I’ve complained a lot about internet service this summer. I’m not alone. One of our neighbors got tired of complaining to our carrier, and reported their lack of response to the FCC! We may do the same soon.
However, one day I couldn’t even connect to the internet as a mobile hotspot! Usually, we connect our phones, then spend the rest of the day waiting for a gap in local usage to get our work done.
I finally began to suspect that there might be more to it than the daily overwhelming bandwidth use by tourists. And, like all problems on the homestead, if there’s a problem, we need to solve it ourselves.
So, I grabbed a ladder, a saw, and my wits, and went out to troubleshoot our booster antenna.
The key to the internet system: the booster antenna (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger)
As is my way, I tinkered, trying several different “solutions” before tested for improvement. Had I the patience (and endurance—it takes a lot to climb up into that scraggly tree, try one thing, then test the internet before returning to try the next thing) I could have been scientific about it, knowing when I hit on the one effective solution to the problem.
Instead, I cut a branch that threatened to disrupt the line of sight (such as it is) from the antenna to the cell tour, cut another branch that had begun to press downward on the antenna cable, creating tension at the connection, tightened that connection, and re-aimed the antenna at town. Only then did I climb back down, brush myself off, and test the internet.
As a rule, we don’t cut branches in summer, but this one pressed on the cable and threatened our connection (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).
I found a noticeably improved connection!
The improvement is only incremental, nothing earthshaking, but I can honestly say it’s better now than it has been. We still see all the same slow-to-no service between 4:00 a.m. when the ships pass our place on the way to Skagway (the tourists are asleep, but their smartphones are awake, updating frantically as they enter connectivity) and 10:00 p.m., when we give up and go to bed. But, we can get a little done now and then, like this post, if you’re reading it now.
One of the keys to happiness here on the homestead seems to be accepting incremental improvements. Much of the time, the advancements, corrections, or improvements aren’t definitive or earthshaking, they just make things a little bit better. Finding satisfaction in that helps a lot.