One challenge I faced time and again was the lack of reliable Internet access at the homes of my parents or in-laws. Usually I piggybacked on their neighbor’s wireless connection but it wasn’t always on and wasn’t very fast. For years I tried explaining the benefits of high-speed Internet to my family but always met with skepticism, doubt and fear of change. Each time I recommended Comcast and each time I was given the same response.

On principle my father in-law defiantly stated he would never sign up for Comcast (again) after having a disagreement with them about erroneous charges. My parents resisted because they had the Dish Network, the only provider who transmits Israeli television in the US.

The breakthrough with my father in-law came after I explained how I work most weekends and their lack of Internet access prevented us visiting more often. The breakthrough with my parents came after I described the wonders of modern technology. They had been using a 9-year old modem from Earthlink’s heyday and a 20″ Sony Trinitron they purchased in 2001.

As soon as my in-laws switched to Comcast I set them up with my spare Linksys WRT54GS wireless router running DD-WRT firmware. DD-WRT is fast, stable, and very secure. My brother bought my parents an Airport Express and now we’ve got that up and running after some initial hiccups.

Finally, after years of frustration I can enjoy high-speed wireless Internet at the homes of my parents and in-laws.

Of course you have to take the good with the bad and one important lesson I learned in the process: If you’re the one who recommended it, you’re the one who gets called when something goes wrong with it. I’ve already gotten technical support questions from my in-laws and so hoping to avoid this with my parents as well I crafted a lengthy email with detailed instructions.

The following details are specific to Comcast and OSX but with a few changes they can be modified to fit your family and setup too!

Wireless connection details

• Network name: XXXXX
• Password: XXXXXXX

Wireless connection strength

• Office (insane): 23.26Mb/s down 1.71Mb/s up
• Guest room (excellent): 8.50Mb/s down 1.69Mb/s up
• Upstairs (very good): 6.79Mb/s down 1.71Mb/s up
• Dining room (very good): 6.94 Mb/s down 1.06 Mb/s up
• Kitchen (bad): No connection
• Back room (bad): No connection

Technical details for technical people

Device information

• Type: Airport Express (802.11n)
• Name: XXXXX
• Pass: XXXXX
• Location: In the office under the desk
• Status: Green light = Good
• Status: Amber light = Bad
• Status: Amber light flashing = Reset mode

Device configuration

• Software access: Airport Utility (pre-installed on OSX)
• Note: Internet access is not needed to configure the Airport Express.

OMGWTH the Internet is broken?!

1. Don’t panic.
2. Usually the modem needs to be reset (see #001 A)
3. Sometimes you need to do a full reset (see #002)
4. Worst case call Comcast (see #005)

#001 – What to do if something goes wrong

• A) Something may be wrong with the cable modem or it has lost sync (this happens occasionally)

  Soft reset the cable modem:
  Leave everything plugged in, press the reset button behind the modem. Everything should resync automatically.

• B) Something may be wrong with the Aiport Express (Amber light)

  Verify the cable modem has Internet connectivity:
  Unplug ethernet (blue) cable from Airport Express, plug ethernet into iMac desktop. Reset the modem (#001 A). Verify iMac has connectivity (#004).

• Important! Any time you unplug the ethernet from a computer or Airport the cable modem must be soft-reset (#001 A)

#002 – What to do if you are connected directly to the modem (#001 B), tried a soft reset (#001 A) but still aren’t receiving Internet access

• Hard reset the cable modem: Unplug all cables from the modem, press and hold the reset button for 30 seconds. Plug all cables back in, wait until all lights turn green.

#003 – What to do if you know the cable modem is working but you still can’t get wireless working

• Soft reset the Airport (reboot): Press the tiny button on the Airport Express for 1 second
• Hard reset the Airport (start over): Press the tiny button on the Airport Express for 10 second (device will flash Amber rapidly)
  Note: Hard reset wipes all device setting. After hard-resetting please setup the device with the same credentials (XXX/XXX, XXX/XXX)
• For more information see the section titled: How do I reset my AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule?

#004 – How do you know your computer has Internet connectivity?

1. Open System Preferences/Network
2. Look for connection status: Airport (wireless) or Ethernet (wired)
3. Direct connection: IP begins with 192.x.x.x
4. Airport connection: IP Begins with 10.1.x.x

#005 – What to do if all else fails

1. Make sure the ethernet cable is plugged directly into the back of the iMac
2. Hard reset the cable modem (#002)
3. Restart the iMac
4. Call Comcast technical support: 1-800-COMCAST (1-800-266-2278). Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
5. Be sure to tell them you already did a hard reset and rebooted your computer

Hope this helps!
Love, Sheem