A while back our Samsung tv started switching itself off and on when you initially switched it on. Gradually the problem got worse. From a few seconds of on/off/on/off to minutes, before finally staying off. So, my wife went out and got us a new (non-Samsung) tv.
We hadn't got rid of the old one yet, as we weren't going near the recycling plant, which was fortunate, as a friend told us they had had the same problem, as had a lot of people, and help was online.
One Google search later, and it appeared that this was a worldwide issue. In the States, it appears that the company were offering repairs, but no so in Europe. Help though was at hand. On youTube there are literally hundreds of people posting videos of what components need replace (only four capacitors). Having worked in electronics when I first left school, I'm a dab hand with a soldering iron, so problem components identified, and out they came. Replacements were ordered, and last night I popped them back in, and RESULT. The tv is once again working.
Then there's broadband. Last week I got a new phone. At home I tried to connect it to the wifi network with no joy, so took it back to the shop, where it connected to their wifi no problem. I tried the guest network in work, and you guessed it, it connected to that too.
Back home and the laptop seemed to be not connecting either. So I tried the netbook with the same predictable result. So, I called BT. Over an hour on the phone, and they told me the hub wasn't faulty, but my laptop. I asked how they explained the fact that my phone and netbook weren't connecting either, and apparently they were obviously faulty as well.
This wasn't explaining the fact that the network map showed that my laptop WAS connecting to the hub, but the hun was not connecting to the internet.
I demanded a replacement hub, and they proceeded to tell me how much it would cost. I pointed out that it was going to be a free replacement, as I was out of contract, and wasn't going to pay for something that I could get free just by simply switching provider. Suddenly my free replacement was going to be in the post next working day.
I set it up this morning, and surprise surprise, it works. And yet according to BT it was laptop that was at fault....
The lesson for today is, if you KNOW what the fault is don't be fooled by a someone from a call centre who is reading from a script.
We hadn't got rid of the old one yet, as we weren't going near the recycling plant, which was fortunate, as a friend told us they had had the same problem, as had a lot of people, and help was online.
One Google search later, and it appeared that this was a worldwide issue. In the States, it appears that the company were offering repairs, but no so in Europe. Help though was at hand. On youTube there are literally hundreds of people posting videos of what components need replace (only four capacitors). Having worked in electronics when I first left school, I'm a dab hand with a soldering iron, so problem components identified, and out they came. Replacements were ordered, and last night I popped them back in, and RESULT. The tv is once again working.
Then there's broadband. Last week I got a new phone. At home I tried to connect it to the wifi network with no joy, so took it back to the shop, where it connected to their wifi no problem. I tried the guest network in work, and you guessed it, it connected to that too.
Back home and the laptop seemed to be not connecting either. So I tried the netbook with the same predictable result. So, I called BT. Over an hour on the phone, and they told me the hub wasn't faulty, but my laptop. I asked how they explained the fact that my phone and netbook weren't connecting either, and apparently they were obviously faulty as well.
This wasn't explaining the fact that the network map showed that my laptop WAS connecting to the hub, but the hun was not connecting to the internet.
I demanded a replacement hub, and they proceeded to tell me how much it would cost. I pointed out that it was going to be a free replacement, as I was out of contract, and wasn't going to pay for something that I could get free just by simply switching provider. Suddenly my free replacement was going to be in the post next working day.
I set it up this morning, and surprise surprise, it works. And yet according to BT it was laptop that was at fault....
The lesson for today is, if you KNOW what the fault is don't be fooled by a someone from a call centre who is reading from a script.
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