Who to call when internet lines are physically cut?

[Anonymous]

My mom lives in a not so great neighborhood. I don’t have the ability or means to move her. So, suggestions to move her out are not in the least bit helpful. If she could access the Internet reliably, things would be soooo much easier.

The problem: for years the physical lines that deliver internet to her house get cut blocks away from her house. Using a cell phone to pay bills as a senior can be impractical (text in apps that can’t be adjusted, or can but require shifting the app window to read). When she calls the phone company who manages the lines, they check her house lines and her computer, and find everything is fine there. The process can literally take weeks to resolve even two months on occasion , which is BS. The company find that someone has taken the wires or cut them. Meanwhile, the company bills her for services she does not receive. This problem happens multiple times a year.

I feel like this is a 7 On Your Side news type story. I’m at a loss as to who to call at this point because the company does nothing to secure its main boxes. Ugh!!!!

[Anonymous]

Call the company again and let them know you are about to call the local news unless addressed immediately.

[Anonymous]

Getting nowhere with elevating the issue through tech support. Ridiculous that people in major urban area cannot access internet because a company doesn’t secure its infrastructure. If this were a rich neighborhood, this wouldn’t be tolerated.

[Anonymous]

Does she have a land (phone) line? If not, get one. Most of them travel over a digital line (same wire bundle as for internet) so if it gets cut, the landline will go to.

Why would I suggest that? Because phone service is considered vital and regulated by the PUC, so they have a target restoration time on it.

[Anonymous]

11:11 here. To be clear, get the land line from teh same provider as the internet provider.

[Anonymous]

So I talked to the tech supervisor who was able confirm for me that the problem is outside mom’s house. He asked if she lived in a remote rural location. I laughed — she’s in one of the 15 largest US cities. From past experience I knew that the lines there are still copper, which people steal all.the.time from the neighborhood box. He was shocked that her area has no fiber optic options. He confirmed all this. I said it becomes a problem because 1) apps require more and more bandwidth, and 2) more distressingly, she cannot access crucial things like bills or doctor communications. And yes, pp she still has a landline but can’t use that because the wires are gone again. She can’t use her cell for many things like bills — either the apps won’t allow her to enlarge text, or they do, and become unreadable because you have to keep swiping back and forth to read. Aaarrgghh. Tech manager referred me to sales and customer satisfaction people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:11:11 here. To be clear, get the land line from teh same provider as the internet provider.

That’s already the case.

[Anonymous]

So the internet lines are getting cut only in the main box?

Even if that were protected, you can't guarantee that the lines won't be cut, because they can be cut anywhere else they aren't protected.

That said, she has potential options. If she needs to, she can get a cell phone plan that allows tethering - so you use the cell phone for internet access on your computer.

Another thing you can do is get Cox Wifi service if there happens to be Cox internet access points from her house. You mentioned she lives in a city, and Cox has a bunch of public access points in public spaces like airports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Getting nowhere with elevating the issue through tech support. Ridiculous that people in major urban area cannot access internet because a company doesn’t secure its infrastructure. If this were a rich neighborhood, this wouldn’t be tolerated.

I lived in a very expensive neighborhood in DC, and neither cable nor internet lines to our house were secured.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So the internet lines are getting cut only in the main box?

Even if that were protected, you can't guarantee that the lines won't be cut, because they can be cut anywhere else they aren't protected.

That said, she has potential options. If she needs to, she can get a cell phone plan that allows tethering - so you use the cell phone for internet access on your computer.

Another thing you can do is get Cox Wifi service if there happens to be Cox internet access points from her house. You mentioned she lives in a city, and Cox has a bunch of public access points in public spaces like airports.

Seriously? Using public areas to access billing and personal info sites (eg social security, bank, etc) is not smart. Not to mention having a senior citizen out in the roads when it’s snowing again soon ... not viable.

[Anonymous]

Can you get for her or add her to your unlimited phone plan and do a hotspot? Att has hotspots where you can do 10g of data a month per line. That would be more than enough for bills etc and she can use the computer through her phone.
Just a possibility if you can afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you get for her or add her to your unlimited phone plan and do a hotspot? Att has hotspots where you can do 10g of data a month per line. That would be more than enough for bills etc and she can use the computer through her phone.
Just a possibility if you can afford it.

Pp again. To clarify, she would be using a computer through the internet provided by her phone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the internet lines are getting cut only in the main box?

Even if that were protected, you can't guarantee that the lines won't be cut, because they can be cut anywhere else they aren't protected.

That said, she has potential options. If she needs to, she can get a cell phone plan that allows tethering - so you use the cell phone for internet access on your computer.

Another thing you can do is get Cox Wifi service if there happens to be Cox internet access points from her house. You mentioned she lives in a city, and Cox has a bunch of public access points in public spaces like airports.

Seriously? Using public areas to access billing and personal info sites (eg social security, bank, etc) is not smart. Not to mention having a senior citizen out in the roads when it’s snowing again soon ... not viable.

You're a peach.

First of all - most financial websites use encryption and multi-factor authentication. If you're still nervous about that, then use VPN. No one is talking about your mom going outside when it's snowing; I'm telling you to check if she can access one of the Cox wifi access points from where she lives.

[Anonymous]

The closest Cox hotspot is about 5 miles away. Not sure what the signal range is. Google didn’t turn anything up. Seems She’d also have to upgrade her service cost, which might be a barrier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So I talked to the tech supervisor who was able confirm for me that the problem is outside mom’s house. He asked if she lived in a remote rural location. I laughed — she’s in one of the 15 largest US cities. From past experience I knew that the lines there are still copper, which people steal all.the.time from the neighborhood box. He was shocked that her area has no fiber optic options. He confirmed all this. I said it becomes a problem because 1) apps require more and more bandwidth, and 2) more distressingly, she cannot access crucial things like bills or doctor communications. And yes, pp she still has a landline but can’t use that because the wires are gone again. She can’t use her cell for many things like bills — either the apps won’t allow her to enlarge text, or they do, and become unreadable because you have to keep swiping back and forth to read. Aaarrgghh. Tech manager referred me to sales and customer satisfaction people.

That tech is an idiot. Fiber rollout has stalled because everyone will be going to 5G. If you don't have fiber, you are never going to get it. Run the phone as a hotspot or just get a small hotspot with an an antenna if you need more signal strength. Connect computer to hotspot via WiFi.