Please help: Problem with Smart Telecom

MakeEmLaugh

I share an apartment in Smithfield with three other people. I took on the broadband account with Smart Telecom from another tenant when I moved in a few months back.

On Saturday, our wireless internet stopped working. I had to wait until Monday to call Smart Telecom for an explanation. They told us service was down in the area and would resume asap.

By Tuesday evening, it still hadn't, so I called again. They told me it should be working, and asked me to plug the phone cable directly from the wall to my laptop. I did so, and it worked, but only while plugged directly into the laptop. The wireless still does not work. They then told me it wasn't their problem, as they the modem wasn't issued by them, and that if I could access the internet while plugging the cable directly into the wall I was getting what I paid for.

The modem is a Belkin model that was here when I moved in, probably for some time. Smart Telecom also said that they don't issue wireless modems for the area I live in. Obviously plugging directly into the wall is a huge inconvenience because

(a) It is not in a part of the apartment where a person can sit and browse the internet comfortably.

(b) There are four people living in the apartment currently, all of whom had contribute towards and rely on the internet. They cannot all very well attach the phone cable to all four laptops at the same time.

If I am to believe what the employees at Smart Telecom are telling me, then it is merely a coincidence that our wireless stopped working and has not returned at the same time as their outage, and it is not their responsibility to fix it.

I would cancel the account with them, but UPC do not service the area in which I live, Eircom are meant to be not any better to deal with (I've heard nothing but negative things from them). Magnet are another option, but I'm not even sure they service the area.

Basically, what I want to know is

(1) Is there anything I can do to check if it is the modem's fault, and not the internet servers?

(2) If I buy another modem, should we be able to get wireless back in the apartment? The guys on the phone at Smart Telecom were not very helpful, they wouldn't give me any indication either.

All of this has been a huge headache, and the burden has fallen entirely on me, as the three other tenants are French and Italian respectively, and I am the only Irish person living there. The landlord lives in another county, and never gets in touch as long as rent is paid on time each month. If anyone has any feedback, I would really, really appreciate it.

Thanks.

supervixen

Hi,

If the internet works fine when you plugin directly via cable, that means that Smart is delivering the service.
If all worked fine before maybe you should restart your wireless router.

What service do you have ADSL via telephone line ?

robo

Just thought that I would share my experience with Smart Telecom, I have been with them since 2004. And in the past 2 years, I have had issue with my broadband going very slow. And both times, I was dealing with helpful customer service reps. But they have on both occasions sent me a new wireless modem, the last one is working great, no disconnection issues or slow speeds. I have a TG582n.
I would suggest calling them again and explain your situation and ask them if they can supply you with a new modem and say that you are looking to maybe change suppliers if they can't rectify it? You could ask if they would send you out a wireless modem to test it with your internet to see if it works before you go out & spend money?

Oracle

As Vixen said you could try restarting or resetting your modem. Try a restart first, just turn it off and on again. If that doesn't work try resetting. There should be a tiny hole in the back that you push a pin (or an open paperclip) through to reset the modem. Before you do this, read the manual. If you don't have it, look up your modem's model name and number on the internet, and download the manual. Then read the instructions on how to do a reset. Then follow the guide on setting up wireless. You might also need your ISP internet account number and password.

I think you have Smart Vision, thats a different product to the Smart ADSL broadband. If you were able to get on the internet, by plugging your laptop directly into a "phone" socket, then you have an Ethernet connection directly to your apartment, not ADSL. You could also try asking for help on the Smart forum. Although looks like someone else has already tried that: http://support.smarttelecom.ie/forums/showthread.php?t=4599