Last night, my internet connection just died. There was zero service. I thought the problem might be that the laptop battery was low so the booster wasn’t getting enough juice. I therefore ran the engine to get an extra boost of power, but to no avail. A half hour went by and I gave up.

The connection really sucks this morning, but at least I’m online. Again, the RSSI number means squat. I was streaming Netflix yesterday with no stutters at -113 and -96 this morning hasn’t been enough to do anything.

I am beginning to suspect that the Mifi is playing a role in all of this because it keeps going dormant, as per its logs. My first thought was that it goes dormant because of a loss of signal… but it does the same thing up the hill where I have a very, very strong signal. So I did some research on the Mifi, and, yup, that’s a common problem with it and the issue is not related to signal strength. The suggestion is to try tethering it to the computer rather than connecting over wifi. So that’s what I’m doing this morning.

I can accept having a slow connection because of being in a marginal cell area. That’s fine. I’m used to slow internet now. It’s not necessarily a bad thing since I am on limited bandwidth. If I have to go up the hill a few times a week to download files, that’s okay too. I mean, it’s only 7KM round trip. But the Vulcan in me cannot stand capriciousness, that is a connection that runs when it feels like it with no rhyme or reason. The illogical of that really grates on my nerves.

Unfortunately, I can’t return my current boosting equipment without paying a restocking fee. I would then be without internet until I can afford something else. So I have to live with what I bought, even if it’s obviously the wrong solution for where I am. Wilson sells supposedly ‘low loss’ cable extensions, so next time I am near civilization, I will pick some up and then try to get the antenna even higher.

I need to ask someone to come and look at the Mifi screen for me while I’m on the roof moving the antenna around since moving it to the roof isn’t possible because the booster needs to be plugged in.

So that’s the scoop on the internet and likely to be all that I have to say about that, unless I magically find a sweet spot where the RSSI soars to -60. I’m not holding my breath either.

Oh, and look at that. My first Bell Mobility bill just landed in my inbox. It’s due tomorrow and I need to allow 3 days for processing the payment. It’s nice to see that some things haven’t changed.