Apple Network Fixed

Kudos to Apple and their Tech Support people. Today they helped me fix my wireless network, from first call to total fix, in only about 15 minutes. That is awesome.

The initial problem was mine. When I first took the plunge into the world of Apple with a new MacBook this past summer, even though I already had a wireless network in the house, I set up a new wireless network with the Apple hardware. The problem was not with Apple's hardware. It was my doing.

During setup, I took a wrong turn somewhere, and it wasn't long before I realized that something was amiss. Almost everything worked fine. I could use the MacBook on the internet anywhere in the house on the wireless network, which was, of course, a primary goal.

Secondly, I could pump music via iTunes from the MacBook into my stereo in the living room, which was cool. Sounded great. The only problem was that I could not do BOTH things at the same time: I could not surf the net while simultaneously sending music to the stereo.

I knew that it should be possible to do both things, at the same time, but it was an either/or situation. I had set up a second Apple network when I should have just "added" the iTunes onto the first (new) Apple network.

I tried to fix it myself a couple of times by re-tracing my steps in the software to no avail. Since I could do either of the two tasks (surf the net and play music) ok, it wasn't really a pressing problem. It wasn't perfect, but I could make do. Which is why it took me about three months to get around to calling Apple. I ASSUMED that it would be one of those marathon Tech Support phone calls. That's what I was used to when I had Windows issues.

Finally, I had that happy convergence of extra free time and that brain chemical reaction otherwise known as "memory" and so today I called up AppleCare.

A woman answered my phone call on the second ring. I was shocked. It wasn't an automated voice with a zillion voice responses needed before talking to a person. No, a real, live, human, immediately. She took the computer serial number from me, a brief description of the problem, and connected me to the right person for my issue. Within 15 seconds, I was talking with another female, this time a Tech Support person. No waiting time on the phone? WTF? In no time she diagnosed my problem (which, granted, for them, should be easy), we ran through a little software, I powered down and powered up various devices, and everything worked beautifully.

Contrast this with another phone call I made today to Chase (financial). I've got a billing snafu on my Visa credit card. So I call the toll-free number and get an automated voice-response system, and after several "yes" and "no" answers from me, some of which the computer could not hear, and inputting several numbers and "stars" and "pound signs," I FINALLY get a voice telling me that "all operators are busy....your estimated wait time is more than 10 minutes." Soooo.....35 minutes later, a guy FINALLY comes on the phone to tell me he has to switch me to another department!!!

It's a longer story than that, but let's just say that we are going to cancel our Chase credit cards and give another bank a chance.

And three cheers for Apple.