Extremely Lame

I’ve finally got FiOS installed, and I’ve got to say, so far I’m extremely underwhelmed by the experience.

First off, the modem is now installed in my bedroom, so now I have to rely on 802.11g to transmit stuff. Not even 802.11n, that sucks. Connecting FIOS to wireless is like taking a fire hose and throttling it into a garden hose. The location makes me awfully unhappy because my VoIP router now has to be in my bedroom therefore my phone is tied to my bedroom. Furthermore, I’ve got wireless on all of my computers…except for the XBox 360. So until I go to Fry’s, buy a box of CAT5 cable, crimpers, a male/male connector, a staple gun and terminations, I’m unable to play Rock Band. Basically, my “free installation” is going to turn into like $75 plus my own installation, and it’s only that cheap because I already have the routers I need.

Add in the fact that I knew more about networking than their network tech, I should have done the entire thing my own damn self. A couple of things that I’m going to have to change post haste are the security they hooked me up with. They’re leaving their customers with defaults that just stink on ice. The router’s administration and password, while not default, were easy enough for me to look up (hint: they changed the password from password to password1. That’s some fine security there. It’s sad enough that I was able to find it online. It’s something I shouldn’t have to look up, it’s information they should have provided me. The default is to have my SSID broadcast all over the apartment complex. At least they don’t leave the connection open. However, they use the inherently insecure WEP instead of the far more secure WPA.

While the router they provided is okay, apparently there are significant problems with it dropping the connection a lot if you actually try to use its glorious speed, so I’m apparently going to have to use it as a bridge anyway. More fun for me.

And if all the technical and security problems weren’t enough, the technician didn’t bother to take out any of his trash and left me with four empty boxes to take out to the dumpster.