Fun. Got a call from a friend, his Mom can't get on the internet.

[VirtualLarry]

He was hinting I should make a house call. nah-ah. Don't feel like it. Besides, drive time would be prohibitive, going in towards Boston.

Told friend he should let her pick him up, and I'll help him diagnose and fix over the phone.

So I'm waiting for him to call me back, probably from her place.

He said he asked her if she had paid her bill; apparently, she's behind.

But if a cable provider were going to shut someone off for non-payment, and they have a triple-play, wouldn't they shut down the whole connection? Or is it only really feasible to shut down the internet, and leave the TV and phone operational? (Maybe some laws against disabling the phone service? And not really practical to disable the TV service, especially if the customer isn't using a DTA or set-top box?)

Said friend never called me back tonight, to let me know what happened. I suggested that she call her provider, and see what they said. Chances are, she simply disconnected / unplugged power to one of her devices, or something.

Was tempted to use the opportunity to up-sell her to a new PC, but she hasn't had this one all that long, maybe 3-4 years or so. (Still, I did promise her a free SSD upgrade, on her next PC.)

Edit: Well, he got back to me, didn't have anything concrete to tell me.

 

[sdifox]

This belongs in atot

 

[Ranulf]

I don't know about phone service but with Comcast, if they're shutting down your internet, they will shut down the tv box too. You'll just get an error msg on the screen. Last I heard, Comcast is all tv decoder boxes now, no unencrypted signals.

 

[VirtualLarry]

That's an interesting data-point, thanks. So if her TV works, then her internet should work too? This is a cable ISP that begins with 'R'.

 

[VirtualLarry]

It sounds like the cable-modem got unplgged somehow, honestly. I'll find out in a few days, when my friend goes over there.

 

[Ranulf]

So if her TV works, then her internet should work too?

Maybe? I've had the tv working fine while the internet is down. That is usually the case in my experience. If both are down, things are bad at HQ/local node or you've not paid your bill and they've shut you down. After 30-60mins from shutoff Comcast will put up a web page when you try to load a browser stating that you're in a walled garden and locked out till you pay, giving you a link to their website to pay. Its quicker to just call them on the phone and pay that way.

 

[JackMDS]

The Tel. has to stay On at least to a Level that emergency call can be going through.

Its the law.