now that if I want an uninterrupted connection, I have to hide and unplug the telephone. :P

Hey, Ben! Sorry to hear about your internet woes. Amazing how quickly we can come to depend on such things. It reminds me of something a wise man once said: “There, there, little luxury, don’t you cry. You’ll be a necessity by and by.” :) Seriously though, my family experienced the same problem–if the landline is a cordless, you can run into problems if it runs on the same megahertz as your router. Of course, it could be a million other things, but this one is easy to check on. If that is the case, the only real solution is to change routers or change phones… Hee hee! Good luck!

LOL, I know, I know. I can survive without the Internet, but a lot of what I do (like homework :)) needs a connection. I feel like an amputee without it. :P Oh, and it looks like I’ll have to convince my roommate to buy a cell phone plan. ;)